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Mush signs amnesty deal
N-trade With India
Stolen £30 m Da Vinci painting found
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Indians in UK more British than whites: Report
2 Pakistanis charged with assaulting Indian
US diplomat meets Myanmar minister
Woman sacked for wearing stud reinstated
Two Indians found dead in Nepal forest
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Mush signs amnesty deal
General Pervez Musharraf on Friday promulgated the "National Reconciliation Ordinance" to formalise the deal he cut with exiled premier Benazir Bhutto, ending all corruption cases against her and other politicians and bureaucrats who held public office between 1988 and 1999.
The ordinance that signals a new era of realignment of political forces and power-sharing in national politics came a day ahead of polling in presidential election in which Gen Musharraf is poised to comfortably win another five-year term to rule. It ensures the withdrawal of all cases against Bhutto and complete remission in two sentences of three years’ imprisonment for absenting from hearing in courts in recent years. It also promises that the Pakistan government will no more pursue the cases in Swiss and Spanish cases. The day brought good tidings for Gen Musharraf. Much of the resistance within the ruling coalition to the ordinance was surmounted after Musharraf assured the coalition lawmakers that they would remain his primary focus and get his full support in elections. The Supreme Court that looked like staying the polling met both sides half way, conceding crucial point of Musharraf by declining to disrupt the election process, but keeping the eligibility issue open to final adjudication. And developments in the NWFP sent the opposition All Parties Democratic Alliance (APDM) in utter shambles, bringing into serious doubt the success of its shutter down and black day call on the polling day to protest against Musharraf's election through outgoing assemblies. The major opposition party, Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), of Maulana Fazlur Rehman which rules the NWFP felt undercut when its main ally the Jamaat Islam (JI) joined two other APDM components, the PML-N and ANP to submit resignations from the provincial assembly. The surprise move came at a time when chief minister Akram Durrani was facing no-confidence move meant to thwart his intention to dissolve the assembly. Fazl told reporters that he was never informed about the resignation decision.
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Resolution in US House seeks restraints
Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, October 5 The move is seen as indicating not only displeasure by a section of members but also intended to significantly delay or perhaps outright derail the final passage of the civilian nuclear initiative that will operationalise the Indo-US deal. The resolution introduced last night in the House by Howard L. Berman, a Democrat from California, Flordia Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska, is non-binding. All of them are members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a key panel of the Congress that will have to approve the final legislation when submitted by the administration. The introduction of the non-binding resolution comes at a time when the 45-member Nuclear Supplier’s Group is getting ready to debate the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and on the eve of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei’s visit to India. The resolution says there should not be any change to the NSG guidelines until such time the Bush administration has “answered all outstanding questions raised by Congress regarding apparent inconsistencies between the nuclear cooperation agreement and the Henry J Hyde US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006” as also resolving with India “all differences of interpretation of the provisions in the nuclear cooperation agreement.” — PTI
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Stolen £30 m Da Vinci painting found
London, October 5 Acting on a tip-off, detectives raided the offices of a law firm in Scotland and recovered the 16th century masterpiece, Madonna of the Yarnwinder, which was stolen from the home of the ninth Duke of Buccleuch in 2003. A Glasgow lawyer was among the four held in this connection. “We are extremely pleased to recover the painting. The recovery is due to extensive police inquiries and the combined efforts of several Scottish police forces. For four years, the police has worked tirelessly on the theft, and with help from the public we have been able to track down and locate the painting,” chief inspector Mickey Dalgleish said. According to media reports, despite the priceless nature of the painting, the late Duke, who died last month, had already received an insurance payout of just over £3 million as the collection was under-insured. “We express our gratitude to the police for the determined way in which they have pursued their investigation and look forward to receiving further information in due course,” the new Duke of Buccleuch said. The theft on August 27, 2003 stunned the art world. Two men posing as tourists, while taking a tour of the Duke's castle near Dumfries had overpowered a young female tour guide before snatching the painting from its wall mounting. — PTI
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Indians in UK more British than whites: Report
London, October 5 Yes, a survey by the United Kingdom government has found that the minorities living in Britain feel stronger ties to the country than whites do. According to the survey, ninety per cent of people of Indian origin and Bangladeshis feel strongly that they belong to Britain. So do 87 per cent of Pakistani people and 85 per cent of Black Caribbeans. But only 84 per cent of whites said the same, that is around one in six white people have only a slender attachment to their own country. “Britain has a great deal to be proud of. This survey shows our commitment to fairness, fair play and civic duty hold true and we live in a society where the overwhelming majority of people get on well together. “The fact that so many people feel such a strong connection to Britain is evidence that there remains more uniting us than dividing us,” the Daily Mail reported on Friday, quoting British Communities Secretary Hazel Blears as saying. The survey also found that whites are more likely than those from ethnic minorities to believe that race prejudice and discrimination are getting worse. And they are less likely to think they can influence events as well as decisions in their own neighbourhood. The survey was conducted among nearly 10,000 people chosen to be representative of the country as a whole, and another 5,000 from ethnic minorities. — PTI
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2 Pakistanis charged with assaulting Indian
Dubai, October 5 The accused worked at a construction company in the Qusais area here and hatched a plan to physically assault the 25-year-old Indian in July, the Court of First Instance heard. “I met them in the camp, and they overpowered me and dragged me to the toilets area,” the victim told the police. “They threatened me with a razor and said they would harm me if I refused their demands,” he added. Following the attack, the victim returned to his room and informed his colleagues about the incident. The police has arrested the two Pakistanis on the charge of sexually assaulting the Indian worker.
— PTI
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US diplomat meets Myanmar minister Yangon, October 5 Diplomats and opposition figures were skeptical that the offer was genuine but, nonetheless, expressed hope that the meeting with Suu Kyi, something she has requested for years, would materialise. Shari Villarosa, the acting US ambassador, received word yesterday that she had been asked to meet with the military-led government that orchestrated a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last week, the State Department said in Washington. Villarosa, who has been a vocal critic of the crackdown, met with Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint in Naypyitaw, the regime’s remote capital, about 385 km north of Yangon, said a US Embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.
— AP
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Woman sacked for wearing stud reinstated
London, October 5 The company admitted that it had ‘misunderstood’ the rules and said Lalji would be resuming work from Sunday. It agreed that she could wear the nose pin, as she did not work in the catering area. “We have found that the rules relating to piercing are mandatory only in catering,” the Daily Mail quoted Eurest spokesperson as saying. Lalji said, “I got great support from the media, the union and my temple. It took me three months to get my job back but I feel I should not have been put in that position.” Lalji has been wearing the stud for the past 25 years.
— UNI
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Two Indians found dead in Nepal forest
Kathmandu, October 5 The bodies were found at Dododhara village on Wednesday, state-run 'Gorkhapatra' daily said. The police also recovered a knife and a marks-sheet of Pithauragadh University in Uttaranchal, belonging to Santosh Kumar. It also found some Indian newspapers and news reports written in Hindi near the bodies. The victims appeared to be in their late 20s.
— PTI
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