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Friday,
June 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Pak-India talks can
begin any time: Kasuri Do not
back Pervez, Benazir tells USA Pak to get
another $ 123 m from IMF Canada
declares LeT terrorist group
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Sikh jatha reaches Nankana Sahib Indians
win two ‘Green Oscars’
USAID to
spend $1.1 bn on Iraq’s reconstruction Powell
arrives in Bangladesh Harry
Potter author sues newspaper
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Pak-India talks can begin any time: Kasuri Islamabad, June 19 “The basis of a road map for peace already exists and Pakistan and India do not have to reinvent the wheel. If there is political will, they can start the process of dialogue where they left off at Agra,” Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri told Pakistan newspaper Daily Times. Referring to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s remarks that proper homework was imperative for dialogue, Mr Kasuri said Pakistan did not believe in rushing into a political summit without doing proper homework either, “but this should not take months if there is political will.” On the controversy over General Musharraf’s statement, Mr Kasuri said “it was quoted out of context.” “In fact, the President had said after Kargil, both realised that war was not a viable option. “He said it was ironic that Pakistan and India talk to each other when the situation is relatively normal but stop talking when it gets bad.” Meanwhile, an official of the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said it regretted the recent statements by the Indian leadership and Indian External Affairs Ministry over the “slanted reporting of the remarks made by the President of Pakistan in an interview to the NDTV.” The official expressed a “deep sense of disappointment over the unnecessary controversy generated by the Indian media” and the uncalled for statements by the Indian officials and leaders, adding that the controversy should have ended after the clarification by General Musharraf that he was quoted incorrectly and out of context by the Indian media.
— PTI |
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Do not back Pervez, Benazir tells USA Islamabad, June 19 In an interview to the BBC, Ms Bhutto said under General Musharraf’s rule, the Al-Qaida grew and attacked the World Trade Center in the USA and despite the recent crackdown, both Al-Qaida and Taliban regrouped in Pakistan and attacked coalition forces in Afghanistan. “I would like Washington to review its close relationship with Gen Pervez Musharraf. It is under General Musharraf’s watch that the Al-Qaida attacked the World Trade Center. “I am not saying he had something to do with it... but that it is under his watch that the Al-Qaida attacked the World Trade Center,” she said. Ms Bhutto said General Musharraf promised to stop the Al-Qaida ultras fleeing into Pakistan. “They fled into Pakistan and they are still being caught. It is under his watch that the defeated Taliban ultras have re-grouped and are attacking international peacekeepers in Afghanistan to drive them out of that country,” she said. Ms Bhutto, who is in London opposed General Musharraf who is on a visit to Britain, said that Musharraf was not managing to cure Pakistan’s religious extremists and the US support for him could weaken the country’s political opposition. Ms Bhutto said the USA was under the impression that by backing General Musharraf it was going to save Pakistan from the rise of terrorism. “We think the opposite. The USA thinks that if anybody opposes General Musharraf they are really muddying the waters and making a worst for the war against terror.”
— PTI |
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Pak to get another $ 123 m from IMF Washington, June 19 With this, the total disbursements to Pakistan under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement has gone up to $ 738 million. The PRGF is a soft-loan facility carrying an annual interest rate of 0.5 per cent. While approving the disbursement yesterday, the IMF’s Executive Board gave a waiver for Pakistan’s non-observance of a structural performance criterion, that of preparing by April 15 a revised Financial Improvement Plan for the nation’s main power utility, the Water and Power Development Authority. IMF Deputy Managing Director Eduardo Aninat said most structural reforms planned through April were “broadly on track” except for limited progress on privatisation owing largely to regional security concerns that resulted in a lack of investor
interest, and for setbacks in energy sector reforms. Aninat said Pakistan’s macro-economic policy would have to be supplemented by a broad range of structural reforms to create an environment more conducive to private investment. “This will require forceful pursuit of reforms aimed at simplifying the tax system and broadening the tax base, including the elimination of a number of tax exemptions to reduce distortions and the potential for corruption,” he said.
— PTI |
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Canada declares LeT terrorist group Vancouver, June 19 Besides Babbar Khalsa, the other two Sikh organisations that have been placed on the list of terrorist outfits are Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation. “The Government of Canada has determined that these entities knowingly engaged in terrorist activities,” Solicitor-General Wayne Easter said in Ottawa yesterday. The decision meant that those belonging to the groups — raising money for them or aiding their activities — could face imprisonment up to 10 years. There are now 31 such entities listed under the anti-terrorism law. Ajaib Singh Bagri, one of the two accused in the 1985 Air India bombing case that killed 329 persons on board, is a member of Babbar Khalsa. The group was founded by Talwinder Singh Parmar, a one-time Burnsby resident, who was killed by the Indian police. He has been accused of being the mastermind behind the Kanishka bombing and has been named as co-conspirator in the case. Babbar Khalsa raised funds in Canada until its charitable status was revoked in mid 1990s. According to the government, the International Sikh Youth Federation aims to promote Sikh philosophy and the establishment of an independent Sikh nation. Since 1984, its members have been engaged in terrorist attacks, assassinations and bombings, mostly against Indian political figures, but also against moderate members of the Sikh community opposed to their militant ways. Babbar Khalsa and Babbar Khalsa International are among the most vicious and powerful of the militant Sikh groups, it said. Lashkar-e-Toiba is a Pakistan-based radical militant organisation operating in Jammu and Kashmir. The group has targeted both civilians and Indian security forces and has become infamous for carrying out massacres of non-Muslims. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is a Sunni militant organisation that commits terrorist acts, including bombings and assassinations, traditionally against individuals or groups belonging to the Shiite Islamic community in Pakistan. The group’s goal is the creation of a Sunni Muslim state, the Federal Government said. — PTI |
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Finland’s PM quits over Iraq papers Helsinki, June 19 Finnish President Tarja Halonen accepted the resignation late yesterday, but asked Ms Jaeaetteenmaeki and her team to stay on until a new administration was formed. The Jaeaetteenmaeki government, inaugurated on April 17 and the first to be led by a woman, lasted only 63 days. This made it one of the briefest in Finnish history, with only two administrations during the Second World War having been shorter. The move came after a presidential aide, Mr Martti Manninen, said the Prime Minister had lied to parliament yesterday when she had claimed that she had not solicited the summaries of classified documents he had sent her ahead of the March general elections. Just days before the elections, Ms Jaeaetteenmaeki cited confidential foreign ministry documents to support her claim that the then Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen was supporting the United States over Iraq, in clear defiance of Finland’s official stand of neutrality.
— AFP |
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Sikh jatha reaches Nankana Sahib Nankana Sahib, June 19 Accommodated in three AC buses, the 135-member jatha left Panja Sahib at about 12 noon but it took them more than six hours to reach Nankana Sahib, which for the devout Sikhs holds the same reverence as does the Vatican for a Christian and Mecca for the Muslim. The Janam Asthan Gurdwara lies 39 km south west of Sheikhupura, which is are divisional headquarters. The more than 500 km journey was in no way an arduous task for the simple reason that three fourth of the journey was done on the famous and familiar Pakistan motorway, which is one of the best in Asia. But as the convoy neared Lahore, the jatha took a turn for Sheikhupura. Now it was where the yatris’ patience was tested. The convoy passed through small villages and narrow dusty roads, which cried for repair. Villages presented a much pathetic look. While tractor was a rare sight, one should not think of a harvesting combine. The poor state of roads and small villages accompanied the yatris till the holy shrine. Despite all that, it was a pleasant journey. None faced any problems on the way though the Pakistani Government had taken care to provide the services of a specialist doctor. Throughout the visit, the police had been shadowing the pilgrims and taking all measures to prevent any untoward incident. There were times when even commandos were seen patrolling inside at both Dera Sahib in Lahore and Panja Sahib in Hassan
Abdal. So, nothing was left to chance with top Pak officials ever ready to help the jatha members. Even the people have shown great regard for them in bazars, on roads and at other public places. Nankana Sahib is a highly revered place for Sikhs where they gather at Baisakhi (April), Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death anniversary (June) and birthday of Guru Nanak Dev (November). This is the last leg of journey for the jatha. |
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Indians
win two ‘Green Oscars’ London, June 19 Bunker Roy, founder of the Barefoot College, Tilonia in Rajasthan, who provided lighting using solar panels in over 136 remote and virtually inaccessible Himalayan villages bagged the Ashden Award for Community Welfare while S.P. Gon Chaudhuri, a leading specialist in renewable energy systems from West Bengal was chosen for the Ashden Award for Enterprise. Afworki Tesfazion of Eritrea who invented smokeless and fuel-efficient clay stoves got the Award for Food Security and Moel Moelegan who developed an innovative wind farm received the Ashden Award for the UK. Lord Whitty, UK minister for Farming, Food and Sustainable Energy, presented the awards at the Darwin Centre of the Natural History Museum in the presence of a select gathering. The winners were chosen from a shortlist of nine persons drawn from a record number of entries from some 25 countries and four continents.
— PTI |
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USAID to spend $1.1 bn on Iraq’s reconstruction Baghdad, June 19 “We’ve never spent so much money in one country over one year since the Marshall plan,” Andrew S. Natsios, administrator of USAID, told Iraqi contractors and reporters yesterday. The USAID priorities in Iraq include putting back in effect basic public services, reviving the private sector and providing employment to as many Iraqi citizens as possible. Natsios also announced a grant to the Iraqi Nursing Association based on needs identified by a U S Army civil affairs team and the nursing association.
— AP |
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Powell arrives in Bangladesh Dhaka, June 19 Gen Powell’s five-hour stopover at Dhaka is mainly seen as a thanksgiving visit for Bangladesh’s support in the Iraq war. The US Secretary of State arrived here at noon from Phnom Penh after attending the ASEAN Regional Forum and was scheduled to meet the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, and main opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, later in the day.
— PTI |
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Harry Potter author sues newspaper New York June 19 The News published details of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’’ after buying a copy from a health food store in New York City that had mistakenly put the book out for sale before its Saturday release. The suit, prepared by lawyers for Rowling and Scholastic Inc., claims the newspaper damaged Rowling’s intellectual property rights and harmed Scholastic’s $3 million worldwide marketing campaign. The book — the fifth instalment of the adventures of the boy wizard has been under extraordinary security ahead of the release. In a statement, Scholastic said it hoped “this unfortunate situation will not spoil the surprise for millions of children around the country who have been eagerly awaiting the book.’’
— AP |
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