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| Sunday, February
4, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Congressional team to visit
India Rescue workers back in
Russia
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Geologist predicts more
quakes Benazir for talks on Kashmir Syria lauds
India's stand on Kashmir Clintons to pay for gifts Bangladesh begins
troop pullout
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Congressional team to visit India WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (UNI) — A four-member US Congressional team led by Mr Edward Royce, Republican member of the House of Representatives from California and Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India will be on a 10-day visit to India and Pakistan from February 16 to assess the progress of the fledgling peace process in the Kashmir valley. The proposal for the visit came from Mr David Bonior, member from Michigan which has a large Pakistani community besides Syrians and Iraqis. Indian American sources said he espoused the cause of Pakistan in the Kashmir dispute. Talking to UNI, Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India, Mr Jim Mcdermott said the team would try to figure out whether they could play any role in resolving the long-pending Kashmir dispute. He, however, made it clear that the US Congressmen had no plans to be the interlocutors. Besides Mr Royce and Mr Bonior, the other members of the delegation are Mr Mcdermott and Mr Joseph Pitts, a Republican from Pennsylvenia. “We want to look at the Kashmir situation, get the feel from both sides and try to figure out if there is any role for them” Mr Mcdermott said, adding that the team would visit Kashmir valley as well. They are scheduled to meet both Indian and Pakistani leaders during their 10-day trip to New Delhi and Islamabad though no schedule has been worked out. Besides Kashmir, the Congressional delegation will also visit Lahore and the earthquake affected areas of Gujarat before returning to the USA. Mr Mcdermott said the proposal was mooted during the chat he had with Mr Bonior a few days ago. Mr Bonior has in his constituency Michigan, particularly in Detroit, a large number of Pakistani community. “We both came to a decision to contribute to the peace process in Kashmir and approached the House Speaker to provide them a military plane to transport the delegation to India,” he added. Replying to questions, Mr Mcdermott admitted that the Bush Administration had not moved as quickly as it should have been. “There is no need to wait for protocol as you see the human tragedy unfolding itself before you in a friendly country”, he said referring to the controversy that Delhi did not approach Washington for assistance. The members of the India Caucus are also faced with a dilemma as the Bush Administration was just putting its government together. There is no Assistant Secretary in the South Asia division in the State Department who can moot proposals. But the near-unanimous resolution adopted by the House of Representatives expressing solidarity with the quake victims of Gujarat was intended to send the message to the White House that the Congress was keen on the executive branch taking action. “If only the tragedy had occurred five days earlier, things would have been different as the Clinton government was there,” he added. US assistance to the victims of Gujarat earthquake should be a generous contribution reflective of the wealth of the country, he said. To another question, the Democratic Party member said a decision to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Assistant Secretary Karl Inderfurth would be taken by the end of this month. It would take a while for the post of the US ambassador to India to be filled when the current incumbent left office in a month’s time. The present Ambassador Richard Celeste, a political appointee of the Clinton Administration, told the US Administration that he would like to quit the post in a month. He has been asked to continue indefinitely till alternate arrangements are made. “We may end up having a long gap before the next Ambassador is posted to India”, he said, referring to the long Senate confirmation process “before someone takes up the assignment.” He said Senator Brownback, the Republican from Kansas was currently spearheading a move to have the remaining sanctions against India lifted. The 100-member Congression Caucus would extend full support to the move. The desire to lift the remaining sanctions was widespread and pressure would build up on the new administration soon to act. “Everything in politics has a timing,” Mr Mcdermott said, adding that a decision would be taken shortly in this regard. |
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Clinton to raise $ 1m for quake-hit NEW YORK, Feb 3 (PTI) — Taking the initiative to raise funds for Gujarat earthquake victims, former US President Bill Clinton met with Indian-American businessmen and some Indian officials here to raise $ 1 million. Mr Clinton said he met with Mr Victor Menezes, an NRI and President and CEO of Citi Bank and Citicorp., and about 12 other Indian American business leaders yesterday. “They made plans to form a group, ‘Americans for Indian Relief and Reconstruction’, which will raise funds to help victims of the quake. They hope to raise $ 1 million,” he said. The former President spoke to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday and conveyed his sympathies and condolences on the Gujarat tragedy. He said Indian-Americans were “very keen” on extending help in whatever ways possible for the relief and rehabilitation of the quake victims. Mr Clinton has close relations with some of the community leaders who had helped raise tens of thousands dollars for the Senate campaign of his wife, Hillary Rodham, who won hands down from New York. The White House press secretary Alri Fleisher, when asked what President George W. Bush thought of Mr Clinton’s initiative, said: “The President has already taken a number of steps to help the Indian Government.” Mr Bush had talked to Mr Vajpayee on January 30 in this regard. The USA has said it is donating a further $ 4 million. in aid to victims of the earthquake, bringing its total emergency relief package to $ 9 million. |
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Rescue workers back in
Russia MOSCOW, Feb 3 — A hero’s welcome was accorded to Russian specialists who returned after completing rescue operations in Bhuj, the epicentre of the earthquake in western India. Braving the biting cold, a huge crowd gathered at Moscow suburb Zhukovski Defence Airport to welcome the 71-strong Russian team that arrived from India. Young girls presented red carnations to rescue workers as they climbed down the aircraft amid music played by a military band. Russian deputy minister for emergency decorated the rescue workers with different state awards for their benevolent work in the quake-affected area of Gujarat. “We left the affected area after we were 100 per cent sure that there could not be any more living souls under the debris of the multi-storied buildings, and after the bulldozers moved to clean up the rubble,” Sergei, one of the rescue workers, said. The Russian team was one of the first to reach the quake-hit area and conducted rescue operations in Bhachau, the worst affected area. The team, in course of their five-day operation, saved 17 lives from beneath the debris and recovered 39 bodies. The team was the largest among foreign rescue groups, and is responsible for saving the maximum number of lives from under the rubble. In contrast to other teams, the Russians worked day and night to save as many lives as possible. Among those who got new life, thanks to the Russian effort, are two babies, one young couple and an old woman whose life they managed to save in the final hours of the last day of the operations. “We are happy for each life we could save, and we could have definitely saved more lives had we arrived immediately in India after the quake,” Sergei said. Russian rescue and search team with special equipments, robots, sniffer dogs, medical equipment and medicines was kept ready to fly to India within hours of the killer quake. Unfortunately, the IL-76 transport aircraft with the rescue team, was stranded at Zhukovski airport for more than 36 hours for want of necessary international permission. While the Russian government has sent thousands of blankets, tents, medicines for the quake-victims, Russian doctors are providing medical assistance to the children in the affected area.
—India Abroad News Service |
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Geologist predicts more quakes BOULDER, Colorado, Feb 3 (AP) — A US geologist who has studied India and Nepal for 15 years, said the Himalayan region could be struck by quakes more severe than the one that hit Gujarat last week. Mr Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado said “measurements from the satellite-based global positioning system show the Indian tectonic plate steadily and rigidly pushing against Asia, building up pressure that usually is released by earthquakes”. “I’m seeing a kind of signal that a sequence of further earthquakes may be about to happen, but we could be wrong,” Mr Bilham said. “We have no historical precedents to learn from.” He said the team of scientists he worked with estimated that more than 60 per cent of the Himalayan region was overdue for six quakes with a magnitude of 7.8 to 8.5. The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Centre in Denver considered an earthquake of magnitude 7 to 7.9 ‘major’ and an earthquake of magnitude 8 and above ‘great’. Both were capable of damaging or destroying buildings, he said. Mr Bilham said measurements over the past decade showed the Indian tectonic plate contracting by almost 3 mm each year, or about the thickness of a fingernail, as it pressed steadily in to the Asian continent. The energy that limit from squeezing the tectonic plate could cause earthquakes. Last week’s quake was near the site of a similar quake in 1819, and Mr Bilham believed they were related, perhaps caused by a weak zone in the Indian plate. Mr Roland Burgmann, a geophysicist at the University of California at Berkeley who is working with Mr Bilham on the India-Asia study, said stress caused by last week’s quake could spread throughout the area and cause more earthquakes and aftershocks. |
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Benazir for talks on Kashmir ISLAMABAD, Feb 3 (PTI) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has urged the military regime to hold serious talks with India for the solution of the Kashmir issue. “Being a Pakistani, I believe that we should seriously talk with India over the issue of Kashmir. At the same time, I think that we should talk with the USA or international community over the issue of regional security. We should convince them that integrity of Pakistan is vital for the region and world too,” Ms Bhutto told the Voice of America. “The Indian Government and Pakistan have taken several steps during the past one year including the announcement of ceasefire. But at same time, there is a deadlock or say that Pakistan’s response is not pro-active as compared to India. Thus nobody knows as to what will happen next and that what will be the fate of the ceasefire,” she said. She said the level of violence was still very high. “It could not so far be proved as to what Pakistan ultimately wants. Some circles say that Pakistan wants to convert the Line of Control (LoC) into an international border while some others are not in favour of doing so.” “I want that Pakistan Government should take the masses into confidence as to what they want. As far as the People’s Party is concerned, we have a clear cut programme in this regard. We should try to make (LoC) a soft border because many wars have taken place between the two countries during the past 50 years,” Ms Bhutto said. “We should try to set up soft borders between the two countries so that their people could visit each other easily. Ultimately, we should leave this issue up to the Kashmiris to decide their fate,” Ms Bhutto said. Ms Bhutto, now visiting the USA, said the Republican government was interested in restoration of peace in the subcontinent. She said she would also meet the members of the USA Congress. |
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Syria lauds
India's stand on Kashmir CAIRO, Feb 3 (PTI) — Syria has appreciated India’s efforts to restore peace in Kashmir and expressed great understanding of New Delhi’s position on the issue. The
Kashmir issue was discussed during a meeting between visiting external affairs minister
Jaswant Singh and his Syrian counterpart Farouk Al Shara in Damascus on Wednesday. “Syria expressed a great understanding of the
Indian position and the steps India has taken to start peace talks,”
India’s ambassador to Syria K. M. Meena said. Mr Jaswant Singh had a 45-minute meeting with the
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad during which they agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in information technology and technical training. The two sides decided to expand the programme by setting up pilot projects and increasing the number of trainees. Asked if Indo-Pak relations also figured in the talks, Mr
Jaswant Singh said :"We discussed various issues, including terrorism and West Asia". Mr Jaswant Singh extended an invitation to
Bashar on behalf of President K. R. Narayanan to visit India which the
Syrian leader accepted. The minister also met Syrian Prime Minister
Mohammad Mustafa Mero. |
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Clintons to pay for gifts WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (AP) — Former US President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will pay for nearly $ 86,000 worth of gifts they chose to keep last year, his office said, seeking to remove the whiff of impropriety that clouded their exit from the White House. The payback amounts to about half the value of the gifts that Mr Clinton and his wife had intended to keep when he left office on January 20. An aide to Mrs Clinton, the New Democratic Senator from New York, said yesterday that the reimbursement was also an attempt to stem criticism that has surrounded her first week on Capitol hill. The aide emphasised that both the former President and his wife would pay for the gifts. Earlier, Mr Clinton said the government would be billed for only half the $ 600,000 annual rent on a Manhattan office. The aide said it too was intended to deflect criticism. The gifts include $ 7,375 worth of furniture received from Denise Rich, the ex-wife of a fugitive financier pardoned by Mr Clinton on his last day in office - a move that has prompted a congressional investigation. “As have other Presidents and their families before us, we received gifts over the course of our eight years in the White House and followed all of the gift rules,” Mr Clinton said in a statement faxed to news agencies. “While we gave the vast majority of gifts we received to the National Archives, we reported the gifts we were keeping,” he said. “To eliminate even the slightest question, we are taking the step of paying for gifts given to us in 2000.” |
Bangladesh begins
troop pullout DHAKA, Jan 3 (DPA) — Bangladesh began pulling out troops from its common border with Myanmar today after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between senior government officials of the two neighbouring countries. The MoU was signed following two days of joint survey of the border, which runs through the middle of the frontier river Naaf. Tension rose along the border after Myanmar (formerly Burma) began constructing a dam on the Naaf, which snakes through the Chittagong Hills in southeastern Bangladesh before flowing into the Bay of Bengal. |
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