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WB clarifies role on Baglihar issue; says not guarantor of treaty
Pak to induct JF-17 aircraft
Bush begins second term atop plank of liberty
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Sharon revives ties with Abbas, officials meet
Taliban are gone, but Afghan women are still taught in secret
Rushdie faces fresh death threat
18 security men, 6 Maoists killed in Nepal
Bird flu kills Vietnam teenager
48 students expelled under French law Zarqawi tape vows lengthy war in Iraq
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WB clarifies role on Baglihar issue;
Islamabad, January 20 “The World Bank will examine the request and follow the procedures laid down by the treaty,” said an announcement made by the bank and released by its resident mission in Islamabad. The announcement also explained in detail the World Bank’s role in the matter but clarified that “it (the bank) is not a guarantor of the treaty”. It explained that “The World Bank is a signatory to the treaty for certain specified purposes” and added that many of the purposes for which it had signed the treaty had been fulfilled. The bank said there were now three remaining responsibilities for it under the treaty, relating to the settlement of differences and disputes. Disagreements by the parties on the interpretations of the treaty’s provisions were classified into three categories, including ‘questions’ which were examined by the Permanent Indus Commission, ‘differences’ by a neutral expert and ‘disputes’ by a Court of Arbitration. According to the treaty, the bank said, it had three remaining responsibilities to perform. They were: One, a role for the bank in the appointment of a neutral expert. The first step under the treaty was to resolve any ‘question’ through the Permanent Indus Commission itself. If the ‘question’ was not resolved there, it would become a ‘difference’ and then referred to a neutral expert, to be appointed by the two countries or by a third party agreed upon by the two countries. In the absence of such an agreement, the appointment of the neutral expert would be made by the World Bank, in consultation with the two countries. The decision of the neutral expert on all matters within its competence shall be final and binding. Two, the management of the World Bank of a trust fund to meet the expenses of a neutral expert. Three, a role for the World Bank in the establishment of a Court of Arbitration. If the ‘difference’ did not fall within the mandate of the neutral expert or if the neutral expert ruled that the ‘difference’ should be treated as a ‘dispute’, then a Court of Arbitration would be established. Under the treaty, the World Bank had a role in the establishment of such a court, said the announcement but did not say how long it would take to complete the process. Pakistan had announced on Tuesday that it had decided to invoke the provisions of the treaty and written to the World Bank to appoint a neutral expert after having failed to resolve the differences at the level of the Permanent Indus Water Commission and bilaterally over the Baglihar dam, being constructed by India on River Chenab in violation of the treaty. This was for the first time in the 44-year history of the treaty that a matter had been referred to the World Bank for arbitration. |
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Islamabad, January 20 "We are fully alive to our operational needs and induction of JF-17 is part of the overall plan to further strengthen combat capabilities of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)," the Chief of Air Staff told a gathering of PAF senior officials at one of
the southern air bases yesterday. Pakistan and China have jointly manufactured JF-17 (Thunder), also known as the next generation aircraft. The aircraft had its maiden flight early this year and the officials believe that the aircraft will help PAF overcome shortage of combat aircraft. "We have been continuing our effort to enhance our capabilities through new inductions, upgrades and quality training," he said. The PAF has inducted Chinese origin F-7 PG aircraft, additional Mirages, CASAs CN-235 aircraft and MI-171 helicopters to its inventory, he added. "We are seriously pursuing to meet our needs for hi-tech fighter aircraft, including F-16s," the Air Chief said against the backdrop of the reports that the USA might deliver 18 F-16 aircraft to Pakistan in the near future. India has been opposing delivery of the jets to Pakistan, which says that proposed induction of the F-16s is part of modest acquisition program. The US Administration had recently approved three weapon deals worth $1.2 billion for Pakistan, which includes eight P-3C surveillance aircraft for Pakistan Navy. "The JF-17 (Thunder) aircraft will arrive in Pakistan next year...We are also trying to make our air defence network strong and reliable for the defence of our country and are in the process of acquiring high, medium and low level radars to enhance our coverage," Air Chief Saadat said.
— UNI |
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Bush begins second term atop plank of liberty
Washington, January 20 Raising one hand and placing the other on a family Bible, Mr Bush vowed to preserve, protect and defend the US Constitution in a 35-word pledge. In his inaugural address from the steps of the Capitol, 58-year-old Bush, the 43rd US President said, “in a world moving towards liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.” “The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.” He said adding as long as “whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny,” the Unites States would be threatened Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80 and ailing with cancer, administered the oath of office to Mr Bush as his wife Laura and daughters Jenna and Barbara, parents, members of the Congress and others watched from specially built stands outside the Capitol. As Bush was being sworn-in, a thick security blanket was was in place in and around the Capitol Hill as vast crowd spilled down the Hill and towards the historic National Mall and the monuments beyond. Without mentioning Iraq or using the word terror, Mr Bush said, “We are led by events and common sense to one conclusion. The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world”. However, Mr Bush, whose military campaign in Iraq has come under fire both at home and abroad, asserted the US “does not want to impose our own style of government on the unwilling. “Our goal is instead to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom and make their own way,” the President said. His remarks assume significance as Iraq prepares to go for elections later this month. At the same time, he said “Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon.” Mr Bush said he would place the nation on the side of the world’s oppressed people. “All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.” Mr Bush said: “It is the policy of the USA to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world”. Seeking to live down an image at times seen as aggressive, he said spreading freedom “is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary”. Without naming any countries, Bush served notice that “we will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people.” In remarks seen as reference to terrorism, Mr Bush said freedom and liberty were the oldest ideals of America and “now it is the urgent requirement of our nation’s security and the calling of our time.” Mr Bush promised to work with US allies in his second term. “We honour your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help,” he said. The weather was cold; security extraordinarily tight for the nation’s 55th inauguration, first since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Sharpshooters were perched on the rooftops of buildings near specially constructed stands at the Capitol. — PTI
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Sharon revives ties with Abbas, officials meet
Jerusalem, January 20 There were no signs early today that the Palestinian police had begun to take up positions in areas from which militants had fired mortar bombs and rockets at Jewish settlements in Gaza and southern Israel. The Palestinian Security Commander in Gaza, Major-Gen Abdel-Razek al-Majaydeh, said yesterday security units would fan out near the territory’s borders within two days. Cleared by Israel’s Security Cabinet, Israeli top brass met Palestinian counterparts late on Wednesday at the Erez border crossing in Gaza, to discuss the Gaza deployment and halting of the violence. Israel has threatened tough military action if Abbas fails to act. “We want to make sure that the Israelis know where our men are, so that they don’t get shot by accident,” a Palestinian security official said, referring to the evening security talks. Sharon’s decision to restore contacts could revive West Asia peace hopes stirred by Abbas’s January 9 elections on a platform of ending bloodshed, but dimmed by persistent militant violence in defiance of the new leader’s calls for a ceasefire. Sharon opted to restore contacts with the Palestinians after his Security Cabinet “received information from intelligence sources that Hamas (militants) were starting to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority,” a political source said. But Sharon’s office said, initial contacts would involve only security officials and there would be none with Abbas on diplomatic issues until “the Palestinians take real steps to stop terrorist operations and rocket and mortar fire”. Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said on the Army Radio there were signs “Abu Mazen (Abbas) intends to act to quell terror, not because Israel wants it but because it’s primarily in his interest”. Abbas delivered a blunt message to his security chiefs, telling them he would accept no excuses for lack of action, a Palestinian official said. “He wants serious effort, follow-up work, and no tricks and games since this is a new era. Those who fail in doing their jobs will be punished,” the official said. Israel plans to reopen Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Friday to allow thousands of stranded Palestinians to return home in what Israel described as a “goodwill gesture”. The crossing was closed on December 12, after Palestinian militants killed four Israeli soldiers at a nearby outpost.
— Reuters |
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Taliban are gone, but Afghan women
OFF a dirty backstreet in a far-flung suburb of Kabul, past a washing line Inside, teenage girls in headscarves sit crosslegged on the floor, faces twisted in concentration, doing something once strictly forbidden for female Afghans; learning to read and write. Under the Taliban, an underground network of secret schools taught a rudimentary education at great risk to teachers and students. In the democratic new Afghanistan, schools for girls are still operating — still in secret. “There is no signboard in the street though most of the neighbours know what is going on here,” said Faryal Benish of the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (Rawa). “If the fundamentalists found out they would attack us. And the parents know it’s a school, but if they knew it was us teaching their girls, they might not let them come to lessons.” Rawa enjoyed brief fame in the West after September 11 as a group of doughty feminists who defied the Taliban. They taught girls banned from schools. They helped widows barred from working. They also tried to tell the world about the nightmare Afghan women had fallen into, smuggling out a horrifying film shot surreptitiously of a woman being executed in Kabul’s sports stadium. Yet, more than three years after the Taliban’s fall, the women of Rawa still dare not emerge in public in Kabul. Members believe they are still in so much danger from their enemies that they have not even opened an office in the capital. “We can be killed easily if we carry out our activities in public,” said a Rawa organiser, Neelab Ismat, “It is better than the Taliban days of course. But we can only work underground, even now.” The secret schools — there are 50 in the capital, teaching hundreds of girls and women—no longer run the terrible risks they once did. But the threat from Islamic hardliners still requires discretion. “They are very backward, narrow-minded people,” said Faryal, an 18-year-old student and Rawa member. “They think girls are just for washing the clothes and sitting in the house.” Now, about a dozen girls between the ages of 10 and 19 learn together for an hour every morning in the cosy room, kept warm against the January cold by a wood-burning stove. On dark days, a single bulb provides light - powered by a car battery. Thirteen-year-old Nargis has learnt to read in the past three years and wants to be a doctor.“My father won’t let me go to the government school,” she said. “But I like it here and I’ve learned a lot.” Rawa doesn’t like President Hamid Karzai— “too close to the warlords”— and hates George Bush. “He is a hypocrite, using the pain of Afghanistan’s women for propaganda,” said Ms Ismat. The appointment of three new women ministers to the Afghan Cabinet last month was dismissed as window-dressing of a government dominated by conservative old men, many with fundamentalist leanings. Ms Ismat said: “We saw in the election many women who were proud to vote, but we do not think this new government will help women much. “Hospitals for women are terrible, commanders can still force girls into marriage, and there are hardly any jobs for women. Unfortunately we are not hopeful about the future of Afghanistan.” By arrangement with The Independent, London |
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Rushdie faces fresh death threat
London, January 20 Ayatollah said Rushdie was an apostate whose killing would be authorised by Islam, Iranian media reported. He spoke about Rushdie during a fiery tirade against ‘western and Zionist capitalists’ yesterday. ‘’They talk about respect towards all religions but they support such a mahdour al-damm (a term applying to someone whose blood may be shed with impunity).’’ The British Foreign Office is tightlipped about the renewed reference to Rushdie. Officials said the Iranian Government, which had disassociated itself from the fatwa in 1998 after the publication of “The Satanic Verses,” had not changed its position. They clarified that the fatwa, originally issued by late Ayatollah Khomenie, would always remain valid as it could only be rescinded by the person who issued it or by someone wielding greater authority.
— UNI |
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18 security men, 6 Maoists killed in Nepal
Kathmandu, January 20 Six Maoist rebels, including two women militants, and 18 security personnel were killed in fierce fighting in east Nepal in the Maipokhari area of Ilam district in eastern Nepal yesterday, state-run Radio Nepal said. Eighteen bodies of the security personnel had been recovered from the incident site, the radio said quoting local security sources. However, 11 security personnel were still missing. Meanwhile, four civilians were injured when Maoists exploded a bomb at the Land Revenue Office at Damak Municipality of Jhapa district today, the radio said. The government building was damaged when Maoists exploded a powerful bomb at the building today. Two other adjoining buildings were also partially damaged by the explosion.
— PTI |
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Bird flu kills Vietnam teenager
Hanoi, January 20 The girl died in a Ho Chi Minh City hospital yesterday after battling the highly virulent H5N1 strain for nearly two weeks since she was hospitalised on January 6 from the southern province of Tien Giang, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said. Her death takes the Asian bird flu death toll to 38 — 26 in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand.
— Reuters |
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48 students expelled under French law Paris, January 20 Most of those barred from attending classes were Muslim girls who refused to take off their headscarves, but three Sikh boys were also ordered out of the classroom for wearing turbans, he said in the Paris suburb ofarne-la-Vallee. “This law in favour of secularity in schools, yesterday challenged by some, has been imposed firmly and calmly,” the minister added, speaking at a forum celebrating the 100th anniversary of France’s law separating church and state. — AFP
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Zarqawi tape vows lengthy war in Iraq Dubai, January 20 The speaker, who identified himself as the Jordanian militant, said insurgents were crushing the morale of “tyrant” America and called on them to be patient in their street battles because God had promised victory. The tape, posted on an Islamist Web site today, was not dated. — Reuters
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Film on Kiran Bedi screened at UN Church opposes use of condoms Man executed for killing 9 kids ‘Spiderman’
creator wins case Public smoking to be banned |
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