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MMA denies any contact with government Tributes paid to Minal, Loganathan Indian selected for European space project
Pak music shops blown up |
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HSMP visa holder gets deportation order Jaish backing radical cleric’s campaign: report
Presidential poll begins in France
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MMA denies any contact with government Religious grouping the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has denied any contact with the government and invited opposition parties to establish a government in Balochistan without the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML). Maulana Fazlur Rehman, MMA secretary general and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, talking to The Tribune prior to
his departure for New Delhi on a four-day visit to India this morning, also denied that he had ever told PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto that being a woman she
could become prime minister. Fazl said while ulema (religious scholars) have their argument whether a woman can become head of an Islamic state/government, the Constitution of Pakistan that was signed by his father Mufti Mehmood Ahmed and other ulema puts no bar on women in this respect. Fazl said the MMA has decided not to indulge in media exchanges with Ms. Bhutto despite her hostile statements. "We will continue efforts to persuade the PPP to join a common struggle on one-point agenda of restoration of genuine democracy by ending military rule. Referring to PPP's objection to his party being a coalition partner of present government in Balochistan, Fazl said: "If opposition parties get united, minus the PML, we will support them in forming a provincial government. We will not demand any ministry in return," he said. Meanwhile, MMA Deputy Secretary
General Liaquat Baloch told reporters at press club here that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) was creating hurdles in the convening of an all parties conference (APC). "Time to forge a grand opposition alliance is now over due to the PPP. The PPP has not only broken the trust of the PML-N, but also the nation," he said. He urged PML-N chief Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to convene an APC again. Baloch criticised Islamabad police's crackdown on MMA activists to prevent them from joining a peaceful demonstrations in support of the Chief Justice of Pakistan on April 24. He also announced a countrywide protest on April 27 to condemn the rocket attack on the residence of the brother of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. He said the MMA would convene a meeting of its Supreme Council on April 29 to finalise a strategy for holding the protest.
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Tributes paid to Minal, Loganathan
Odenton (US), April 22 Offering his "deep condolences" to the family members of Minal, the ambassador of India to the US, Ronen Sen, observed: "Such a young life taken away so soon". The ambassador also read out a message sent to the bereaved family of Panchal from Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "At a time of such pain and anguish, words are of little consolation. But I just want to tell you that I share your grief," Gandhi said in her letter. "Your beautiful brave Minal with her idealism, talent and dedication would sure have achieved great success in whatever she took up. It is heartbreaking that her life was cut short at this young age, when she had so much to live for, so much to give to the world," Gandhi added. "For a parent there is no pain greater than losing a child and I pray that you and your family find the strength to bear the terrible loss," she said. People from all walks of life joined in the last rites performed by a Hindu priest at the funeral home and crematorium to remember Minal, fondly known as Minu. At around the time Minal's last journey was being mourned, the funeral services were also held at Blacksburg, Virginia, for Professor Loganathan, an Indian-American also killed in the same incident. In a message to Usha Loganathan, the Congress president praised the departed Professor as being a "brilliant teacher" who was greatly respected and loved by his students and colleagues. "... I share your grief with all my heart. You and your daughters are in my thoughts and prayers," Gandhi wrote to Usha.
— PTI
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Indian selected for European space project
London, April 22 Goyal, currently a final year student of M.Sc. computer system engineering, said last night "I am keen to return home and work in the IT field either in production or quality line. I will definitely go to Europe later if I get a chance to work on a space project." Goyal's family is in computer business in Delhi. A spokesman of the university said today that apart from working on designing the overall power supply technology to all the devices in the Moon Orbiting Satellite, "the team is engaged in a very specific supply requirement by Astronautics Research Group." "The Group has devised an electrical propulsion thruster that can be used by satellites instead of the conventional chemical rockets." The spokesman said "this is an out-of-the-world experience for Goyal and other members of the team. This is indeed another example of the exciting opportunities open to engineering students. We now have engineering student teams building satellites, racing cars and robot footballers. These young people will build the technology and devices that will shape our future." Peter Dunn of the Warwick University said the European Student Moon Orbiter Satellite project is part of European Space Agency's (ESA's) Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative, which will culminate in a student-built satellite to be launched via either a Soyuz or Ariane rocket. It would join many other contemporary missions to the Moon such as Indian Chandrayama, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, ESA's SMART-1 and the Chinese Chang'e-1. "The European Student Moon Orbiter Satellite spacecraft will be launched as an auxiliary payload into a highly elliptical, low inclination Geo-stationary Transfer Orbit on the new Arianespace Support for Auxiliary Payloads by either Ariane 5 or Soyuz from Kourou," the spokesman said. A 10-kg miniaturised suite of scientific instruments provided by the student team would perform measurements during the lunar transfer and lunar orbit phases over the period of a few months.
— PTI
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Arrest warrant
against Hasina London/Dhaka, April 22 In Dhaka, a court issued an arrest warrant against Hasina, the chief of the Awami League, in connection with the killing of five activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami. British Airways, on which she was due to fly home, refused to issue Hasina a boarding pass at Heathrow Airport this afternoon, saying the UK government had advised them that she had been banned from returning to Bangladesh, Hasina told reporters in London. An angry Hasina, however, vowed to go back to Bangladesh and said "I have all the right to go back because they (Bangladesh government) have filed cases against me and I have all the right to face the charges. They can't stop me from going back". Hasina tonight asked world leaders to put pressure on authorities in Dhaka to enable her to return to her country. “I will urge world leaders and the people of my country to put pressure on the Bangladesh government so that I can return to my country”, she told NDTV from London. "They have no right to stop me...I will fight", she said. She said the Bangladesh government had threatened to deny landing permission to the plane carrying her back to Dhaka. "I want to go back, but they are not allowing me to go back," she said. Hashem, general secretary of the UK unit of the Awami League, said: "Hasina has a valid ticket. She was flying from the US to Dhaka with a stopover here. When she went to the airlines counter to check in this afternoon, she was called in a special chamber and an officer from Brititsh Airways told her that you are not allowed to go back". The United News of Bangladesh reported that Hasina was now listed as a fugitive. Refusal of British Airways to let Hasina board the Dhaka-bound flight came after the Bangladesh government banned her return saying her "inflammatory" speechs could disturb the situation in the country. The Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court today issued the warrants against Hasina and her top aide Mohd Nasim and Abdul Malik.
— PTI
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Pak music shops blown up
Peshawar, April 22 The blast happened late yesterday in Swabi, about 100 km northeast of Peshawar, they said. “It destroyed one shop and partially damaged two others, but there were no casualties as the market was closed,” local police chief Fazal Elahi Badshah told AFP. The blast occurred in Gulzada Market which has some 80 shops of CDs, DVDs, tape recorders and also houses groups of bands usually hired to perform in wedding ceremonies, residents said. Islamic hardliners who say music and movies are un-Islamic have dubbed the shopping complex the “Hell market”, they said, adding that some shopkeepers had received warning letters in the past.
— AFP
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HSMP visa holder gets deportation order
London, April 22 In its letter dated March 30, 2007, the home ministry informed him “you applied for leave to remain in the United Kingdom as a highly skilled migrant, but your application has been refused”. It warned him that “if you do not leave the United Kingdom voluntarily you will be removed to India”. Shah in a statement said without the assurances given to him at the time of coming here under the HSMP visa he would not have contemplated giving up his life in India. “I have lost everything in my life due to a desire to settle in the UK - my monies, career, social ties and my future. I and my family feel that we have been robbed in the daylight by the UK government”. He had filed an appeal in the tribunal court against the refusal decision and he was waiting for the hearing, which is expected next month. Shah said when he had applied for the HSMP visa, the old HSMP guidance notes clearly stated “that you are willing and able to make the United Kingdom your main home. We will ask you to provide a written undertaking to that effect. You will be expected to make the UK your country of habitual residence”. Shah said the HSMP applicants were further informed during their initial applications that their visa extensions would be based on economic activity alone. “You will need to show that you are lawfully economically active or, if you are not, that you have taken all reasonable steps to become lawfully economically active". — PTI
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Jaish backing radical cleric’s campaign: report
Islamabad, April 22 Rauf, younger brother of Jaish founder Maulana Masood Azhar, has established a transit camp in Islamabad for its activists in addition to to the one at Kohat in Punjab. “Mufti Abdul Rauf is spearheading the reorganisation of JM,” Daily Times quoted officials as saying. Rauf appeared on the scene after Maulana Azhar went underground following two suicide attacks on President Pervez Musharraf in 2003. Rauf is receiving directions from Azhar, the officials said adding the camp in Islamabad is supposed to serve as the base for the organisation for its propaganda campaign and distribution of pamphlets in tribal areas. Another daily “The News” reported that Rauf had arrived in Islamabad to defend the radical clerics of Lal Masjid and their madarsa students in the event of any operation by the security forces. Azhar went underground after a ban was slapped on the outfit which he had founded after developing differences with the leadership of Harkat-ul-Ansar, another outlawed organisation. Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz had earlier this month threatened suicide attacks if the government undertook an armed operation against his mosque or the seminary. The newspaper said the Rawalpindi police had intercepted Rauf on March 16 near Faizabad, but he was allowed to go allegedly on the orders of a spy agency. “He (Mufti Rauf) was released immediately after an intelligence agency telephoned the police. An intelligence official said he is our man,” the newspaper quoted an official saying. — PTI
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Presidential poll begins in France
Paris, April 22 Sarkozy, a tough-talking former interior minister, had a narrow lead over Royal in most opinion polls before the end of campaigning. But neither was on course to obtain an absolute majority, making a run-off between them likely on May 6. Campaigning was dominated by calls for change after 12 years of conservative rule by Jacques Chirac, after which one of the world’s wealthiest and most cultured nations is divided and in need of economic reform, job creation and a dose of self belief.
— Reuters
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