 |
|
|
SC may take suo motu notice of Karachi blasts
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Kalam receives King Charles II Medal
US hands over 30 military helicopters to Pak
Militant killed in bomb blast
Magistrate stoned to death
Turkish troops head towards Iraq Laden’s new audiotape
|
|
Hu Jintao remains boss
Beijing, October 22 Ending months of backroom politicking, the top echelons of leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) made an orderly group debut at the ornate Great Hall of the People here after their election at the first plenum of the 17th CPC Central Committee, with Hu overwhelmingly winning a fresh mandate as party chief for a second term. Belying the expectations of Hu’s camp, the newly elected Central Committee apparently denied the 64-year-old CPC general secretary the free hand to name his protégé Li Keqiang as his potential successor at the next party Congress in 2012. But in an apparent compromise, the party had on Sunday elevated Hu to the status of pantheon of leaders like ‘Chairman’ Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang by enshrining in the CPC Constitution his pet vision of “Scientific outlook on development” to ensure a balanced and sustainable development and mitigate the sufferings of millions of poor Chinese peasants. Hu was also reappointed Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) of the CPC, the top military organ of the party. Hu succeeded Jiang Zemin as party leader at the 16th CPC National Congress in November, 2002. He was elected a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee in 1992. In the pecking order of the CPC, Xi Jinping, 54, the Communist Party boss in Shanghai, was ranked ahead of Li, who is considered Hu’s choice. Xi, 52, is seen as a candidate of Jiang, also based in China’s commercial capital, Shanghai. The election outcome showed that despite his advancing age at 80, Jiang still wields considerable clout in the opaque Chinese politics, analysts said. New faces in the pinnacle Politburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee are Xi Jinping, Li Keqing, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang. They joined the nine-member echelon with the previous standing committee members, namely Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin and Li Changchun, who are members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the 16th CPC Central Committee. “Comrades Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang are two quite young comrades,” said a beaming Hu dressed in dark blue suit in carefully chosen words while presenting them before reporters. Analysts say Xi is poised to succeed Hu when he retires in 2012 at the 18th Party Congress, held once in five years. Once Xi is appointed Vice-President in 2008 at the expected Chinese government reshuffle, that would put him in the race to succeed Hu as CPC general secretary in 2012. Li would then become executive vice premier, who could succeed Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in 2012, analysts said. The race for the all-powerful general secretary’s post could still be open-ended despite the current power equations, which emerged today, analysts said. India’s strategic relations are expected to get further fillip during the second innings of Hu who is all set to offer a red carpet welcome to Congress President Sonia Gandhi here on October 26. Hu, who has met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh several times, including during his maiden state visit to New Delhi last November, is said to have established a personal rapport with the reform-minded Indian leader, who is expected to visit Beijing this year.
— PTI
|
|
SC may take suo motu notice of Karachi blasts
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has indicated that the Supreme Court may take up suo moto notice of the Karachi carnage during PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s procession on last Thursday if the investigation currently underway failed to make any progress within next one or two days.
“It was a horrific tragedy with nearly 800 casualties, including close to 200 dead or missing,” the Chief Justice observed adding: ”The court cannot ignore it and must act if the executive is unable to make any progress.” The Chief Justice made these remarks during the hearing of a case in which PPP senator and advocate Babar Awan had appeared to represent a client. He expressed condolences over the loss of life and injuries to a huge number of people. He agreed with Awan that a tragedy of this nature and magnitude had not occurred anywhere in the world since the 9/11 holocaust in 2001. He noted that poor party workers had been hit. Awan said the case was being investigated as a routine explosion and might be put on the back burner after some time. Meanwhile, interior minister Aftab Sherpao has rejected PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s demand to enlist support of foreign experts in investigation. He said Pakistani investigators were quite capable of doing this job and no foreign help would be sought. Talking informally to reporters here, Sherpao recalled that assassination attempts on President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz were also investigated by Pakistani experts. But former interior minister in the Bhutto government Gen Nasirullah Babar and some retired other generals have accused the government of attempting to hush up the case by declaring it as suicide blasts. Former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg and two former chiefs of the ISI Gen Hamid Gull and Gen Asad Drrauni concurred with Babar that the blasts occurred from a planted bomb. Gen Babar said the government was relying solely on assumptions that a planted bomb should have kept a big crater. He said this was essentially not the case always. He described the blasts as an extension of the May 12 massacre when President Musharraf and his staunch ally, the MQM, blocked the entry of the Chief Justice for fear the expected massive public reception would expose the MQM’s claim of monopoly control over Karachi. Babar said the establishment got scared by the unprecedented welcome accorded to Bhutto and tried to halt the PPP bandwagon that posed a threat to the ruling coalition in Sindh and Punjab. Bhutto and other PPP leaders had also expressed no confidence in the chief investigator, who is leading the probe. They noted that he was involved in the police firing that killed Bhutto’s brother Murtaza Bhutto in 1996 and led to her ouster a couple of days later. Bhutto told reporters in Karachi that her demand for assistance from foreign experts was reasonable and would help in the investigations. “We want the government of Pakistan to seek the assistance of the international community,” she told a group of foreign reporters at her Karachi home. “They have anti-terrorism experts who have the technical expertise to investigate attacks of this nature,” she said, adding that she had discussed the issue with the USA and Britain.
|
|
Kalam receives King Charles II Medal London, October 22 Lord Martin Rees, president of The Royal Society, presented the medal and a scroll to Kalam in the presence of a distinguished gathering, including NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul, Lord Karan Billimoria, chief of Cobra Beer, Asoke Mukerjee, acting high commissioner of India to the UK, and Lord Meghnad Desai, a leading economist, at the Royal Society here. Kalam is only the second leader to receive the coveted award which was constituted in 1997, the first being Emperor Akihito of Japan in 1998. Thanking the Royal Society for bestowing the honour on him, Kalam said he considered it as a unique honour “to India and its people”. Kalam, himself an eminent scientist, said he was presently working on two areas that have a mission potential to have a positive effect on the societal development. They are the energy independence and world knowledge platform. Presenting the silver-gilt medal, Lord Rees described Kalam as an “ideal recipient” of the award for his contribution to the defence programme of India as scientific adviser to the government and his Technology Vision 2020. “He is a tireless in promoting science and technology as India emerges as a super power in the 21st century.” — PTI
|
|
|
US hands over 30 military helicopters to Pak
Islamabad, October 22 Twenty-six Bell 412 EP medium-lift, twin engine helicopters and four refurbished Cobra helicopter gunships and associated equipment were handed over to the Pakistan Army in a ceremony at Qasim airbase near Rawalpindi by US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, a statement issued by the army said. Patterson said: “The US will continue to provide support and training as Pakistan establishes a helicopter force capable of enhancing combat operations, providing security, and engaging in medical evacuations and humanitarian relief throughout the region.” Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan’s defence secretary Kamran Rasool said the induction of these helicopters would significantly enhance the army’s operational capabilities.
— PTI
|
|
Militant killed in bomb blast
Peshawar, October 22 The militants had been trying to plant a bomb in Karak town, about 100 km south of Peshawar late yesterday, local police officer Hajit Khan said. The bomb exploded prematurely and one militant was killed, Khan said.
— AFP
|
|
|
Magistrate stoned to death
Port Moresby, October 22 The Post Courier newspaper said senior magistrate Ivo Cappo was killed on Saturday night when he lost control of his car as he drove home from a hotel, and ran into the camp on Ela Beach. None of the refugees were injured, but when Cappo got out of his car to inspect the crash, the refugees from the western part of New Guinea, which is under the Indonesian rule, rushed to him and stoned him to death, said the newspaper.
— Reuters
|
|
|
Turkish troops head towards Iraq Sirnak, October 22 Turkey’s foreign minister said his country would pursue diplomacy before it sends troops across the rugged frontier. The military said it had had no contact with the eight soldiers after Sunday’s clash and said 34 guerrillas had been killed so far in a counter offensive. A pro-Kurdish news agency said the eight were captured a claim that would make it the largest seizure since 1995, when guerrillas grabbed eight soldiers and took them to northern Iraq. A senior rebel commander, Bahoz Erdal, said the soldiers were in rebel hands, the pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency reported. “Right now, these soldiers are hostages in the hands of our forces,” Firat quoted Erdal as saying. “Their health condition is good. One of them was slightly injured but was being taken care of by our medics.” Erdal said the families of soldiers should not worry about the fate of their sons. “We have not harmed them and we will not,” Erdal said. — AP
|
|
|
Cairo, October 22 Laden said insurgents should admit “mistakes” and that he even advises himself not to be extreme in his leadership. — AP
|
|
| 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 | |
