 |
|
Pak to present formal proposals on Kashmir, other issues
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DNA test proves Blunkett
father of ex-lover’s son
Gen Vij arrives in Beijing
UK govt’s stand on Sikh protests shocking: Rushdie
Full dimensions of A.Q. Khan's network unknown: report
Bifurcation of 4 Sindh districts opposed
|
|
Pak to present formal proposals on
Islamabad, December 26 Asked about media reports that Pakistan would be formally putting forward some proposals on the Kashmir issue, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told PTI that evolution of proposals was a joint responsibility of both sides. “We shall try to hear each other out to try to move forward.” But he declined to directly respond to a report that Pakistan would put forward proposals on Kashmir, saying engagement was a continuous process. “We would like to explore possible options that can lead to a solution. Enduring effort is to develop and explore solution acceptable to India, Pakistan and Kashmiris,” he said, adding that the two Foreign Secretaries would listen and touch base with each other’s point of view. He, however, did not directly respond to a question whether Pakistan contemplated to put forward the seven-option formula floated by President Pervez Musharraf two months ago as food-for-thought proposal for the media. “The President has floated the ideas for the media to explore,” he said. Mr Khan’s reaction followed media reports here that Pakistan will propose new ideas on the Kashmir issue as well as additional nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures at tomorrow’s foreign secretary-level talks. “Pakistan will put on the table some additional proposals on nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures as well as float fresh ideas pertaining to the Kashmir issue,” Dawn daily quoted officials as saying.
— PTI |
|
Indo-Pak problems can’t be
Dubai, December 26 “For the first time, the Pakistani side is saying that we would like to discuss Kashmir plus (other issues). Previously, it was only Kashmir and nothing else, so progress is being made and there is a change in the thinking of the ruling establishment in Pakistan in this regard, which is most welcome, Mr Natwar Singh, who was on an official visit to Oman told members of the Indian community at the India House in Muscat yesterday. There was a ray of hope that unresolved matters would get resolved and the overall relation between the two countries are now steadily improving, the Times of Oman daily quoted him as saying. Mr Natwar Singh refused to put a time frame to resolution of issues, saying it was a marathon and not a 100 m race.
— PTI |
|
|
DNA test proves Blunkett
father of ex-lover’s son
London, December 26 A third DNA test has shown positive links between Mr Blunkett and the boy, the Sunday Telegraph said, adding in contrast to the two privately conducted tests, this one was admissible in court proceedings. The Labour politician is pursuing a legal bid to win paternity rights over the boy. Quinn is expecting her second child in February and Mr Blunkett reportedly also believes the child is his. He resigned on December 15 in anticipation of the findings of an official inquiry into claims that he had abused his authority during a secret three-year affair with the magazine publisher.
— PTI |
|
Gen Vij arrives in Beijing
Beijing, December 26 General Vij, who arrived in the eastern metropolis Shanghai on December 22, visited the PLA garrison in Shanghai. He also went to see Chinese military facilities in the eastern port city of Qingdao and the north-western city of Xian. Tomorrow he will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, Gen Liang Guanglie, Chief of Staff of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) here. He is expected to call on Chinese Defence Minister Gen Cao Gangchuan, who had visited India in March this year. General Vij will also call on Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong before winding up the weeklong visit, the first by an Indian Army Chief to China in over a decade. During the high-level talks in Beijing, the two sides are expected to review military-to-military ties, regional and international issues of common concern, official sources said. China had already invited senior Indian Army officers to witness defence exercise Iron Fist-2004 held in September in the Queshan Training Base of the Jinan Military Area Command of the PLA. This was the first time that the PLA had invited their Indian counterparts to witness a live military exercise. Braving icy winds and biting cold, General Vij today climbed the Great Wall of China, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. “It is a marvellous structure. I am happy to climb the
Great Wall of China,” General Vij said after visiting the must-see tourist spot at Badaling, some 70 km from Beijing.
— PTI
|
|
UK govt’s stand on Sikh protests shocking: Rushdie
London, December 26 “This seems to be a trend that has come from India, where extremists have attacked a number of artistic and cultural events, with very little control,” Rushdie said today. “It has been horrifying to see the response. It is pretty terrible to hear government ministers expressing approval of the ban and failing to condemn the violence, when they should be supporting freedom of expression,” Rushdie, winner of the Booker prize for ‘Midnight’s Children’, said in an interview published in ‘The Sunday Telegraph’. Stating that the ministers should have stepped in to prevent the closure of the play — Behzti (Dishonour)— 57-year-old Rushdie said: “The Home office minister Fiona Mactaggart is sending entirely the wrong message. It should be quite clear that, in this country, it is the liberty of any artist to express their view of their own society and their own community. Frankly, bookshops and theatres are full of things that would upset an interest group.” Rushdie said the Sikh protestors who forced the closure had adopted the violent tactics used in India. “Works by some of India’s most revered artists have been attacked by Shiv Sena and now the Sikh community here are traveling down a similar path,” he said.
— PTI |
|
Full dimensions of A.Q. Khan's
New York, December 26 The inquiry, the New York Times said, had been hampered by discord between the Bush Administration and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and by Washington's concern that if it pushes "too hard" for access to Dr Khan, a national hero in Pakistan, it could destabilise an ally. The report claimed that as a result, much of the urgency had been sapped from the investigation, helping keep hidden the full dimensions of the activities of the scientist and his associates. Asserting there was no shortage of "tantalising" leads, it said US intelligence officials and the IAEA, working separately, were still untangling Dr Khan's travels in the years before his arrest. It quoted investigators as saying that he visited 18 countries, including Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, on what they believed were business trips, either to buy materials like uranium ore or sell atomic goods. In Dubai, they had scoured one of the network's front companies, finding traces of radioactive material as well as phone records showing contact with Saudi Arabia. Having tracked the network operations to Malaysia, Europe and West Asia, the paper said investigators recently uncovered an outpost in South Africa, where they seized 11 crates of equipment for enriching uranium. The breadth of the operation, the reports said, was particularly surprising to some US intelligence officials because they had had Dr Khan under surveillance for nearly three decades, since he began assembling components for Pakistan's bomb, but apparently missed crucial transactions with countries like Iran and North Korea. The CIA declined to comment. "We knew a lot," said a nuclear intelligence official, "but we didn't realise the size of his universe." President Bush, the report said, boasted that the Khan network had been dismantled. But there was evidence that parts of it lived on, as did investigations in Washington and Vienna, where the IAEA was based. In the 11 months since Dr Khan's partial confession, Pakistan had denied investigators access to him, the report said. They had passed questions through the Pakistanis, but failed to get new information on critical questions like who else obtained the bomb design. The Times claimed that this "disjunction had helped keep many questions about the network unanswered, including whether the Pakistani military was involved in the black market and what other countries or non-state groups, beyond Libya, Iran and North Korea, received nuclear material" from the network.
— PTI |
|
Bifurcation of 4 Sindh districts opposed
Khairpur, December 26 He said this was evident from the death of four persons in Kambar and held the Sindh Government responsible for the incident. Talking to reporters at Wassan House here yesterday, he said the decision on the bifurcation of the districts should be taken by the assemblies and district governments concerned and should not be imposed through a notification. He contended that the current bifurcation was aimed at appeasing a few feudal lords and tribal chieftains associated with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). He demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision in the best interest of the local people. The MNA further said unrest prevailed in Sindh due to unemployment, law and order situation and water shortage. He added that the construction of the Kalabagh Dam would increase water shortage in Sindh and affect the agricultural economy beyond measures. Steps of bifurcating districts and removing PPP-backed Awam Dost panel nazims had been taken to divert attention of people from the issues, he argued. Mr Wassan said he was confident that the PPP would win the local bodies' elections 2005 throughout the country, especially in Sindh, whether they were held on a party or non-party basis. Answering a question, he said Mr Asif Ali Zardari's release was a success of the people and it had revived enthusiasm among the PPP workers and strengthened the party. He added the party would further gain strength with the return of Ms Benazir Bhutto. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
