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Pak may review F-16 deal with US
Quake survivors gather in rubble for |
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Mittal sponsors scholarships at Kellogg School
Japan to cull 180,000 chickens
Charles lobbied against
Mugabe?
UK court allows Ranbaxy to appeal
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Pak may review F-16 deal with US
Islamabad, November 4 Pakistan is currently considering two options — either to buy fewer than the originally planned 75 planes or to import a previous version of the aircraft from a European country. It is believed that Belgium is being looked at as a possible market for purchase of an earlier version of F-16s. A military source indicated that an earlier version of F-16 deal could cost one-sixth of the price that Pakistan has agreed to pay to the US for the state-of-the-art F-16 fighter jets. A decision may be taken soon to put the American F-16 package on hold. On Monday, President Gen Pervez Musharraf had indicated to Dawn that the deal was being re-examined. The President specifically stated that the government was considering purchase of fewer F-16 fighter jets from the US. Asked if the government was thinking of deferring procurement of F-16 fighter jets from the US, the President had said: “We will not buy all.” The President, however, did not specify the number. Pakistan was planning to buy 75 F-16 aircraft from the US and the deal had almost been firmed up shortly before the October 8 earthquake that caused massive loss of life and property. When contacted for comments on the F-16 deal with the US, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said on Thursday: “So far no decision has been taken on this subject,” indicating that a review of available options was still in progress. The spokesperson had said last week that the procurement of jets from the US was not a priority issue for Pakistan in the wake of the devastating earthquake. “This is not an immediate issue for us. We will take a decision at an appropriate time, taking into account all the factors,” she said. |
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Quake survivors gather in rubble for Id prayers
Muzaffarabad, November 4 In the regional hub of Muzaffarabad, the faithful gathered on straw mats in a field surrounded by smashed concrete as the helicopters of aid workers buzzed overhead in efforts to deliver the much-needed aid ahead of the Himalaya region’s fierce winter. “God is testing us, testing our patience, testing our faith,” Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s largest religious political party, told a crowd of more than 1,000 men. For most of Pakistan, Friday was the start of the Id al-Fitr celebrations marking the en of the holy fasting month of Ramazan, but President Gen Pervez Musharraf, who toured Muzaffarabad today, asked citizens to tone down festivities out of respect of quake victims. “This is a different Id. The children have no clothes, no tents,” Mr Ahmed said. Zubair Abbasi (24), an economics student before his university in Muzaffarabad was destroyed, spent the day visiting orphans instead of the normal Id routine of feasting and distributing gifts among family and friends. “Usually we celebrate very happily but this time we are very sad. Houses have collapsed and people are dead,” he said. “These were good people, very virtuous. We don’t know why this was sent from God,” he said. In Balakot, Abdul Aziz said he had lost his wife and children in the quake. “I wish I would also have died with them,” a tearful Aziz said after prayers at a damaged mosque. “Maybe I lived to bury them and see their graves.” — AP
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60 feared dead as boat capsizes in Pakistan
Karachi, November 4 The motorboat was ferrying more than 80 persons from the Indus river delta town of Jangisar, around 100 km southeast of Karachi, to a nearby village, Navy Commander Mohammed Salman said.
— AFP |
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Mittal sponsors scholarships at Kellogg School
London, November 4 The London-based businessman and his company, Mittal Steel, announced that the programme would begin from the autumn of 2006. The Kellogg school is a part of the Northwestern University in the USA. Called the Mittal Scholars Programme, it will provide 20 scholarships for qualifying Kellogg School MBA students from the full-time and EMBA programmes each year for an initial three-year term. Dipak C. Jain, Dean of the Kellogg school, welcomed the announcement, saying the programme would provide a foundation to Kellogg students specifically interested in the emerging markets. The programme had been designed to reflect Mittal Steel’s strong business profile in the emerging markets, a company press note said. Successful students would either be from emerging economic regions such as Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe or South America or would have a stated interest in these regions. Admitted Kellogg school students who would fulfil these criteria would be eligible to be considered for the Mittal Scholars Programme. In conjunction with the programme, Mittal Steel had also dedicated funds for Mittal executive participants in the Kellogg school’s Executive Education Programmes. “I am delighted to announce that we have chosen the Kellogg School to be our partner for the Mittal Scholars Programme,” Mittal said. “This is a unique programme as it is aimed at attracting students either from emerging market countries or those who have an interest in emerging markets, who may otherwise not have had an opportunity to study at Kellogg. “Emerging market economies are playing an increasingly important role in the global economy. We have all witnessed the extraordinary growth from China over the past couple of years, but there are many other countries with good growth prospects, including Eastern Europe, South America and India. “These countries offer exciting opportunities for many industries, including steel. Mittal Steel is already operating facilities in a number of these markets and this new initiative is part of a broad CSR programme we have put in place across these countries. “The aim of the programme is to both help accelerate the careers of talented individuals from these countries and also encourage a broader interest in these growing markets from students from the more developed markets. “It is our intention to also offer the Mittal scholars the chance of an internship at Mittal Steel during their time at the school.” — IANS
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Japan to cull 180,000 chickens
Tokyo, November 4 The latest Japanese outbreak occurred at a farm in Ibaraki prefecture (state), 90 km northeast of Tokyo, according to Yoshiko Otani of the prefectural livestock farming section. Antibody tests on 80 chickens showed that all had been exposed to a bird flu virus from the H5 family but survived, the prefecture said in a statement. No active bird flu viruses were found. The chickens were kept in a free-range compound. About 180,000 free-range chickens out of the 300,000 kept at the farm would be killed. The prefecture has also prohibited the movement of eggs or chickens within a 5 km radius around the farm while it conducts further tests at the farm. The virus was not detected at 11 other farms recently examined by Ibaraki. The authorities have already culled around 1.5 million birds in Ibaraki after finding signs of the disease at other farms. Officials say the strain that hit the country, H5N2, is less virulent than the H5N1 variety that has ravaged Southeast Asia since 2003 and killed at least 62 people there.
— AP |
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Charles lobbied against Mugabe?
Harare, November 4 The southern African state is struggling with a severe economic crisis that many critics blame on policies pursued by Mr Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s ruler since independence from Britain in 1980. Today, the government-controlled Herald and Chronicle newspapers said Prince Charles had this week appealed to the United Nations for “action’’ against Mr Mugabe during visit to the United States. In a lead story headlined “Row sucks in Prince Charles’’, the Herald daily charged that the prince was partly behind a statement issued by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressing concern over Zimbabwe. Prince Charles expressed strong views on Zimbabwe at a business conference attended by Mr Annan in New York before the UN boss issued his statement and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had “admitted’’ that he had pressured Mr Annan to condemn Zimbabwe, the newspaper said.
— Reuters |
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UK court allows Ranbaxy to appeal
London, November 4 The outcome of both appeals is expected by the end of 2006. “Having already been successful in invalidating one of the two key Pfizer patents relating to atorvastatin in the UK, Ranbaxy is encouraged to have been granted the opportunity to make its case on the infringement decision on the other patent before the UK Court of Appeal,” Ranbaxy president and executive director Malvinder Singh said.
— UNI |
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