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50 injured as Nepal simmers
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51 killed in Karachi blast Pak not kept ‘fully
informed’
on N-deal NASA to blast moon for water Florida Sikh prisoner allowed to keep long hair Man of Indian-origin jailed in USA Noon, Patel miss Peerage
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50 injured as Nepal simmers
Kathmandu, April 11 Communication Minister Shris Sumsher Rana conceded that the current situation in the country was "fluid, dangerous and precipitative" but claimed that it was still under the control of the State as the nationwide anti-King general strike called by the seven-party Opposition alliance entered the sixth day. The Opposition parties continued to defy the daytime curfew, imposed since Saturday, in many pockets of Kathmandu as thousands of people participated in anti-King protests in Kalanki, Gongabu, Baneshwor, Anamnagar, Kirtipur and Patan. Despite the government's claim of observance of restraint by security forces in handling the protestors, Nepali Congress central member Arjun Narsingh K.C. said in Gongabun, in the outskirts of the capital, the police fired over 100 rounds of bullets on Opposition activists, injuring over 50 persons. More than 10,000 persons also gathered in the Ringroad area, shouting anti-King slogans and demanding democracy and freedom, he said. The curfew was defied in various other parts of the Kingdom, including Biratnagar, Chitawan, Pokhara, Butawal, Banepal, Syangja, Palpa, Sindhu, he said.— PTI
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Karachi, April 11 It was a sad incident and 51 persons had been killed in this blast, official sources said. “We have not received any reports that it was a suicide attack. Security has been tightened in the city and an emergency has been declared. Investigation has been ordered and the probe will be made public,” he said in Islamabad. The bodies of those killed were rushed to hospitals to Jinnah Hospital and Liaquat National Hospital where a state of emergency has been declared. Many of the doctors, who were at home after the government declared a public holiday, have been summoned. “Human remains are scattered all over the place. Injured are being rushed to local hospitals. It was a powerful bomb blast and we fear a very high casualty list,” a spokesman for the local administration said. “The incident has happened few minutes ago and we are gathering information. It’s total chaos here,” he added. The local administration fears that casualties are likely to rise “substantially.” Eyewitnesses said human remains were still scattered all over the site of the blast, the Nishtar Park. More than 75 injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals and the condition of the most of the injured was said to be serious. The identity of those killed has not been revealed but it is feared that amongst those who perished were religious leaders. According to eyewitnesses, the bomb went off when the gathering was breaking for sunset prayers that completely destroyed the iron stage.
— PTI
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Pak not kept ‘fully
informed’ on N-deal
Islamabad, April 11 This was stated by Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam while responding to questions at a weekly news briefing here on Monday. Dispelling a general impression that the US government had kept Pakistan fully informed about the deal while it was in the works, Ms Aslam categorically stated: “No, we were not told about step-by-step approach.” Short of conveying a sense of betrayal, she said: “We were told that such a deal was on the cards and, in fact, the initial information about what this deal would look like is slightly different from what has come out finally.” Defending Pakistan’s position on the controversial India-US deal, she asserted: “This is not an exercise in damage-control. Even before this deal was signed we had said that we would like the US to adopt a package approach because Pakistan also has energy requirements.” She said Pakistan had given its detailed reaction after learning about particulars of the agreement, adding that its concern had been heightened by provisions in the agreement that could have some serious implications for the strategic stability in the region. “We also feel that it is discriminatory because Pakistan and India are nuclear weapon states which are not part of the NPT and, instead of making exception for one, it would have been better for the US to work out a package deal that would take care of energy requirements of the two countries, the strategic stability in this region and would also take into account the non-proliferation effort.” Ms Aslam denied giving a statement attributed to her in a column that appeared in a newspaper on Sunday that Pakistan had agreed to discuss with India a cap on nuclear weapons programme. Terming the statement ‘outrageous’, she said it should be disregarded. On Condoleezza Rice’s statement that the US was working for a fissile material moratorium between Pakistan and India, the FO spokesperson said: “Are they? I thought that was strictly for the birds.” Referring to the Strategic Restraint Regime that Pakistan had already proposed to India, Ms Aslam said: “We have not had a response to that. Some elements of the Strategic Restrain Regime had been discussed in the past and we also are willing to participate constructively in the negotiations on the fissile material treaty if and when the negotiations on this start in the CD (Conference on Disarmament).” Responding to a question, she said there were no discussions with the US or anyone about capping certain number of nuclear weapons. She reiterated that Pakistan would do whatever it required to maintain its minimum nuclear deterrence. On the government’s recent directive to parliamentarians not to establish direct contacts with the Indian High Commission, the spokesperson maintained that it was not India-specific. “I don’t think there is a decision that singles out any one embassy or high commission. There are government instructions about interaction and the Cabinet Division issues these instructions,” she told a questioner. |
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Houston (US), April 11 The US space agency said yesterday that this will be an early step in delivering the first astronauts to the planet since the last Apollo missions more than 30 years ago. The name of the mission is LCROSS--LunarCrater Observation and Sensing Satellite — will hitch a ride to the moon onboard the same rocket as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) satellite due to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in October 2008. "The LCROSS mission gives the agency an excellent opportunity to answer the question about water ice on the moon," says Daniel Andrews of NASA Ames, whose team proposed LCROSS. "We think we have assembled a very creative, highly innovative mission." LCROSS will hunt for water by hitting the moon twice, throwing up plumes that may contain signs of water. After the launch, the LCROSS spacecraft will arrive in the moon's vicinity independent of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. On the way to the moon, the LCROSS spacecraft's two main parts, the Shepherding Spacecraft (S-S/C) and the Earth Departure Upper Stage (EDUS), will remain coupled. As the pair approach the moon's south pole, the upper stage will separate, and then hit a crater in the south pole area. A plume from the upper stage crash will develop as the Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward the moon. The Shepherding Spacecraft will fly through the plume using its instruments to analyse the cloud for signs of water and other compounds. Additional space and Earth-based instruments also will study the 1000-metric-ton plume. This type of payload is not new to NASA," says Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Scott Horowitz, who made the selection. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS are the first of many robotic missions NASA will conduct between 2008 and 2016 to study, map, and learn about the lunar surface to prepare for the return of astronauts to the moon. These early missions will help determine lunar landing sites and whether resources, such as oxygen, hydrogen, and metals, are available for use in NASA's long-term lunar exploration objectives. — PTI
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Florida Sikh prisoner allowed to keep long hair New York, April 11 Satnam Singh, 45, was sentenced in 2003 at Fort Pierce, Florida, to three years of federal imprisonment on charges of forgery and criminal use of personal identification information. His federal imprisonment ended on Sunday and he is to be shifted to a minimum-security prison this week. The controversy broke out after the Florida correctional facility where he is to be shifted insisted on cutting his long hair according to Florida prison rules. Satnam Singh's faith did not allow the hair to be cut. He had kept it intact while serving the three-year jail term. The controversy reached such a head that media reports quoted his father as saying: "Please cut off my son's head instead of cutting his hair!" Around 200 Sikh and non-Sikh groups worldwide carried out a sustained campaign to safeguard Satnam Singh's religious rights. Muslims, Jews, native Americans and Rastafarians, all of whose faiths do not allow cutting of hair, came out in support of Singh. — IANS
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Man of Indian-origin jailed in USA Washington, April 11 Ilyas Ali, a naturalised US citizen, and two Pakistanis pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists and a conspiracy to distribute heroine and hashish. San Diego District Judge James Lorenz sentenced Ali to 57 months in jail yesterday. They were arrested by Chinese law enforcement authorities in Hong Kong on September 20, 2002, and indicted by a federal grand jury on October 30 the same year. — PTI
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London, April 11 NRI businesswoman Sandip Verma, founder, domiciliary Care Services UK Ltd, was among 23 persons who were appointed as life Peers. Both Noon, head of Noon products, and Patel, head of Priory Clinic, pulled out after their names were leaked as having been blocked by the Independent Watchdog that scrutinises nominations. They were among four of Blair’s original nominations for the Peerage. — PTI
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