 |
|
Iran to resume nuclear fuel research
LoC as permanent border not acceptable: APHC
UK launches probe into visa racket
Nepal ready to face Maoist challenge, says minister
Foreign Secretaries to discuss Kashmir
Indian American doc to get NRI award
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Emergency declared in California
|
|
Iran to resume nuclear fuel research
Tehran, January 3 Mohammad
Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, said Tehran had informed the UN nuclear watchdog in writing that nuclear research would resume shortly. “Within the next few days we will start researching that field in cooperation and coordination with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency),” Mr Saeedi told state television. The news coincided with strong hints from Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi that Tehran planned to reject a Russian compromise proposal aimed at defusing Iran’s nuclear row with the West. Mr Asefi said a proposed joint venture to enrich uranium in Russia was only acceptable if it was in addition to the enrichment facilities in Iran. Iran says that it only wants to produce low-grade enriched uranium for use in nuclear power rectors and not, as the West suspects, highly enriched uranium for atomic weapons. Iran had suspended nuclear fuel research as well as all uranium processing and enrichment as part of negotiations with the European Union trio of Britain, Germany and France that started in October, 2003. Research on nuclear fuel may include some small-scale testing of sensitive atomic processes, including uranium enrichment, an activity Iran has said it is keen to master and perfect. Tehran began to roll back the suspension in August by restarting its uranium conversion facility at
Isfahan, prompting the EU trio to pull out of the talks with Iran. The talks resumed last month and both sides are due to meet again this month.
— Reuters |
|
LoC as permanent border not acceptable: APHC
Lahore, January 3 However, he said the APHC leadership was ready to become part of negotiations with India and Pakistan on any other proposals. The Mirwaiz was addressing a press conference at Lahore airport last night on his arrival from New Delhi as head of a three-member delegation comprising Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat and Mr Bilal Ghani Lone. The delegation arrived in Pakistan on a six-day visit to express solidarity with quake victims and meet Pakistani officials. The Mirwaiz said recently opened entry points on the LoC had lost their purpose because of bureaucratic redtapism. He said for the Kashmiris it was easier to travel from Uri to Srinagar and then to Delhi for seeking visas than to cross over from any of those entry points into Pakistan. He made it clear that the APHC leadership was not part of any back-door diplomacy and would continue to do open politics for the cause of the Kashmiri people. ‘’The basic purpose of the visit was to express solidarity with quake victims of Pakistan and PoK,’’ he said. ‘’UN resolutions provided a legal basis for resolving the Kashmir issue but even the UN had failed to make any progress towards solving the issue’’ he said. ‘’The APHC favoured people-to-people contact between the two countries and the promotion of trade and cultural ties, but hurdles in the way of Kashmiris visiting on both sides must also be removed,’’ he said. ‘’The quake has forced the Kashmiris to think that their unity was indispensable for meeting such disasters and they wanted unity for the entire Kashmir region’’ he said, adding that both governments should facilitate the Kashmiris on both sides to meet and travel on either side.
— UNI |
|
UK launches probe into visa racket
London, January 3 The racket was exposed to tabloid “The Sun” by Anthony Pamnani, who quit as administrative officer from the centre at Lunar House in Croydon in the south of the city in “disgust”. Pamnani said he finally quit after bosses told staff to restrict migrants from India and let in more from Eastern Europe. “I lost what remaining respect I had for the job.” The Home Office launched a probe into the allegations last night, the tabloid said. Minister Tony McNulty, who ordered the probe, said “These are serious allegations. Clearly I will not condone this type of behaviour.” Pamnani (23) said how one colleague joked after giving a visa to a Turkish girl. “I gave her more than a visa extension, if you know what I mean.” The report alleged that Anthony, who worked at Lunar House for four years, regularly saw colleagues dish out their phone numbers to “sexy” immigrants. He said one girl came in and told the office that an admin officer had “visited” her flat. She got indefinite leave to stay.
— PTI |
|
Nepal ready to face Maoist challenge, says minister
Kathmandu, January 3 “This (end of unilateral ceasefire) is unfortunate but the government is ready to face the challenge,” spokesman of the government and Minister of State for Information and Communication Shreesh Shumsher Rana told BBC Nepali Service after the end of the ceasefire yesterday. Bombs exploded at the district education office Bhairahawa, ward office in Butwal in western Terai and Prithvichowk of Pokhara, a tourist town in western Nepal last evening. However, there was no casualty and only minor damage was reported. Chairman of the Maoists, Prachand, in a statement said his party was compelled not to extend the unilateral ceasefire due to the royal Nepalese army’s killing and arrest of his party workers. Meanwhile, major political parties struggling to establish full-fledged democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom have said the government was responsible for the end of the unilateral ceasefire. “The government does not see any future without conflict, violence and murder in the country as it is in power in the name of suppressing people’s rights in the name of Maoists terrorism,” said a senior leader of the seven-party alliance. The Maoists have assured the alliance that they will only target the royal government.
— UNI |
|
Foreign Secretaries to discuss Kashmir
Islamabad, January 3 Informed sources told Dawn here on Monday that the Indian Government wanted the Foreign Secretaries of both the countries to begin gradual discussion afresh on various options on Kashmir during their forthcoming round of talks. At the same time, discussions on various proposals should be conducted unofficially in April this year by former senior bureaucrats, generals and intellectuals of both the countries in Islamabad. Recently, they met in New Delhi and reportedly discussed proposals relating to the united states of Kashmir, de-militarisation, self-governance and extending more autonomy to the people of Kashmir. “India today is more inclined than ever before to extend increased autonomy to the Kashmiris under Article 370 of its Constitution with a view to resolving the Kashmir dispute,” the sources said. India would encourage further discussion on these proposals at the Foreign Secretaries’ level, the sources added. “Under the circumstances, both the countries should discuss various options on Kashmir quietly and without bringing them in the media,” a source familiar with the back-channel talks between the two countries said. |
|
Indian American doc to get NRI award
New York, January 3 President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will present the award to Parikh on the occasion of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Hyderabad. In the past three years since its inception, India has so far given the award to 37 persons of Indian origin, including UN Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor. Parikh, who was bestowed the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honour earlier this year for his lifetime of community service, currently heads the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), the umbrella organisation of Indian organisations in the Tri-State area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. “I’m honoured to be selected for this award that seeks to honour people of Indian origin who have made a difference to global
well-being. I want to dedicate this award to the thousands of Indians living outside their homeland whose efforts have reiterated time and again that East or West, Indians are the Best,” said Parikh. A long-time votary of strong Indo-US relations, the doctor received international acclaim in the treatment of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
— PTI |
|
Emergency declared in California
Silicon Valley, January 3 Governor Schwarzenegger declared emergency in seven Northern California counties. “Conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property” exist in Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Napa, Sacramento, Sonoma and Trinity counties, Schwarzenegger said in a statement. The declaration was requested by the battered counties, which are struggling to deal with the flooding, mudslides and road damage caused by the storms. At least two deaths were blamed on the storm — two men killed by falling trees, one in Vacaville on Saturday and another in Los Altos Hills in Bay Area on Sunday, authorities said.
— PTI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
