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US army chief’s Siachen visit
No official nod for Sobhraj’s marriage
India-born man gets $20,000 relief
70 militants killed in Pak |
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HC reserves verdict on AQ Khan’s plea
Outer space ‘smells like fried steak’
IAEA: Over 50 nations mulling use of N-power
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US army chief’s Siachen visit
Islamabad, October 17 “Any such visit to an area which is disputed and which is under discussion between Pakistan and India will certainly cast a shadow on the ongoing composite dialogue between the two neighbours,” a foreign office spokesman told The News daily. He said there was no official confirmation of the US General’s plan to visit Siachen. In the past, Pakistan has objected to India allowing civil and military expeditions to the Siachen glacier, where troops from both countries have been engaged in a face-off since 1984. Indian and Pakistani troops regularly traded fire along the Line of Actual Control on Siachen till a ceasefire was put in place along the frontiers in the state in late 2003. However, more troops from both sides have lost their lives due to inclement weather condition than to bullets on Siachen, often described as the world's highest and coldest battlefield. Gen Casey will be briefed on high-altitude land warfare techniques during his visit to Siachen base camp. — PTI
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No official nod for Sobhraj’s marriage
Although murder convict Charles Sobhraj announced he had tied the knot with his 20-year-old Nepali fiancée Nihita Biswas on October 9, the local authorities have refused to give legitimacy to their relation. Sakuntala Thapa, mother of Nihita, a lawyer, was disappointed as the Kathmandu district administration office (KDAO) on Thursday refused to accept an application produced by her on behalf of Sobhraj and Nihita for registration of their marriage.
Achyut Bhattarai, an administrative officer at the KDAO, said the couple concerned must appear before the office along with necessary documents. "Since Sobhraj is behind bars on charge of murdering two foreigners and possessing fraudulent travel documents, it is not possible to present him before the administration office and obtain documents from his homeland France," Bhattarai said.
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India-born man gets $20,000 relief
New York, October 17 The man had also accused the officers of racial abuse. A Brooklyn federal jury found that two police officers from the Queens were guilty of excessive force for hitting a man in the groin with a flashlight repeatedly, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported. Harwinder Vilkhu, 36, said the officers had grabbed him by the collar while he was sitting outside the York College Performing Arts Centre and hit him in the groin and stomach with a flashlight when he asked their names and the reason they were mistreating him. Vilkhu, who was then left at the scene, was picked up by an ambulance and taken to a local hospital. The incident took place in May 2005. — PTI
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Islamabad, October 17 Troops targeted militant training camps and hideouts in the mountains of Jargo Banda in Matta sub-district of Swat, killing 60 militants and injuring scores more, a military spokesman said. Officials said the militant hideouts were engaged with gunship helicopters, jets and artillery, causing heavy casualties among the pro-Taliban militants. Several militant hideouts were destroyed. Sources in the Frontier Corps told state-run APP news agency that nine to 10 militants were killed in an intense exchange of fire with security forces in Loisam area of Bajaur Agency. Militant positions in Loisam, a stronghold of the local Taliban, were engaged by artillery and gunship helicopters. — PTI
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HC reserves verdict on AQ Khan’s plea
The Islamabad High Court has reserved verdict on nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan's petition, seeking permission to pursue his habeas corpus petition in person. The court adjourned for two days the hearing of Khan's another review petition challenging his house detention, at the request of deputy attorney-general (DAG) Amjad Iqbal Qureshi.
Appearing on notice, Qureshi told the court the review petition was not maintainable under law and that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the petition in such cases. Earlier, Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafferi, counsel for the scientist, read a letter, he attributed to Khan. The letter accused the government of not allowing Khan "free movement". Qureshi said the language used in the letter showed it had not been written by a noted nuclear scientist.
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Outer space ‘smells like fried steak’
London, October 17 And, a chemist is now recreating the smell of space in a laboratory, thanks to NASA which commissioned the research that can be used to help astronauts prepare for the conditions they will encounter in space. According to chemist Steven Pearce, also managing director of Fragrance Manufacturing Company Omega Ingredients, the smell of space would be recreated by the end of the year. "I did some work for an art exhibition in July, which was based entirely on smell, and one of the things I created was the smell of the inside of the Mir space station. NASA heard about it and contacted me to see if I could help them recreate the smell of space to help their astronauts,” the British media quoted Pearce as saying. "We have a few clues as to what space smells like. First of all, there were interviews with astronauts that we were given, when they had been outside and then returned to the space station and were de-suiting and taking off their helmets, they all reported quite particular odours. For them what comes across is a smell of fried steak, hot metal and even welding a motorbike, one of them said. The suggestion to us has been that it's about creating realism for their training. So, they train the astronauts in their suits by putting them in big tanks to simulate the loss of gravity and it's just about making sure the whole thing is a realistic training exercise," he adds . — PTI
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IAEA: Over 50 nations mulling use of N-power
New York, October 17 Addressing the 50th anniversary meeting of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, Mohamed ElBaradei said a decade ago, nuclear power's popularity was in question. "When we talked about transferring nuclear technology to developing countries, we generally meant applications in medicine and industry, not nuclear power," the IAEA Director-General said. But the tides have turned and "change is in the air," he said, with many of the agency's member states mostly from the developing world expressing interest in nuclear power. He put the number of such countries to over 50. One dozen countries, including Turkey and Vietnam, are actively preparing nuclear programmes, while China is constructing six power reactors and Russia intends to build dozens of both large and small reactors by 2020. Greater efforts are essential to ensure that nuclear power's future is "safe, proliferation-resistant and cost-effective," ElBaradei said. "Every country has the right to develop nuclear power, but also a responsibility to do it properly," he noted. But, the IAEA chief cautioned that it was crucial to have realistic expectations of how quickly countries could have nuclear reactors online. "It can take a minimum of 10 years just to put the basic infrastructure in place. This is not an area where you can cut corners." — PTI
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Indian envoy gives relief cheque to Nepal PM NRI TB specialist awarded Arctic Ocean getting warmer 
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