New Delhi, April 13
Compounding diplomatic misconduct with what is considered as grave insubordination by demanding the resignation of Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, India's High Commissioner to New Zealand Harish Kumar Dogra might have to hang his boots as a career diplomat prematurely before superannuating.

Despite being recalled to headquarters last month, Mr Dogra continues to stay put in Wellington despite a litany of complaints against him by the Indian community in New Zealand.

"Circulation of such scurrilous material is not becoming of a senior member of the Foreign Service. The Ministry of External Affairs will deal with the matter with its well established procedures," observed the spokesperson in response to questions about Mr Dogra's letter to the Foreign Secretary.

Clearly, disciplinary proceedings against Mr Dogra are on the cards coupled with a thorough scrutiny of various allegations against him.

A career diplomat of the 1972 batch, Mr Dogra has done postings in Vienna, Laos and Bonn and was on compulsory waiting as Joint Secretary. The first hint of trouble came to light during Mr Dogra's tenure as Consul-General in Istanbul, Turkey, where serious differences arose with the staff resulting in their recall.

The major complaint against Mr Dogra in Wellington has been the unfair denial of visas.

Mr Dogra was asked to return to India in mid-March.

Officials of the New Zealand High Commission said that it is for the Indian government to decide whether Mr Dogra should be retained in Wellington or brought back to headquarters. Wellington has not been formally advised that Mr Dogra is not India's accredited representative in that country.

The External Affairs ministry is facing increasing diplomatic misconduct from various Indian missions abroad. Recently, the ministry had reprimanded India's ambassador to the UAE C M Bhandari to misusing an official function for personal ends. R K T Arasu, a second secretary in the High Commission in Kuala Lumpur was called back last month allegedly on grounds of misusing his position to help illegal migrants with jobs.

United Nations, April 13
The United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, reminded Iran of its promise to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy and expressed hope that it would be able to come to the table to work with the international community in finding a negotiated solution.

The UN Council members, including the permanent-five, are waiting for a report to be submitted this month-end by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Mr Mohamed El Baradei, on Iran's compliance that it is using nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes and not utilising it for making a bomb.

The Head of the Vienna-based UN agency, Mr ElBaradei, is on his way to Teheran for talks with Iranian leaders on resuming cooperation with the nuclear non-proliferation regulations.

''When we have this report, we will react,'' French envoy to the UN, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, told reporters yesterday.

Meanwhile, Teheran had already announced earlier this week that it enriched its first batch of uranium, evoking concern in the Security Council, diplomatic sources said. According to John Bolton, American envoy to the United Nations, all the permanent five (P-5) members shared the concern.

The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, appealed from The Hague for all involved to ''cool down'' the rhetoric and actively search for a diplomatic solution. ''Yes, they have pursued their research,'' he said. — UNI

New York, April 13
The United Nations today asked the Nepal Government to stop its "excessive use of force" against pro-democracy demonstrators, including severe beatings, indiscriminate attacks on bystanders and "seriously unacceptable" detention conditions.

Simultaneously, it has asked the protestors to use only peaceful methods and stop throwing stones at the police and attacking individual officers.

"It is time for government, and all commanders of the police and other security forces involved in policing demonstrations, to recognise that this level of violence against civilians is not acceptable and is against the obligations of the State," Nepal representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Ian Martin said, also citing "violent provocation" by the demonstrators.

"I urge the government to reconsider its position on the right to peaceful assembly, and to give the security forces the clearest instructions to act only with the minimum necessary force in policing demonstrations," he added in the second such statement in four days over the protests against King Gyanendra's suspension of the parliamentary rule.

Annan concerned over Lanka violence

Expressing concern over the escalating violence in Sri Lanka, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has appealed to both the government and the Tamil Tigers to attend next week's peace talks in Geneva.

"Annan believes it is of utmost importance to find ways to implement the ceasefire agreement, start re-building trust and lay the foundations for a lasting peace," a UN spokesman told reporters yesterday. — PTI

London, April 13
A controversial Act outlawing the glorification of terrorism came into force today in the UK as part of security measures introduced in the wake of last year’s terror attacks in the British capital.

The Terrorism Act 2006 makes it a criminal offence to encourage the menace by glorifying it, training and preparing for terror activities or disseminating related publications.

It also widens grounds for the ban to include groups which indulge in these practices.

However, the most contentious aspect of the Act, which enables the authorities to detain terror suspects for up to 28 days rather than the existing 14, will come into force later.

The measure is still being discussed with police chiefs, the government said.

The Terrorism Act had been rejected five times by the House of Lords before finally being approved last month.

“The government is determined to do everything possible to protect our citizens from those who seek to destroy our society, our way of life and our freedoms,” British Home Secretary Charles Clarke had said at the time.

The Act sought to strike the right balance between ensuring that law enforcement agencies were equipped to tackle terrorism and upholding the freedoms that Britain holds dear, he said. — PTI

Islamabad, April 13
Pakistan has said the US should follow an "inclusive approach" to assist it and India meet their energy needs as this would help avoid arms race in South Asia.

"The US has an opportunity to promote inclusive approach designed to meet the energy needs of both India and Pakistan which would promote greater stability and help to avoid arms race in South Asia" by extending the nuclear deal to Islamabad, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told visiting US Senator Chuck Hagel during a meeting here yesterday.

On nuclear weapons parity with India, Aziz said Pakistan followed a policy maintaining minimum credible deterrence.

"Our nuclear and missile capability is to guard our sovereignty and integrity and to maintain a balance of power in the region. The country's strategic capability is sufficient to meet the current and future challenges," an official statement quoted him as saying.

Ahead of Aziz-Hegal meeting, the National Command Authority (NCA), which controls Pakistan's nuclear and missile programme, met in Rawalpindi to review the prevailing strategic deterrence between India and Pakistan, and the implications of the Indo-US nuclear deal. — PTI