 |
|
|
US confident, Blix backs N-deal
Nepal’s President sworn in
Koirala resigns as PM
|
|
|
Army close to wiping out militancy in tribal areas: Kayani
Inquiry ordered into mismanagement of Gilani’s live address
Amnesty tells Pak to give details of missing persons
School failure harder on girls than boys: US study
Indian blogger may walk into Pak textbook
Neolithic remains found in South China
LTTE ceasefire a ploy, says government
|
|
US confident, Blix backs N-deal
President George W. Bush's administration is confident India-specific safeguards will be approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency while a former director general of the agency expressed support for the U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal. The governing board of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog will hold a special meeting in Vienna on August. 1 to consider a plan submitted by India for IAEA nuclear inspections. The US is playing an active role shepherding the deal through the IAEA. State Department acting deputy spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said on Tuesday US officials were in discussions with IAEA board members. “Some are still reviewing the safeguards agreement,” said Gallegos, adding Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be given a “technical briefing on the agreement in the coming days, and we’ll see how we’ll proceed from there.” Expressing confidence that the IAEA will support the safeguards agreement, he said the US was looking forward to the August 1 meeting and “strongly support approval of the agreement at that time.” In an interview with this correspondent from Sweden, Hans Blix, who served as director-general of the IAEA for 16 years prior to Mohamed ElBaradei's term in office, allayed concerns in India that the US-India nuclear deal was an attempt to push India to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He said he didn't think there should be any concern that “India should have contributed or will contribute to a spread of nuclear weapons to more countries.” Blix endorsed the nuclear deal, saying he welcomes India's ambitions to further develop the civilian nuclear power sector that it has built up with great scientific and technological skill. Once India clears hurdles at the IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers Group the deal must be placed before the U.S. Congress for an up or down vote. IN an interview with this correspondent, Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, expressed an interest in wrapping up the deal before the end of the year without any more changes. But the clock is ticking in Washington and administration officials are mindful of the fact that they face a tight timeline on Capitol Hill. With Congress scheduled to take its month-long summer recess in August, Gallegos conceded, “We’ll see how long the calendar gives us and whether or not we’re able to continue forward.” He said the administration would be communicating to members of Congress “How important we believe this measure is for the United States, how important we believe that this strategic partnership will be for India, for us, and for others concerned with security around the world. I understand that the calendar is tight. We have the situation that we have. But we do look forward to moving forward with this, and we’ll do so as quickly as we can.” Gallegos' comments came soon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government won a trust vote by a convincing margin.
|
|
Nepal’s President sworn in
Amidst looming political uncertainties following the Maoists decided not to join the new government, newly elected first President of the Federal Democratic Republic Nepal Ram Baran Yadav and vice-president Paramananda Jha took the oath of office and secrecy amid a grand function at Presidential Office (Rastrapati Bhawan) at Sital Niwas today. Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri at the Supreme Court administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly elected President Yadav in the presence of Prime Minister, ministers, heads of constitutional bodies, political leaders, members of the Constituent Assembly, chief of army staff, diplomats and senior government officials. However, the Communist Party of Nepal-(Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, who had announced to refrain from the new government and play opposition role in the Constituent Assembly as his party faced defeat in the presidential and vice-presidential election on Saturday and Monday, did not attend the swearing-in ceremony. Meanwhile, expressing commitment to discharge his new role as the head of the state, Yadav said he would try to address the aspirations of all Nepali people and work for their welfare.
|
|
Koirala resigns as PM
Kathmandu, July 23 Earlier this morning, a cabinet meeting chaired by Koirala for the last time was held at the Prime Minister's official residence at
Baluwatar. The octogenarian Congress leader Koirala had announced to step down from his post during the Constituent Assembly meeting on June 27 and invited the
CPN-Maoist to take initiative to forge a political consensus and form a new government as per the constitutional provisions. Meanwhile, CPN-UML leader Subas Chandra Nembang has been elected chairman of the Constituent Assembly. According to a source, Nembang has been elected as none of the other party leaders fielded their candidacy by Wednesday 5 pm.
|
Army close to wiping out militancy in tribal areas: Kayani
Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has claimed that the army had been able to substantially contain militancy in the tribal areas and may be close to ending some operations there. Kayani said the army had the capability to carry out an operation against miscreants at border and no foreign power would be allowed to use Pakistan's soil for operation. The chief of army staff, who called on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani here on Tuesday night briefed him about the situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and discussed issues concerning national security. He also joined a top-level meeting of heads of four coalition partners of the government on Wednesday and briefed them about the situation in the tribal areas. Gen Kayani reportedly claimed that the army had taken complete control of several tribal areas. As soon as the army would achieve its remaining objectives, the operation would be wrapped up in these areas, he added. He said the army favoured dialogue process and it was following the government's three-point strategy that included dialogue and development while use of force was the ultimate option. He further said after the completion of the operation, the control of these areas would be handed over to the civil administration. "The Pakistan army is ready for every kind of sacrifice whenever its services will be required," he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, a senior Al-Qaida commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid had claimed in an exclusive interview with Geo News that Pakistan had damaged the terrorist organisation more than any other country. Mustafa who prefers to be called Shaikh Saeed claimed responsibility for several terrorist acts, including assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and recent attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad. He also credited the Al-Qaida for the 9/11 attacks in the US. He said the Karzai government would meet the same fate as other 'traitors'. There was no government that supported the Al-Qaida, as the rulers had sold their faith and by doing so they had put themselves beyond the pale of Islam. He also claimed that the Al-Qaida was growing in strength in Afghanistan and would soon occupy the entire country.
|
|
Inquiry ordered into mismanagement of Gilani’s live address
Information minister Sherry Rehman has ordered an inquiry into the mismanagement of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's first live address to the nation on Pakistan Television (PTV) on Sunday. The speech was delayed by three hours and interrupted for several minutes while he was speaking. The teleprompter did not work and after some minutes of fumbling in extempore speech, Gilani had to read it out from the written text. The new PTV chairman Dr. Shahid Masud suspended the deputy managing director Shahid Mahmood Nadeem holding him responsible for the mishap. Masud also maintained that Nadeem's appointment as deputy managing director was irregular without lawful authority because it violated the ban on new appointment. A senior official attached to the information minister told reporters that the minister has disapproved of the action taken by the chairman against Ms. Nadeem. She has also expressed dissatisfaction over the initial probe conducted at the behest of the chairman and ordered a fresh probe. The episode is a reflection of ongoing friction existing between the minister and the chairman who was elevated to the position by PPP-co-chairman Asif Zardari, bypassing the minister. Masud, a popular anchor left a lucrative job in Geo TV to become chairman and managing director of the state-run PTV. He has promised to free the channel from excessive government control.
|
|
Amnesty tells Pak to give details of missing persons
The Amnesty International(AI) has urged the Pakistan government to immediately reveal details of where hundreds of missing persons are being held, investigate all cases and hold to account those responsible, including the country’s security and intelligence agencies. The AI in a report also demanded that the Pakistan government reinstate deposed judges, who had previously been investigating cases involving the missing persons. In its new report - “Denying the undeniable, enforced disappearances in Pakistan” - the AI uses official court records and affidavits of victims and witnesses of enforced disappearances to confront the Pakistan authorities with evidence of how government officials, especially from the security and intelligence agencies, obstructed attempts to trace those who had disappeared. Hundreds of people who have “disappeared” are detained under counter-terrorism measures justified by Pakistan as a part of the US-led ‘war on terror’. The report also calls on other governments - most notably the US - to ensure that they are not complicit in, contributing to, or tolerating the practice of enforced disappearances. Many people who have been secretly held in detention centres in Pakistan say that besides being interrogated by Pakistani intelligence agencies they are also questioned by the foreign intelligence agents. “Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has emphasised the coalition government’s commitment to upholding human rights. We urge him to act immediately to resolve all cases of enforced disappearance,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific director. “As a first immediate measure, the new government should ease the suffering of the relatives of the ‘disappeared’ by either releasing the detainees or transferring them to official places of detention.”
|
|
School failure harder on girls than boys: US study
Chicago, July 23 “For girls there are broader implications of school failure,” said Carolyn McCarty, a researcher of University of Washington whose study appears in the Journal of Adolescent Health. “We already know that it leads to more poverty, higher rates of being on public assistance and lower rates of job stability. And now this study shows it has mental health implications for girls,” McCarty said in a statement. The study was drawn from data on more than 800 people in Seattle, Washington, and included people from 18 schools in high-crime neighbourhoods. The group was split evenly by gender and nearly half were white, 24 per cent were black, 21 per cent were Asian-American and the rest were from other groups. Overall, 45 per cent of the girls and 68 per cent of the boys in the study experienced a major school failure, but 22 per cent of the girls later became depressed compared with 17 per cent for the boys. — Reuters
|
|
Indian blogger may walk into Pak textbook
Islamabad, July 23 The Oxford University Press in Karachi, which is working on a Class 11 textbook, has sought Mayank Austen Soofi’s permission to print the series he ran on his blog “pakistanpaindabad.blogspot.com” last year. Soofi had invited Pakistanis from all walks of life to share what they believed were the five best things about their country and to “celebrate their nation”. The book is also expected to include Soofi’s picture and he is elated. “It feels good to be published in a Pakistani textbook,” Soofi told PTI. Oxford University Press' editor (higher education) Samuel Ray wrote to Soofi recently to seek his permission to publish the material for a low priced English textbook for Class 11. “This textbook follows the 2006 National Curriculum and material in your blog covers theme on patriotism,” Ray wrote. Soofi’s blog ran contributions from famous and not-so-famous Pakistanis. Columnist Irfan ‘Mazdak’ Husain contributed his favourite fives in the “The Proud, Powerful and Pak series”. “As Pakistan hits headlines around the world, the news all seems bad. From disaster in the World Cup, to poor Bob Woolmer’s death, to the recent bloodbath in Karachi, it seems that Pakistan is the source of much of the nastiness in a nasty world,” Husain wrote. “But we Pakistanis have become so used to the succession of bad news that we have come to take each fresh crisis in our stride. In fact, it is this resilience in face of so much adversity (mostly self-created), that is one of the things I am most proud of.” — PTI
|
|
Neolithic remains found in South China
Beijing, July 23 The poles, found standing 4.6 m underground, were used as part of building structures for an ancient community that may have covered an area of 4 sq km, the China Daily reported. It cited Min Rui, a researcher at Yunnan Archaeological Institute, who is leading the excavation team. The site could be older than the Hemudu community in Yuyao in Zhejiang province, which is among the most famous in China and is believed to be the birthplace of the society around the Yangtze river. An area of 1,350 sq m has already been uncovered and excavation is ongoing. The excavation began in January, but the site was actually discovered five decades ago during the construction of a canal along the banks of the Jianhu lake, about 500 km northwest of the provincial capital Kunming. Archaeologists have found more than 3,000 artefacts made of stone, wood, iron, pottery and bone, as well as more than 2,000 wooden posts. — Reuters
|
|
LTTE ceasefire a ploy, says government
The government has dismissed as a ploy the announcement on Monday night by the LTTE that the group is declaring a unilateral, week-long ceasefire to coincide with the SAARC Heads of State summit to be held in Colombo on August 1 and 2.
A senior Minister and Leader of the House Nimal Siripala De Silva told parliament that the government does not accept the ceasefire which would only give “oxygen” to the LTTE which is buckling under the onslaught of the military operations launched by government troops in their stronghold in the north. The LTTE, in its announcement, said the ceasefire would be in place between July 26 and August 4. Norwegian Embassy officials in Colombo informed the ministry of foreign affairs on Tuesday evening of the LTTE’s decision to declare a ceasefire. The Norwegians have long been the facilitators of negotiations between the Government and the LTTE. Despite the announcement, security remains tight in Colombo and the suburbs as the country readies for the summit.
|
|
|
Talks on N. Korea denuclearisation starts World's first IVF baby marks 30th birthday Australian reporter gets advice, treatment Passport staff strike Brown rejects gift from Bush Rowling’s regret Los Angeles bans plastic bags
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Amidst looming political
uncertainties following the Maoists decided not to join the new government, newly elected first President of the Federal Democratic Republic Nepal Ram Baran Yadav and vice-president Paramananda Jha took the oath of office and secrecy amid a grand function at Presidential Office (Rastrapati Bhawan) at Sital Niwas today.
