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Pranab meets Koirala, backs peace process
N-deal with US to become law today
Kidnapping terror in Baghdad |
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Abbas, Hamas men clash Iran poll: setback to Ahmadinejad
Sunita joins spacewalkers’ club
Café Coffee Day in Pak
France to withdraw forces from Afghanistan
Fire, stampede at wedding kill 27
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Pranab meets Koirala, backs peace process
Kathmandu, December 17 "India always remains committed to supporting all efforts that are aimed at achieving peace, democracy and development in Nepal," visiting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala here. Mr Mukherjee offered to supply foodgrains for nearly 30,000 Maoists confined in various cantonments under UN supervision as per the November 21 peace agreement, according to Mr Suresh Chalise, Prime Minister's political adviser. The Minister also told reporters that India would provide 200 vehicles and communication equipment to Nepal police. "I had a very useful meeting with Nepalese leaders and we discussed a number of issues related to our bilateral relations, as also the current situation with regard to the peace process in Nepal," said Mr Mukherjee, who also met Deputy Prime Minister K.P Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress (Democratic) president Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal. He appreciated Prime Minister Koirala for successfully moving ahead with the peace process aimed at establishing permanent peace in the country. However, unlike in the past when protocol demanded that visiting dignitaries meet the monarch, Mr Mukherjee did not call on King Gyanendra, who has been stripped of most of his powers and has been removed as head of state in the interim Constitution. He will also not meet any Maoist leaders. Mr Mukherjee handed over an invitation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Mr Koirala to attend the 14th SAARC Summit slated for April 3-4 in New Delhi. Mr Koirala has accepted the invitation. The current political situation, the ongoing peace process and issues of bilateral cooperation dominated the meeting between Mr Koirala and Mr Mukherjee, the first Indian Minister to visit Nepal after King Gyanendra was forced to give up absolute rule in April, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Mr Mukherjee also congratulated Mr Koirala for his "leading role" in finalising the interim Constitution through consensus among the eight major political parties. The External Affairs Minister was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon, Joint Secretary North Pankaj Sharan and Joint Secretary SAARC Preety Sharan during his brief visit. Mr Mukherjee is scheduled to visit the Pashupatinath Temple before departing from Kathmandu, Indian Embassy sources said.
— PTI
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N-deal with US to become law today
Washington, December 17 The ceremony is set for 10.45 am local time (9.15 pm IST) and will be attended by several lawmakers, senior administration officials and members of the Indian- American community. Mr Bush is expected to make brief remarks before putting his signature to HR 5682 or the Henry J Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006. The legislation to facilitate a new and expanded era in bilateral relations between India and the US was passed on the last day of the lame duck session of the 109th Congress with the House of Representatives approving the Conference Committee Report by a thumping margin of 330 votes to 59 and the Senate giving its nod to it by a unanimous consent vote on December 9. Senior Indian scientists, however, have pointed out that the US Bill deviates from the July 18, 2005, and March 2, 2006, joint statements issued by both the countries and asked the government to protect New Delhi's interests while signing the crucial 123 Agreement with Washington. India's Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar has said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will consult all those "directly or indirectly" involved with the nuclear deal before taking a final decision on it. Taking part in a brainstorming session organised in Mumbai by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on Friday, scientists like former AEC Chairmen H. N. Sethna, M. R. Srinivasan and P. K. Iyengar said the Henry J Hyde Bill deviates from the joint Indo-US statements as well as Prime Minister's assurances in Parliament in August this year. The bill being signed into law by Bush on Monday marks the first major step in the process of moving towards bilateral nuclear commerce. The next steps in the process are for New Delhi and Washington to successfully conclude a formal bilateral nuclear cooperation accord, known as the 123 agreement as it will be signed under Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, an agreement between India and the IAEA on a India-specific safeguards agreement, and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group exempting India from supply restrictions.
— PTI
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Kidnapping terror in Baghdad Baghdad, December 17 Just before Mr Blair landed in Baghdad for an unannounced visit, gunmen in police uniforms carried out a mass kidnapping at a Red Crescent office in the capital, highlighting Iraq’s security challenges. However, the kidnappers later tonight released six out of the 30 persons taken away by them at gunpoint. The six were elderly men who worked as guards or drivers at the Red Crescent office. The police said 10 to 20 persons had been kidnapped however Red Crescent officials put the number at 30. Mr Blair said he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had discussed the need for national reconciliation and building up Iraq’s security forces to fight soaring Shi’ite-Sunni sectarian violence that has pushed the country close to all-out civil war. “We stand ready to support you in every way that we can so that in time the Iraq government and the Iraqi people can take full responsibility for their affairs,” Mr Blair, who is touring the West Asia, told a media conference. The visit by Mr Blair, Washington’s closest ally, comes as US President George W. Bush is rethinking his Iraq strategy following the defeat of his Republicans in mid-term elections and in the face of mounting US military casualties. Those kidnapped in central Baghdad today included Red Crescent employees, visitors and guards. Witnesses said gunmen arrived in pickup trucks.
— Agencies
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Gaza, December 17 A 19-year-old woman was shot during a gunfight between Hamas and Fatah forces near Abbas’ compound and later died of her wounds. Five other persons were wounded, including a French journalist. The spiralling unrest followed Abbas’ call yesterday for presidential and parliamentary elections, a dramatic move that sought to end nine months of political impasse under Hamas’ Islamist-led government. Abbas’ 4,000-strong presidential guard, backed by members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group loyal to Mr Abbas’ Fatah movement, took over the Hamas-run agriculture and transport ministries, moving to secure a large swathe of central Gaza city. Angered by the move, forces loyal to the Hamas exchanged fire with presidential guards positioned on rooftops. — Reuters
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Iran poll: setback to Ahmadinejad
Teheran, December 17 Centrist cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani appeared to have sprung a surprise by getting so far the most votes and beating a hardline rival in the election for the Assembly of Experts, the body that chooses the supreme leader. In the keenly-watched race for the Teheran city council, reformists were on course to take a handful of seats and end total conservative domination of the body which has prevailed since the last local vote in February 2003. Official results announced by the Interior Ministry based on half the votes counted showed Rafsanjani at the first place and Mesbah Yazdi trailing at the sixth.
— AFP
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Sunita joins spacewalkers’ club
Houston, December 17 NASA yesterday added an unscheduled spacewalk and an extra day to shuttle Discovery’s mission to the orbiting spacelab so astronauts can make another attempt to retract a jammed solar panel. Sunita made her spacewalk debut during yesterday’s activity, which prompted well wishes from Mission Control as she stepped outside the space station’s airlock. “It’s going to be a blast,” she said. Only seven other US women and a single Russian woman have participated in the 281 spacewalks taken since 1965. “Welcome to the club, Suni,” Curbeam told her. The two astronauts spent over nearly eight hours outside the ISS to complete the rewiring of the ISS’s power system during the mission’s third spacewalk.
— PTI
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Café Coffee Day in Pak
Karachi, December 17 Amin Hashwani of the Hashwani Group, the franchise partner, told Dawn on Saturday that he planned to open 30-50 outlets in the next three to five years.
Café Coffee Day is part of an amalgamated Bean Trading Company. Currently, it has 364 cafés in India and has now two outlets, one in Vienna and the other one in Karachi. It has over 400 outlets internationally. However, he did not disclose as to how much investment is being made in opening one café in posh areas. He said that local staff had been given jobs and they were trained in Dubai. An in-house training is also being provided to the staffers. “One outlet opens job avenues for 15-16 people,” he added. The outlet can accommodate 100 customers with an upbeat and cosy ambiance and the café offers innovative coffee, sandwiches and deserts at reasonable prices, he said, adding that items offered at the café is a combination of both imported and locally procured ingredients. A number of world renowned food chains have invested in Pakistan in the last few years. While coffee is fast becoming the beverage of choice among the upwardly mobile segment of the population, cafés have become the favourite hangout place for the young, he said. — By arrangement with the Dawn
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France to withdraw forces from Afghanistan
Kabul, December 17 She was referring to some 200 French special forces stationed in eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, aimed at hunting down Taliban fighters in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. France has deployed a total of 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the remainder serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Seven members of the French special forces have been killed in action in the war-ravaged country, while 12 others have been wounded.
— AFP
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Fire, stampede at wedding kill 27
Islamabad, December 17 An electric wire fell on a tent where a large number of women and children had gathered to celebrate a wedding late last night near the city of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province, police officer Khadim Hussain told Geo television. In the mad rush to escape the blaze, people got crushed underfoot, he said. Some 40 persons, mostly women and children, were also injured and were being treated at the Dera Ghazi Khan Hospital and other healthcare centres.
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