 |
| Monday, August 7, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Two months’ jail for Iran editor Khamenei blocks bid to free press laws TEHRAN, Aug 6 — Tehran’s press court sentenced the director of a pro-reform weekly to a two-month jail term and a one-year ban on press activities, press reports said today.
Lankan poll step draws minister’s ire COLOMBO, Aug 6 — Amid allegations of horse-trading ahead of decisive vote on crucial reforms Bill, a senior Cabinet minister has attacked Sri Lankan government’s new electoral measure saying it will result in the rout of the ruling People’s Alliance (PA) in the general elections. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Japan recalls Hiroshima bombingHIROSHIMA, Aug 6 — In a solemn annual rite, Japan paused today to recall the day 55 years ago when the dropping of a US atomic bomb “created a hell on earth.” Broken only by the steady chirping of cicadas and the tolling of a bell, 60 seconds of silent prayers commenced at 8.15 a.m. — the exact moment the bomb exploded above Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
ISLAMABAD, Aug 6 — Pakistan’s military regime has formally declared country’s Election Commission (EC) an independent and autonomous body for exercising financial and administrative powers, an EC spokesman said. Pak Cabinet okays
devolution plan Mugabe’s farm seizures begin Masood forces
recapture posts Wildfires rage in 11 American states Bush maintains 11 pc lead Indian thrashed in Germany Three hurt in grenade blast
|
|
Two months’ jail for Iran editor TEHRAN, Aug 6 (AFP, DPA) — Tehran’s press court sentenced the director of a pro-reform weekly to a two-month jail term and a one-year ban on press activities, press reports said today. Ahmad Hakimipour of the Omide-Zejan paper was found guilty of “publishing comments offensive to the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard and the Corps itself,” Bahar daily reported. He has 20 days to appeal against the verdict. Omide-Zanjan is among the few pro-reform publications left since the conservative courts launched a massive crackdown on the press after reformists ousted their right-wing rivals in February’s parliamentary elections. In the meantime, the nation’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blocked the new pro-reform Parliament from debating moves to liberalise the tough press laws passed in the waning days of the previous conservative legislature, leading to a brawl in Parliament. Irna news agency said a fight broke out between several angry MPs while others stormed out of the session to protest against Khamenei’s order, on what was to have been a historic day for the new pro-reform Parliament. Meanwhile, Iran’s hardline press court has banned a pro-reform newspaper, bringing to 20 the number of progressive publications closed since the spring, press reports said Today. Iranian newspapers said the weekly Tavana was ordered closed, with immediate effect, for publishing articles that allegedly defamed officials of Iran’s Islamic system. Irna also reported that Iran would release the remaining Iraqi prisoners of war (PoWs) and hand them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for repatriation. Iran’s PoWs Affairs Commission announced yesterday that 721 Iraqi soldiers remaining in Iran would be released on “humanitarian grounds” soon, the report said. It did not give an exact date. The commission expects the Iraqi Government to respond positively to Iran’s gesture and release all Iranian PoWs in return, Irna yesterday added. Iran has so far reportedly freed over 50,000 Iraqi PoWs while Iraq has freed almost 40,000 Iranian PoWs since the United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1988. While Iran puts the number of its PoWs at 3,000, Iraq says that almost 9,000 Iraqi PoWs are still in Iran. A large number of Iraqi PoWs are said to have sought asylum in Iran. The two countries were involved in a devastating eight-year war (1980-88) which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides and caused Iran self-estimated $ 1000-billion damages. Both sides have yet to normalise bilateral relations due to unsettled issues such as PoWs and missing soldiers. |
|
Lankan poll step draws minister’s ire COLOMBO, Aug 6 (PTI) — Amid allegations of horse-trading ahead of decisive vote on crucial reforms Bill, a senior Cabinet minister has attacked Sri Lankan government’s new electoral measure saying it will result in the rout of the ruling People’s Alliance (PA) in the general elections. The attack by Mr Mahinda Rajapakse, Minister of Fisheries and a known detractor of President Chandrika Kumaratunga follows efforts of opposition United National Party (UNP) and Buddhist monks to defeat the Bill by depriving the mandatory two-thirds majority required for its passage in Parliament. The minister, who has been conferred with the Jana Ranjana the highest award given by chiefs of Buddhist sects for his services to uphold the interests of Buddhism in the country last year, made the remarks at the meeting of PA parliamentarians at the official residence of Ms Kumaratunga. While the debate on the Constitutional Bill begins in Parliament tomorrow, the Supreme Court will consider the legality of the electoral reforms Bill on
Monday and give its opinion to the Speaker the next day, in time before the government tabled it in the House to make it a legislation. AFP adds: Sri Lankan legislators were being offered huge cash gifts as President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s party desperately sought a two-thirds majority in Parliament for a crucial reform Bill, officials said on Sunday. Opposition legislators said the bidding had reached dizzying heights of up to Rs 60 million ($ 7,50,000), or about 1,000 times the average annual salary of an office worker. Ms Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA) needs a minimum of 10 MPs from the main opposition United National Party (UNP) to pass her draft statute that will turn the country into a quasi federal state, a move aimed at ending decades of ethnic bloodshed. However, minority Tamil politicians said at least five of Ms Kumaratunga’s supporters had now decided to vote against the Bill when it is put to the test on Wednesday. As tension mounted in and around Sri Lanka’s capital ahead of the decisive vote, government MPs were checking into the safety of deluxe hotels in the capital and were due to be taken by helicopter to Parliament for the vote. “The President warned us that there could be attacks against us,” one MP said from the five-star Taj Samudra Hotel. “It is as a precautionary measure that we have been asked to come here.” |
|
Japan recalls Hiroshima bombing HIROSHIMA, Aug 6 (AP) — In a solemn annual rite, Japan paused today to recall the day 55 years ago when the dropping of a US atomic bomb “created a hell on earth.” Broken only by the steady chirping of cicadas and the tolling of a bell, 60 seconds of silent prayers commenced at 8.15 a.m. — the exact moment the bomb exploded above Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Many in attendance on the grounds of Peace Memorial Park bowed their heads, while some held Buddhist prayer beads. The city of Hiroshima estimated that 50,000 persons attended the event, held amid hot, muggy weather. The police put the number at 30,000. “It has been precisely 55 years since one single atomic bomb created a hell on earth,” Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said in delivering the city’s annual peace declaration. About 1,40,000 persons died in the attack. Three days later, the USA dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 persons. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945. Scientists estimate the yield of the bomb that decimated Hiroshima was about 12,000 kilotons. A kiloton is the equivalent of 1,000 pounds of high explosives. Following the declaration, 1,500 doves symbolising peace were released into the sky at the ceremony, which is televised nationally every year. Children sang a song of peace on the occasion. |
|
Pak EC declared autonomous ISLAMABAD, Aug 6 (PTI) — Pakistan's
military regime has formally declared country’s Election Commission (EC) an independent and autonomous body for exercising financial and administrative powers, an
EC spokesman said. We have received the directives from the government to act independently for running our financial and administrative affairs,
EC spokesman Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad said. The Law Ministry has been asked to issue an ordinance in compliance with the directives issued by military ruler General Pervaiz Musharraf during his visit to the Election Commission on may 10 last, he said. Under the new directives, the commission would have full powers to re-appropriate funds from one head of account to another within its allocated budget and have “full powers to sanction expenditure on any item from within the allocated budget and exercise full powers to change nomenclature and upgrade and downgrade any post provided the expenditure is met from within its overall allocated budget”, Dilshad said. The Chief Election Commissioner would have complete financial control on budgetary matters, he said. The commission has also been granted powers to hold local bodies’ elections. The new rules would substitute the words “Election Commission” by “legislative business relating to the Election Commission,” to remove the impression that the commission is under the Parliamentary Affairs division. Besides, the federal and the provincial governments would not transfer any officer without the approval of commission after the announcement of dates of election and if such transfers are made shortly before the announcement of the poll dates, the Chief Election Commissioner shall have the power to ascertain if these are made on the mala fide basis and shall, if necessary, cancel such transfers.
|
|
Pak Cabinet okays devolution plan ISLAMABAD, Aug 6 (PTI) —After a two-day stormy session, the joint meeting of Pakistan’s Cabinet and its National Security Council approved the plan to devolve more power to provincial assemblies under military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf by incorporating a number of amendments in the original draft. The meeting discussed threadbare the apprehensions expressed by political parties about the programme and decided not to ignore some of the proposals in order to ensure maximum acceptance for it. Although official sources refused to disclose the amendments, it is believed that demands of three provinces and religious parties to decrease women participation in local body polls has been accepted. Similarly, changes have been made in the composition of district assemblies and role of police and district administration under the new package. Gen Musharraf would hold another meeting of the cabinet and the security council on August 12 and 13 following which he would announce the devolution plan in a press conference, an official statement here said. The statement quoted Gen Musharraf as saying that the new local government plan should establish the foundations of authentic and enduring democracy. “The changes and reforms under the new system will help transform conventional and restrictive practices and procedures,” Gen Musharraf said, adding “The plan aims to make the people the masters of their own destiny.” |
|
Mugabe’s farm seizures begin HARARE: The Zimbabwean Government has begun its long-promised mass expropriation of white-owned land for redistribution among black peasants with the seizure of the first farms without compensation. The confiscation of Viewfield Farm in Centenary, an hour’s drive from Harare, comes after months of confrontation and violence as President Robert Mugabe vowed to take much of Zimbabwe’s fertile land out of the hands of a few thousand white farmers. Although hundreds of farms have already been illegally occupied by war veterans and their supporters, and several white families forced to flee their homes, Viewfield is the first to be taken by the government after being legally designated for confiscation. An official messenger served the elderly owner, Mrs April Davies, with the papers authorising its seizure. She has 90 days to vacate her house. Her 34 black farm labourers and their families have also been ordered off the property. The government says another 24 farms in the area will be resettled within days and it will use the army to move 500,000 families on to expropriated farms in the coming months. It described those given land on Viewfield Farm as widows, war veterans and villagers on communal land. Locals say the families were chosen for their loyalty to Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party. The Mashonaland provincial governor, Elliot Manyika, who handed over the land, said: “This is the start of an ongoing exercise to resettle the people before the onset of the rains. “We want them to prepare the land and produce to feed the nation. Infrastructure will follow when we have finished putting the people on the land,” he said to the cheers of the new owners. But by Mr Manyika’s own admission, the 47 families have no tools or skill in using the farm’s equipment, raising serious doubts that they will fulfil his exhortation. Critics warn that wholesale seizure of commercial farms will wreck Zimbabwe’s agricultural production and an already battered economy. The Finance Minister, Mr Simba Makoni, admits that the economy is in a “deep crisis” and imposed a sharp devaluation and a new public spending in an attempt to revive it. The government is also scrambling to fend off looming US sanctions aimed at blocking all international finance and US aid to Zimbabwe because of the illegal land seizures and political violence. White farmers have taken the government to the Supreme Court, arguing that the land seizures amount to unconstitutional racial discrimination. — The Guardian, London |
|
Masood
forces recapture posts KABUL, Aug 6 (AFP) — Heavy fighting raged today in northeastern Afghanistan, with the ruling Taliban militia trying to advance on the opposition stronghold of Taloqan, resistance sources said. Mohammad Habeel, a spokesman for opposition commander Ahmad Shah Masood, said the Islamic militia launched a heavy pre-dawn attack against positions between Ishkamish and Takhar’s provincial centre of Taloqan. “They captured initially a number of our posts, which our men recovered in a counter-attack,” he said. Habeel said skirmishes continued around Salang with Masood supporters capturing six hilltops from the Taliban along the main highway linking Kabul with northern Afghanistan. |
|
Wildfires rage in 11 American states LOS ANGELES, Aug 6 (AFP) — Wildfires continued to rip through 11 western states of the USA as firefighting crews, boosted by international and military reinforcements, fought to tame the worst blazes seen in decades. “Overnight we held our own,” said Ms Michelle Barret, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center
(NIFC). “Nothing terrible happened overnight but we still have an uphill battle in front of us,” she said early yesterday. Crews were working to tame the 62 wildfires burning in 11 western states, which have already seared a total of 302,341 hectares. Yesterday, new large fires were reported in the northern Rockies, eastern and western Great Basin, Rocky Mountains and north-west areas, the NIFC said. Fires have burnt a total of 1.6 million hectares across the country this year, the NIFC said. The fires have erupted in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — usually getting started when lightning has struck extremely dry vegetation. The national Interagency Coordination Center mobilised aircraft and crews such as the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Marines, which underwent the first day of training were issued gear at Camp Pendleton, California. Eight Canadian firefighting teams expected to help reinforce US crews were not yet in operation, Ms Barret said early yesterday, but she said the Canadian crews’ schedule would likely be known later. Meanwhile, the long-term outlook for the weather was still very unfavourable, she said. |
|
Bush maintains 11 pc lead WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuters) — Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush received only a small boost from his party’s nominating convention but has opened up an 11-point lead over his Democratic rival, Mr Al Gore, during the past month, Newsweek said yesterday. Newsweek said its latest poll, based on a survey of 817 US voters on Thursday and Friday, showed Mr Bush received a two-percentage point bounce compared with previous week’s poll. He had the backing of 49 per cent of the voters surveyed, compared with 38 per cent for Democratic candidate Al Gore. The margin of error for the poll was four percentage points. Mr Gore’s support also slipped by two percentage points from the previous week. A Newsweek poll (July 27-28) showed Mr Bush with 47 per cent support vs 40 per cent for Mr Gore. Newsweek’s poll showed Mr Bush and Mr Gore almost in a dead heat at the end of June, with the Texas Governor at 41 per cent and the vice-president at 40 per cent. Newsweek said voters thought Mr Bush would do better than Mr Gore in upholding moral values, reducing crime and violence, and handling taxes, defence and foreign policy. Mr Gore won on issues like helping seniors pay for prescription drugs and protecting gay rights while the two contenders virtually tied on health care, abortion, jobs and the economy. |
|
Indian thrashed in Germany BERLIN, Aug 6 (PTI) — In the ongoing anti-foreign wave in Germany, an Indian national has been severely assaulted in an eastern town of the country this week. The police said five assailants aged between 17 and 21 thrashed the 31-year-old Indian, whose name has been withheld, in a regional train and hurled abuses at him. One of the remarks by the assailants was “get out of here. You are taking away our jobs”. The five youths have been detained on charges of causing physicial injuries and further investigations are on. The shocking incident occurred in the industrial town of Leipzig in Saxony in eastern Germany where two Indian executives were among the first few foreign computer experts who got green cards as part of a new scheme launched by the German government on August 1. Ironically the two incidents occurred on the same day. Rajagopalan Venkatesh and Karan Singh, managers of the German L and T group, received the “work permit guarantees” on behalf of Ritu Gupta and Milan Krishna Mithboakar from the Assistant Director of the Leipzig Employment Office Wolfgang Rohwerder. This is second such incident in Leipzig after a gap of two months. An Indian researcher on a short-term visa was badly beaten up and dogs let loose on him while he emerged from a telephone booth in June. The renewed wave of anti-foreigner violence in the past few months has caused concern in Germany with political and business leaders warning that it would discourage computer experts from moving to Germany and undermine Chancellor Gerbard Schroeder’s ambitious green card initiative. There have been at least 28 extremist attacks against foreigners this year here and four deaths recorded in incidents that included repeated beatings and attempted firebombings of synagogues. Ultra-Rightist groups and Neo-Nazis have been blamed for these incidents. |
|
Three hurt in
grenade blast COLOMBO, Aug 6 (PTI) — Three persons were injured when a grenade exploded accidentally before it could be hurled by the trio at a gathering of right-wing Sinhalese monks in central Colombo today, police sources said. The sources said the grenade exploded when the attackers, suspected to be
Sinhalese, were attempting to hurl it towards the second floor of a building at Narahainpeta in the Sri Lankan capital. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Iranian pro-reform cleric Hassan Youssefi Eshkavari arrives at Tehran's Mehr-Abad airport late
on Friday. Eshkavari, who is facing judicial charges including spreading anti-state propaganda, returned home to a rapturous welcome after a lengthy stay in Europe.
