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Sharon asks President
to dissolve House
Noted Indian professor dies mysteriously
Pervez Shahabuddin buried in Delhi
India rejects Pakistan’s idea of
Aziz wants LoC to be demilitarised
US soldiers kill 3 Iraqi children
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Terror alert in Dhaka
Lankan PM sworn in
Rappers foretold Paris crisis
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Sharon asks President
to dissolve House
Jerusalem, November 21 Seventyseven-year-old Sharon, whose moves to disengage from Gaza and parts of West Bank has been opposed by the right-wing Likud party, is likely to form a new party and contest the elections possibly in March. He hopes to capture the ground in the next elections and win four more years as Prime Minister. His departure from the Likud which he found in 1973, if confirmed, will bring about a political earthquake that will have a big impact on the Israeli political spectrum triggering massive realignment of forces. After his meeting with Sharon, the President said he would make a quick decision on his request for dissolution of the Knesset and holding an early election. “Of course, I think we need to dissolve the Knesset and hold elections as soon as possible,” he said. Asked whether the decision would be made within days, he said: “Less than days.” If Kastav approves the dissolution of Parliament, a new election would have to be held by March. The elections should be held within 90 days by law after the Knesset is dissolved and the Army Radio today suggested March 8 as the most likely day. The local media yesterday quoted Sharon’s close advisers as saying that the Prime Minister had made up his mind following a meeting of his coterie, commonly referred to as the “ranch forum”, at his Symacomre ranch home in Negev. Sharon spoke to Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz today asking him to show “national responsibility”, by joining his new party, assuring him the defence ministry if returned to power. Mofaz, who yesterday announced that he would contend for the Likud chairmanship, should Sharon choose to quit, has yet to give Sharon his answer. The Prime Minister is expected to meet with members of his new party in his office, Israel Radio reported.
— PTI |
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Noted Indian professor dies mysteriously
A guidebook on assisted suicide has been found in the hotel room where Nayyar Perwez Shahabuddin, a
prominent Columbia University professor, was discovered dead last week. Clarkstown detective Lt. Charles Delo told the Journal News, the book “Final Exit” was found in Prof Shahabuddin’s room. Author Derek Humphry’s book offers guidance for use by a terminally ill adult who wishes to avoid further unrelieved pain and distress. It is not known whether the 43-year-old professor was suffering from any ailment. Prof. Shahabuddin, the son of noted scholar Syed Shahabuddin, who lived with his family in Nanuet outside New York City, was found dead on Thursday evening in his room at the Days Inn Hotel in New York. The professor’s family insists foul play was involved. However, the police said they were certain he committed suicide. “It appears that he’s been planning this for a long time,” Lt. Delo told the Journal News. “There was stuff on his computer that would indicate that.” An engineering professor at Columbia University’s department of industrial engineering and operations research, Prof. Shahabuddin had been missing since Wednesday night. Police found his car at the Days Inn hotel the next day. His body was found inside a room and police said it appeared he had suffocated on helium. Prof. Shahabuddin was very liked at the university where he had been teaching since 1995. In 2004, he was awarded the Great Teacher Award given by the Society of Columbia Graduates for his “ability to make knowledge accessible and exciting to students.” On his web page on Columbia University’s website, Prof Shahabuddin notes that in 1997 he was given the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award given by the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association for “excellence in teaching undergraduates.” In 1998, he was elected “Eminent Engineer” by Tau Beta Pi. This last honour is bestowed on a person “who has achieved distinction for eminent attainments in engineering.” He had been awarded 3 U.S. patents: two in the multi-media area and one in financial engineering. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, Prof. Shahabuddin went on to receive the master’s and doctorate degrees from Stanford University. Announcing Prof. Shahabuddin’s death, Columbia University described him as “an accomplished researcher, a dedicated teacher. He will be missed by the entire Columbia community.” A memorial service is planned at Columbia University in the spring. Prof. Shahabuddin is survived by his wife Soofia, children — Zoha (9) and Zain (5), five sisters and his parents. |
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Pervez Shahabuddin buried in Delhi
New Delhi, November 21 Dismissing media reports from the US suggesting through references to police authorities that Pervez committed suicide, wife Sophia and other members of the family here said there was no reason he should have taken this extreme step. There is certainly some foul play which can be brought to light after thorough investigation is done and that's why we have requested the US State Department through the Indian Ambassador there to look into the matter, said a relative who brought Pervez's body from New York. ''He phoned me while on way from his university in the evening to know whether I needed anything from the grocery, and I told him to bring some milk and fruits. He said he would be soon at home and asked me to keep the food ready as he was hungry,'' said Pervez's wife. ''How could such a person end his life a short while later,'' she added. A large number of people attended funeral.
— UNI |
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India rejects Pakistan’s idea of “self-governance” for J&K
New Delhi, November 21 “No proposal of the so-called self-governance was provided to which a response was expected,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said here. He was reacting to a statement by Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had made the proposal for self-governance and demilitarisation in Jammu and Kashmir during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Dhaka on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit on November 13. During the meeting, Mr Sarna said, Mr Aziz had “conveyed that in seeking a resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue, the two countries could inter alia explore ideas such as self-governance and demilitarisation.” He said it was mentioned in “passing”. Mr Sarna said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had conveyed to Mr Aziz that Jammu and Kashmir “already enjoyed autonomy under the Indian Constitution and has in place a popular government elected through free and fair elections.” On the other hand, there was “clearly a lack of autonomy in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok), the MEA spokesman quoted Dr Manmohan Singh as having told Aziz. “And there has been no popular elections at all in Gilgit and Baltistan to determine the wishes and aspirations of the people there,” he said.
— PTI |
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Aziz wants LoC to be demilitarised
Islamabad, November 21 Talking to journalists after a meeting with Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahmed, the Prime Minister appreciated New Delhi’s response to help Pakistan in the wake of the devastating earthquake, but said the five points opened along the LoC recently should remain open seven days a week instead of once a week. He noted that the composite dialogue with India was moving in the right direction and hoped it would deliver good results. |
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US soldiers kill 3 Iraqi children
Baquba, November 21 Three other family members were wounded in the incident which took place near Baquba at around 9 am as they were returning from a funeral, the sources said. Ahmed Kamel al-Sawamara, a 22-year-old student, who was driving the car but escaped serious injury, said he suddenly saw US military vehicles just ahead of him. “Soldiers started shooting at us from all over. I slowed down and pulled off the road, but they continued firing,” he told reporters. — AFP |
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Terror alert in Dhaka
Dhaka, November 21 According to the intelligence report, the banned Islamist outfit, the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) blamed for the August 17 serial blasts, has planned a series of bomb attacks in Dhaka. — IANS
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Lankan PM sworn in
Colombo, November 21 Mr Wickremanayake, a former Deputy Defence Monister and one-time Premier, was administered the oath by the President at the Temple Trees. Earlier, the ruling party had decided to swear in General Secretary of the SLFP and Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, D.M. Jayaratne as the new Premier but later revised its decision, party sources said.
— UNI |
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Rappers foretold Paris crisis
Paris, November 21 “Whatever I do, in France’s mind I will always be just a kid from the projects,” raps Disiz La Peste on his new album. “I know that I fascinate people, because where I come from where, succeeding is not easy, and I still bear the stigma of this environment, of my olive skin.” France’s three weeks of suburban riots, arson and attacks on police ripped the cover off problems that French hip-hop artists like Disiz, from the southern Paris suburb of Evry, have been rapping and raging about for years. Racism, despair, anger, drugs, crime, hostility against police - issues now thrust to the top of the national agenda by France’s worst civil unrest in four decades - have been grist for the mouths of these urban social commentators for years. In an interview, Disiz, whose real name is Serigne M’Baye, said it is too simplistic to say that French politicians now accused of having ignored the ghettos’ problems for decades need only to have listened to rap to learn that the lid was ready blow. Instead, everyone needs to examine themselves, their prejudices, their country, he says. That includes both suburban youths too, quick to write off their own futures, who tell themselves “there is no point in fighting,” and white French he says must ask themselves “Do we really accept immigrants who are French?” “We speak in France of liberty, equality and fraternity. Liberty exists. No doubt there. Everyone can speak out. But equality and fraternity do not exist. We have to fight for them, but we have to fight together,” Disiz told. Hip-hop crossed over to France from the United States in the 1980s. It quickly became a vehicle of expression for suburban youths, some of whom wove in
musical and lyrical elements from their own North and West African backgrounds, and helped make France one of the most vibrant centers of hip-hop culture. Like other French artists, rappers benefited from legislation that obliges radio stations to broadast a certain
proportion of French songs to ward off English-language dominance. As in the United States, French rappers appeal as much to white rich kids as they do to French-born children of immigrants in projects. French pioneers included Supreme NTM. Their song “What are we waiting for” (“Qu’est-ce qu’on attend”), from the 1995 album ‘Paris bombed’ (“Paris sous les bombes”), seemed, in light of the recent riots, like an early warning sign that was ignored. “What are we waiting for to set everything aflame? What are we waiting for to no longer follow the rules of the game?” NTM rapped. “We have nothing to lose because we had nothing to start with. I wouldn’t sleep soundly if I were you. The bourgeoisie can quake, the scum are in town.”
— AP |
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Jerusalem, November 21
