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Pact on gas pipeline in 3 months: Ahmadinejad
Won’t step down, says Pervez
Gilani for freedom of Press
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70 killed in China train mishap
Help form coalition govt, Koirala urges parties
Obama turns down Clinton's proposal for debate
California fire forces evacuation of 1,000
UN condemns attack on Karzai
Taliban score propaganda coup with parade attack
Footballers kick off a ruder UK: Poll
Missing Passports
Lose weight, without cutting back on food
Lanka to build memorial for Indian soldiers
Hasina not to quit under pressure
With 10 Indians, Malaysian
House opens
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Pact on gas pipeline in 3 months: Ahmadinejad
All major hurdles in the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline have been resolved and a final agreement would be signed in Tehran within the next three months, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview with PTV on Monday. The Iranian President, who stopped over briefly in Islamabad on the way to Sri Lanka, met President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. He said foreign or other ministers concerned of Pakistan and India would visit Iran soon to formally sign the $7.5-billion project, which could be completed in three years. He said the tripartite agreement could be extended to include China as well because all three parties have no objection to Chinese inclusion. He further said Iran had also agreed to launch a project to supply 1,100 MW of electricity to Pakistan from the Iranian Balochistan side. His talks with Musharraf and Gilani were described by foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as “productive and fruitful”. He said all major issues that had hitherto slowed down the progress on the project had been resolved. He said the two sides expressed satisfaction over the resolution of all issues that had delayed a final agreement. Qureshi added that the Iranian and Pakistani presidents had tasked their foreign ministers to agree on a “mutually convenient date for signing the agreement” after their hour-long talks in Islamabad. India’s oil minister Murli Deora held talks in Pakistan last week on the pipeline. Energy-hungry India imports more than 70 per cent of its Musharraf and Ahmadinejad also discussed the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan, which is battling a Taliban insurgency, and “stressed that peace and stability was vital for the region”.
Arrives in Lanka; to visit India today
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahamadinejad began a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka on Monday evening on the first leg of a three-nation Asian tour.
He was welcomed at the country’s international airport by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Iranian President is accompanied by a 15-strong delegation. He will lay the foundation of $ 450-million Iran-funded Uma Oya irrigation project in Wellawaya. It is the longest ever hydro tunnel to be built in the country. After completion, the project will add 100 MW of power to the national grid. TNS adds from New Delhi: Ahmadinejad, who arrives here on Tuesday, will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for boosting mutual economic cooperation, including the multi-billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.
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Won’t step down, says Pervez
President Pervez Musharraf has said parliament has elected him for five years and he is resolved to complete his term.
“I will extend full cooperation to the newly elected government and perform my own constitutional role,” official APP news agency quoted Musharraf as telling a delegation of eight members of the US Congress. Musharraf emphasised the need for a comprehensive multi-pronged strategy to combat terrorism. He said foreign elements continued to be active in perpetrating terrorist acts. Pakistan has been playing a key role and made tremendous sacrifices in fighting terrorism.
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Gilani for freedom of Press
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said all deposed judges, including Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, would be restored and the judiciary would be made genuinely independent. He further observed that complete freedom to the Press would be ensured.
Inaugurating a college at Namal, a new welfare project launched by Imran Khan in collaboration with Bradford University, about 35 km from Mianwali, Gilani said his family had the distinction of having set up education institutions and hospitals. Gilani announced a grant of Rs 30 million for the construction of the college hostel. He also promised to develop the site of the college located, along the Namal lake, as a national park.
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70 killed in China train mishap Beijing, April 28 The preliminary probe pointed out “human error” behind the humongous pre-dawn mishap, which occurred when a train from Beijing heading for Qingdao, derailed and rammed into another one coming from Yantai to Xuzhou. The impact of the accident in Hejiacun village on the suburbs of Zibo city, 70 km from the provincial capital of Jinan, knocked the second train out of the rails as well, officials said. At least 12 carriages of both trains derailed and casualties were from both, they said. Fifty-seven persons were killed on the spot and 13 died at hospitals, official Xinhua news agency said, adding most passengers aboard the trains were apparently asleep when the collision took place. Quoting investigators, the report said, the train from Beijing was travelling at 131 km an hour before the accident, far in excess of the speed limit of 80 km an hour between Zhoucun and Wangcun. Within hours, two high-ranking railway officials were sacked and they would face an investigation by the ministry of railways, it said. Earlier this year, a high-speed train from Beijing to Qingdao, a summer resort that will host a sailing event during Olympics, had ploughed through some railway workers, killing 18 of them and injuring nine others. The state-run CCTV showed still pictures of the wreckage of the trains and relief effort. — PTI
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Bhutto awarded Tipperary Peace Award posthumously
London, April 28 Bhutto's long-time associate Bashir Riaz received the award on behalf of her family at an emotion-filled ceremony in Tipperary in Ireland. Riaz, visibly emotional in his speech, said he had been asked to receive the award by Bhutto's husband Asif Zardari as, in his own words "this would make her soul happy." Zardari, now co-chairperson of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, expressed regret that he was unable to be in Tipperary to accept the award himself, as he was "busy in the transition of government in Pakistan." Riaz, heading a large delegation from Pakistan and the UK, received the award amidst a thunderous applause with the audience giving a standing ovation to the late leader. So charged was the atmosphere that it brought tears to many eyes.It was particularly touching for PPP workers who had come from places as far as Denmark, the UK, France and other countries. Describing her as a wonderful human being, Riaz said Bhutto, twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, devoted her life to the very last moment to end dictatorship and restore democracy in her country. Earlier recipients of the award included South African icon Nelson Mandela, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, former US President Bill Clinton, US Senator George Mitchell and the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. — PTI
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Help form coalition govt, Koirala urges parties
Amid looming constitutional impediments in forming the new government and dispute over the issue of power sharing, mainly for the head of the state and Prime Minister, among the major political parties, Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today urged all parties to explore ways to form a coalition government. Issuing a message, Koirala requested all parties to renew their efforts for the constitution of a coalition government as per the interim constitutional provision and the fresh mandate of the people. “It’s time we focused our attention on our tasks ahead as per the people’s verdict expressed through the election,” octogenarian Nepali Congress president Koirala said, adding that, “The election results, too, have reflected the need for consensus, cooperation and unity.” Immediately after having a resounding victory in the elections, the top leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist had intensified hectic parleys with different political leaders, diplomatic crops and people from different walks of life to persuade them to extend their support to a Maoists-led government, as it had emerged as the largest political party in the elections. Koirala also reiterated that it was the common responsibility of all political parties to declare Nepal as a federal democratic republic state through the very first meeting of the Constituent Assembly in accordance with the constitutional provision. Thanking all voters, political parties and other stakeholders concerned, including national and international community, for making the April 10 polls a grand success, Koirala said the government would summon the first meeting of the Assembly on the scheduled time and implement past commitments. As per the constitutional provision, the first meeting of the Assembly should take place within 21 days immediately after the completion of the election result.
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Obama turns down Clinton's proposal for debate
Washington, April 28 Senator Clinton threw the gauntlet challenging the frontrunner to a Lincoln-Douglas style debate with no moderator -- a reference to Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln who ran for the Senate in Illinois in 1858. Abraham Lincoln lost that race but went on to win the presidency. But Obama said that he had other ideas stressing that he would like to focus by directly appealing to the voters. "I'm not ducking one. We've had 21... with two weeks, two big states, we want to make sure that we're talking to as many folks as possible on the ground, taking questions from voters,"Obama said on Fox News yesterday. It was not without reason that Clinton has been putting pressure on Obama for more face time.For a person who is trailing in the delegates category as also in the popular vote the former first lady has been saying that the frontrunner would not debate because he's unhappy with questions from TV moderators during the April 16 debate ahead of the Pennsylvania primary.
— PTI
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California fire forces evacuation of 1,000
Silicon Valley,April 28 Officials have ordered the mandatory evacuation of between 400-500 homes as about 400 firefighters, supported by two helicopters and three air tankers, continue to battle the fire, which began on Saturday, and is spreading due to gusty winds. There have been no reported injuries, although firefighters remained concerned that the ferocity of the blaze could threaten more residents living closer to Los Angeles. Officials said the fire was 5 per cent contained and "It could be four to five days before the fire is fully contained." — PTI
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United Nations, April 28 "I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on President Karzai that occurred at a victory parade in Kabul today," UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said in a statement yesterday. Ban said attacks against "legitimate institutions" of the country are "unacceptable" and pledged the United Nations’ full support to rebuilding efforts which addressed the needs of the most vulnerable sections of the society. He congratulated the Afghan security forces for reacting quickly to the attack, preventing further loss of life, and protecting the Afghan officials and foreign diplomats attending the event. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack which they said showed their ability to strike "wherever we want to" but also saw three gunmen shot dead by security forces, the Afghan defence ministry said. — PTI
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Taliban score propaganda coup with parade attack
Kabul, April 28 At least three Taliban militants managed to evade a wide security cordon and hide in a cheap hotel, one of only a few buildings on flat ground overlooking the parade ground. At the end of a 21-gun salute to mark the Mujahideen victory over the Afghan Communist government 16 years ago, the Taliban gunmen opened fire, sending the President, ministers, foreign diplomats and military top brass diving for cover. "It was clearly aimed at grabbing enormous amounts of attention, striking in the centre of the capital," said Joanna Nathan, an Afghanistan analyst for the International Crisis Group. "It was flashed around the world, but further than that, it shows them penetrating what was obviously a high security event." In pure military terms, the attack missed its objectives, though it was only a matter of chance that Karzai and all the top dignitaries attending the event survived. The spectacle of Afghan leaders cowering on the ground and Afghan troops fleeing the parade ground will of course hearten Taliban fighters, but more importantly leave ordinary Afghan wondering how Karzai's government can protect them. "There is no security force in Afghanistan that people trust," said Afghan parliamentarian Ramazan Bashardost. "If you pay attention to yesterday's incident, the security forces fled the area before the ordinary people did." While the Taliban had no doubt scored a propaganda victory with Sunday's attack, that should not cloud the overall picture of steady progress in improving security across Afghanistan, said a senior western diplomat who declined to be named. The Taliban have steadily shifted tactics in the last two years since they relaunched their fight to oust Karzai's pro-western government and drive out more than 50,000 foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan. This year, the Taliban have vowed to concentrate on the capital. An attack on Kabul's five-star Serena Hotel in January killed several foreign civilians and in so doing grabbed international headlines for weeks, far more propaganda value for the Islamist militants than a raid on an isolated village. Meanwhile, a steady stream of casualties among foreign troops has sapped public support abroad for keeping troops in Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents killed one Australian soldier and wounded four others in the southern province of Uruzgan, the Australian department of defence said on Monday. The soldier was the fifth Australian to be killed in Afghanistan since 2001. —
Reuters
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Footballers kick off a ruder UK: Poll
London, April 28 Highly paid footballers and celebrities are setting a bad example, according to the survey, which listed spitting and swearing as the most offensive forms of behaviour. Almost nine out of 10 persons, 86.2 per cent, think Britons have become ruder than a decade ago, found the poll for the ITV1 Tonight television programmes. “I suppose it’s part of the breakdown in society, the fact that we stopped having respect for figures in authority, partly because those in authority didn’t command it,” said Diana Mather, an etiquette coach. Britons traditionally liked to think of themselves as superior to foreigners at things like queuing and giving up their seats on public transport to disabled people or pregnant women. But, the rise of football culture, and football hooligans creating mayhem, has long dented this image abroad, and now Britons themselves acknowledge that they have a major problem. More than half of those asked, 56.5 per cent, thought bad manners were the biggest problem in the country, according to the survey based on answers from some 2,800 adults. Spitting caused the most offence for 27.6 per cent, ahead of swearing by 20.2 per cent, followed by queue-jumping, talking loudly on mobile phones, not saying “please” or “thank you”, and belching or passing wind in public. Nearly 75 per cent of Britons think the behaviour of celebrity footballers encourages bad manners in society. But, when asked to name the worst influence on children’s manners, 63.8 per cent blamed the behaviour and lack of discipline of parents, with over 90 per cent saying that parents are failing to pass on basic manners to their children. Some 15.9 per cent said celebrities and footballers were the worst influence, followed by 5.4 per cent for television programmes. “I think my generation has a lot to answer for because I think the youth culture in the 60s and early 70s threw out every rule book and thought it was really clever to use four letter words and so on,” said Esther Rantzen, patron of Campaign for Courtesy. “But I think things should go back, not to the old deference, not to grovelling, not to any of that, but just to feeling respect, because I think that would make everyone’s life pleasanter.” — AFP
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Missing Passports Dubai, April 28 Venu Rajamony, the Indian consul-general who denied a media report that the passports were lost from the mission here, said five bags containing 500 passports were found missing in March 2007 by the ministry of external affairs which was to collect the bags forwarded by the India Security Press. The Consulate General of India was merely the ultimate destination for the blank passports and had no other role in the incident, he said adding that the news report and the allegations contained in the newspaper “are completely baseless”. “No passports are missing from the Consulate General of India in Dubai and no inquiry has been carried out at the Consulate with regard to any missing passport,” Rajamony said. He said no official of the Consulate has been transferred out because of any security lapse and there is no evidence of any passport belonging to the Consulate being sold. He added that no passport applications are missing and all procedures with regard to issue of “loss circulars” are being followed. The official said 20 parcels containing blank passports were forwarded to the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi by the India Security Press en route to Consulate General of India, Dubai. The ministry discovered that five of these parcels containing 500 passports were missing in New Delhi. The CISF, which is responsible for security at the IGI airport, New Delhi also informed the ministry that certain number of passports were found in scattered condition near the IGI airport area. The ministry, the Indian Security Press, Nasik and the CISF Unit of the IGI airport are enquiring into the loss of these passports in New Delhi, he said. —
PTI
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Lose weight, without cutting back on food
Sydney, April 28 Researchers in Melbourne found that by manipulating fat cells in mice they were able to speed up the animals’ metabolism. They found that when a particular enzyme, known as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), was removed, mice were able to eat the same amount as other mice but burn more calories and therefore gain less weight. Animals without the enzyme were on average 20 per cent lighter than normal mice and had 50 or 60 per cent less body fat, senior researcher at the Howard Florey Institute Michael Mathai said. Mathai, who is also a lecturer in nutrition at Victoria University, said the slimmer mice also appeared to have less chance of developing diabetes because they processed sugar faster than normal mice. He said the research, to be published tomorrow in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could be used to develop drugs to assist weight loss. Drugs which impair the action of ACE already exist and are mostly used to combat high blood pressure. “The drugs are out there because they are used for hypertension,” he said. “So we know their safety and their tolerability. What we don’t know is whether or not they will work in humans. And we don’t know whether it will work in all obese humans.” Mathai said it could be a question of finding the right dosage of hypertension medication, or developing a new type of drug of the same class, to be used as weight-loss pills.
— AFP
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Lanka to build memorial for Indian soldiers
New Delhi, April 28 The names of around 1,500 men, almost all of them from the Indian Army, are to be etched on black marble and topped by an eternal flame as part of a long-pending project now being executed by the Sri Lanka Navy.It will be the first memorial dedicated to the Indian soldier outside India. Final touches are being given to the memorial and it will be ready for a formal launch either on May 22 or when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh goes to Sri Lanka for the South Asian Association for Regional Conference (SAARC) summit this summer. The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was deployed in Sri Lanka's northeast following a July 1987 bilateral peace pact aimed at ending Tamil separatism.But the troops ended up fighting the LTTE from October that year, losing nearly 1,200 men until the last of the soldier left Sri Lanka in March, 1990. Nearly 2,800 men were also wounded. The roll of honour at the memorial, which will bear India's official Ashoka emblem, will include names of Indian paramilitary forces, taking the total to some 1,500. For years, many in the Indian military have grudged that Sri Lanka had not even bothered to acknowledge the role of Indian troops who died at the hands of the LTTE.That is about to change, Indian and Sri Lankan military sources say."This will be in memory of Indian armed forces who helped us preserve the unity of our country," a Sri Lankan military officer told IANS in a telephonic interview from Colombo. "Our President (Mahinda Rajapaksa) was very particular that this memorial has to come up. He kept saying that 20 years have gone by and we had not fulfilled this pledge. It had dragged on too long. After all the (Indian) soldiers paid the supreme sacrifice." Work at the memorial began about six months ago. It will be ready in another two weeks. The military officer added that most Sri Lankans now appreciated the role played by the IPKF. But when its members were dying, it came in the firing line of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists who said its presence undermined their country's sovereignty. "Our people have realised what the Indian soldiers did," the officer said. "They died fighting to keep Sri Lanka united. We can never forget their sacrifice. Today there is a lot of appreciation of their role." Lt-Gen Ashok Mehta, who served in the IPKF in the island nation's east, said the memorial had been talked about for years. "Initially they said there was some problem of land, and then something else. Now it is coming up. Better late than never." — IANS
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Hasina not to quit under pressure
Dhaka, April 28 "I will not retire from politics under any pressure," Hasina told her lawyers on Sunday on the sidelines of a hearing and informed them that she was asked to quit politics. "Everyone in the present caretaker government that wants to keep me away from politics by filing cases must remember I won't give up politics on anyone's instructions," defence counsel quoted Hasina as saying as she appeared in a makeshift court for indictment hearing in a corruption case related to fighter jet purchase for the air force during her premiership from 1996 to 2001. The ex-premier's comments came amid speculations that the elections planned for this year-end could go ahead discarding Hasina and her arch rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia. However, according to the newspaper reports, Hasina earlier said her party should take part in the polls even if she was debarred from contesting the polls. Zia too is currently in jail to face several corruption charges as part of a massive anti-graft campaign by the interim administration installed with crucial military support following the January 11, 2007 proclamation of a state of emergency. — PTI
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With 10 Indians, Malaysian
House opens
Kuala Lumpur, April 28 Indians form 8 per cent of Malaysia's 28-million population.According to a post-poll study,24 per cent Malays, the indigenous people who form the majority population, 40 per cent ethnic Chinese and a whopping 69 per cent ethnic Indians changed their political preferences in last month's elections. The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) that has traditionally represented the ethnic Indians lost badly in last month's election. Its long-time chief and federal minister S. Samy Vellu failed to return to Parliament in his ninth bid. While the ethnic Indian vote was divided among many parties, the elections last month saw the emergence of the family of a long-time opposition lawmaker, Karpal Singh. His son, Gobind Singh Deo, a lawyer, would sit besides him in Parliament, while another son is a state assembly member. Besides Gobind Singh Deo, there is another ethnic Indian first-timer R.Sivarasa, a Tamil.
— IANS
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Police not notified before revoking Haneef's visa Woman jailed for killing,
cutting up husband Austrian woman abused by father for 24 years 
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