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Pakistan rakes up Kashmir, yet again
Disgraced Swraj Paul quits Labour Party
UK’s longest serving Sikh officer to retire
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Pak SC acknowledges supremacy of Parliament
Teen charged with murder of Nitin Garg
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Pakistan rakes up Kashmir, yet again
Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday called on the US to resolve the Kashmir issue saying that the recent events in the Valley had ‘endangered’ the stability of South Asia.
“Pakistan is deeply interested in a peaceful and stable South Asia. That prospect, however, is endangered again by the recent events in Kashmir. Any person of conscience cannot ignore the use of brute force against defenceless Kashmiri youth,” Qureshi told an audience at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday evening. “In this unfolding tragedy, over a hundred Kashmiris have lost their lives in the past three months, many of them teenagers. Their mothers are rightly bewildered at the deafening silence of the international community,” he said. “It is in the interest of lasting peace, stability and development in the region that the US works for the resolution of disputes in South Asia. This has to begin with justice for the Kashmiri people,” said the Pakistan minister. Mindful of Indian concerns about third party mediation, current and former US officials say the Obama administration is not inclined to insert itself into what it views as being a bilateral dispute between India and Pakistan. “I don’t think it would be smart to inject the United States as an actor into a three-part dialogue,” R. Nicholas Burns, an undersecretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, said at the release of a Center for a New American Security report on US-India relations on Wednesday. Qureshi is in Washington to participate in a US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, the third of its kind this year. Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is part of the delegation. US officials have been pressing Pakistan to do more in the fight against extremists, particularly groups like the Haqqani Network and LeT that provide safe havens for members of Al-Qaida and the Taliban along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. US President Barack Obama met with his national security team on Wednesday to discuss developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan and discussed the “need to increase pressure on extremist safe-havens,” the White House said in a statement. US special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, said both Pakistan and the US recognise that more needs to be done in the fight against extremists. “We face a common enemy, a common threat and a common task,” Holbrooke said. “While there is much more that can be done... we believe that we have made a great deal of progress... it has reduced the threat to our homeland while not eliminating it.”
Obama to visit Pak in 2011
US President Barack Obama has told Pakistani officials he will not visit their country during his trip to Asia next month, but will visit Pakistan only next year.
Obama dropped in while a meeting was underway between top US and Pakistani officials at the Roosevelt Room in the White House on Wednesday and sought to allay Pakistani concerns about his trip to India in November. “The President explained that he would not be stopping in Pakistan during his trip to Asia next month and committed to visiting Pakistan in 2011 as well as welcoming President (Asif Ali) Zardari to Washington,” the White House said in a statement. In the meeting, which was also being attended by Pakistan Foreign Minister SM Qureshi and lasted 35 minutes, Obama underscored the importance of the US-Pak strategic dialogue in “moving our relationship toward a true partnership based on mutual respect and common interests,” the White House said.
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Disgraced Swraj Paul quits Labour Party
Lord Swraj Paul has resigned from Britain’s Labour Party following his suspension from the Upper House of UK Parliament following a ruling that he and two others wrongly claimed thousands of pounds in expenses. The punishment meted out to Lord Paul, born in Jalandhar, is the least severe of the three cases. He has been suspended for four months, whereas Baroness Uddin, originally from Bangaldesh, has been suspended for two years and ordered to repay £125,349.10. A second member of the House of Lords, Tanzania-born Lord Bhatia, was suspended for eight months. He has already repaid some £27,000. Lord Paul has repaid £41,982 and the House of Lords committee investigating his case has now accepted that he had not been dishonest but "utterly unreasonable" and "negligent". The Labour Party, meanwhile, has confirmed that Lord Paul has resigned. A party spokesman told The Tribune, “In light of the House of Lords’ Committee for Privileges and Conduct’s report, Baroness Uddin has been suspended from the Labour Party, which will be reported to the National Executive Committee and may result in further disciplinary action. “The Labour Party expects the highest standards of its representatives and supports the committee’s report. Lord Paul has today chosen to resign his Labour Party membership.”
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UK’s longest serving Sikh officer to retire
London, October 21 Harinder, popularly known as ‘Hari’, was born in Jalandhar district and was educated in Slough, Berkshire. Harinder whose family moved to England in 1961, joined the Thames Valley Police as a police cadet on October 13, 1975, and subsequently joined the regular service. He was the first Asian to join the Thames Valley Police. In 1982 he joined the CID department. As a detective constable, he served on the drugs, fraud, intelligence and surveillance squads. As a member of the TVP Black Police Association, he helped implement several of the recommendations from the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. In 2000, as part of the EXPO-2000, World Fair held in Hanover, Germany, he served with the German police for six months. In December, 2002, he joined the Metropolitan Police Service’s elite SO13 squad. His job in the anti-terrorist branch meant that he had to travel to several countries, including Pakistan, Egypt, South Africa, Holland and the USA. In 2002, Harinder received a commendation from the German government for his work in a complex kidnapping investigation. Harinder, whose hobbies include cricket, football, hockey and travelling, said: “After 35 years, I need to retire. I have enjoyed my service, there were a few difficulties with a few individuals who could not accept Asian officers but in the main I have worked hard and am a role model for many in the Asian community.” — PTI
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Pak SC acknowledges supremacy of Parliament
The Supreme Court on Thursday acknowledged the supremacy of Parliament but asked it to review the provisions of the 18th Amendment dealing with the procedure of appointment of judges.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who announced a brief order of the court, said the amendment was detrimental to freedom of judiciary. It pointed out to certain procedural and legal flaws and practical difficulties in Article 175-A unanimously approved by Parliament in April last and asked Parliament to revisit the article in the light of its observations. It, however, ruled that the new appointments would be made under this article until it is reviewed. The key issue tackled by the court related to the authority of Parliament to adopt any constitutional amendment if it violated the “fundamental structure” of the basic law as was done by the Supreme Court of India. The Pakistani SC did not assert that right but chose to refer back the issue to Parliament for reviewing its legislation.
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Teen charged with murder of Nitin Garg
Melbourne, October 21 A 16-year-old boy, whose name had not been disclosed due to legal reasons, appeared in a Melbourne children's court today and was charged with one count of murder. The boy's defence lawyer told the court the charges would be contested at a committal hearing early next year. Garg, 21, was stabbed as he walked through Cruickshank Park, in Melbourne's west, on his way to work at a Yarraville Hungry Jack's outlet after 9.30 pm on January 2. After the stabbing, Garg staggered to the fast food outlet, at the corner of Somerville and Geelong roads, and died a short time later.
— PTI
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UK channel to go ahead with film on kidnapping of Prince Harry Synthetic DNA spray tracks burglars TV images with evocative aromas! Budget cuts to hit Queen too 
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