 |
|
Iran opens ex-atomic site for inspection
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
India, Pak hold talks on train to Sindh
Indian channels, serials new rage in Pakistan
“Crash” upstages “Brokeback Mountain”
Govt, Naga rebels fail
to reach pact on truce
|
|
Iran opens ex-atomic site for inspection
Vienna, January 30 The diplomat, informed about IAEA affairs but asking not to be identified, said Iran had kept a promise to provide access to the Lavisan site at the weekend for visiting inspectors under IAEA safeguards division chief Olli Heinonen. Lack of IAEA access to Lavisan had loomed large in a US-EU push to have the nuclear agency’s board vote on Thursday to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over suspicions it is secretly trying to develop atomic bombs. Iran bulldozed a military-linked physics research centre at Lavisan in 2004 and stripped the ground around it before IAEA investigators could test for particles on equipment they believed was obtained by Iran for use in enriching uranium. The senior diplomat said Heinonen’s seven-member team had visited sites related to Lavisan and seen related equipment. The results of whatever environmental samples Heinonen’s team took will not be known for some weeks, he said.
— Reuters |
|
Four killed in Pak train mishap
Islamabad, January 30 A press release by Pakistan Railways said four persons were killed and 30 injured when the Lahore bound non-stop Islamabad Express derailed and many of its bogies fell into a ravine. Local TV channels had earlier reported at least 46 passengers were feared killed in the accident and scores injured. Railway officials said they were investigating whether the accident was caused by sabotage due to removal of fish plates from the track or because of high speed. Over 600 passengers were travelling in the train when it derailed while passing through a curve near Jhelum town following which a number of bogies fell into a ravine. — PTI
|
|
India, Pak hold talks on train to Sindh
Islamabad, January 30 The two sides were expected to announce the date of commencement of the train and sign the agreement on the final day of the talks here tomorrow, officials of both sides said. The nine-member Indian delegation headed by Ashok Gupta, Adviser, Railway Board, held talks with Pakistani Railway officials led by Mustaq Khan Jadoon, Additional General Manager, Railways, to fine-tune the modalities which have already been finalised by the two countries in similar talks in New Delhi two months ago. As per the previous understanding between the two countries, the train service was scheduled to commence from February 4, but it was reportedly put off to February 15. — PTI
|
|
|
Indian channels, serials new rage in Pakistan
Lahore, January 30 In the cosy comforts of a five-star hotel last week, this correspondent saw STAR Plus, STAR Gold, Sony and Punjab Today (Punjabi) being aired openly. Under the strict guidelines of the Pakistan Government spelt out by Mr Aziz, no Indian channel can be aired in Pakistan. Besides the airing of Indian channels, some Pak channels have even been Indianised. The channels in question are Geo TV and Filmazia, the latter entirely devoted to films and film-based programmes. But the cable industry in Pakistan is guided by the popular interest shown by its audience. Talking to The Tribune at Lahore, Nawaz Butt, who runs the National Computer Academy, said Indian serials were very popular among his family members. Mir Ali from Lahore, too, was all praise for the Indian programmes. However, top on the popularity chart is Mirza Ghalib, featuring Naseeruddin Shah, which is shown on Friday night on Geo channel. The other TV serial which is making waves in Pakistan is “Jassi Jaissa Koi Nahin” after having mesmerised the audiences in India. The serial is arousing great interest across the border though it is a different matter that in India “Jassi” has lost the rating that once it used to be associated with. Another programme is “Kuchh Gup Hai Kuchh Such Hai” hosted by Deepshikha. Recently, Amitabh Bachchan featuring in the programme said kidnapping was a big business, much larger than drugs these days the world over. Another programme is “Shaka Laka Boom Boom”. The buck does not stop here. A number of commercials keep appearing on Geo channel featuring Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan. The second Pak channel Filmazia is wholly devoted to films and events related to film industry, both Bollywood and Lollywood. Indian film directors Mahesh Bhatt and Ram Dayal have prominently featured on Filmazia, discussing various joint film ventures. Recently, the Sangeet Awards function was telecast on Geo channel. A few days ago, the same channel beamed the Sony-Stardust Award function. Earlier, another Pak channel devoted to music, ARY Musik, aired Indian songs from various albums. It remains to be seen how long private channels in Pakistan manage to evade the Islamic noose.
|
|
“Crash” upstages “Brokeback Mountain”
Los Angeles, January 30 For weeks, "Brokeback'' had been collecting one film award after another, draining any suspense out of the race for the March 5 Academy Awards. Its latest award came on Saturday night when its director Ang Lee won best director's award from the Directors Guild of America, often an Oscar barometer. But ``Brokeback'' may have hit a bump in the road with the unexpected victory for the cast of "Crash'', an ensemble drama of 36 hours in Los Angeles when a minor traffic accident triggers a series of racial confrontations that ends in murder. The film has more than 70 actors, including many A-listers who worked for scale, including Sandra Bullock and Don Cheadle. One reason for its success at SAG may be that its distributor, Lionsgate, sent members of the Screen Actors Guild DVDs of the film, which had been released in May and pretty well forgotten as the awards season started. Its director and co-writer, Paul Haggis, said on Saturday that he thought he was just a lucky man to be nominated for anything and said making the film was a touch-and-go effort in which the producers frequently ran out of money and had to use Haggis' own home for rehearsals.
— Reuters |
|
Govt, Naga rebels fail to reach pact on truce
Bangkok, January 30 Union Minister Oscar Fernandes, who is leading the government delegation at the talks here with NSCN(I-M) leaders Isaac Chisi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, said the discussions were still on. He expressed hope for a positive result by tomorrow when the six-month extension given to the ceasefire would end. The ceasefire, brokered in 1997, had continued to be extended by a year since then, but last year it was extended only for six months.
— PTI |
| 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 | |
