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Rattled, Hillary sacks poll manager
Congressman Lantos dead
Indian in Pak death cell for 35 years
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Indian workers protest against low wages
Pak army to be deployed in sensitive constituencies
Pak lawyers on weeklong strike
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Rattled, Hillary sacks poll manager
Washington, February 11 Comprehensive victories in Maine yesterday, and Nebraska, Washington state, Louisiana, along with US Virgin Islands a day earlier, have left 46-year-old Obama with 1,139 delegates in his kitty compared to 1,135 of the former first lady, a tracking website RealClearPolitcs.com claimed. These include the 796 super-delegates- a group made up of current and former top elected officials and Democratic National Committee members who are free to shift their allegiance at the party's national in Denver in late August. A candidate must get 2,025 delegates to capture the nomination at the convention. The website claimed that Clinton, 60, who is bidding to be the first woman elected to the Oval office, had the support of 213 super-delegates, while 139 backed Obama. The shocking setback to Clinton has sent her campaign scrambling for answers, and the first casualty was her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who has been replaced by Clinton's long-time aide, Maggie Williams. Though the lead itself is slender, Obama is expected to gain further momentum in his bid to become the first black US President in history by the time Tuesday's "Beltway" primaries in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia are held, where nearly 200 delegates are at stake. "I have the ability to bring people together... If you will vote for me on Tuesday ... we will transform this country," Obama told supporters in a suburb of Washington, adding that he could beat John McCain, who has virtually sealed his Republican presidential nomination. Obama is expected to win handsomely in Maryland and Washington DC, and is also seen as leading in Virginia. However, Clinton is eying the big ticket states of Ohio (161 delegates) and Texas (228), which will go to vote on March 4, ahead of another crucial contest in Pennsylvania (188) on April 22. Campaigning in Alexandria, Obama said Clinton was a "capable person" but people see her as part of a divisive political era. "I think, it's very hard for Senator Clinton to break out of the politics of the past 15 years," Obama said. "Senator Clinton starts off with 47 per cent of the country against her...That's a hard place to start," he said. However, according to the Associated Press count, Clinton is still in lead with 1,135 total delegates, while Obama has 1,106, with three delegates still to be awarded from yesterday's Democratic caucuses in Maine. Of the 796 lawmakers, Democratic super-delegates, Clinton had 243 and Obama had 156. That edge was responsible for Clinton's overall advantage in the pursuit of delegates to secure the party's nomination for president, it said. The numbers show that the contest between the two could go down to the wire and that ultimately the super-delegates, who are being wooed by both campaigns, might swing the decision in favour of the either of the two. The "super-delegates" category was created by party leaders in 1982 to give elected officials more clout in the nomination process, according to the Washington Post daily .
— PTI
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Congressman Lantos dead
Congressman Tom Lantos, the Democratic chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a prominent friend of India’s on Capitol Hill, died on Monday. He had been battling cancer of the
oesophagus.
Lantos’ spokeswoman Lynne Weill said the 80-year-old congressman died at Bethesda Naval Medical Centre. Lantos was the only survivor of the Holocaust to serve in Congress. With Lantos’ death India has lost a good friend on Capitol Hill. The California Democrat was instrumental in shaping the US-India civilian nuclear cooperation bill and shepherding it through the Congress, but did not shy from berating India on occasion. Lantos was ardently opposed to India’s ties with Iran and sought to link the US nuclear cooperation curb to ending this relationship. In a 2005 congressional hearing, while discussing the nuclear deal, he said, “They (India) will pay a heavy price for a total disregard of the US concerns vis-à-vis Iran. It just will not fly in this body and they need to be told that in plain English, not in diplomatic English.” He shocked his friends in India in September 2005 hearing when he ridiculed then external affairs minister Natwar Singh as “dense.” Singh was reported to have said during his meeting with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that India “supports the resolution of Iran’s nuclear issue within the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) framework but opposes sending the file to the UN Security Council.” Lantos declared, “Only an imbecile would believe that they are developing a nuclear program for peaceful purposes and it is an insult to the intelligence of Congress that they keep repeating this.” Lantos said he found Singh’s reported statement in Iran “literally sickening, this Stalinist rhetoric which we don’t accept from the Indian foreign minister.”
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Indian in Pak death cell for 35 years
Islamabad, February 11 According to a statement released by the Ansar Burney Trust, Kashmir Singh was arrested in 1973 on espionage charges in Pakistan and sentenced to death under the Official Secret Act 1923 by Field General Court Martial in Lahore, 35 years ago. He has been languishing in a Pakistani death cell ever since and has now become a weak, old and mentally disabled man. Federal minister and human rights activist Ansar Burney revealed that he had been informed about Singh several years ago by members of the Indian community in London. At that time, however, he was unable to locate him in his capacity as chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust, an official of Associated Press of Pakistan reported. After taking oath as a federal minister, he visited over 20 prisons all across Pakistan in relation to his prison reforms and prisoners rights work, and to search for a number of prisoners who he and his organisation had been trying to locate for many years. During a visit to Central Jail Lahore, the minister visited various death cells and finally came across Singh. His details were immediately called for from the prison authorities and it was revealed that Singh had been confined for over 3 decades under the Official Secret Act in a death cell; and during all these years he never received a single visitor or even saw the open sky, sun or moon. He, like other condemned prisoners, was locked in an overcrowded death cell for 23.5 hours a day, only allowed out for 30 minutes to stretch his legs. Kashmir Singh, from the Indian province of Punjab, due to his long confinement in a death cell, which the minister described as “hell on earth”, became mentally disabled some years ago. At the time of his arrest, he was a husband and a father of three young children -- two boys and a girl. He has not seen any of them ever since over three decades. A summary was immediately made by the minister on behalf of the Human Rights Division of the Government of Pakistan to the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf for the early release of Kashmir Singh. The minister met the Indian high commissioner in Islamabad in regards to prisoners in each others countries; and has since also written to the Indian high commissioner to inform him about the case of Singh and to help to locate his family in India. Burney said he met the President in this regard and believed that a mercy petition by him would be accepted in the coming days and Singh would be released
very soon. — UNI
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Indian workers protest against low wages
Dubai, February 11 Later, they gathered in buses and went to the Indian Embassy in Adliya to lodge their protest at the extremely low salaries and harsh working conditions. One of the workers, who didn’t want to be named, said their salaries were very low and that they lived “like animals.” “There are no proper facilities. We have tried repeatedly to make the management aware of our problems but to no avail,” he said, adding that ten persons shared a room and the quality of the beds was pathetic. Sources said the workers were being paid a basic salary of Rs 4,500 every month, but it comes to a total of Rs 6,000 after overtime. In another incident in Bahrain, employer reportedly locked up over 1,000 protesting workers inside their labour camp yesterday. The men, who are working on the $ 6 billion Durrat Al Bahrain project, have been on strike for the past two days demanding better pay, hot water, better medical facilities and other basics such as lights in the toilets. They threatened to walk around 50 km from their camp in the desert to the Indian Embassy to highlight their plight. Labourers were promised Rs 10,000 and skilled workers Rs 12,000 when they were recruited in India but they are paid only Rs 5,700 and Rs 6,900. The workers from Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan also joined the protest against the poor living conditions as around 30 men are sharing one bathroom without water heater. The workers were threatened by the management that they would be sacked if they continued their strike while they insisted on protesting until their demands were fulfill.
— UNI
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Amy Winehouse dominates Grammys
But jazz veteran Herbie Hancock was the surprise winner of the coveted album of the year award for the all-star Joni Mitchell tribute “River: The Joni Letters,” preventing Winehouse from enjoying a historic clean sweep of the top four Grammy prizes. Still,
Winehouse, 24, won the most awards at the ceremony. Her tally for the night included record and song of the year for her signature hit tune “Rehab,” and best new artist. Hip-hop star Kanye West, who had led the field with eight nominations going into the awards, ended up with four
victories. Winehouse’s “Back to Black” and West’s “Graduation,” both commercial and critical successes, were considered the front-runners for album of the year. The loss was likely a huge blow for West. The outspoken artist made his displeasure loud and clear after he lost the race with his two previous albums. Hancock’s win was the first by a jazz instrumental release since Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto’s “Getz/
Gilberto” in 1965. The pianist and composer also won the contemporary jazz album Grammy, bringing his career haul to 12. Because of her drug treatment-and problems getting a U.S. work
visa-Winehouse performed “Rehab” and the equally personal “You Know I’m No Good” live via satellite from a London recording studio decorated as a cabaret. During both tunes, she amended the lyrics to mention her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who is languishing in a London prison facing serious charges related to a pub
brawl. Winehouse also won Grammys for female pop vocal solo performance for “Rehab,” and pop vocal album for “Back to Black.” With five
Grammys, she ties Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones and Beyonce for the most wins in a year by a female artist. West’s awards were all in the rap category: rap album for “Graduation,” rap solo performance (“Stronger”), rap performance by a duo or group with vocals (“Southside”), and rap song (“Good Life”). His career haul is
10 statuettes.
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Pak army to be deployed in sensitive constituencies
The army will begin deployment in dozens of constituencies declared as "sensitive" from Tuesday to ensure peaceful elections, interior minister Lt-Gen Hamid Nawaz Khan said here Monday.
In Sindh, the army will be deployed across the province to assist the police and para-military rangers, the minister said. The army will move only when called in, but rangers would perform patrolling duties. The minister said the report submitted by Scotland Yard on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto corroborates the findings of the inquiry being conducted by the Pakistani authorities. He, however, said the probe so far had established that four to five persons were involved in the episode. To a question, he said there is no conflict in Scotland Yard's determination that only one suicide bomber had fired shots and exploded bomb that killed Benazir Bhutto. He said Scotland Yard's report did not exclude presence of more than one killer. The minister said three suspects in the assassination had been arrested and being subjected to intense interrogation. Asked about MQM chief Altaf Hussain's demand for representation in the amry and rangers, the home minister said it was not possible nor appropriate to enrol security staff on ethnic basis. No discrimination is allowed in this respect, he added.
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Pak lawyers on weeklong strike
Lawyers across the country began a weeklong boycott of all superior and lower courts to press for the reinstatement of the deposed judges and independence of the judiciary.
The boycott call was given by the Pakistan Bar Council. Lawyers staged rallies across the country, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar. They shouted anti-Musharraf slogans and vowed to continue the protest till the reinstatement of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other 60 judges sacked by Musharraf on November 3. In Lahore, the registrar of the Lahore High Court called the police when a group of lawyers surrounded the office of the newly appointed justice Bhoon who had been in the forefront of the lawyers movement as president of the LHC Bar Association. Bhoon's court was closed after a brief scuffle between lawyers and the police. Bhoon had enraged lawyers for accepting the nomination as high court judge last week. The lawyers dispersed later. In Karachi, the Sindh High Court Bar Association endorsed decision by the PBC to boycott the courts till the polling day of February 18.
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Taliban commander killed in Pak
Islamabad, February 11 Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was killed in Qila Saifullah district in Balochistan province, near the border with Afghanistan, TV channels said quoting official sources. Four other Taliban commanders were captured, they said. Dadullah had succeeded his elder brother, senior Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, who was killed in an Afghan and NATO operation in southern Afghanistan in May last year. There were reports last month that Mansoor Dadullah has been thrown out of the Taliban by its supreme commander Mullah Omar, but a spokesman for Dadullah denied the reports.
— PTI
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Los Angeles, February 11