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China votes to use force against Taiwan
Indian girl tortured by employer in Malaysia
Sonia Sharma (19) from India shows her injuries after she was tortured by her employer in northern Penang state on Sunday. — AFP
photo
Pak hoping Manmohan would host Pervez
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Pak not to send centrifuges to IAEA
Sir Creek to figure in Indo-Pak talks
PoK admin starts issuing forms for bus service Benazir, Shahbaz meet in London
India-born UK MP denies allegations
Chinese Premier to visit India soon
Cure for Parkinson's in 3 years
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China votes to use force against Taiwan
Beijing, March 14 The National People's Congress, the ruling Communist Party's rubber-stamp parliament, approved the anti-secession law by a vote of 2,896 to 0, with two abstentions, on the last day of its annual session, defying U.S. appeals for restraint and strong protests by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian as well as some of his political rivals. Chen has vowed a tough response, and mainland analysts have expressed concern that Taiwan's pro-independence camp will use the law to rally public sentiment against Beijing and push for measures that could escalate tensions. The vote came a day after President Hu Jintao was named chairman of a state military commission, completing the retirement of his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, from all posts. It appeared intended to highlight the new leader's control of Taiwan policy and his resolve on the issue. ``We shall step up preparations for possible military struggle and enhance our capabilities to cope with crises, safeguard peace, prevent wars and win the wars, if any,'' Hu said on Sunday at a meeting of the Chinese military's delegation at the parliament. He said the army should ``always place the task of defending national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity ... above anything else.'' The legislation, as circulated in draft form last week, says the government ``shall employ non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity'' but is not specific about what would trigger such action against Taiwan. Instead, it uses language that leaves the Chinese leadership with the flexibility to judge when an attack would be necessary, slightly altering the wording used by the government in previous statements of its Taiwan policy. The law says China should use force if Taiwan secedes, if ``major events'' move the island toward secession or if ``possibilities for peaceful reunification are completely exhausted.'' Premier Wen Jiabao was scheduled to speak at a nationally televised news conference Monday immediately after the vote and the close of a ceremonial legislative session in which the party also pledged new measures to address rural poverty and rising social
unrest. — By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post |
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Indian girl tortured by employer in Malaysia
Kaula Lumpur, March 14 Sonia Sharma, a part-time worker at a mobile phone shop, said she was stripped, kicked, punched and beaten with a piece of wood by the 37-year-old employer. He also cut her forehead, face and arms, and burnt her with a cigarette butt, the New Straits Times reported. Police later arrested the man. Ms Sharma, had quit her job when her employer accused her of stealing the money. Three days later, on March 10, the man demanded to see her. “When I went into the shop, he locked the door immediately, before (alleging) that I had stolen RM 40,000 from his shop,” she was quoted as saying by the Star. “I denied stealing the money and told him the accounts were in order while I was working there. He threatened to kill my whole family if I did not return the money,” she said. He then ordered her to strip naked and when she refused, tried to suffocate her. She passed out and when she regained consciousness, she found herself naked, she said. The man also threatened to harm her sexually if she did not return the money. Ms Sharma managed to escape the following day when her employer was asleep and lodged a police report. The Northeast police chief assistant commissioner Hamzah Md Jamil said police arrested the man the same night. They also found the victim’s bloodstained clothes.
— PTI |
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Pak hoping Manmohan would host Pervez
Islamabad, March 14 “We are looking at the schedule of the President for his visit to India. We do not have the dates at the moment,” Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Jallil Abbas Jilani told reporters here. About the chances of a meeting between Dr Manmohan Singh and General Musharraf during the visit, he said Pakistan’s “understanding” is that the Indian Prime Minister would be hosting the visit of the President and the two were expected to make use of it to hold talks. He dismissed speculation in the media that General Musharraf planned to travel by the
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus scheduled to begin on April 7. “There are no such plans,” he said. Asked when the second round of the Indo-Pak composite dialogue process covering a seven point agenda would take place, Mr Jilani said the Foreign Secretaries during their meeting here two months ago had decided to hold it between April and July. The dates were being finalised through diplomatic channels, he said.
— PTI |
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Pak not to send centrifuges to IAEA
Islamabad, March 14 “Pakistan has not been asked to send centrifuges nor will it do so,” Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told reporters here. He was reacting to reports from Vienna that Pakistan would be sending the centrifuges to the IAEA for examination. “Cooperation with the IAEA is of confidential nature. In case of any cooperation with the international agency, we will be strictly guided by our national interests. We have not been asked to hand over an centrifuges to the IAEA,” he said. He said he was not aware whether any delegation visited Pakistan to take a look at the centrifuges. “Not to may knowledge,” he said when asked whether any IAEA delegation had visited Pakistan. He would verify and get back on this issue, he said. Reports from Vienna yesterday said Pakistan would soon hand over used centrifuge components to the UN nuclear watchdog, for their analysis at the IAEA laboratory in Seibersdorf, near Vienna, in the hope of resolving a key mystery surrounding Tehran’s atomic programme. The reports said Islamabad had agreed to hand over the centrifuge parts to UN inspectors so they could compare these with machinery sold to Iran by disgraced top scientist A.Q. Khan.
— PTI |
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Sir Creek to figure in Indo-Pak talks
Islamabad, March 14 “The meeting on the remaining issues, including Siachen Glacier, Sir Creek, Wullar barrage, terrorism, drug trafficking, promotion of friendly exchange as well as economic and trade ties, will be held from April-July this year,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told mediapersons here. The second round of the composite dialogue began in December 2004 with the meeting between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on Jammu and Kashmir and peace and security. “We hope that the dates for meetings on the six agenda items will be finalised soon,” Mr Jilani said. Pakistan and India had resumed the stalled dialogue process in February last year, almost a month after the historic meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Islamabad. On President Musharraf’s proposed visit to India, the spokesman said, “We are looking into his schedule to finalise convenient dates.”
— UNI |
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PoK admin starts issuing forms for bus service
Islamabad, March 14 The Deputy Commissioner’s office in Muzaffarabad and local administration in other districts of PoK began issuing forms to the aspiring travellers. Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Jalil Abbas Jilani said Pakistani and Indian nationals would also be entitled to travel by the new bus service. “As per agreement, Indian and Pakistan officials will also travel across the Line of Control by Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service apart from Kashmiris,” Mr Jilani told a press briefing here today. He was commenting on the statements emanating from Muzaffarabad that only Kashmiris should be allowed to travel by the bus service, commencing on April 7. Pakistan and India had agreed to start the bus service during External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh’s visit to Islamabad last month.
— UNI
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Benazir, Shahbaz meet in London London, March 14 The two met at a reception hosted by former Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan for his son's wedding, at a hotel here on Saturday night. Ms Bhutto told this correspondent that she had agreed to host the meeting. She welcomed the opportunity to meet the former Chief Minister of Punjab and the leader of the PML-N. Mr Sharif who broke the ice by asking the former Prime Minister to meet, said: "I have always called for reconciliation among all political forces of Pakistan. We must bury the hatchet and chart out the future course of action to restore genuine democracy in the country." "What we want is a level playing field without any interference from the powers that be," he said.
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India-born UK MP denies allegations
London, March 14 ‘’There was a minor altercation in the early hours of Friday morning for which I apologised to colleagues for any offence caused. I take the other allegations very seriously. I reject them and I am taking legal advice and cannot comment further,’’ Mr Singh said. The MP admitted that he offered to ‘’take on’’ Labour Whip Jim Murphy in the early hours of Friday but would not comment further on claims he had made lewd suggestions to Ms
Griffiths. The MP for Bradford West, is accused of having propositioned Ms
Griffiths, also from the Labour Party, in the bar on the same evening of the marathon all-night debate on anti-terrorist laws.
— UNI |
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Chinese Premier to visit India soon
Beijing, March 14 Speaking at his annual customary press conference at the end of the 10-day session of the Chinese Parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), Wen stressed that China and India were not rivals but friends. As the two most populous nations in the world, China and India are not rivals but friends, and that both countries shall work together to tap the potential of bilateral cooperation and find a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable plan” to solve their border disputes, Wen said amid applause from reporters at the Cavernous Great Hall of the People. “I hope you can send my message back to the great Indian people, that we’re not competitors, we are friends,” said Wen while asked to comment on bilateral relations, ahead of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China on April 1. “The importance of friendship between China and India is from a strategic and comprehensive perspective because our combined population is 2.5 billion, Wen noted.
— PTI |
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Cure for Parkinson's in 3 years
London, March 14 Scientists at Scotland's Roslin Institute have managed for the first time to culture stem cells which can differentiate themselves into any kind of human cell without using animal-derived products, the daily Scotsman reported. Earlier, research had demonstrated that stem cells from pigs could help reverse symptoms of Parkinson's when implanted in a sufferer's brain.
— IANS |
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Kaula Lumpur, March 14
