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Bobby Jindal sworn in Louisiana Governor
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal smiles at his wife Supriya Jindal after taking the oath of office in Baton Rouge on Monday. — AFP
photo
Pak Bar Council ends strike ‘partially’ |
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Suicide blast at Pak security post
Musharraf ‘drowned Pak in blood’: Sharif
Corruption case against Benazir dismissed
6 killed in Taliban attack
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Bobby Jindal sworn in Louisiana Governor
Piyush Bobby Jindal, the son of Punjabi immigrants, was sworn in as Governor of Louisiana on Monday, first person of the Indian origin to serve as chief executive of an American state.
Jindal, a conservative Republican, took the oath of office on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, his hand placed firmly on the family Bible held by his wife Supriya. Jindal’s decision to convert from Hinduism to Catholicism as a young man has generated much debate within the Indian community both in the USA and in India. At 36, Jindal is the youngest serving Governor in the United States. A two-term Congressman, he was only the second Indian-American to serve in the US Congress. Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, a California Democrat originally from Punjab, was the first. Jindal takes over the reins of Louisiana from Democrat Kathleen Blanco, whose reputation was severely battered by her administration’s inept
handling of the humanitarian crisis in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Bobby Jindal’s parents immigrated to Louisiana in the early 1970s. His father, an engineer and one of nine children of a poor rural family, came to the USA so that his mother could continue her graduate work in nuclear physics. Piyush Jindal was born in Baton Rouge. As a boy he asked his family to call him "Bobby," a name derived from a character on the popular TV show "The Brady Bunch." A Rhodes scholar who does not believe in evolution, Jindal has had a meteoric rise to the Governor’s mansion. He served in President George W. Bush’s administration in the Department of Health and Human Services and then as a Congressman from the first district of Louisiana. His success in Louisiana, a conservative Southern state in which minorities often face discrimination, is remarkable. He is the first non-white Governor in Louisiana since post-Civil War Reconstruction. Jindal won 54 per cent of the vote in the gubernatorial election in November. His closest competitor won 17 per cent. In a state plagued by corruption, Jindal campaigned for change prompting the New Orleans Times Picayune to label him "a brave new hope." On Monday, he promised to make a clean break with the past and root out corruption. “In our past, too many politicians looked out for themselves. Too many arms of state and local government did not get results. And the world took note.” he said. Jindal noted, “Those stereotypes cost us credibility. They cost us investment. They cost us jobs.”
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Pak Bar Council ends strike ‘partially’
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has decided to partially end its 82-day boycott of the superior courts’ judges who had taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) 2007, in view of the increasing problems being faced by litigants and resolved to observe a boycott on Thursdays only. The council, however, reaffirmed its resolve to continue the movement for reinstatement of judges sacked by Musharraf after imposition of emergency on November 3 and made it clear that ending the boycott did not amount to recognising the judges who took oath under the PCO. Musharraf deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and about 60 other judges of the Supreme Court and provincial high courts and reconstituted them by stuffing them with pliant new judges. This provoked an unprecedented boycott of courts by lawyers across the country which lasted 82 days. The lawyers shifted their stance during the PBC’s 169th meeting held on Sunday in Peshawar High Court with Mirza Aziz Akbar Baig, vice-chairman of the council, in the chair. The meeting decided that lawyers would observe a complete boycott of the PCO judges every Thursday and for one hour daily from 10.30 to 11.30 am. The meeting decided that this was not a direction for lawyers to appear before the PCO judges but only a concession in public interest keeping in view the misery of persons falsely accused of criminal cases and hardship faced by litigants seeking determination of their genuine claims. “This concession does not constitute recognition of the PCO judges as valid constitutional judges,” a PBC statement issued here said. It was also decided that all associations in the country shall hold general body meetings and take out processions and rallies outside the court premises every Thursday. The council decided that no Bar associations would invite any PCO judge in bar functions and office bearers of all Bar associations shall boycott all functions of the PCO judges. The meeting further decided that the council would hold national conventions at Islamabad and provincial capitals to advance the cause of restoration of judiciary as it existed on November 2, 2007. The first of these would be held on February 9 in Islamabad which will be followed by a lawyers march to the residence of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is being kept in illegal detention. The council demanded the immediate release of Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Ali Ahmad Kurd, Tariq Mahmood and other political prisoners in the country. It was further decided that every Bar association would set up a hunger strike camp where at least two members would observe the strike for at least two hours every day.
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Suicide blast at Pak security post
Islamabad, January 15 No one was injured in the suicide attack on the frontier constabulary post at Kapakh Kandao in Mohmand Agency, the army said in a statement. Three militants approached the post at 10.30 am local time. When the troops challenged the militants, the suicide bomber blew himself up while one of his accomplices was killed in retaliatory firing. The third militant was apprehended by the troops, the statement said. The incident came a day after seven security personnel and 23 militants were killed in a gun battle in Mohmand Agency. Meanwhile, the police arrested a suspected 17-year-old suicide bomber named Hayat Nawab at Imamdheri village in the Swat region of North West Frontier Province late last night. The teenager was arrested with an explosive-filled suicide jacket and machine gun, the army said. Pakistani troops are conducting a major operation against pro-Taliban militants led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah in the Swat region.
— PTI
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Musharraf ‘drowned Pak in blood’: Sharif
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has accused President Musharraf of blindly following Washington and ordering anti-terror operations that have left the country “drowned in blood”.
Addressing a public meeting at Bara Kahu in Islamabad’s suburbs, Nawaz said, “Musharraf has destroyed Pakistan. He is blindly following America’s orders. The whole of Pakistan is drowned in blood.” Nawaz reiterated his demand for Musharraf to stand down and for a government of national unity to take power and oversee the parliamentary elections. He said the PML-N would, however, not accept a government headed by President Pervez Musharraf. “I have never accepted Pervez Musharraf as President,” Nawaz Sharif said. The PML-N leader condemned what he called “provocative” statements against him and the PPP by former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Sharif said the government during last several years had disappointed the masses who were facing flour, gas and power crises. Blaming former premier Shaukat Aziz for presiding over anti-people economic policies, Nawaz said the government was responsible for the hike in prices of foodstuff such as flour, which was selling now at Rs 22-25 per kg and was priced Rs 7 during his second tenure. The PML-N leader urged the people not to vote for a party which was “responsible for Lal Masjid raid and operations in tribal areas”. The masses should vote for the PML-N candidates in order to bring a change in the country, he added.
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Corruption case against Benazir dismissed
Islamabad, January 15 The accountability court in nearby Rawalpindi had been hearing the case brought against Bhutto by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The case was set aside after Bhutto’s counsel pleaded that the charges of possessing assets beyond her known sources of income be quashed for good following her assassination on December 27. Another accountability court, meanwhile, directed the NAB to furnish a reply in similar charges against Zardari and Bhutto’s security adviser Rehman Malik and adjourned the matter till January 30.
— PTI
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Kabul, January 15 Foreign minister Jonas Gahr Stoere was unharmed in the attack -- which included a suicide blast -- yesterday and took shelter with other guests in the basement afterwards, hotel and Norwegian officials said. The USA State Department confirmed a USA citizen was among the dead but would not confirm the victim’s name, sex or if they were civilian or military personnel, until next of kin had been informed. And a Norwegian journalist employed by the daily newspaper Dagbladet later died of his injuries, his employer said. Dagbladet correspondent Carsten Thomassen, 39, died while undergoing surgery at a Czech NATO hospital near Kabul airport, the daily said in its online edition. Prior to Thomassen’s death, Afghan interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told reporters six persons had been killed and six wounded, while the Norwegian foreign ministry said two Norwegian nationals, a photographer and a diplomat, had been wounded. WAM, the United Arab Emirates’ official news agency, reported what it called a reliable source within the UAE’s foreign ministry saying that an official from its embassy in Kabul had been injured. It reported the official as being named as Aref Abdullah Al Tinaiji, a third secretary at the UAE embassy, but the source was quoted saying that he was being treated in hospital and was not in a serious condition. — AFP
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Piyush Bobby Jindal, the son of Punjabi immigrants, was sworn in as Governor of Louisiana on Monday, first person of the Indian origin to serve as chief executive of an American state.
