W O R L D

IAEA chief seeks more funds
Vienna, September 29
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief urged the 145 member states today to come to grips with an IAEA funding crisis, which undermines its ability to prevent nuclear proliferation threats.

Turban issue: Sarkozy unmoved
There is no change in Paris’s position that Sikhs can’t wear turban in schools despite intense lobbying by the Indian authorities to prevail on Paris to change the rule.

ON GUARD: Pakistani army soldiers patrol a street during a military operation against militants in Darra Adam Kheil on Monday. Pakistani security forces have launched a major offensive against the militants in Darra and several other tribal areas to combat rising militancy in the northwest. — Reuters

An overcrowded passenger boat is seen on the Buriganga River in Dhaka on Monday. Millions of residents in Dhaka have started the exodus home from the capital city ahead of the Eid ul-Fitr holiday. — Reuters

I will root out Taliban: Zardari
Calling the Taliban as ‘cancer of society’, President Asif Zardari has vowed to rid the country of terror threat. “I will suck the oxygen out of their system, so there will be no Talibs,” Zardari said while talking to the International Herald Tribune (IHT) before flying back home after over a weeklong trip to the United States to attend the UN General Assembly session.

Nepal-India meet to harness water resources
Kathmandu, September 28
Nepal and India today held a high-level meeting here to chalk out plans to harness water resources between the two countries in a comprehensive manner, including hydro-power generation, irrigation, flood control and other water-related issues. Nepalese Water Resources secretary Shanker Prasad Koirala and his Indian counterpart, Umesh N Panjiyar, are leading the delegation of their respective governments during the three-day meeting of Nepal-India Joint Committee on Water Resources.

IAEA chief seeks more funds

Vienna, September 29
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief urged the 145 member states today to come to grips with an IAEA funding crisis, which undermines its ability to prevent nuclear proliferation threats.

Opening the IAEA’s annual assembly, Mohamed ElBaradei called for urgent steps to increase funding of the UN watchdog, modernise equipment and enhance its legal authority to verify the nature of nuclear programmes in suspect countries.“We have really reached a turning point. Years of zero (real) growth budgets have left us with a failing infrastructure and a troubling dependence on voluntary support which invariably has conditions attached,” he said.

“This is not just about money. We do not work in a political vacuum. Political commitment to the goals of the agency needs to be renewed at the highest level,” ElBaradei told the IAEA’s General Conference at its Vienna headquarters.

“It would be a tragedy of epic proportions if we fail to act (for lack of resources) until after a nuclear conflagration, accident or terrorist attack that could have been prevented.” Among major IAEA challenges are investigations into alleged covert nuclear work in Iran and Syria that the United States and some allies suspect might have been meant to yield atom bombs. But outmoded equipment, especially in IAEA laboratories, prolongs the time the UN watchdog needs to assess and verify information, including environmental test samples done to detect evidence of undeclared nuclear activity.

The IAEA, guardian of the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, also lacks authority to extract full cooperation from countries under investigation and access for inspectors beyond declared nuclear sites. Its probe of Iran has dragged on for six years and reached an impasse over Tehran’s failure to explain allegations of secret nuclear weapons research beyond issuing denials not corroborated by substance, ElBaradei said earlier this month.

He cited a “serious disconnect” between what member states expected the agency to do and the financial means - which come overwhelmingly from wealthy Western countries - they provided. “Our safeguards staff ... (is) increasingly overstretched ... and there is an increasing need for an up-to-date information system,” ElBaradei said.

“It is clear that our ability to do our job is being seriously compromised ... If we carry on with business as usual, the agency's effectiveness and value of the service we provide will be gradually eroded.” He urged IAEA members to accept the recommendation of an independent commission for an 80 million euro ($117 million) injection to modernise IAEA labs and emergency response abilities and a gradual doubling of the budget by 2020. The IAEA's budget now is about 340 million euros, which ElBaradei has called penny-pinching. — Reuters 

Turban issue: Sarkozy unmoved
Ashok Tuteja writes from Marseille

There is no change in Paris’s position that Sikhs can’t wear turban in schools despite intense lobbying by the Indian authorities to prevail on Paris to change the rule.

Addressing a press conference with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh standing next to him at the end of the ninth India-EU Summit here, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sikhs were most welcome to come to France but they must also respect the law of the country just like citizens from other nations.

There were rules and the laws in the country, which applied to all citizens and not the Sikhs alone. “There is no discrimination against the Sikhs and we are convinced that they also respect the traditions of this country,” the French President added.

The French Parliament had passed a law in March 2004 to ban conspicuous religious symbols from its state school system despite appeals and protests against it by minority religious groups, including the Sikhs.

I will root out Taliban: Zardari
Afzal Khan Writes From Islamabad

Calling the Taliban as ‘cancer of society’, President Asif Zardari has vowed to rid the country of terror threat. “I will suck the oxygen out of their system, so there will be no Talibs,” Zardari said while talking to the International Herald Tribune (IHT) before flying back home after over a weeklong trip to the United States to attend the UN General Assembly session.

“It is my decision that we will go after them, we will free this country,” he said, “Yes, this is my first priority because I will have no country otherwise. I will be the president of what?” About the ISI, he said it would be handled. “That is our problem,” Zardari told the Herald. “We don't hunt with the hound and run with the hare, which is what Musharraf was doing.” In this context he said his government had changed a lot of things and a lot more would happen. “Anyone not conforming with my government’s policy will be thrown out,” Zardari said, specifically mentioning the ISI.

The Pakistani leader expressed willingness to reverse his predecessor General Musharaf’s stance and accept the US offer to train specialised counter-insurgency army units for use in the Tribal areas. While Musharraf asked for equipment, which the Americans were reluctant to supply, he also resisted locating this site of training close to Islamabad.

“I mean business. We will train ourselves with the US present as trainers to raise the quality of certain forces,” Zardari said.

But he warned against US military incursions inside Pakistan. “It is counter-productive and a political price is paid,” he said. 

Nepal-India meet to harness water resources

Kathmandu, September 28
Nepal and India today held a high-level meeting here to chalk out plans to harness water resources between the two countries in a comprehensive manner, including hydro-power generation, irrigation, flood control and other water-related issues.

Nepalese Water Resources secretary Shanker Prasad Koirala and his Indian counterpart, Umesh N Panjiyar, are leading the delegation of their respective governments during the three-day meeting of Nepal-India Joint Committee on Water Resources.

“We will discuss the entire gamut of issues related to water resources and hydro-power between Nepal and India,” Koirala said. The meeting has been organised in the wake of Nepal Government’s plan to generate 10,000 MW power in a decade as declared by Prime Minister Prachanda during his recent visit to India. The three-day meeting is likely to pave the way for developing Pancheshwor Hydro Power with 6,000 MW capacity and Saptakoshi High Dam project with 3,200 MW capacity whose implementation have the potential to make Nepal a power exporting nation, he said.

The last meeting, comprising water resources secretaries of the two countries, was held in New Delhi in 2004. — PTI