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India, Russia to sign $450 m defence deal
Global body calls for press freedom
in Nepal
Schools, colleges reopen in Kathmandu
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Indian beheaded for murder
Gas pipeline: Pak, Iran to go ahead without India
Antarctic ice sheet poses new threat
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India, Russia to sign $450 m defence deal
Moscow, February 6 The $450-million deal is expected to be signed within few months and will be the largest supply of Russian weapons for the Indian Army since the $800 million contract for the supply and licensed production of 310 T-90S main battle tanks, leading Russian financial daily Vedomosti reported. Quoting a source, it said that at least 36 Smerch systems were expected to be supplied to India. According to Mr Marat Kenzhetayev, an expert of the Centre for Disarmament Studies, until recently, the Smerch MLRS, the most powerful in the Russian army, were exported to Algeria (18 in 1999) and Kuwait (27 in 1995-96) alone. Designed by Tula-based "Splav" state enterprise, Smerch is a new generation self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system capable of destroying various enemy targets over the territory of 67 hectares in one volley of its 12 barrels capable of firing smart weapons between the range of 20-90 km. Russia's state arms exporting agency "Rosoboronexport" had formally offered Smerch to India in 1998, but it was in the aftermath of Kargil that talks gathered some momentum. "If we had Smerch during Kargil crisis, we would have flattened the Tiger Hill in one volley, for which we had to sacrifice many lives," an Indian military expert said. — PTI
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Global body calls for press freedom
in Nepal
Kathmandu, February 6 "The world's journalism and press freedom community must continue to apply pressure on the Nepal coup leaders to respect the human rights of Taranath Dahal and Bishnu Nishthuri and all other Nepalese journalists," said Christofer Warren, President of IFJ. He was referring to the President and General Secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNP) detained by the government. "Taranath Dahal and Bishnu Nishthuri are courageous fighters for press freedom," he said in a statement. A body of university teachers, meanwhile, said the Lower House of Parliament (HOR) should be reinstated and a legitimate government formed to restore fundamental rights and individual freedom. The direct assumption of executive powers by the King through the Royal Proclamation breached the Nepalese Constitution and gave a blow to the achievements of the 1990 People's Movement," Democratic University Teachers Group President Nepal Saubhagya Jung Karki. In the continued crackdown, two trade union activists-Pushkar Acharya, Vice-President of Nepal trade Union Congress (NTUC) and its executive member Manju Bhattar have also been detained by the security forces in Kathmandu, the NTUC sources said.
— PTI |
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Schools, colleges reopen in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, February 6 The government, which has been directly functioning under King Gyanendra since February 1 when he seized power, also said the army would carry out “more focussed” action against Maoist insurgents to disarm them and bring them to political mainstream. Even as an eery silence prevailed in the capital and surrounding areas amidst heavy deployment of security personnel, telephones were allowed to operate locally for about five hours during the day and two hours in the night. However, international telephone facilities, mobile phone and Internet services remained suspended, isolating Nepal from the rest of the world. A statement on the state-run Radio Nepal said: “The government has imposed no prohibition on the operation of educational institutions, businesses, factories, industries, transport services and the like at present where a state of emergency has been ordered.” The government would take action against any opposition party or Maoist insurgents if they gave a call for general strikes aimed at disrupting normal life, the statement said, adding that a state of emergency has been declared in the interest of the public to consolidate the state of law and order in the country. The government’s warning came at the end of a three-day general strike called by Maoists, and amidst reports of resistance by political and human rights activists to the king’s action. — PTI
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Nepal denies blocking out Indian news channels
Kathmandu, February 6 “I don’t know if they have stopped the news channels because of their own ‘nationalistic feelings,” he said here. On February 1, the King sacked the Sher Bahadur Deuba government, on the grounds of failing to organise elections or quell the Maoist insurgency, and declared a state of emergency in the Himalayan kingdom. — PTI
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Indian beheaded for murder
Dubai, February 6 G. Krishna allegedly burnt one Madrasa Iqbal to death while the latter was asleep following some quarrel. The Saudi authorities do not inform the foreign missions ahead of the execution of expat convicts, according to Indian Embassy sources. This has made it difficult for embassies to keep track of or defend those accused of serious crimes, they added. This execution brings the total number of executions to nine this year in Saudi Arabia, one of the countries with the worst human rights record. In 2004, the Saudi authorities executed 35 persons and 52 the year before. Many are publicly beheaded.
— PTI |
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Gas pipeline: Pak, Iran to go ahead without India
Teheran, February 6 "Iran and Pakistan are ready to separately sign a deal for Iranian gas exports, as the Indians are still doubting on a pipeline supply via Pakistan," Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said. Talks on setting up a pipeline from Iran to India have still not borne fruit due to territorial conflict between India and Pakistan. Despite repeated assurances from Pakistan, India hesitates to give the go-ahead to the deal. The Minister said: "Terms of cooperation with Pakistan should be in a way to provide adequate assurance to India about transportation of gas through Pakistan's land." Nejad-Hosseinian said the pipeline talks had progressed, adding that "because of the day-by-day increasing gas demand of these two countries, one single pipeline would not be sufficient to supply gas and the demand might necessitate two pipelines." Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is scheduled to visit Iran in late February to probably sign a memorandum of understanding on the gas imports from the giant South Pars field in the Gulf. Iran's only current gas exports are to Turkey and are expected to reach five billion cubic metres by the end of the current Iranian calendar year on March 20. Last year, Iran and India signed a 25-year contract worth $ 20-$ 30 billion to export five million to 7.5 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas from Iran. The project will not be operational until 2009.
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Antarctic ice sheet poses new threat
Researchers from the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have found that a massive Antarctic ice sheet, whose collapse will raise sea levels around the earth by more than 16 feet, and which was previously assumed to be stable, may be starting to disintegrate. The BAS staff are currently carrying out urgent measurements of remote points in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), where they have recently found ice to be flowing out into the sea at the enormous rate of 250 cubic kilometres a year, a discharge which alone is raising global sea levels by a fifth of a millimetre annually. Prof Chris Rapley, BAS director, told the conference, attended by scientists from all over the world at the UK Meteorological Office in Exeter, that their discovery had reactivated worries about the ice sheet’s collapses — which only four years ago, in the last report of the UN’s Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), were firmly dismissed. He said: “The last IPCC report characterised Antarctica as a slumbering giant in terms of climate change. I would say that it is now an awakened giant. There is real concern.” He added. By arrangement with The Independent
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