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Indo-Pak dialogue process progressing satisfactorily: Aziz
World aid teams land to prevent diseases
Bush doubles aid for tsunami-hit nations
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Zardari gets passport to celebrate New Year with Benazir
India, China reach consensus
Ukraine Oppn lifts blockade
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Indo-Pak dialogue process progressing
Islamabad, December 29 Mr Aziz told the Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran during their meeting here yesterday that an agreement to run the bus services between Srinagar and Muzafarabad to connect Kashmir on both sides of the LoC in accordance with the wishes of people of Kashmir would constitute an important CBM between the two countries. For the process to move forward, it is imperative that progress on Jammu and Kashmir should move in tandem along with progress in other areas,” he was quoted as telling Mr Saran. He stressed the need to address the existing trade deficit between India and Pakistan particularly the non-tariff barriers in India. The two sides also discussed the issue of gas pipeline between Iran-Pakistan and India and expressed the hope that further progress in this regard will be possible in the near future, it said. Mr Aziz also expressed Pakistan’s concern over delay in resolution of the Baglihar Dam issue and said that there was a need for an urgent bilateral meeting, to amicably address the issue. The two sides agreed that they should encourage their respective banks to open branches in each others’ countries. They also agreed that an increase in number of flights will encourage travel and tourism and facilitate people to people contact. The Prime Minister said SAARC needed to be energised to play a role for enhancing cooperation between the member states. The SAARC Secretariat should be strengthened to implement decisions taken by the organisation from time to time. He said he was looking forward to his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit in Dhaka in January, 2005. He also expressed heartfelt condolence over the loss of life in south India and offered assistance to help the affected people. The Indian Foreign Secretary conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said India deeply appreciated the messages of sympathy sent by President Pervez Musharraf and Mr Aziz over the recent tragedy that struck India following the earthquake and the tidal waves, the report said.
— PTI |
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World aid teams land to prevent diseases
Bangkok, December 29 As grief-stricken survivors buried their dead in mass graves, with the death toll from Sunday’s Tsunami now more than 68,000, aid teams from Japan, India, Israel, Russia, France, Germany and Taiwan worked to restore drinking water and sanitation. Many coastal villages and resorts, now nothing more than mud-covered rubble blanketed with the stench of rotting corpses, remained inaccessible to heavy earth moving equipment needed to clear debris and dispose of bodies. “We are especially concerned about people in remote coastal areas, which are difficult to reach because many roads and bridges have been destroyed,” said Jeff Dick, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) director in Sri Lanka. “Communication lines remain extremely problematic, and many key logistic routes needed to transport food have been blocked,” said Mr Dick. Areas effectively cut off included eastern Sri Lanka, India’s remote Andaman and Nicobar islands and Indonesia’s northern Aceh province, near the epicentre of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that set off the Tsunami. Sri Lanka is the hardest hit country, with a death toll of nearly 22,000, and some 15 lakh homeless and the toll is bound to rise. The World Bank estimates that some 800 km of railway, one of the main transport lifelines in Sri Lanka, has been destroyed by the Tsunami. The WFP, the world’s largest humanitarian agency, was trucking food supplies to 12 districts in Sri Lanka and sending emergency teams to Sri Lanka’s cut-off coasts. “As search and rescue operations continue and medical assistance to the victims is provided, food aid for those who have lost their homes and belongings in the destruction — together with health, shelter and sanitation concerns — will become more acute,” Mr Dick said. The United Nations said it was preparing to issue what could be its largest appeal for donations in its history to cope with its biggest and costliest relief effort. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is seeking to raise more than $ 44 million after issuing a flash appeal on Sunday for $ 6.57 million. More than 40,000 people were being temporarily housed in 66 Red Cross camps and shelters in Sri Lanka, with thousands more seeking shelter in temples. Disease could kill as many people as those killed by the wall of water, a top World Health Organisation (WHO) official said. Red Cross teams specialising in water and sanitation were landing in Sri Lanka and Indonesia to ensure access to potable water to prevent diseases, particularly malaria. The Red Cross said it expected demand for aid would rise once remote areas were reached, particularly the Andaman and Nicobar islands and Aceh. “We fear the death toll and the numbers of homeless and injured will significantly rise in Indonesia as information comes in from outlying regions,” it said in a statement. In Khao Lak on Thailand’s southern coast, Taiwanese and German relief teams worked alongside local volunteers, forced to retrieve hundreds of bodies by hand for fear that damaged resort buildings may collapse. “The problem is the structures (on the beach) are not stable and we need to get backhoes in there but it is very difficult,” said Thai rescue volunteer Prachon. “We have to carry the bodies out by hand. There are many people (bodies) trapped inside.” An international fleet of naval ships and military and chartered aircraft were headed today for Tsunami-hit countries, delivering hundreds of tonnes of plastic sheeting for body disposal, tents, sanitation kits and food. The Pentagon said it ordered 12 vessels, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, helicopter carrier USS Bonhomme Richard and a submarine, to the region. “This is the largest catastrophe we have seen in decades. We haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet,” said IFRC secretary general Markku Niskala. “We face a huge challenge due to the vast area affected.”
— Reuters |
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Bush doubles aid for tsunami-hit nations The Bush administration has more than doubled its relief package for Asian nations ravaged by the tsunami in the wake of criticism from a senior United Nations official and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell insisted the United States “is not stingy.” The US Agency for International Development has added $20 million to the already promised $15 million in financial aid for disaster victims in the region. On Tuesday, Mr Powell said nine US military patrol planes and 12 C-130 cargo planes packed with relief supplies were on their way to South Asia. Also, Pentagon officials said the US is planning to send ships, supplies, helicopters and, if needed, hundreds of troops to assist in humanitarian relief. President George W. Bush, vacationing on his ranch in Crawford, Texas, said the United States, India, Australia and Japan have formed an international coalition to coordinate relief and reconstruction efforts. “We will stand with them as they start to rebuild their communities,” Mr Bush said on Wednesday. “This has been a terrible disaster. It is beyond our comprehension.” The President supported the creation of a worldwide warning system that could detect tsunamis. “It makes sense for the world to come together to develop a warnings system to help all nations,” he said. Mr Bush dismissed a United Nations official’s remark that rich nations like the United States have been “stingy” in relief efforts. “I felt like the person who made that statement was very misguided and ill informed,” the President said. On Monday, Jan Egeland, Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief for the UN, criticised the world’s “rich countries”, saying that the amount of foreign aid they gave was “stingy”. On Tuesday, Mr Powell responded to Mr Egeland’s comments. “The United States is not stingy,” the Secretary of State said. “We are the greatest contributors to international relief efforts in the world.” Mr Egeland later backtracked saying his comments had been misunderstood. “I have been misinterpreted when I yesterday said that my belief that rich countries in general can be more generous,” he said. “This has nothing to do with any particular country or the response to this emergency. We’re in early days and the response has so far been overwhelmingly positive.” Frederick M. Burkle, Jr., at the Center for International Emergency, Disaster and Refugee Studies at Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutions in Kailua, Hawaii, said the first concerns for relief will be water and sanitation assets such as water purification units, some of which are on US Navy ships in the region and on the way. “The consequences of the mixture of water with sewage produce enteric diseases both from common bacteria and viruses. The diarrhoea can cause dehydration in young children so rehydration salts and clean water is a priority,” Dr Burkle told the Tribune. “Epidemics are not that common after these types of disasters and would only occur if the diseases are endemic to the area.”
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London, December 29 “The UK government is to give at least £ 15 million and more will be given, if required,” he told BBC Radio’s Today programme. “It’s about the practical steps to get help where it’s needed,” he said. The Opposition Tories have said there is no excuse for delaying Britain’s aid effort. Party leader Michael Howard said: “The earlier aid can get to these regions the more effective it will be.” He has also urged the Chancellor Gordon Brown to place cash in the bank accounts of NGOs which would enable them to charter planes without any delay. But Benn defended the government’s relief effort saying: “We are very generous contributors to humanitarian crises around the world, the UK, we have a long tradition. The government sent its first plane-load of aid on December 27, and another containing fresh drinking water is set to fly out of Manchester to the Maldives today. Mr Benn said Britain had just completed the purchase of 20,000 tarpaulins, 4,500 cooking sets, 40,000 sleeping mats, 5,000 water cans as well as 10 World Health Organisation health kits which provide basic supplies for 100,000 people for three months. — PTI
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Thai toddler survives 2-day ordeal
Bangkok, December 29 “It is a miracle that he is alive and still asks for sweets and biscuits. I don’t know how he manages to survive with only minor bruises and some mosquito bites,” Vathanyu’s father, Suthipong Pha-opas, said today. “I had given up hope of seeing him again.” Suthipong (26), said his son was playing near their flimsy wooden house on Sunday when the Tsunami wave, triggered by the world’s biggest earthquake in 40 years, smashed into Khao Lak, a popular mainland resort north of Phuket.
— Reuters |
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Zardari gets passport to celebrate New Year with Benazir
Islamabad, December 29 “There is no restriction on him,” the Minister said. Responding to a question about the return of Mr Zardari, he said there was no ‘time bar’ on his return. And Minister for Information Sheikh Rashid Ahmed announced that the government had also removed the name of Hamza Shahbaz, son of PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif, from the ECL. Mr Sherpao said Mr Zardari had filed a petition in the Sindh High Court for a new passport because his passport which was in government custody for eight years had expired. “I got my passport back and if I get the visa, I will be with my wife for New Year,” Mr Zardari told TV channels. Mr Zardari, who spent eight years in jail under different charges till his release on bail last month, termed the latest development a “step in the right direction which will help in political reconciliation”. He said he would be back soon to carry on his struggle for the restoration of democracy. “I am not going into exile. I will be back to carry on my work,” he said. Sheikh Rashid said the government’s move would help improve the political atmosphere in the country and hoped it would promote an atmosphere of reconciliation. Replying to a question, he said the decision had been taken at a high-level meeting. Sheikh Rashid hinted that many more steps towards national reconciliation were expected. Dawn reporter in Karachi adds:
Mr Zardari said that getting a passport and free movement was his fundamental right and he would proceed to Dubai along with his children who had arrived in the city a few days ago to take him there. Mr Zardari said he had been informed by his lawyers that his name had been removed from the ECL, but the actual situation would be known only when he reached the airport to board a flight to Dubai. The PPP leader said he would consult doctors in Dubai about his health problems and might undergo some medical tests there. Mr Zardari made it clear that he would return very soon to pick the thread of his public contact campaign snatched at the Islamabad airport. |
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India, China reach consensus Beijing, December 29 “There was consensus on enhancing military exchanges and cooperation at different levels. Both sides also discussed cooperation in facing non-traditional threats, particularly against international terrorism,” the Indian Embassy said on the General Vij’s visit, the first by an Indian Chief of Army Staff to China in over a decade. “Both sides attached importance to improving relations and more cooperative exchanges between the two militaries. They noted with satisfaction that peace and
tranquility continues to be maintained in the border areas,” the Embassy said.
— PTI
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29 killed in Baghdad blast
Baghdad, December 29 Police patrols were en route to a raid in Baghdad’s Ghazaliya neighborhood yesterday after an anonymous call tipped them about a suspected militant hideout in the neighbourhood, an official in Ghazaliya police station said. As they were about to enter the house, an explosion ripped from inside, he added. At least 29 persons were killed, including seven policemen, and 18 others were injured. Six houses collapsed in the blast and several people are believed to be still trapped underneath the rubble.
— AP |
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Ukraine Oppn lifts blockade
Kiev, December 29 “We have received assurances that Viktor Yanukovich will not come to this building today or tomorrow,” Taras
Stetskiv, a key ally of Mr Yushchenko, told reporters. Cabinet secretary Anatoly Tolstoukhov had earlier said the Cabinet would not meet at its headquarters after demonstrators had massed outside.
— Reuters |
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British company to make film on Sonia
London, December 29 Sources close to the production unit said the two-hour film would be directed by noted director Jagmohan Mundra. A search is currently on for a suitable actress to portray Sonia Gandhi. The film’s script is based on Kidwai’s book “Sonia - A Biography” (Penguin), which details her early days in the Italian town
Orbassano, her days in Cambridge, romance with Rajiv Gandhi, the Gandhi family’s initial opposition to the marriage, her time with Indira Gandhi and her act of renouncing the job of Indian Prime Minister in May, 2004. The sources said the Britain-based film production house,
CEE(I) TV, had secured the film rights of Kidwai’s book from Penguin India. The sources confirmed that the rights running into “several lakh (hundred thousand) rupees” has already been “signed and sealed”. Mundra has directed several films essentially targeting Western audience namely “Sandstorm”, “Tropical Heat” and “Monsoon”. To prevent any controversial fallout, Kidwai is understood to have engaged a New Delhi-based Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) law firm to protect his work. Kidwai declined to confirm or deny his association with the project to IANS but said if Penguin had given book rights to a film production house, he would expect the filmmakers not to tinker with the basic spirit of the text. A Pakistan-based publisher recently released a Pakistani edition of Kidwai’s books that has been translated in Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Telugu and Malayalam. CEE (I) TV has been dealing in producing, telecasting and marketing television serials in various languages in India and abroad.
— IANS |
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