W O R L D

Pak Parliament admits no-trust motion against Aziz
Islamabad, August 25
Pakistan’s Parliament has admitted a no-confidence motion jointly submitted by the moderate and Islamic opposition parties against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and it will come up for voting on August 29.

Press freedom in Pak, still a distant dream
Karachi, August 25
Freedom for the Fourth Estate in Pakistan it seems, is still a distant dream. Pursuing a career as a journalist, correspondent or editor is fraught with uncertainty in spite of pronouncements by the government of the day that the sanctity of the Press will always be safeguarded.

Mongolian award for Sri Sri Ravishankar
Ulan Bator (Mongolia), August 25
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar was yesterday honoured with Mongolia’s highest civilian award for his contribution to Indo-Mongolian friendship through his foundation.

Indian United Nations peacekeepers keep watch along the Israeli-Lebanon border from their observation point just inside Lebanon on Friday. — Reuter

21 Bangla oppn party men get death for murder
Dhaka, August 25
A Bangladeshi court has handed down death penalty to 21 men belonging to the main opposition Awami League for the murder of a member of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s ruling party in 2004, court officials said today.

Indian doc in soup over wrong diagnoses
Melbourne, August 25
An India-trained pathologist working at a Tamworth hospital in northern New South Wales (NSW) may have been responsible for the death of six patients because of wrong diagnosis of hundreds of tests by him.

Pak Parliament admits no-trust motion against Aziz
K J M Varma

Islamabad, August 25
Pakistan’s Parliament has admitted a no-confidence motion jointly submitted by the moderate and Islamic opposition parties against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and it will come up for voting on August 29.

Amir Hussain, Speaker of the Lower House, National Assembly, said the motion had been admitted and August 29 fixed as the date for voting on it.

A total of 137 opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly signed the motion which said the “House is of the opinion that Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz has lost confidence of majority of the members and should no more hold his office.”

The Opposition chargesheet says that besides indulging in corrupt deals, the Prime Minister has failed to check lawlessness and price-hike in the country and proved ineffective on the ford said they only exploited the minority community for their vested interests and never thought of its welfare.

The motion also criticised military operations in the country’s tribal region and southwest Balochistan province, where the nationalist rebels have waged an armed revolt demanding more autonomy.

A total of 101 members stood in favour of the motion today when the Speaker asked the House as to who support the motion. Mr Hussain, however, did not allow Opposition member Aitzaz Ahsan to read out the text of the motion.

The Opposition enjoys support of 141 members in the 342-strong National Assembly and needs 31 more votes for the success of the motion.

The government and its allies have 201 members in the House and it does not appear that the motion will succeed.

The Opposition is demanding secret voting, saying that many members who quit the Opposition ranks during the past few years under “pressure” from government would vote for the motion. — PTI

Press freedom in Pak, still a distant dream

Karachi, August 25
Freedom for the Fourth Estate in Pakistan it seems, is still a distant dream. Pursuing a career as a journalist, correspondent or editor is fraught with uncertainty in spite of pronouncements by the government of the day that the sanctity of the Press will always be safeguarded.

Meeting journalists here on the sidelines of a protest rally in front the Sindh Assembly, a unanimous opinion emerged that in Pakistan, while journalists had the heart to perform their duty honestly and professionally, they faced many problems and obstacles.

The problems were not only from within the organisations they were employed with, but also from terrorists and government agencies.

The recent discovery of the body of Hayatullah Khan in South Waziristan is a case in point, said some of the journalists.

Hayatullah Khan was found shot dead in the tribal zone of North Waziristan on June 16, six months after he had gone missing.

Five armed men abducted Khan, a reporter on the Urdu-language daily Ausaf, and four others on December 1 was the result of an accidental munitions explosion.

According to Reporters Without Borders, another Pakistani journalist, Munir Mengal, head of the Baluchi-language TV channel Baloch Voice, was abducted from the Karachi international airport on April 7 this year by secret service agents. Mukesh, another TV journalist, was kidnapped from interior Sindh, but managed to return home after a few days.

These incidents of kidnapping and murder have led the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists to organise protests and demonstrations outside key government institutions like provincial assemblies, so as to have their voice heard on the issue of press freedom. — ANI

Mongolian award for Sri Sri Ravishankar
V. Kumara Swamy

Ulan Bator (Mongolia), August 25
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar was yesterday honoured with Mongolia’s highest civilian award for his contribution to Indo-Mongolian friendship through his foundation.

Mongolia’s President N. Enkhabayar bestowed the “Pole Star” upon the guru at Soyombo hall in the President’s office this afternoon.

The spiritual guru is here on the official invitation of the Mongolian Government. His Art of Living foundation has a huge following in Mongolia with even the country’s President and Prime Minister being its ardent practitioners.

“I feel honoured at being bestowed with this honour and I believe it is not just the recognition of an individual but the recognition of deep spiritual and historical relations that India and Mongolia share,” said Sri Sri Ravishankar after receiving the award for his “yeoman service to mankind”.

According to the President’s spokesperson, Mr Tugsjargal Gandhi, very few people had been accorded the rare honour till now. — PTI

21 Bangla oppn party men get death for murder

Dhaka, August 25
A Bangladeshi court has handed down death penalty to 21 men belonging to the main opposition Awami League for the murder of a member of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s ruling party in 2004, court officials said today.

Judge Mohammad Firoze Alam of the Speedy Trial Tribunal of Dhaka announced the death sentences late last night to the men belonging to the Awami League party of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed in northern Natore district.

The defence lawyers charged that the verdict was influenced as the victim, 26-year-old Sabbir Ahmed Talukder Gama, was the nephew of Deputy Minister for Land Ruhul Kuddus Talukder, which the prosecution denied.

Gama, who belonged to Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s student wing, was killed by a group of about five men on February7, 2004 when he was sitting in a tea-stall along with his friends in Natore, he said in his verdict.

The defence is set to appeal to a higher court.

This is the second highest death penalty handed in a single case. A court last year sentenced 22 people to death for the assassination of Awami League leader Ahsanullah Master. — PTI

Indian doc in soup over wrong diagnoses

Melbourne, August 25
An India-trained pathologist working at a Tamworth hospital in northern New South Wales (NSW) may have been responsible for the death of six patients because of wrong diagnosis of hundreds of tests by him.

The shocking revelations of Dr Zaer’s failure to correctly analyse diseases has been made public by the NSW Government today.

An unspecified number of patients is also believed to have undergone unnecessary surgery because of Dr Farid Zaer’s incorrect diagnosis.

The state government had ordered review of thousands of anatomical pathology tests conducted by India-trained doctor at Tamworth Hospital from 1999-2001.

He has become fourth Indian doctor in the recent past, to be held responsible for wrongful death of patients under his or her care.

Earlier, Dr Jayant Patel had been labelled Dr Death for his role in the death of a number of patients, during his tenure at a regional hospital in Queensland.

Another India-trained Dr Jaideep Bali was accused of negligence in the death of an elderly patient in the same state, earlier this week.

Meanwhile, a Sydney doctor Suman Sood is already facing a lengthy jail term after being convicted over an illegal abortion in the first case of its kind in the NSW state in 25 years . — UNI