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Thursday,
September 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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USA blocks accord
on ‘green’ energy targets
US Sikhs
to offer prayers on Sept 11
55 Pak
prisoners freed |
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Fresh
Maoist attack; US advisory on Nepal
Indonesian
Parliament chief Akbar Tandjung (R) listens to the judge beside his co-defendant Dadang Sukandar during his trial in a Jakarta court on
Wednesday.
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USA blocks accord on ‘green’ energy targets
Johannesburg, September 4 The USA and oil producing countries firmly rejected demands from the European Union and nations such as Brazil, Norway, New Zealand, Iceland and Hungary to enshrine targets to boost use of renewable energy sources in the text. The deal agreed today pledged to make energy more accessible to the poor but there were no time-bound targets forcing countries to switch from the fossil fuels blamed for heating up the planet to cleaner energy such as solar or wind. About two billion people, a third of the world’s population, lack access to modern energy sources, including electricity or even fossil fuels. They rely on firewood or biomass — crop residues or animal dung — for cooking, heating and lighting. About 2.5 million women and children die every year from respiratory diseases caused by primitive cooking stoves. Many people in developing nations, especially women, spend long hours searching for firewood, reducing their chances of education and development. As the population swells, rising demand for firewood leads to deforestation. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, are a major source of pollution and are blamed for global warming. They account for about 80 per cent of total global energy consumption, down from 86 per cent in 1971. Nuclear energy accounts for about seven per cent while hydropower, other renewables and fuels like firewood account for about 13 per cent. Per capita energy use is highest in developed nations where each person consumed the equivalent of 6.4 tonnes of oil per year in 1999 or 10 times as much as in developing countries. The USA is the top consumer. About 4.5 per cent of the world’s energy comes from modern renewable sources, up from 3.2 per cent in 1971. Hydropower is the biggest such source, but large-scale schemes like dams are often controversial. Carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels accounts for 75 p.c. of the gases blamed for global warming. These “greenhouse gases” are linked to climate change which leads to more storms, floods and rising ocean levels. Many nations have signed the Kyoto Protocol to cut such gas emissions, but the USA has pulled out of the pact. South African President Thabo Mbeki said if the Chinese consumed as much oil per person as US citizens, China’s oil consumption would surge to 80 million barrels per day, outstripping current world production of 74 million barrels. Earlier, environmentalists shouting “Shame on Bush” heckled US Secretary of State Colin Powell while he spoke at the summit today. “Betrayed by governments,” read a banner held up by the protesters, some of whom were rapidly hustled out by security guards as they whistled and booed and shouted slogans critical of President Bush. “Thank you, I have now heard you. I ask that you hear me,” Powell replied, breaking off from his prepared speech to the gathering, which is aimed at enriching poor countries while saving the environment. He was later booed by other people in the audience when he said Washington was taking action to address climate change. Bush, an ally of the oil, coal and logging industries, has been widely criticised by many poor countries for not attending the gathering. Green groups view his absence as evidence that Washington puts profits before the environment.
Reuters |
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US Sikhs to offer prayers
on Sept 11 Washington, September 4 The Sikh Council on Religion and Education is making special efforts to urge the community to participate “visibly” in the commemorative events. The council has appealed to all gurdwaras to organise blood donation camps and feed the homeless. It has suggested that gurdwaras should organise candlelight vigils in the evening. It said Sikh temples should also send flowers or symbolic gifts to the local fire station and the police station. In Mesa, Arizona, residents have been invited to sign the Mayor’s proclamation commemorating the day, to be available at public libraries and on the Internet. A sapling will be planted in memory of Balbir Singh
Sodhi, a petrol station owner killed on September 15 by a gunman who allegedly shot the Sikh in retaliation for the terror attacks. The Washington National Cathedral has organised an all-day inter-faith prayer service in Washington on September 11. An hour has been given to each faith.
IANS |
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Bhutto urges CEC to ensure fair poll
Islamabad, September 4 In a letter addressed to the CEC, the former prime minister, expressing her reservations about vote counting in the past elections, wrote, “There is a lack of clarity about the declaration that the Returning Officers of every constituency would announce the election results “locally”. The manual of the Returning Officers upon which the count will be based continues to state that the final count will be announced after the votes are taken into the dark tunnel outside the watchful eyes of the candidates and their representatives in the provincial election commissions. This is where the rigging begins after the conclusion of the vote”. Ms Bhutto wrote: “Since the rigging of elections began, the new procedure was adopted of having the final count take place outside the eyes of candidates and their agents in the third place namely the provincial election commissions. This is where boxes are changed and votes hacked in. Faxes too can be changed to change the final result.” She further wrote: “I again emphasise that if the Returning Officers can be empowered to do an informal count before the final count, they can also be asked to do the final count. Experience teaches us that the only ballot count that had sanctity in Pakistan was the ballot count of 1985 and 1988 in the presence of candidates.”
ANI |
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55 Pak prisoners freed
Kabul, September 4 Under tight security, the group was taken by bus to a Pakistan air force C-130 plane. Foreign ministry spokesman Omar Samad said another 55 Pakistanis would be released tomorrow. The men were imprisoned when they arrived in Pakistan, where they would be identified and interrogated. The Pakistani authorities said they wanted to be certain the 55 men had no affiliation with outlawed Islamic organisations. Mr Samad said the detainees had been captured before last year’s terror attacks in the USA on September 11. They had been working with the Taliban or “other
Taliban-associated groups” and had been held for between one and six years.
AP |
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Fresh Maoist attack; US advisory on Nepal
Kathmandu, September 4 Three persons, including two active local activists of the ruling Nepali Congress, were brutally killed in separate incidents in Kailali last night, the radio quoted a district police officer as saying. Meanwhile, the US State Department has warned that Maoist rebels were planning to launch fresh attacks across Nepal ahead of a planned general strike and that Americans and other tourists could be at risk. In an announcement yesterday, the State Department said the Maoists have stepped up threats in anticipation of strike or bandh they have declared for September. The department said there is “heightened risks to American citizens and American interests in Nepal, especially outside the Kathmandu valley from Maoists.”
UNI |
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Speaker
gets 3 yrs’ jail Jakarta, September 4 “We declare defendant Akbar Tandjung...guilty of committing graft...and hand over a sentence to the first defendant Akbar Tandjung of three years in jail,’’ presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria told the court. One of Tandjung’s lawyers said he would appeal. Prosecutors had demanded Tandjung be jailed for four years over the alleged misuse of $ 4 million, far below the maximum 20-year penalty for charges of abuse of power and graft.
Reuters |
HOUSE
RAIDED, TWO AL-QAIDA MEN HELD SC
ORDER ON POLL ‘VIOLATED’ BY PERVEZ |
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Kabul,
September 4
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