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Saturday,
June 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Boundary
issue high on Chinese agenda Indian
workers win case in Malaysia Gurdas
Mann a hit in Pakistan
PAKISTAN DIARY
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Indo-Pak
cyber war intensifies Islamabad, June 20 Even as India and Pakistan renew efforts to resolve contentious issues through dialogue, a virtual war is going on between the two neighbours in cyberspace. This year, Pakistani hackers have hacked as many as 546 Indian Web sites so far, compared with only 288 last year, the Daily Times reported today.
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Boundary issue high on Chinese agenda Beijing, June 20 The six-day official visit beginning from June 22, the first by an Indian Prime Minister since 1993, is bound to inject further momentum to the bilateral ties that has witnessed improvement and development in recent years with a frequent exchange of high-level visits and continuous, intensified exchanges and cooperation in various fields, including counter-terrorism and in the military-to-military relations, analysts said. “As a farsighted pioneer in restoring normal Sino-Indian relations in 1979 and a senior statesman of the world today, Mr Vajpayee’s visit to China will certainly be a new milestone in further developing the relations in an overall way,” a former Chinese Ambassador to India, Mr Cheng Ruisheng said. The strengthening of Sino-Indian relations through this visit will serve as a major stabilising factor for peace and security in the region, he said. Noting that Mr Vajpayee’s visit will take place after new Chinese leaders assumed power in Beijing in March, a former Chinese Ambassador to India, Mr Zhou Gang said the trip would lay a “solid foundation” for a 21st century-oriented good-neighbourly relationship between the two big Asian neighbours. “The visit will impart a positive effect not only to Sino-Indian relations but also to the regional situation,” Mr Zhou, also secretary-general of the India-China Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) said. Mr Gang pointed out that China and India are both large, developing countries and friendly cooperation between the two nations would be conducive to regional and global peace and stability. “The Chinese side feels joyous over the healthy growth of Sino-Indian relations,” Mr Liu said, adding that Beijing is willing to make joint efforts with New Delhi to greatly strengthen cooperation in various fields and raise the constructive partnership of cooperation to a new level. He said the unresolved Sino-Indian boundary issue would be high on the agenda of Chinese leaders, who would like to see an early settlement of the problem that has impaired the smooth development of bilateral ties. “We believe that a fair solution can be found as long as the two sides follow the principles of consultations based on equality, mutual understanding and accommodation,” Mr Liu said, while noting that the border between China and India has been peaceful and stable in recent years thanks to joint efforts made by both sides. Mr Vajpayee, who will be accompanied by External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley and a big delegation of CEOs from leading Indian companies would be arriving here late on Sunday. Disinvestment, IT and Communications Minister Arun Shourie is expected to join Mr Vajpayee on the tour’s last leg in Shanghai.
— PTI |
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Indian workers win case in Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, June 20 Penang High Court Judge Kamalanathan Ratnam told the Malaysian company Chin Well Fasteners Co Sdn to honour the promises made to the workers and pay all arrears due to them within a week. “It is indeed a sad case,” Judge Ratnam said in his ruling. The workers had been paid RM 350 (approximately Rs 4,600) a month but the court ruled that the firm was obligated to pay them RM 750 (approximately Rs 10,000) a month along with other standard perks. The judge also said the firm must pay for their air fare to and from Malaysia, as well as reimburse them with the fee of around $1000 (US) paid to a recruitment agent. The cases came to light in October last year and allegedly involved three Malaysian companies and two Indian agents with counterparts in Malaysia. A Malaysian company Gopis Construction reportedly hired Chennai-based Associated Tours Madras Ltd to get workers from India. Chin Well Fasteners and Tong Yong Metals, both located in Penang, northern state of Malaysia, were provided labour by Chennai-based Mithun Travels. They hired Malaysian agent Amarjeet Singh to recruit the workers who mostly came from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. “This whole episode is a conspiracy by the defendant, Amarjeet and Mithun to cheat innocent workers who had mortgaged their land, pledged or sold their jewellery and had signed a promissory notes so that they could earn a fair and reasonable sum from their employment. Instead they had been cheated, degraded, denied food and basic amenities,” the judge said. Relieved workers, who stayed in Malaysia to fight their case rather than cut their losses and return home, welcomed the victory, but said they had another score to settle back home with an agent in Chennai.
— PTI |
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Gurdas Mann
a hit in Pakistan Nankana Sahib, June 20 Mohammed Yunus of Al-Sheikh Music Company in Hassan Abadal tells me that a few years ago, Daler Mehndi took the Pakistan music world by storm and everybody was mesmerised by his style of singing and dancing. His shiny turban and long robes and various mannerisms were a great treat for the ears and eyes, but Daler was not ‘daler’ enough to innovate and thus his style started appearing stale and jaded. Though Daler Mehndi has not fallen into oblivion, his numbers are a low-key affairs in Pakistan if you scan the sale charts of the music companies. Old timers still tune in for Lata Mangeshkar whose old songs composed by such music masters as Naushad, Shanker-Jaikishen, C. Ramchander, Madan Mohan and Khayyam leave a soothing and sobering effect. Jagjit Singh is another singer who commands a mass audience in Pakistan. His style, completely different from their own ghazal-singing stalwarts Mehndi Hassan and Ghulam Ali, sends them in a trance. He is especially appealing to saner minds. His selection of lyrics is praise-worthy and remarkable. Syed F. Abbas of Lahore is a die-hard fan of Jagjit Singh. Abbas was overwhelmed when a member of the jatha presented him Jagjit’s audio cassette ‘Face to face’. Pankaj Udhas is another Indian singer whose numbers are sought by a few. Hafiz Music Store in Lahore, Sajid Music Company in Hassan Abdal and Sajjad Music Club here testify to the fact that these Indian singers are a big hit in Pakistan. As for the Indian film heroes and heroines, Amitabh Bachchan is still ahead of all Khans — Salman, Amir and Shah Rukh. Aishwarya is a bewitching beauty. So Aishwarya-struck is Jawahar lal of Rai Jewellers in Hassan Abdal that he has named his younger daughter ‘Aishwarya’. His brother Kasturi Lal says the family (it is one of the five Hindu families from Jhang, near Hassan Abdal) gets all movie cassettes from Dubai.Most music stores in Pakistan are overflowing with Hindi film and music cassettes meeting the demand of good music which breaks all barriers. |
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PAKISTAN DIARY SUKHCHAIN
Singh, a resident of Guru Ki Wadali, Amritsar, who is a member of the jatha, has lost his passport. Though the Pakistan Government has been informed, and some officials of the Department of Shrines claim that the yatri would be provided travel documents to return, it may be a case of easy said than done. For instance, Partap Singh, also a yatri, had lost his passport in the 60s during a visit to Pakistan. Despite best efforts, he failed to return. He died here a few years ago. *
* * * The actual strength of the jatha at present is only about 135 though about 150-member jatha had crossed over into Pakistan via Wagah. *
* * * The jatha after visiting Sucha Sauda on June 21 wanted to return to Lahore the same evening but the Pakistani authorities have refused to change the itinerary, so the jatha will leave for Lahore on June 22 enroute to Wagah. *
* * * Before Guru Nanak’s birth, the place was known as Rai Bhoe Di Talwandi. It was later known as Nankana Sahib after Guru Nanak Dev. Guru Nanak himself was named after his elder sister Nanki. And why was she named Nanki? Because she was born at nanas’ (grandparents on mother’s side) house. |
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Indo-Pak
cyber war intensifies Islamabad, June 20 This year, Pakistani hackers have hacked as many as 546 Indian Web sites so far, compared with only 288 last year, the Daily Times reported today. ‘’For every Pakistani site defaced by Indian hackers, the Pakistanis hack into 10 Indian sites. There is a constant game of one-upmanship happening online,’’ the daily quoted Mr Anubhab Kalia, the chief of flawfinder.com, a service that monitors the defacement of Indian sites, as saying. Sites such as the one maintained by the Indian Government to provide information about the Army and its activities in Kashmir were hacked. The Pakistani sites hacked include those of the Pakistan Export Board and the National Reconstruction Bureau. The Pakistani hackers have formed hacking groups which they call the Federal Bureau of the Hackers of Pakistan and Roxx. The Iraq war is believed to be one reason behind the increase in hacking activity. |
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