The United States today slapped sanctions on two Indians, seven Chinese firms and companies from Belarus, N Korea, Russia, Spain and Ukraine for allegedly selling weapons or cruise and ballistic missile technology and equipment to Iran. The two Indians mentioned in the notice posted on the Federal Register by the US State Department are Dr C. Surendar and Dr. Y.S.R. Prasad — both former MDs and Chairmen of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).According to the notification, the duo are among a list of 14 entities who were found to have ‘‘engaged in activities that require the imposition of measures. which provide for penalties for the transfer to Iran since January 1, 1999, of equipment and technology controlled under multi-lateral export control lists or otherwise having the potential to make a material contribution to the development of WMDs or cruise or ballistic missile systems’’.However, the notification did not elaborate on the sales. The sanctions include a bar on the firms and individuals doing business with the US government, a ban on US assistance and automatic denial of US export licences to them.USS Cole: 2 get deathSANAA: A Yemeni court sentenced two Al Qaeda militants to death on Wednesday for the 2000 bombing of the US destroyer Cole which killed 17 sailors. The two sentenced to death were Jamal Al-Badawi and Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri. —(Reuters)