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Nepal Oppn leader held
‘Baby 81’ reunited with parents
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N-assets in safe hands, says Pakistan
IAEA: no proof on Iran’s N-weapons build-up
Kabul, a city in rebuilding mode
Queen insists on low-key wedding party: report
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Nepal Oppn leader held
Kathmandu, February 16 Nepali Congress spokesman Arjun Narsingh was picked up from his office in Balkhu without being handcuffed. The arresting official said he had, “orders to bring him in.” Leaders of two largest parties the Nepali Congress and the Nepal Communist Party (UML) had earlier said they are in constant touch with each other and other small parties and are finalising modalities of launching a joint agitation beginning on Friday, which is the Nepalese democracy day. “We will launch a democratic movement against the totalitarian authoritarianism beginning February 18 and our movement will be peaceful,” Mr Narsingh told reporters. “We are working out mechanisms and modalities of the forthcoming agitation and are confident that other political parties, including the CPN-UML, the Janamorcha Nepal and the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A) will join the movement,” he said. He said his party will also approach the Nepali Congress (democratic) led by Mr Deuba to join the movement. Ruling out an alliance with the Maoists, who are launching violent struggles to abolish monarchy and establish one party dictatorship, he said, “unless Maoists accept the UN convention of Human Rights and competitive political system, we cannot think about forging alliance with them.” Narsingh said five central committee members of the party, including President Girija Prasad Koirala, General Secretary Shushil Koirala and central member Ramchandra Poudyal and over 100 workers of the party are currently under detention. “Since murdering democracy cannot possibly solve the problem related to violence now it is time for all parliamentary forces to launch a joint movement against autocratic regime in order to save the country from the catastrophe,” NC leader Ramchandra Poudyal said in a statement from Damauli in west Nepal, where he has been detained. Central committee member and office secretary of CPN-UML Kashinath Adhikari said, his party was constantly in touch with other Opposition parties, including the Nepali Congress and other left parties and in a day or two they would decide on the modalities of their joint movement. “Now our fight will be for final and for real democracy. We will follow peaceful means to attain the objective.” He also informed that about 100 party workers, including 12 CWC members of the party, including general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal are under security detention. K.P. Oli, standing committee member of CPN-UML, said that the party was ready to hold negotiations with the King to restore democratic rights if certain pre-conditions were fulfilled. “We are ready for talks but before that the government should release all the political prisoners, withdraw suspension of fundamental rights and end press censorship”, he said. — PTI |
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Amnesty team meets Gyanendra
Kathmandu, February 16 The six-member Amnesty team, led by its General Secretary Irene Khan, arrived here on Saturday to assess the human rights situation after the February 1 royal coup, It held talks with Nepal King Gyanendra, according to AI Nepal Chapter. They also met Chief Justice Hari Prasad Sharma, Home Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi, Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey, Inspector-General of Police S.B. Thapa, Army Chief P.J. Thapa, National Human Rights Commission officials, leading rights activists and mediapersons. Irene Khan met human rights activist Krishna Pahari and general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists Bishnu Nisthuri, who were in police custody for criticising the emergency imposed by the King.
— PTI |
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‘Baby 81’ reunited with parents
Colombo, February 16 The baby, who was swept away from his mother’s arms and rescued from under a pile of garbage after the December 26 tsunami disaster, was handed over by a nurse to his parents - Junita and Murugpillai Jeyarajah - in a district court before Judge M. P. Moahaidein. Mr Moahaidein, who had ordered on Monday that the baby be returned to his parents, blamed exaggerated media reports for a lengthy court drama that prevented a quick reunion of the family. He said his initial inquiries produced enough evidence to prove that the child, who was nicknamed ‘Baby 81’ as he was the 81st patient to be admitted to hospital on December 26, belonged to Jeyarajahs who claimed him as their own. ”Since the beginning of this case there has been only this couple claiming the baby as theirs’,” Moahaidein said. “There have been no nine couples as reported by the media.” The media had spoken of nine women claiming the child and foreign television networks had heartbreaking reports of how some women were even ready to commit suicide if they were not given the baby. The New York Times had described the child as Sri Lanka’s “most celebrated tsunami orphan.” court officials, police and doctors blamed the media for failing to verify the rumours. ”On January 2, I said in open court that if there are any other claimants, they should come forward. But no one came except this couple,” the judge said pointing to the Jeyarajahs. “From January 5 onwards this baby had been heavily publicised the world over in the media and still there had been no other claimants other than this couple.” The judge had to call for order several times as the court room was packed with journalists and photographers.
— PTI |
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N-assets in safe hands, says Pakistan
Islamabad, February 16 Referring to the report at his weekly news briefing here yesterday, Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan asserted that Pakistan's nuclear assets and programme were completely secured by an elaborate, viable, dependable and infallible command and control system. In addition, the custodial controls were stringent. He said the security system comprised four areas — command, control and communication system; credible information, reliable intelligence and finally, reconnaissance installations. A national command authority was in place and "we have a strategic plans commission and strategic forces command". The spokesman elaborated that Pakistan had constituted a National Command Authority, the apex body ensuring the safety and security of nuclear weapons, which was headed by the President and the Prime Minister was its vice-chairman. Any speculation as reported in the report quoting the CIA was irresponsible, he said. The CIA had reported the possibility of theft or transfer of Pakistan's nuclear technology or assets, although, the spokesman said, the transfer of the assets was an impossibility. He, however, held out the assurance that like all responsible nuclear states Pakistan remained vigilant all the times to safeguard its nuclear material or information. About British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's remarks here on Monday about efforts to defuse the Iran-West crisis over the nuclear issue, Mr Khan said Pakistan was not in a position to pass judgement on the Iran-Europe engagement. However, he added, as a friend of Iran and the European Union members, Pakistan would like the issue to be defused through negotiations because another conflict would create tremendous problems for all states in the region. |
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IAEA: no proof on Iran’s N-weapons build-up
Washington, February 16 “On Iran, there really hasn’t been much development, neither as a result of our inspections or as a result of intelligence,” said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General. ElBaradei called for greater USA participation in diplomatic efforts to engage Iran and North Korea in talks about their nuclear programmes. “North Korea and Iran are still the two 800-pound gorillas in the room and not much is happening,” ElBaradei told The Washington Post at his IAEA office in Vienna. The daily said the interview was with four US newspapers. The IAEA chief praised Britain, France and Germany for talking Iran into suspending its nuclear enrichment programme for weapons-grade uranium.
— AFP |
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Kabul, a city in rebuilding mode
Kabul, February 16 Engulfed in snow and battered by inclement weather over the past few days, the Afghan people haven’t stopped their activities to make the city beautiful. Cranes can be seen lining the streets to reconstruct heavily damaged buildings, buildings ravaged by bombs and rockets since 1979. The rivalries among the warlords, however, show no signs of abatement, and this is most starkly visible by the amount of security patrolling this city nestled between snowed in mountains. That the rule of the radical Taliban, that dominated the Afghan landscape for five years (1996-2001), is over came out loud and clear to this correspondent, who made a rare visit to the Afghan capital when the Taliban was at its height in terms of power and pelf. Afghan women today walk the streets of the city without care or fear, where once they were coerced into staying indoors and in burqas, besides not being allowed to go to school. Males and females now travel the streets to their places of work. There is particularly an atmosphere of comfort and peace following the first ever election of a president in the first week of October 2004. Yes indeed, Kabul is on the mend after years of ravage.
— ANI |
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Grammys recognise genius of Ray Charles
THE American music industry paid lavish tribute to the late Ray Charles at the Grammy Awards, showering his last album of duets with more major accolades than the great innovator of soul music accumulated in his lifetime. It would have been a bittersweet moment for Charles, who died last summer at the age of 73, since some of his greatest work in the early 1960s was overlooked by the Grammy judges of the time.
Certainly nobody at the ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday night begrudged the recognition bestowed on one of the musical giants of the past 50 years. And the attention was undeniably topical, just two weeks before nominations were announced for the Academy Awards, and the biopic Ray is up for a clutch of Oscars. But the attention paid to Genius Loves Company was also in keeping with the ultra-conservative Grammy tradition of overlooking groundbreaking music while it is being made, and honouring it when its status in the canon is undisputed and its cutting edge crucially blunted. Among its eight Grammys, Genius Loves Company was named album of the year and pop vocal album of the year. The duet "Here We Go Again", with Norah Jones, was record of the year and also pop collaboration of the year. "Heaven Help Us All", with Gladys Knight, was deemed best gospel performance. Music critics were quick to lay into the Recording Academy's lack of adventurism, noting that for several years it had played catch-up with artistes it had previously ignored, such as Bob Dylan (Grammy winner in 1998), Carlos Santana (2000) and Steely Dan (2001). Among those deserving artistes were Charles' fellow nominees Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Usher and Green Day. With award inflation raging and the Grammy roster now up to 107 awards, there was at least a little something for everyone. West's album The College Dropout, won in the rap category, and West himself acted out his death, funeral and embrace with Jesus in a white suit and angel's wings as he performed the track "Jesus Walks". Green Day won best rock album for American Idiot, and Usher, recipient of three awards, got to perform "Sex Machine" with his idol and admirer James Brown. The show went heavy on the nostalgia, larded with a dollop or two of kitsch. Alicia Keys, who won four Grammys in her own right, paired up with Jamie Foxx, up for a best actor oscar for his remarkable performance as Charles in the biopic, to hammer out a rendition of "Georgia On My Mind". The opening 12 minutes, meanwhile, were a parade of cover songs and artistes in skimpy costumes, including Gwen Stefani hoofing her way through "If I Were a Rich Girl", a gender-altered rendition of the hit song from Fiddler On The Roof, and Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge doing a Janis Joplin medley — Stone going barefoot and Etheridge bald from her chemotherapy. The climax was a rendition of the Beatles' "Across the Universe", performed in aid of tsunami relief. By arrangement with
The Independent, London |
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Queen insists on low-key wedding party: report
London, February 16 Citing "palace sources", the tabloid Sun newspaper also reported that the Queen had instructed the courting couple to sleep in separate rooms on the night before their marriage at Windsor Castle on April 8. Charles (56) had hoped to celebrate tying the knot with his long-time mistress by throwing a huge party at the castle, with royal guests as well as celebrities and politicians present, the daily said. The heir to the throne also wanted to serve up treasured organic vegetables from his countryside residence, Highgrove, for dinner, but the Queen was having none of it, according to the newspaper. "She believes it would be inappropriate to have an over-the-top celebration," the Sun quoted an anonymous source as saying.
— AFP |
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A four-month-old tsunami survivor nicknamed, ‘Baby 81’, was today reunited with his overjoyed parents in Sri Lanka after a seven-week-long painful custody battle during which they passed a crucial DNA test to prove that the infant belonged to them.
