W O R L D

India asks Nepal King to restore democracy
Kathmandu, July 23
India today asked King Gyanendra and political parties in Nepal to immediately initiate a dialogue to resolve the current political stalemate and restore democracy in the country.

Musharraf rebuts Manmohan’s N-concern
Islamabad, July 23
Apparently taking exception to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s concern over security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets, President Pervez Musharraf today said nobody had the right to “speculate” on effectiveness of his country’s command and control structure which, he claimed, was far more efficient than its neighbour’s.

Benazir backs crackdown on extremists
Islamabad, July 23
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has backed President Pervez Musharraf’s crackdown on religious extremists and madrasas, saying the action was necessary to demonstrate Islamabad’s commitment to fighting terrorism.

Bid to kidnap Indian businessman
Baghdad, July 23
An Indian businessman was wounded when armed men attempted to kidnap him in Baghdad today, hospital and interior ministry officials said.

India asks Nepal King to restore democracy
Shirish B. Pradhan

Kathmandu, July 23
India today asked King Gyanendra and political parties in Nepal to immediately initiate a dialogue to resolve the current political stalemate and restore democracy in the country.

“Nepal’s progress should be based on the two pillars- constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy,” Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Indrajit Singh told reporters at the Tribhuvan International Airport here today on the conclusion of his three-day visit.

“The King is working towards restoring democracy and he wants democracy to come about in Nepal,” Rao said, adding that the monarch and the political parties “should initiate a dialogue to resolve the current stalemate.”

“The main issue of concern is how to set up democratic process in Nepal. I took it up with His Majesty also,” Rao said after meeting Nepali Congress president and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

He asked the Maoists to lay down arms and participate in the democratic process.

Mr Rao Indrajit Singh who met several high officials and opposition leaders, said the military supplies to Nepal had partially resumed and the rest was under consideration. “I am happy with the visit,” the minister, who reportedly arrived to rally support for India’s bid for permanent seat in the expanded UN Security Council, added.

The Minister of State met King Gyanendra at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace yesterday. Rao also met vice-chairmen of the Council of Ministers Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista and discussed the proposed UN reforms and bilateral relations.

Rao also had parleys with Nepal Communist Party-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepali Congress (Democratic) president Gopal Man Shrestha today and discussed the current political situation, including the Maoist problem, according to party sources.

After his meeting with Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey, Rao said he was confident that Nepal would soon take decision regarding Indian claim to the permanent seat in the Security Council. Mr Pandey said Nepal was studying India’s proposal and concrete decision in the matter would be taken after holding Cabinet meeting. — PTI

Musharraf rebuts Manmohan’s N-concern

Islamabad, July 23
Apparently taking exception to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s concern over security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets, President Pervez Musharraf today said nobody had the right to “speculate” on effectiveness of his country’s command and control structure which, he claimed, was far more efficient than its neighbour’s.

He also said Pakistan would take all safeguards to maintain deterrence capability in the light of the India-US defence agreement. — PTI

Benazir backs crackdown on extremists

Islamabad, July 23
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has backed President Pervez Musharraf’s crackdown on religious extremists and madrasas, saying the action was necessary to demonstrate Islamabad’s commitment to fighting terrorism.

“The allegation that London bombers visited Pakistan prior to the 7/7 attacks required Islamabad to take action to demonstrate its commitment to fighting terrorism. The PPP welcomed the military regime’s announcement that it would register all madrasas and schools by December this year,” the leader, who is living in self-exile in Dubai, said in a statement released by her Pakistan Peoples Party.

Many madrasas may have carrying out solely religious functions, some had been set up to fight the occupation of Afghanistan in the eighties. These political madrasas were brainwashing young men into becoming robots in a deadly move of terror, she said.

The former Prime Minister said such a move, if implemented in letter and in spirit, would be welcomed by all those who were concerned about Pakistan’s image abroad as well as the stability and well-being of the country itself. — PTI

Bid to kidnap Indian businessman

Baghdad, July 23
An Indian businessman was wounded when armed men attempted to kidnap him in Baghdad today, hospital and interior ministry officials said.

Unidentified gunmen entered the office of Jan Singh (37) in the upscale Mansur district of west Baghdad at 12.30 pm and took him along with $ 1.5 lakh, an interior ministry official said.

He was later brought to the Yarmouk Hospital by some of his friends with stab wounds to his face and leg. He left the hospital after treatment, medics said. — AFP

Indian envoy’s vehicle stolen

Colombo, July 23
The private vehicle of Assistant High Commissioner of India K R R Pillai, has been stolen while he was on his way to Colombo from Kandy on a private trip.

According to Indian High Commission sources, the Assistant High Commissioner in the Central Kandy district had left for Colombo early this morning with his family on a private trip in his Toyota Land Cruiser.

‘’He had asked his driver to park the vehicle for tea half way through to Colombo at Warakapola. When he came out of the café he had found that his jeep was missing. He and the driver have lodged a complaint with the Warakapola police,’’ the High Commission official said, adding Mr Pillai and his family have reached Colombo safely. — UNI

Mars frozen for 4 b years

WASHINGTON: A study of meteorites chipped off the surface of Mars suggests that the planet has been frozen for four billion years and probably never had the warm wet conditions that could have given rise to life, two researchers said.

Their study of two meteorites that fell to Earth suggests they were never in warm conditions. The report, published in the journal Science, contradicts theories that the now-frozen planet may once have been warm enough for life to have arisen.

“First, we evaluated what the meteorites could have experienced during ejection from Mars, 11 to 15 million years ago, in order to set an upper limit on the temperatures in a worst-case scenario for shock-heating,” said Benjamin Weiss, an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

They concluded that the two meteorites were unlikely to have been above the boiling point of water during their ejection from the Martian surface 11 million years ago.

Then Weiss and fellow student David Shuster measured the amount of argon remaining in the samples.

Argon, a gas, is known to leak out of rocks at a rate that depends on temperature.

The cooler the rock has been, the more argon will have been retained.

Their calculations suggest that the Martian surface has been frozen for most of the past four billion years.

“On Earth, you couldn’t find a single rock that has been below even room temperature for that long,” Shuster said. — Reuters