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Indian direct investment linked to Kashmir issue: Aziz
Pak court to hear Hindu-Sikh temple dispute
Consensus emerges for SAARC summit
Chinese army chief to meet Indian counterpart
Thousands take part in Nepal rally
Saffron scarves not allowed in Israeli House
Space junk poses dangers for space vehicles |
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Indian direct investment linked to Kashmir issue: Aziz
Islamabad, May 22 “Philosophically speaking, we are an open economy and there are no restrictions...foreign direct investment (FDI) can come in every sector, but in case of India, it is linked to the Kashmir issue. We are moving forward but for investment we have to wait,” Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said during a meeting in Karachi yesterday. Peace with India was a major issue but solution to all problems was linked to Kashmir, Aziz was quoted as saying by the local daily The News. His comments assume significance as a large delegation of captains of Indian -industry under the aegis of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce of India (FICCI) is due to arrive in Pakistan on May 25 to hold talks with President Pervez Musharraf, Aziz and other leaders and officials. Aziz, however, said trade ties with India were growing and more items would be exempted from duty in the trade list. Pakistan recently announced duty free import of meat and livestock, onions, potatoes, garlic and ginger in order to bring down the prices of these commodities due to heavy shortfall and high demand. Despite the public announcement, India has not formally been informed of the decision, Indian officials said. Aziz also said the peace process between the two countries was irreversible. Citing the example of Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service and plans to open the Khokhrapar-Munabao rail link, Aziz said after opening of the borders, trade with India would increase. He suggested goods traffic should be started between the two sides of Kashmir.
— PTI |
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Pak court to hear Hindu-Sikh temple dispute
Islamabad, May 22 The temple, which is the property of the Evacuee Trust, was in the possession of the Hindu community, some members of which converted to Sikhism and started offering prayers according to Sikh rites. The Hindus objected to this and a reconciliation committee was formed to resolve the dispute. It suggested that the building be divided or reconstructed to give a floor each to the two communities. “The committee failed to settle the issue. Consequently, the Evacuee Trust’s board started proceedings under section 145 of the Criminal Procedure Code and sealed the temple,” The News reported on Friday. The Hindus filed a suit in a civil court, urging the temple be reopened. The Sikhs countered by questioning the maintainability of the suit, which was dismissed on March 29, 2003.
— IANS |
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Consensus emerges for SAARC summit
Islamabad, May 22 It is learnt that most of the member-states, including India, have indicated their preference for the summit in November instead of September when most countries will be busy preparing for the UN General Assembly session. A number of countries have already communicated their availability for the summit in November to Pakistan, which currently holds the chairmanship of SAARC. As soon as Pakistan receives confirmation from all member-states, it will consult the host government in Dhaka. |
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Chinese army chief to meet Indian counterpart
Beijing, May 22 Gen Liang Guanglie, who is also the member of the powerful Central Military Commission, will pay an official visit to India starting May 23 to 28. He will be the first PLA Chief of Staff to visit India since 1998. Liang’s trip is a reciprocal visit to that of the former Indian Chief of Army Staff, Gen N.C. Vij, in December last year. “The visit of the PLA Chief of Staff marks the ongoing high-level exchanges between the defence forces of the two sides and contributes to enhanced trust and understanding,” an official said. During his visit, General Liang will exchange views on the issues of mutual concern with Indian political leadership and the military, the sources said. The visit will provide an opportunity to both sides to further build on confidence-building measures announced during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s recent visit to India. General Liang will hold talks with the Indian Army Chief, Gen J. J. Singh and also meet the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Arun Prakash, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi. He is also expected to call on Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, besides visiting some of India’s military establishments in Agra and Pune and may also meet the National Security Adviser and India’s interlocutor for border talks with China, Mr M.K. Narayanan, the sources said.
— PTI |
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Thousands take part in Nepal rally
Kathmandu, May 22 In the largest such rally since the February 1 power grab, up to 10,000 representatives of the parties marched through Kathmandu’s central market area Ason, a restricted zone declared by the government, carrying party flags and raising slogans. Security personnel, including armed police force, were heavily deployed at the venue. This is the first rally since the seven main political parties agreed to work together last week in a campaign to persuade King Gyanendra to hand over power to an elected government. Mr Shashanka Koirala, Nepali Congress leader and son of former Prime Minister of Nepal B. P. Koirala, former Kathmandu Mayor and NC leader Haribol Bhattarai, central member of the Nepal Communist Party-UML Ashtalaxmi Shakya, NC (Democratic) leader and former minister Homnath Dahal were among those who took part in the agitation. Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists today began a three-week nationwide agitation demanding press freedom and lifting of press censorship in the wake of further tightening of media regulations by the King Gyanendra regime. Black flags were put up at federation’s central office here as also all 80 branches and associate offices across the country as part of the stir, coinciding with the seven-party alliance’s joint struggle demanding complete press freedom and opposing the royal government’s attempts to curtail it. “We will organise countrywide protest shows on June 5, 8, 10 and 13 to press for the fulfilment of our demands under the first phase of agitation. If our demands are not met, we will further intensify our agitation,” said Mahendra Bista, general secretary of the federation. “Our agitation is aimed at restoring complete press freedom, lifting ban on news broadcast by FM radios, ending government’s discriminatory advertisement policy, releasing all detained journalists and withdrawing restrictive press regulations that can grill journalists who oppose the February 1 royal proclamation,” he added. — PTI
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Saffron scarves not allowed in Israeli House
Jerusalem, May 22 Mr Vijay Jolly, a BJP MLA who led the delegation, was asked before entering the Knesset to take off the scarves, which also had lotus symbols on them at one end, because the colour has become associated with those opposing Sharon’s evacuation plan, Army Radio reported. The security guards at the entrance were alarmed thinking that they might be anti-disengagement plan protesters, the Radio said. The orange colour, quite similar to saffron, has become the symbol of resistance for the settler community in Gaza Strip and posters and flags of the colour are a common sight among their sympathisers across the country. The nine-member multi-party delegation has travelled across the country and met several political leaders and Israeli officials. “There are a lot of commonalities between India and Israel and therefore I chose to drop a proposed visit to China and decided to come here to learn more about this country”, Mr Jolly had said upon his arrival last week. Besides Mr Jolly, the delegation comprises Ranjana Shahi from the BJP, Rajya Sabha member Kamal Akhtar from the Samajwadi Party, and state legislators Vinay Sharma, Sharan Prakash Patil, Rajesh Lilothia and Kishor Singh from the Congress, as also Rahul Mote and Jitendra Awhad from the NCP.
— PTI
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Belgian film wins top award at Cannes
Paris, May 22 The movie triumphed over about 20 other films by veteran American, European and Asian filmmakers to receive the prestigious Golden Palm Saturday. The sibling director duo dedicated the prize to missing French journalist Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi assistant Hussein
Hanoun, held hostage in Iraq since January. “The Child”, which tells a story of a petty thief who sells his baby son, deals with the social issues involving the Belgium’s poor. Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank handed the Palme d’Or to the Dardenne brothers. This is the second time a movie by the Dardenne brothers has won Palme
d’Or. Their controversial teen drama “Rosetta” took the top Cannes prize six years ago. US director Jim Jarmusch’s “Broken Flowers” received the runner-up prize the Grand Prix. “Broken Flowers”, a melancholic road movie, stars Bill Murray as a man looking for a son he is told he fathered decades earlier. Tommy Lee Jones was honoured as best actor for “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” which also won best screenplay. The best actress award went to Israeli actor Hanna Laslo for her role in “Free Zone” directed by Israeli filmmaker Amos
Gitai. Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke received the best director award for “Hidden” while Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai received the jury’s prize for his film “Shanghai Dreams”.
— IANS |
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Space junk poses dangers for space vehicles
Washington, May 22 Incredibly, the two chunks of metal flew into the same spot over Antarctica at the same instant. The high-speed collision, reported last month by NASA's Orbital Debris Quarterly News, created even more orbiting space junk. It also drew renewed attention to the litter that surrounds our planet — and efforts to keep the neighborhood from becoming even more cluttered and dangerous. ‘‘It's sort of a classic environmental problem, not unlike air pollution or water pollution,’’ said Nicholas L. Johnson, chief scientist and programme manager for NASA's orbital debris programme. ‘‘If you wait until you start seeing negative consequences, then the environment is pretty far gone already, and cleaning it up can be very, very difficult.’’ When the shuttle Discovery is finally launched, most likely in July, it will join more than 13,000 pieces of orbiting hardware that the US military tracks 24 hours a day. Among them are hundreds of working satellites — and thousands of dead ones — along with spent rockets and other odd scraps set loose by decades of breakups, explosions and collisions. The junk pile includes about a ton of radioactive fuel from defunct reactors launched into orbit before the practice ended in 1988, according to a recent report to the Fourth European Conference on Space Debris. Satellite tracking began in 1957, with the launch of the Soviets’ Sputnik I — the first man-made object ever orbited. Today, data from a worldwide network of 21 telescopes and radars called the Space Surveillance Network stream into powerful computers deep inside the Cheyenne Mountain fortress. The system can register 350,000 contacts per day. In 1999, Discovery landed with evidence of 64 impacts, at least 10 caused by man-made debris. So far, nothing bigger than 0.08 of an inch has struck a shuttle. But even such tiny particles can damage thermal tiles and windows. ``We wind up replacing the outer panes of at least two windows every mission because of impacts with small debris,’’ Johnson said. NASA estimates that there are hundreds of near-misses — tracked objects passing within a kilometre of each other — every day. Understandably, NASA and others would like to clean up earth's orbiting junkyard. Some limited efforts are afoot, however. — By arrangement with the
Los Angeles Times-Washington Post |
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