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PM hails IAEA approval of PM
condoles Surjeet’s death
ISI hand in Kabul embassy attack: US
Pak wants India out of Afghanistan
Anthrax scientist commits suicide
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Phoenix tastes Martian water
Los Angeles, August 1 The Phoenix spacecraft has tasted Martian water for the first time, scientists reported. By melting icy soil in one of its lab instruments, the robot confirmed presence of frozen water lurking below the Martian permafrost. Till now, evidence of ice in the North Pole region of Mars has largely been circumstantial. Eclipse darkens NW China, a week before Olympics Govt not aware of Indian
Mujahideen: Official
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PM hails IAEA approval of safeguards pact
Colombo, August 1 Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told the media that the nuclear suppliers’ group (NSG) would meet on August 21 to consider giving ‘clean unconditional exemption’ to India for undertaking nuclear trade with the international community. The Prime Minister, who has projected the Indo-US nuclear deal as one of the most significant achievements of his government on the foreign policy front, said, “As we move towards our goal of sustainable development and energy security, the peaceful uses of atomic energy will play an increasingly important role.” As news came from Vienna that the safeguards agreement had been approved by consensus, Indian officials heaved a sigh of relief. They were keeping their fingers crossed on whether Pakistan would press for voting on the safeguards agreement. In the end, Pakistan fell in line at Vienna and did not force a vote, sensing it might prove to be the lone voice of dissent at the 35-member meeting. The Indian officials were quite confident that the waiver from the NSG would also not be a problem because of the goodwill India enjoyed because of its impeccable non-proliferation record.
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PM
condoles Surjeet’s death Colombo, August 1 In a statement, the Prime Minister, who is here for the SAARC Summit, said, “I was deeply shocked and pained by the news (of his death).” Manmohan Singh said Surjeet, a former CPM general secretary was “a great political leader, a true patriot, a man committed to the welfare of the downtrodden, a great Indian and above all a dear friend”. “I greatly valued his friendship and his guidance. As I said recently in Parliament, he was one of the architects of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Sardar Surjeet dedicated his entire life to the communist movement in India,” Manmohan said. He said he was one of the leading lights in Punjab “and for many years an outstanding leader of the communist movement in India.” Under his leadership the communist movement came into the national mainstream and contributed to giving a progressive orientation to India’s social and economic policies, the Prime Minister said. “I always valued his advice and reached out to him for support and guidance in managing the UPA government,” he said.
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ISI hand in Kabul embassy attack: US
US officials have concluded that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) provided “logistic support” to militants who attacked the Indian Embassy in Kabul last month, according to US media reports. The findings back up claims by New Delhi. The Washington Post reported the US findings were based in part on “communication intercepts”. “There continues to be evidence of the involvement of the Taliban and Haqqani network in the Indian Embassy bombing as well as the attempted assassination of Afghan President Hamid Karzai,” a senior US official briefed on the reports told the paper. He said there was “significant” evidence suggesting that individual ISI members provided logistical support to the embassy bombers. He declined to elaborate further. Hinting strongly at the ISI involvement, Afghanistan’s ministry of defence had also concluded that: “Without any doubt the terrorists could not have succeeded in this act without the support of foreign intelligence agencies.” The July 7 attack, which killed 41 persons and wounded 150, was the deadliest in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Among the dead were defence attache Brigadier R.D. Mehta, counsellor Venkateswara Rao of the Indian Foreign Service, and Ajai Pathania and Roop Singh, both of the ITBP. The interior ministry of Afghanistan said the car bombing had happened “in coordination and consultation with some of the active intelligence circles in the region.” A similar charge was made by Indian foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon, who told reporters following talks with his Pakistani counterpart in New Delhi last month that “all our information points to elements of Pakistan being behind the blast.” The Post reported the embassy bombing had been linked to fighters loyal to Jalaluddin Haqqani, an ethnic Pashtun militant who had led pro-Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and had been associated with numerous suicide bombings in the region. Sources told the Post CIA officials had raised the issue of possible ISI support for the embassy bombers during a meeting last month between the newly elected Pakistani government and a delegation led by Stephen Kappes, the agency’s director of clandestine operations.
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Pak wants India out of Afghanistan
Colombo, August 1 The official, accompanying the Prime Minister on his visit to the Sri Lankan capital, said India had the ‘cleanest evidence’ that Pakistan’s ISI had masterminded the July 7 suicide bomb attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul, in which more than 50 persons, including 4 Indians, were killed. “That is why we went public and said Pakistan’s ISI is behind the blast. “Earlier, Pakistan used to dismiss New Delhi’s charges of its involvement in the anti-Indian activities as ‘baseless’ but now even the United States and other countries were openly saying ISI was responsible for the attack in Kabul. “We are unhappy with the role ISI is playing...the message is very clear: get out of Afghanistan.” Pakistan has been annoyed with the massive rehabilitation and reconstruction programme India has undertaken in the war-ravaged country, jeopardising Islamabad’s geo-political interests in the strife-torn nation. India has pledged $750 million assistance to Afghanistan, much to the consternation of Islamabad. The Zaranj-Delaram road link, that seeks to reduce Afghanistan’s dependence on Pakistan for overland access to Central Asia and provide an alternative route for Indian goods to that country has also been completed. Asked if the attack on the Kabul mission would be taken up by Manmohan Singh during his meeting with Gillani, the official said, “I presume it will be raised.” The problem in Pakistan now was that there were several power centres in the country. India was finding it quite difficult to deal with the situation. The official said it was easy to deal with the Pakistani leadership when President Pervez Musharraf was at the helm of affairs as he was a ‘single point authority’. Meanwhile, officials from India and Pakistan were today doing the groundwork for the meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries. India has long held the view that a stable Pakistan was in the overall interest of the region. New Delhi has left no stone unturned to demonstrate its commitment to improving relations with Islamabad and consolidate the composite dialogue process with the democratic government in that country. When the Gillani government assumed office earlier this year, it had expressed its commitment to the peace process. However, New Delhi believes that the new government has not lived up to its expectations. The ceasefire violation will also figure prominently during the talks between the two Prime Ministers.
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Anthrax scientist commits suicide
Washington, August 1 Ivins, who had worked for the past 18 years at the government’s biodefense labs at Fort Detrick, Md., had been told about the impending prosecution, the newspaper said. The Maryland laboratory has been at the center of the FBI’s investigation of the anthrax attacks, which killed five people. “We are not at this time making any official statements or comments regarding this situation,” Debbie Weierman, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Washington field office, which is investigating the anthrax attacks, said Friday. “When we are able to give out any pertinent information we will certainly let the public and the media know.” The justice department, parent agency of the FBI, had agreed earlier to pay $2.825 million and provide a $3 million annuity for Steven Hatfill, a former Army scientist who was named as a person of interest in the 2001 anthrax attacks. In his suit against Justice, Hatfill claimed that federal law enforcement officials had violated his privacy rights by speaking with reporters about the case. Settlement documents were filed in federal court in late June. — AP
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Phoenix tastes Martian water
Los Angeles, August 1 In 2002, the orbiting Odyssey spacecraft spied what looked like a reservoir of buried ice. After Phoenix arrived, it found what looked like ice in a hard patch underneath its landing site and changes in a trench indicated some ice had turned to gas when exposed to the sun. Scientists popped open champagne when they received confirmation that the soil contained ice. “We’ve now finally touched it and tasted it,” William Boynton of the University of Arizona said during a news conference in Tucson yesterday. “From my standpoint, it tastes very fine.”
— AP
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Eclipse darkens NW China, a week before Olympics Jiayuguan, August 1 The stellar spectacle - when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth - began in Canada, tracked across Greenland and crept into Siberia, before ringing in the momentous month of August in China, when it will host the Games. In north west China, cheers went up from the Jiayuguan Fort as hordes of tourists welcomed the eclipse. ''It's really special because I'm standing here on the Great Wall and watching it,'' said Feng Lei, a backpacker from the province of Sichuan, who was making his way to Beijing for the Olympics. Eclipses were considered dark omens by ancient Chinese astronomers but many Chinese view this one as particularly fortunate as it comes exactly a week before the torch is lit in Beijing for the opening ceremony of Games designed to restore China's pride and showcase its achievements. In Russia, thousands had flocked from around the world to Novosibirsk, mixing awe with excitement as day turned into night. All gazed in wonder as an eerie silence descended on the Siberian city. Birds stopped chirping and the temperature suddenly dropped, a Reuters TV reporter there said.. — Reuters
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Govt not aware of Indian
Mujahideen: Official Colombo, August 1 The official, accompnaying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his visit to Sri Lanka for the SAARC summit, said the government has some leads about the blasts and was working on them. “However, we are not clear about the message behind these blasts.” Notably, the serial blasts in Jaipur in May and Ahmedabad were similar in nature while those in Bangalore were executed with a great deal of sophistication.
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