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Samjhauta Express blasts
Pak not to lock Samjhauta coaches
Australia not to cut troops in Iraq
Nepal king faces action over message
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Four Indians arrested in Nepal
Tamil girl fights for right to wear stud
Girl loses appeal over veil ban
Defying UN, Iran not to stop N-plan
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Samjhauta Express blasts
The
decision of India and Pakistan to set aside fingerpointing and turn to diplomacy to resolve the crisis precipitated by the attack on the Samjhauta Express has won praise from Washington.
White House press secretary Tony Snow noted that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf had condemned the attack that killed 68 persons. They "together have not only expressed their outrage about it, but they have promised to deal with it, which is what you would want them to do," Snow said on Tuesday. In New Delhi, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said, "The incident only adds to urgency for us to cooperate." The response to the attack is in sharp contrast to that which followed blasts on trains in Mumbai on July 11, 2006. The Indian Government blamed those bombings on terrorist groups operating in Pakistan and the bilateral peace process suffered a noticeable setback. Snow condemned the Samjhauta Express attack saying, "We certainly express our condolences, and we despise acts of terror, period." At the State Department, spokesman Tom Casey also condemned the
February 18 attack. "The United States extends its condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of India and Pakistan," he said, adding, "There is no political justification for violence against innocent people. Such acts only serve terrorists' efforts to spread fear, generate hate, and limit freedoms. We will continue to support and work with both India and Pakistan in their efforts to halt extremism and counter terrorist threats." Pakistan's role in the US-led war on terror has come under intense scrutiny over the past couple of months. Reports of a resurgence of the Taliban in the tribal border regions of Pakistan have added fuel to calls for Pakistan to do more. Casey admitted the Bush administration was "concerned... about cross-border activities from Pakistan to Afghanistan."
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Pak not to lock Samjhauta coaches
Islamabad, February 21 It was also decided at a meeting of senior officials of the railways and Pakistan Rangers that rangers would take over the security of the train from the local police. The doors of passenger coaches will not be locked either from inside or outside, as has been the practice so far, an official said. The decision was taken as most of the survivors of the two coaches, which caught fire after the blasts on Sunday night, complained of difficulties in breaking open the doors or opening the emergency doors. The rangers will take over the security of the train from tomorrow between Lahore and Wagah and will also ensure that the number of passengers is not more than the seating capacity, Dawn reported. — PTI
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Nepal king faces action over message
Kathmandu, February 21 “The Interim Constitution has not provided the King any right to deliver such message, which is unconstitutional and we will take action against him,” Deputy Prime Minister Amik Serchan said. Gyanendra in his message to the nation on ‘Democracy Day’ defended his February 1, 2005, coup adding that he took the moral responsibility for the success or the failure of his 15-month rule, which ended after a people’s movement in April last year.
— PTI
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Australia not to cut troops in Iraq
Melbourne, February 21 “The reason I understand Blair will give is that conditions have stabilised in Basra so that there can be this decision taken. They will still have 5,000 and we will have 550,” Prime Minister John Howard said. “I don’t think it follows from that that there should be a reduction in our 550,” a radio report quoted Howard as saying. Australia currently has about 900 soldiers inside Iraq, with 550 based in Tallil in the south. Howard last week defied domestic criticism to extend the operational deployment of Australia’s 520-strong Overwatch Battle Group in southern Iraq until December 2007, apart from sending 70 additional army trainers. Australia’s Defence Minister Brendan Nelson and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also played down the significance of the expected announcement of a British troop reduction. “Under no circumstances should anybody interpret the British having 5,000 troops in Basra, 10 times the Australian number, looking after the same number of provinces, as any kind of cut and run,” Nelson had said. “In fact, what this is evidence of is the fact that in the south of Iraq we are making progress and the British are confident enough to reduce their troop numbers to around 5,000.” — PTI
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Four Indians arrested in Nepal
Kathmandu, February 21 They were arrested from Krishnanaga for possessing arms illegally, the Nepal police said. A hand-made gun, one round of bullet and two iron rods were also recovered from them, they said. According to the police Sanjay Puri (35) and Chandra Prakash Kori (20) hail from Bahoripur of Gonda, while Arjun Brahman (20) and Shivram Yadav (19) are from Reharbandha of Tulsipur in India A police patrol arrested them in the border area where the incidents of looting are on the rise. The police said it was investigating the matter. Meanwhile, a man and a young girl sustained bullet injuries this morning when two armed groups exchanged fire in the Baluwatar area near Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s residence. A girl, who was offering prayer at Tundal Devi temple, and another man believed to be a gang member were injured when some gunmen opened fire from a taxi targeting the man, the police said. The condition of the man is said to be serious and both were admitted to a nearby hospital. In a separate incident, two women were injured when they were attacked by dacoits at Rupandehi district near the Indian border yesterday, the police said. A 29-year-old woman and a 19-year-old girl were injured when dacoits opened fire at them after looting Rs 15,000 and some gold ornaments, the police said. — PTI
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Tamil girl fights for right to wear stud
Durban, February 21 Sunali Pillay (18) of Durban has made this submission through her lawyers to the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, which is hearing an application by Durban Girls High School that girls should not be allowed to wear the "nose adornment" as this would interfere with the codes of conduct at the school. Pillay stood her ground since 2004 when the school demanded that she should stop wearing the nose ring. But her mother, Navi Pillay, contended from the start that wearing of a nose stud was a right for passage for adolescent girls, whose lineage can be traced to south India. The school, however, banned the girl from wearing the nose stud and the Pillay family took the case to the Durban High Court, which ruled in favour of the school. But the determined young woman and her mother lodged an appeal to the Appeal Court, which overturned the initial ruling and granted a verdict in favour of Sunali last year in 2006, her final year at school. The school, however, refused to accept the appeal and lodged an application to the Constitutional Court. The case has aroused a great deal of interest in the country with the Freedom of Expression Institute supporting the stance being adopted by Pillay. — PTI
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Girl loses appeal over veil ban
London, February 21 Justice Silber, in his verdict in Buckinghamshire court, ruled that the ban was “proportionate” in the light of factors like the veil prevented teachers from seeing a pupil’s facial expression — a key element in effective classroom interaction and necessity to enforce a school uniform policy. The judge had been told that the girl’s three older sisters had attended the same school and had worn the niqab with no problems. But the school in Buckinghamshire, had told the girl it was not acceptable because teachers believed it would make communication and learning
difficult. — PTI
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Defying UN, Iran not to stop N-plan
Tehran, February 21 ''We ... will continue our work to reach our right (to nuclear technology) in the shortest possible time,'' the student news agency ISNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in the northern town of Siahkal. The UNSC, which in December banned transfers of technology and expertise to Tehran's nuclear programme, may weigh broader sanctions if Tehran, as expected, does not stop enriching uranium for atomic fuel today.
— Reuters
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