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Special
status to Pak not to hit ties with India, says US
Pak’s
suspension from Commonwealth to be revoked: official US
launches air raids in Afghanistan |
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Pak
launches attack to nab Laden deputy US
House votes to double reward on Osama Whites
will be only 50 pc of US population by 2050
Duma
nod to merge two regions Spain
blast suspects accused of terror crime Faculty
Excellence Award for NRI
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Special status to Pak not to hit ties with India, says US Washington, March 19 “No, it shouldn’t,” State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday when asked at a media briefing whether the US decision to designate Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally would heighten tensions between them. “We have a good and close relationship with India, independent of the relationship with Pakistan. I would point to the strategic partnership which we announced here in January that shows, I think, the strength and depth of that relationship and the kind of cooperation that we’re engaged with India, in the area of trade and development of high-tech goods. “And we don’t see our relationship with India or Pakistan as a zero sum game,” he said. Ereli said the recognition of Pakistan as a major non-Nato ally is a recognition of “our close and continuing cooperation with Pakistan in the global war on terrorism. This is a fairly, I think, exclusive club, if you will”. “I think it demonstrates a commitment to a positive and long-term relationship with Pakistan. It comes on the heels of our pledge to work with Congress on a $3 billion multi-year assistance package for Pakistan. Practically, what it involves is foreign — access to war reserve stockpiles on Pakistani territory, cooperative training agreements with the United States and ability to use foreign military financing for commercial leasing of certain defence articles, he said. “So it’s important, I think, materially, but also very important in that it sends a signal of close and strong and lasting cooperation,” Ereli said. On asked whether access to Pakistan for war reserves and foreign military financing will heighten tensions with India in any way, he said: “We look at it on a case-by-case basis. There’s a unique set of circumstances in each country, which we appreciate in the context of our relations with that country”. When asked whether Indians were notified beforehand that you were going to take this position, he said, “This is not something that we cared to advertise beforehand”.
— PTI |
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Pak’s suspension from Commonwealth to be London, March 19 Distancing from any speculative inferences on the timing of the move, he added that the Commonwealth members would not be influenced by the decision of the USA to confer the status of “Major non-NATO ally” on Pakistan. The
decision to induct Pakistan back into the organisation would also have nothing to do to with the major offensive launched by
Islamabad against suspected al-Qaida guerillas, he added. “We are not in the business of just following someone else. Our judgment is made on the basis of the country’s democratic credentials and value of its democratic institutions,” Mr McKinnon told a daily.
— UNI |
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US launches air raids in Afghanistan Kabul, March 19 The fighting in Uruzgan province, south of Kabul, occurred amid a stepped up hunt by US forces for Taliban and Al-Qaida militants, including Osama bin Laden. US and Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers came under fire yesterday while on patrol in a village in Uruzgan’s Tarin Kot district, US military spokesman Lieut-Col Bryan Hilferty said. The soldiers returned fire, killing at least five attackers. Two US soldiers were wounded, one of whom was evacuated to Germany for treatment, he said. “Coalition and ANA operations continue in this area,’’ he said. “Early this morning we re-engaged the enemy with direct fire and fire support from U S aircraft.’’ US forces in the south and east of Afghanistan have been hunting for Al-Qaida and other militants along the Afghan side of the border with Pakistan, while Pakistani forces have launched a sweep of the remote tribal lands on their side.
— Reuters |
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Pak launches attack to nab Laden deputy Wana, Pakistan, March 19 ‘’There is a powerful firing going on by three helicopters, said a resident in the town of Wana, near the scene of the battle. ‘’They are firing machine guns and have dropped a bomb,’’ he said. Pakistani troops were also firing artillery, he added. Pakistani forces have faced ferocious resistance from suspected Al-Qaida militants and Pakistani tribesmen in the South Waziristan area since launching a sweep on Tuesday, leading to speculation they may be protecting Ayman al-Zawahri, Bin Laden’s right-hand man. Zawahri, an Egyptian doctor, is regarded as the brains of Al Qaida and believed to be one of the key figures behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Western intelligence sources say Zawahri and bin Laden were believed to be close to each other, somewhere in Pakistan’s Waziristan. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf told CNN yesterday that the ferocity of the resistance his forces had encountered led generals to believe they were shielding an important militant. ‘’(Judging by) the resistance that is being offered by the people there, we feel that there may be a high-value target,’’ he said. ‘’The houses there are almost forts, mud forts,’’ he said. ‘’All these forts are occupied and they are dug in and they are giving fierce resistance.’’ Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, told CNN that even if Zawahri was captured, it would not end the war on Al-Qaida. KABUL: Al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahri are safe and in Afghanistan, not neighbouring Pakistan where an intense manhunt is under way, a Taliban spokesman said on Friday. Speaking by satellite phone from southern Afghanistan, Abdul Samad dismissed speculation by Pakistani officials that Al-Zawahri could be surrounded in the Pakistan border district of South Waziristan, saying that he was “100 per cent” sure the Al-Qaida No. 2 was safe. “All these reports about Ayman Al-Zawahri being surrounded in Pakistan are not true, they are just propaganda by the US coalition and by the Pakistani army to weaken Taliban morale,” he said.
— AFP |
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US House votes to double reward on Osama Washington, March 19 The move came in connection with a broader Bill that expanded the State Department’s anti-terrorist rewards programme to provide cash and other benefits to those helping authorities track down drug traffickers who support terrorist activities. The Bill, which was passed 414-0 yesterday, now goes to the Senate. Kathryn Harris, a Florida Republican, said it recognises the growing link between the illicit drug trade and the financing and support of terrorist activities. Three senior officials of the government of Pakistan said yesterday they believe their troops have surrounded Ayman al-Zawahri, Al-Qaida’s No. 2 figure, in an operation near the Afghan border. The legislation also amends a 1956 law to raise the maximum amount of terrorist and narco-terrorist rewards from $5 million to $25 million.
— AP |
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Whites will be only 50 pc of US population by 2050 Washington, March 19 The number of non-White, including Asian-American and
Hispanics, will see a dramatic increase. However, the proportion of Whites may increase later as some of offsprings of mixed couples — White and other races — may declare themselves “White”, the bureau said. In the US, everyone is allowed to describe his or her race. The bureau also said overall, the US population was projected to grow about 49 per cent to 420 million by 2050, from the current 283 million. The US will be one of the few developed countries to grow that fast in terms of population, while most developed countries will be struggling to maintain current levels. The census projection says the White US population will grow by about 7 per cent in absolute numbers from 196 million to 210 million by 2050 even as Whites decline as a percentage of the total population from 69 per cent to 50 per cent. Census spokesman Mike Bergman said Whites were already a minority in three states. The increase in the
Hispanic population has primarily been due to immigration. However, census officials said arrivals from abroad was expected to decline as the primary factor of
Hispanic growth. About 60 per cent of next year’s 4,00,000-person increase in the Asian population will come through immigration, according to the census projection. America’s Asian population, currently at 11 per cent, will grow 213 per cent to 33 million by 2050, and its share of the US population will increase from 4 per cent to 8 per cent. The Black population will rise from 35 million to 61 million by 2050, as the Black share rises from 13 per cent of the population to 15 per cent. Bergman said the US was going to become “more diverse and get older”.
— PTI |
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Duma nod to merge two regions Moscow, March 19 In a 423-0 vote, with one abstention, lawmakers in the 450-seat State Duma, the lower House, passed a constitutional law under which the Perm Oblast and the neighbouring Komi-Permyak Autonomous Districts will merge next year to become the Perm Territory. The law faces easy approval in the loyal upper House and is expected to be signed by President Vladimir Putin, who submitted it to the Duma after officials in both regions called for the merger and voters approved of it in referenda last December. The text of the law — the first constitutional change approved by the new Duma since its election in December, 2003 — says its aim is “to speed up social-economic development” and “raise living standards” in the two Ural Mountain regions, which will become one in December, 2005. The law is in line with Putin’s efforts to increase control over Russia’s regions, some of whose leaders sought a strong measure of independence from the federal government in the 1990s. Shortly after his first election in 2000, Putin moved to consolidate power in his hands by creating seven presidential districts overlaying the 89 regions.
— AP |
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Spain blast suspects accused of terror crime Madrid, March 19 Two other suspects, both Indians, were accused of cooperating with a “terrorist group”, the sources said. All five were ordered held in custody after their initial appearance before a judge this morning. Bombs exploded on four packed commuter trains in Madrid on March 11, killing 202 persons, in attacks which have been claimed by a militant Islamic group aligning itself to the Al-Qaida. There was no immediate declaration of the grounds on which the men were accused of 190 murders. The five were arrested three days after the bombing. All five suspects denied any link to the Al-Qaida network, the court sources added. They also denied taking part in the attacks, saying they were asleep at the time. The three accused of the murders and of belonging to a “terrorist organisation” are Moroccans Jamal Zougam, his brother Mohamed Chaoui and Mohamed Bekkali. Zougam broke down before the judge and prosecutor and started crying, the sources said. The Moroccans are also accused of 1,400 attempted murders, four “terrorist acts” and stealing a vehicle. The two Indians, Suresh Kumar and Vinay Khohy, are accused of cooperating with a “terrorist organisation” and forging commercial documents. Under the Spanish legal system, the accusations made against the five means the court considers there is a case to answer. A decision on formal charges would be taken later.
— Reuters |
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Faculty Excellence Award for NRI Houston, March 19 The Deans at Tomball College along with fellow
faculty members and students, nominated Professor Patel for the award. He will be recognised at the National Institute of Staff and Organisational Development Conference at the state capital Austin in May. Patel, a math and physics instructor, came to Tomball College in 1993 after teaching in his native state of Gujarat (Anand) for 30 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics, chemistry, maths and education from Vickrm University in Ujjain, and a master’s degree in maths from Indore University. Professor Patel has authored several textbooks for high school students and has also co-authored a research paper on ‘Modified Jacobi polynomials’.
— PTI |
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