 |
|
US has not changed “goalposts” in
Indo-Pak talks on nuclear CBMs begin
11 poultry farms infected with bird flu in Islamabad
Benazir, Nawaz Sharif vow to restore democracy
Vigils, protests to mark Chernobyl anniversary
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Rebels warn India against oil exploration
Nairobi, April 25 An Ethiopian insurgent group has warned two Indian oil firms against exploring oil and natural gas in the country’s south-eastern region, saying they would not allow it.
|
|
US has not changed “goalposts” in
N-deal: Mulford
Washington, April 25 "There is no change in the goal posts, which unfortunately has somehow gotten into the media and become an issue. But it shouldn't be an issue because the goalposts haven't been moved. That is the reality," US Ambassador to India David Mulford said in an address at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank yesterday. "In the July agreement, the civil nuclear agreement, India made its own unilateral declaration confirming its policy that it was not going to be doing any testing. That is there, that was what was agreed," he said. Describing the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement as a "cornerstone" and "win-win proposition" for both countries, Mulford said it would strongly serve the US national and global interest and help address India's growing energy needs. He said the agreement signed between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush on March 2 was still being worked out and that "there will have to be some sort of wording arrangement which has not been agreed.
— PTI |
|
Indo-Pak talks on nuclear CBMs begin
Islamabad, April 25 Additional Foreign Secretary Tariq Osman Hyder and his Indian counterpart K.C. Singh led their respective delegations at the consultations, which also focused on a draft agreement proposed by Pakistan on prevention of incidents at sea. The proposal on finalising a Strategic Restrain-Regime (SRR) containing proposals to prevent missile and nuclear race and promoting conflict resolution are also being discussed at the talks, to be followed by discussions on conventional CBMs on April 27. This is the 4th round of talks on nuclear and conventional CBMs being held as part of the ongoing composite dialogue between the two countries. In line with the understanding arrived at during the third round in August last year, the two countries have already signed an agreement for pre-notification of flight-testing of ballistic missiles and operationalised a hot line. Mr K.C. Singh said his country was following a step-by-step approach in talks with Pakistan on all the issues, including nuclear CBMs. New Delhi wanted to carry forward the talks process and this is the spirit, which brought Indian delegation to Pakistan for discussions, he added. — UNI
|
|
11 poultry farms infected with bird flu in Islamabad
Islamabad, April 25 They were all in Tarlai and Sihala, two neighborhoods where there is a concentration of small farms supplying eggs and meat to Islamabad and adjacent Rawalpindi. “The situation is worrisome. It has just started, it is just developing,” said an international consultant, who requested anonymity. So far, no humans are known to have been infected in Pakistan. Agriculture Ministry officials said every farm in the environs of Islamabad and Rawalpindi was being checked, flocks were being vaccinated and movement of birds from both cities had been banned by the Punjab provincial government. “If we get any clinical clue, we just go for culling,” said Ismail Qureshi, a permanent secretary at the ministry. “We have so far culled around 60,000 birds.”
— Reuters
|
|
|
Benazir, Nawaz Sharif vow to restore democracy
Lahore, April 25 They also resolved to return to Pakistan, together if possible. This was their second meeting in 14 months. The first was held in Jeddah on February 10 last year. Shahbaz Sharif, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Syed Ghous Ali Shah assisted Mr Sharif in the two-hour talks. A meeting of the ARD parties will be called on July 2 which would discuss decisions taken by the two major coalition components. The two leaders were earlier expected to meet in Dubai on January 8 when Mr Sharif was there to offer condolences over the death of the Dubai ruler. However, the meeting could not take place because of the PPP chairperson’s scheduled US visit. A joint statement issued after the meeting on Monday expressed concern on the deteriorating political and worsening economic situation in the country, and called for free and fair elections under an interim government of national consensus and an independent and autonomous election commission, open to all political parties and political leaders. Both leaders agreed to vigorously pursue the course of democracy and re-affirmed their resolve to restore the 1973 Constitution. They also rejected the NAB and what they called its attempts to pervert the course of justice through politically-motivated cases to re-engineer the country’s political system. Calling for withdrawal of all such cases, the statement demanded release of Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Khwaja Saad Rafiq, Zaeem Qadri, Junaid Buland, Bismillah Kakar, Pir Mukramma Shah, Afaq Ahmed Khan, Amer Khan and other political prisoners. Mr Sharif said in a separate interview that Gen Musharraf was extending support to war on terrorism because of “expediency”. He said the general wanted the world community to legitimise his rule, adding that it was the only reason why he was fighting the war against terror. Meanwhile, the PML-N expressed reservations about the meeting of a PPP delegation with the Chief Election Commissioner in Islamabad on Monday. — By arrangement with The Dawn
|
|
Vigils, protests to mark Chernobyl anniversary
Kiev, April 25 “The Chernobyl catastrophe does not have a uniquely Ukrainian character but touches many peoples,” said President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, where the defunct power plant is located. At a ceremony for survivors in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin honoured the “liquidators” who cleaned up after the tragedy, saying, “Your selflessness and ability to face an extreme situation saved a large number of human lives.” Commemoration ceremonies were to begin in Ukraine near the reactor at the power plant that was ripped apart by two explosions at 1:23 am local time on April 26, 1986, spewing a huge radioactive cloud into the air. Candlelight vigils were to take place early tomorrow in the town of Slavutich, home to most of the 3,700 workers who still service the plant, and in Kiev, where many of the “liquidators” live today. In Belarus, where much of the radioactive cloud settled after the accident, opposition groups were expected to hold what has become a traditional protest tomorrow against government efforts to repopulate the affected areas of the country. Critics say that Belarus’s authoritarian leadership is ignoring serious health risks in trying to return the contaminated land back to general use. — AFP
|
|
Rebels warn India against oil exploration
Nairobi, April 25 “The ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front) wishes to make it clear to GAIL, the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited and the Ethiopian government that so long as the Somali people of Ogaden are denied their basic rights to self-determination, the exploitation of natural resources in Ogaden for the benefit of the Ethiopian regime or any foreign firm will not be tolerated,” the group said in a statement yesterday. The ONLF is a rebel group fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis living in Ethiopia's Ogaden region. “We wish to make it clear to Gail India & GSPC that there is currently an armed conflict waging in Ogaden between Ethiopian troops and ONLF liberation forces resulting in an unsafe environment for any exploration to occur,” ONLF said. The group urged “all foreign firms with an interest in the Calub gas fields to cease and desist all engagement with the Ethiopian government in this regard and investigate for themselves the true political and security environment” there.
— AFP |
| 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 | |
