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End contacts with Musharraf, Sharif tells Bhutto
Pak Emergency
Charles, Camilla celebrate Diwali at Swaminarayan temple
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Pak ex-minister dies in suicide attack
2 NRI women killed in UK
23 killed in fresh Lankan clashes
70,000 illegal Indian workers Norman Mailer dead Bereaved Indian families to get 10 years’ salary in Dubai Pakistan to lift emergency within a month: Qayyum School kids say Harry Potter can save Pak Pakistan elected to UN body Men out-chatter women: Study
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End contacts with Musharraf, Sharif tells Bhutto
Islamabad, November 10 In a letter sent to Bhutto, referred to her plan to organise a "long march" to protest Musharraf's failure to deliver on certain promises made to the Pakistan People's Party and sought details about it. As he was not aware of the nature of these promises, Sharif said he would appreciate it if Bhutto took him "into confidence about the details". This would help his PML-N decide on whether to support the march planned for November 13 and join hands with the PPP to oppose the emergency imposed last week, Sharif, who was deported in September hours after returning to his home country from a seven-year exile, said. Sharif also unveiled a four-point agenda aimed at strengthening cooperation among opposition parties and ensuring a transition to civilian democracy. He said Pakistan's constitution should be restored to its status as on October 12, 1999 the date Sharif was removed as premier by Musharraf in a bloodless coup and the emergency and Provisional Constitutional Order issued by the military ruler should be withdrawn. All political activists, lawyers and judges arrested under the emergency should be released, Sharif said. The curbs on the media should be lifted and the general election should be held under the supervision of a neutral caretaker government, said Sharif. In his letter, Sharif said Pakistan was facing "grave crises" and the "most critical times" in its history. "Things have reached such a state that it has become incumbent on all Pakistanis...who have faith in the country's constitution and democratic principles, to play their role. Bhutto and Sharif had earlier formed the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy but he later left to set up the All Parties Democratic Movement due to differences between them.
— PTI
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Canada asks C’wealth for strong response
Toronto, November 10 “Canada is pressing for a strong Commonwealth response that sets clear deadlines for the end of the state of emergency and for the restoration of democratic processes and principles,” said Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier in a statement released yesterday. On November 3, Musharraf imposed a state of emergency on his country citing growing Islamic militancy and an unruly judiciary. Commonwealth Secretary General Don Pakistan was suspended in 1999 after Musharraf overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It was reinstated as a full member in 2004 after Musharraf promised to give up his dual role as president and military chief by the end of that year.
— PTI
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Charles, Camilla celebrate Diwali at Swaminarayan temple
London, November 10 Yogvivek Swami, the head priest at the temple in Neasden, greeted the Prince yesterday in the traditional Indian way with a garland. The female members of the temple welcomed The Duchess with a ‘tilak’ on her forehead. The Royal couple then proceeded to the sanctum sanctorum where they offered flowers at the central shrine. Both spent several minutes witnessing the intricate architecture of the temple. After meeting the temple volunteers, the Royal couple made their way into the prayer hall where they were greeted with rapturous applause, musical fanfare and waving of flags. They performed ‘abhishek’ of Shri Nilkanth Varni before being escorted to the haveli foyer to have a view of the building’s architecture. The Prince and the Duchess each lighted a ‘diya’ in the haveli to commemorate their presence on the auspicious day of Diwali. After receiving garlands, they participated in a symbolic ‘Chopda Pujan’ (Lakshmi Puja) ceremony while the children chanted Vedic hymns. This was followed by a dance. Prince Charles, in his address, spoke of his great privilege of visiting the temple on the auspicious occasion of Diwali, the festival of lights.”
- PTI
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Pak ex-minister dies in suicide attack
Islamabad, November 10 Pir Mohammed Khan, a cousin of Muqam and a former minister of the North West Frontier Province, sustained serious injuries when the bomber blew himself up in Muqam’s home at Hayatabad in Peshawar yesterday. Muqam, who is provincial president of the ruling PML-Q, escaped unhurt. Khan underwent surgery but never emerged from the coma he had slipped into. He died this afternoon, Dawn News channel reported. Three security personnel were also killed in the attack, the latest in a string of suicide bombings witnessed in Pakistan. Nearly 140 persons were killed and hundreds injured in a suicide attack on former premier Benazir Bhutto’s homecoming rally in Karachi on October 19. Seven security personnel died in a suicide attack outside the official residence of Gen Tariq Majid, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, in Rawalpindi last month while an equal number were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his motor cycle into a Pakistan Air Force bus in Sargodha.
— PTI
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2 NRI women killed in UK
London, November 10 The two women have been identified as Rashni Badiani (56) and Radhaben Chauhan (72) who shared a room in Hayes Park Nursing Home. A 19-year-old boy was today produced in a Leicester city magistrate’s court today on charges of murdering the two women on Wednesday.
— PTI
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23 killed in fresh Lankan clashes
Colombo, November 10 Defence ministry said these clashes were reported yesterday along the Wanni defence lines at Navathkulam, Kuduruvittankulam, Narikulam, Vilathikulam and Umayarasakulam areas. It said intercepted LTTE communications have confirmed that 23 rebels were killed during the intermittent clashes in these areas while confirmed only one soldier was killed in action. “Troops have effectively averted LTTE’s multi-pronged attempts to breach the Wanni defence lines stretching from Mannar to Vavuniya districts,’’ it said, adding that several rebels were also injured during these clashes. There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE regarding this fresh military claims.
— UNI
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70,000 illegal Indian workers leave UAE Dubai, November 10 Nearly 110,000 Indians took advantage of the amnesty offered by the UAE government to correct their job status or leave the country. “About 286,000 workers either corrected their status or left the country during the three-month amnesty period, which started on June 3, indicating that the violators responded positively to the amnesty offer as the statistics and records show”, said assistant undersecretary of labour Obaid Rashid Al Zahmi The amnesty offered by the UAE Cabinet to help illegal workers has achieved its goals, said Al Zahmi. He warned that legal action would be taken against illegal workers now that the amnesty has expired. Before the amnesty, there were 300,000 to 350,000, illegal workers, according to some official estimates. There are over 2.9 million workers employed by 285,000 firms in the UAE. Construction companies recruit a larger number of workers than they actually need, citing the size of work, which leads to the accumulation of foreign workforce in the country, he said. In addition, some shop owners conceal illegal workers so that they can employ them with lower salaries. Some free zones recruit workers and then allow them to work with other employers. — PTI
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Norman Mailer dead
Mailer died at Mount Sinai Hospital, said J Michael Lennon, who is also the author’s official biographer. From his classic debut novel, “The Naked and the Dead”, to such masterworks of literary journalism as “The Armies of the Night,” the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner always got credit for insight, passion and originality. Some of Mailer’s work was highly praised, some panned, but none was pronounced the Great American Novel that seemed to be his life quest from the time he soared to the top as a brash 25-year-old “enfant terrible”. Mailer built and nurtured an image over the years as pugnacious, streetwise and high-living. He drank, fought, smoked pot, married six times and stabbed his second wife, almost fatally, during a drunken party. — AP
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Bereaved Indian families to get 10 years’ salary in Dubai Dubai, November 10 The company and Indian consulate officials have confirmed that all dead workers were Indians. “All our workers have additional insurance. As per our company policy the families of the dead workers would get 120 months salary in compensation. The medical expenses of those injured would be taken care off by us,” said the company official yesterday. Seven workers died and 19 were injured when a portion of a wall near a bridge under construction collapsed on Thursday evening. “We have asked close friends and relatives of the dead workers to get in touch with their families and convey the tragic news,” said the company representative. “It was not the bridge that collapsed as reported by a section of the media. A wall was hit by a crane carrying steel frames and the wall collapsed. Of the 19 injured about 15 workers suffered minor injurious while the remaining four workers suffered fractures. They would be given sick leave,” the company representative was quoted as saying by the Gulf News. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) chief Mattar Al Tayer in a statement blamed human error behind the fatal accident that claimed seven lives. Al Tayer yesterday visited the injured at Rashid Hospital. The Indian labour consul BS Mubarak who visited the injured workers at the hospital on Thursday evening confirmed the amount of compensation. “The consulate was there to get first-hand information of the situation and get in touch with the company officials. Repatriation of the dead bodies would be done either today or tomorrow depending on the police clearance,” the Indian labour consul added. T. Rajanna, a 32-year-old Indian steel fitter who suffered a fracture to his right leg, said the accident occurred due to the crane carrying heavy iron rods hitting a portion of the bridge under construction. The names of the workers killed are as Arumugham, Karthipan Thangam, Shahajan Shamsuddin, C. Jagdish, Arun Muezhi Govindan, Mathai Lagan and Surendra Singh. — UNI
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Pakistan to lift emergency within a month: Qayyum Islamabad, November 10 Attorney general Malik Qayyum said the security situation in Pakistan was the "main reason for the imposition of emergency and its continuance". "In any case, it won't go beyond two months because we don't want to make it a permanent feature. If the law and order situation improves or if there are no untoward incidents, it will be much sooner than that," said Qayyum, who has emerged as a key figure in the decision-making process in the past few weeks. "I don't see the emergency continuing forever or even after two months," he told Dawn News channel. "The emergency had its effect and the situation is fast improving," Qayyum pointed out. Musharraf had cited the internal security situation, especially a spurt in activities by extremists, and judicial "interference" by the superior courts as the main reasons behind his decision to impose emergency on November 3. Asked about the arrest of a large number of lawyers, who have been at the forefront of protests against the emergency, Qayyum said most of them would be released "within days". Only lawyers against whom there was evidence and those detained for "heinous crimes" would be held by authorities, he said, adding such cases were "very few". Qayyum also dismissed reports that judges of superior courts, including the Supreme Court, who had not endorsed the emergency were under house arrest. Claiming that the government has not placed any restrictions on the judges, he said: "They can even go to their hometowns, they won't be forcibly removed. The fact that they are no longer judges doesn't mean that we don't have to respect them. They are entitled to the same respect they were earlier and I'll ensure that." Qayyum's comments came amidst reports that the government planned to remove several of the detained judges, including former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, from Islamabad to other places. He also clarified that the emergency was "extra-constitutional" as it was imposed by Musharraf in his capacity as army chief. — PTI
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School kids say Harry Potter can save Pak Islamabad, November 10 An assignment to gauge the general knowledge of 12-year-old students surprised a private school teacher in Karachi. The students, who were aware of the imposition of emergency, told her that only Harry Potter could save Pakistan. "My students may be young but it is heartening to learn how well-informed they are," Sehar Rizvi, the Class VII teacher, told the Daily Times. "What distresses the students the most is the absence of a character like Dumbledore, the great wizard." Sophiya, another teacher who gave the assignment to the students, said she is eager to put up their responses on the school's board. When the students were prodded to name a person who could be the Dumbledore of Pakistan, they suggested it was Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of the nation. Twelve-year-old Saad Zia told his teacher, "Dumbledore and Jinnah are similar. Jinnah was a lawyer and today lawyers are in danger. Dumbledore was the headmaster and his students and school were in danger." Hamza Niazi said Musharraf and Voldemort are similar because both "supported militancy". The students compared the President's takeover with Voldemort and the death eaters. Though the students could not find a Harry Potter in Pakistan, sacked Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Chowdhury came closest to being the wizard, and the protesing lawyers were seen as Potter's friends. The students, who were also aware of the ban on private TV news channels, thought state-run PTV was like "Daily Prophet" -- the wizardry newspaper. The banned channels were compared to "The Quibbler" the newspaper that defied Voldermort's diktats and was eventually shut down following the kidnapping of the editor's daughter. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz found a comparison in Thackneize, the prime minister of the wizards appointed by Voldemort. — PTI
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Islamabad, November 10 The Council is one of the key charter bodies that deals with the international economic, social, cultural, educational, health and related matters. It is also mandated to oversee work done by the UN's specialised agencies and programmes. Pakistan was elected to the body by securing 177 out of 188 votes casted, the foreign ministry said today. The General Assembly elected 18 new members of the Council. Apart from Pakistan, China, Malaysia and Republic of Korea are the other members from Asia. — PTI
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London, November 10 International researchers have carried out a study and found that men out-talk women, dispelling the long-held myth that females cannot stop chattering. “Men’re significantly more talkative than women. Gender differences in talkativeness may reflect a tendency among some men to control the conversational floor when interacting with women,” the ‘Daily Mail’ reported today, quoting lead researcher Campbell Leaper as saying. In fact, the team came to the conclusion after analysing the results of three studies, involving 4,380 volunteers, into the way men and women use language. The researchers found that men were more talkative in certain situations, such as when they talk to groups of people, or to their wives and girlfriends, or strangers- their findings have been reported in the ‘Personality and Social Psychology Review’ journal. But women were found to chat more when talking to friends and children. The researchers found that when women talk to strangers they’re likely to find common ground and interests while men focus on trying to influence the listener. According to the team, the differences are cultural, not biological. “These findings compellingly debunk simplistic stereotypes about gender differences in language use. The notion that the female brain is built to systematically out-talk men is hard to square with the finding that gender differences appear and disappear, depending on the interaction context,” Leaper was quoted as saying. — PTI
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New York, November 10