 |
|
Pak may use N-arms against India: CIA
Saturn’s largest moon clicked
India, USA ink open skies pact
Maoists release 14 Indian Gorkhas
Justice Dogar may be acting
CEC of Pak
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Pak may use N-arms against India: CIA
Washington, January 16 However, in its 114-page report titled ''Mapping the Global Future'', the National Intelligence Council (NIC), the US Intelligence Community's centre for mid-term and long-term strategic thinking, said both India and Pakistan appeared to understand the likely prices to be paid by triggering a conflict. ''But nationalistic feelings run high and are not likely to abate. Under plausible scenarios, Pakistan might use nuclear weapons to counter success by the larger Indian conventional forces, particularly given Islambad's lack of strategic depth,'' the CIA report said. ''Advances in modern weaponry longer ranges, precision delivery, and more destructive conventional munitions create circumstances encouraging the pre-emptive use of military force,'' it added. The increased range of new missile and aircraft delivery systems provided sanctuary to their possessors. Should a conflict occur that involved one or more of the great powers, the consequences would be significant, the NIC said. The report is the third unclassified document prepared by the NIC, a CIA think tank, in the past seven years that takes a long-term view of the future. It also said the United States would continue to be called on to help manage conflicts such as Kashmir, Palestine, North Korea and Taiwan to ensure they did not go out of hand if a peace settlement could not be reached. Experts assessed that the majority of international terrorist groups would continue to identify with radical Islam. The revival of Muslim identity would create a framework for the spread of radical Islamic ideology both inside and outside the Middle East, Western Europe, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, it said. This revival has been accompanied by a deepening solidarity among Muslims caught up in national or regional separatist struggles, such as Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya, Iraq, Mindanao, or southern Thailand and has emerged in response to government repression, corruption, and ineffectiveness, it added. The report also said the key factors that spawned international terrorism showed no signs of abating over the next 15 years. A radical takeover in a Muslim country in the Middle East could spur the spread of terrorism in the region and give confidence to others that a new Caliphate was not just a dream, it said. Informal networks of charitable foundations, madrasas, hawalas, and other mechanisms would continue to proliferate and be exploited by radical elements, the NIC said. Alienation among unemployed youths would swell the ranks of those vulnerable to terrorist recruitment. ''Our greatest concern is that (terrorist groups) might acquire biological agents, or less likely, a nuclear device, either of which could cause mass casualties,'' the council said. There were indications that the Islamic radicals' professed desire to create a transnational insurgency, that is, a drive by Muslim extremists to overthrow a number of allegedly apostate secular governments with predominately Muslim subjects, would have an appeal to many Muslims, it added.
— UNI |
|
Saturn’s largest moon clicked
Some
of the most astonishing photographs ever to be taken reached Earth yesterday, after travelling nearly a billion miles through space. Taken by a camera which journeyed for more than seven years to reach its target, these are of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and are already beginning to reveal the secrets of this, one of the most tantalising bodies in the universe.
The colour images, which were beamed back to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) base in Darmstadt, Germany, clearly display Titan’s bright orange surface. It is covered by a thin haze of methane and what, at this early stage, scientists believe could be a methane sea with islands and a mist-shrouded coastline. One image appears to show boulders that were probably formed from ice. Scientists, who have long believed Titan’s atmosphere mimics that of Earth in its early days, were ecstatic. Dr Andrew Ball of the Open University, who has worked closely on the project, said: “This is fantastic, it has given us a real boost. We had extracted all the information from previous missions and waited years to gain this sort of data. We have opened a window on this alien world.” The little hero that brought back these images to Earth is the 9 feet wide Huygens probe, the world’s most ambitious unmanned mission. A collaboration between NASA and the ESA, it has cost more than 2 billion pound sterling and has taken some 25 years to plan. British scientists involved in the mission said they were astounded by the quality of data they had received after Friday’s successful descent to Titan. Professor John Zarnecki of the Open University said: “We have science data from all of the nine sensors on the Surface Science Package and everyone is busy analysing to see what we can tell about the properties of Titan from this. Although a first glance will give us an initial indication, we have years of data analyses ahead — this has exceeded all our dreams.” What has got the experts so excited is that they can at last start to unravel some of Titan’s secrets. Aerial photographs of the largest of Saturn’s 33 moons, taken on the tiny probe’s descent, show dark lines that suggest stream beds carved by liquid flowing into a dark area thought to be a sea of liquid methane. The head of the probe’s camera team, Marty Tomasko, a scientist from the University of Arizona, said: “It is almost impossible to resist speculating that the flat dark material is some kind of drainage channel, that we are seeing some kind of a shoreline. Maybe this suggests it was wet not so long ago and has not penetrated so far into the surface.” The pictures were transmitted from the space probe — named after
Christian Huygens, the 17th-century astronomer credited with discovering Titan — back to its mother spacecraft, Cassini, which relayed these to Earth. Sound was also transmitted, the onboard microphone picked up whooshing sounds which scientists believe were likely to be the wind whistling past the probe on its descent. Titan’s winds can reach 1,000 mph, and there is hope that the sound of lightning strikes may also be picked up. A potential holiday destination it is not. Titan is the first moon other than the Earth’s to be explored, and is the only one in the solar system known to have a significant atmosphere. It is rich in nitrogen and contains about 6 per cent methane, making it one-and-a-half times thicker than Earth’s. Very little is known about Titan — a moon that is even bigger than Mercury and Pluto. The moon is surrounded by an orange haze caused by frozen particles floating in the atmosphere. So has ended successfully a mission that was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 15, 1997. In order to gain the gravitational pull it required to get as far as Titan, the spacecraft made two “gravity-assisted swing-bys” around Venus and one each around Earth and Jupiter. It arrived at Saturn in July, 2004, and continued orbiting the solar system’s second largest planet until Christmas, when Cassini released the Huygens probe. The probe’s descent to Titan was slowed by three parachutes, while a protective heat shield ensured a safe passage through the dense atmosphere. Its successful landing on Friday led to scenes of jubilation among scientists. By arrangement with The Independent, London. |
|
India, USA ink open skies pact
Washington, January 16 The Air Transport Agreement (ATA), initialled yesterday after two days of talks between US Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and India’s Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, would enable the Indian carriers to operate additional flights to different destinations in the US. It also offers more opportunities to explore the US market in passenger, airfreight and mail services, the Indian Embassy here said in a press note. The ATA will become official after the two countries sign the agreement formally when Mineta visits New Delhi in February. It would replace the existing 1956 Agreement to meet the growing requirements for air services and rising demand for travel facilities between the two countries. The agreement follows talks from January 13 to 15. “Taking note of the expanding areas of cooperation, the growth in political, economic, commercial ties, the potential in tourism between the two countries and the resultant need for increasing the air services between the two countries, the talks focused on developing a new framework for the Air Transport Agreement between the two countries,” the embassy note said. Following the conclusion of ATA, the air services between the two countries are expected to see an exponential growth, giving a greater fillip and thrust to the existing passenger, air cargo and mail services between the two countries. The ATA would also facilitate the rapidly increasing trade and commercial traffic, promote tourism and further enhance travel amenities and choices for the movement and travel of people of two countries.
— PTI |
|
|
Maoists release 14 Indian Gorkhas
Kathmandu, January 16 The soldiers, stationed in Jammu and Kashmir, were released this afternoon at the initiative of the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), a Nepalese human rights watch group. They were travelling on a bus toward their homes in different districts, including Dang, Kaski and Nuwakot, on a holiday when the Maoists abducted them, a source at INSEC said. The rebels took them even though they said they belonged to the Indian Army, the source said. However, the soldiers were released unconditionally two days after abduction.
— PTI |
|
Justice Dogar may be acting
CEC of Pak
Islamabad, January 16 On December 28 last year, Mr Khan had expressed willingness to leave the office on January 15 after the completion of his tenure. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar twice served as the acting CEC after being nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan under Article 217 of the Constitution which states that:" At any time when the office of commissioner is vacant or the commissioner is absent or unable to perform the functions of his office due to any other cause, a judge of the Supreme Court, nominated by the CJ, shall act as commissioner". Law Minister Wasi Zafar also told The Dawn that the CJ would nominate a judge from the top court to act as the acting CEC. Ever since the appointment of the Mr Khan as the CEC, the opposition had been demanding the appointment of an "impartial commission." Mr Khan was named Chief Election Commissioner after he retired as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2001. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Video
