 |
|
|
Nepal govt to return seized properties by mid-Dec
Bush consulted Clinton before meeting Obama
Sudan Prez declares truce
|
|
|
Moscow, November 12 The possibility of Indian naval personnel’s presence on board the accident-hit Russian K-152 Nerpa nuclear attack submarine has not been ruled out by the Russian experts amid reports that the vessel was to be transferred to India after current sea trials. At the time of the mishap, in which 20 persons, including 17 civilian technicians, were killed and 21 injured on Saturday night due to abrupt release of deadly Freon gas, there were 208 persons on board the Nerpa (Akula-II) sub to be leased to India for 10 years, while its regular crew is under 80.
Conflict makes Congo ‘worst place for children’
|
|
Nepal govt to return seized properties by mid-Dec
After receiving pressure from the opposition Nepali Congress (NC) to return all private and public properties seized by the Maoist during the decade-long insurgency, Nepal's Maoist-led coalition government has decided to meet the former's demands by mid-December. While addressing the Constituent Assembly meeting held yesterday in the capacity of the Legislature-Parliament, Maoist chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal promised that the government would return all seized assets by December 15 in accordance with the seven-point understanding reached among the then seven-party alliance, including the Maoists, on June 25. “If anybody fails to get his/her properties back by that date, the state will provide relief and compensation,” Dahal said. Meanwhile, NC leader Minendra Prasad Rijal dubbed the Dahal’s commitment as a very “tricky” one. “Since the Maoist and their cadres were held responsible for seizing all private and public properties under the party directive, why should the state take the burden of providing relief and compensation to the victims?” Rijal asked, adding, “the government has tried to misuse state coffer and defend the Maoist cadres for their illegal act of seizing other's properties.” The NC claims that the Maoists, who had captured more than 2,100 families' properties earlier, have yet to return seized assets to more 1,600 families from across the country. As the NC warned the government over a nine-point memorandum to Prime Minister Dahal on Sunday saying the NC would not allow ongoing budget session to approve the budget, the Prime Minister promised to fulfil their demands and paved the way out to endorse first ever budget presented by the former rebels' leader and finance minister Baburam Bhattarai. Besides, Prime Minister Dahal also reiterated that both government and the Maoists were committed for the effective implementation of the past pacts and ensure conducive environment for drafting the new constitution and take the ongoing peace process to a logical end.
|
|
Bush consulted Clinton before meeting Obama
Washington, November 12 “As a matter of fact, I called him on Monday and said Bill, I’m getting ready to meet with new President, and I remember how gracious you were to me. I hope I can be as gracious to President-elect Obama as you were to me,” Bush said. Describing as relaxed the atmosphere during his Oval Office meeting with Obama, Bush said it was a “very private conversation”. “To the extent that he asked my advice - and he may want to ask it again - and the best way to make sure he feels comfortable asking it again is for me not to tell you in the first place on what I advised him. We had a very private conversation.” “He didn’t need my advice about supporting the military. He knows he must do that. We had a good conversation. I was very pleased,” the outgoing President said yesterday. Although Bush expressed regret that Republican presidential nominee John McCain did not win the presidency, he called the election of Obama “good for our country.” “The election of Barack Obama is a historic moment for our country. There are a lot of people in America who did not believe they would ever see this day. It is good for our country that people have hope in the system and feel vested in the future and President-elect Obama has a great opportunity,” Bush said. “I really do wish him all the best. I am just as American as he is American, and it is good for our country that the President succeeds,” Bush said. — PTI
|
|
Sudan Prez declares truce
Khartoum, November 12 “I hereby announce our immediate unconditional ceasefire between the armed forces and warring factions provided that an effective monitoring mechanism be put into action and be observed by all involved parties,” Beshir said, according to an official translation. He was speaking after hearing the final recommendations of the Sudan government-sponsored “people’s initiative,” which was boycotted by Darfur rebel groups fighting the government for the past five years. Beshir also called for “an immediate campaign to disarm the militias and restrict the use of weapons amongst armed forces,” in apparent reference to the feared Janjaweed militia that Khartoum is accused of backing. The people’s initiative recommendations are expected to lay a foundation for a possible peace conference in Qatar by the end of 2008. —
AFP
|
|
Indians aboard accident-hit sub not ruled out
Moscow, November 12 At the time of the mishap, in which 20 persons, including 17 civilian technicians, were killed and 21 injured on Saturday night due to abrupt release of deadly Freon gas, there were 208 persons on board the Nerpa (Akula-II) sub to be leased to India for 10 years, while its regular crew is under 80. “The Indian Navy, which was to get the submarine some time next year, was monitoring its completion at the shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and trials of its various systems at all stages, and their presence on board during trials was quite possible,” a Russian expert said on condition of anonymity. He said at least in the past Indian teams had been on board the vessels ordered by them. Russia has been keeping the nuclear submarine lease deal under wraps, unlike Indian diplomatic and naval officials, who said it was part of the Gorshkov package signed in January 2004. —
PTI
|
|
Conflict makes Congo ‘worst place for children’
Goma (Congo), November 12 Weeks of violence have forced more than 2,50,000 people from homes or ramshackle camps where they had taken shelter, bringing to over 1 million the number of internal refugees from years of fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province. Most of them are children. “North Kivu is quite possibly the worst place to be a child. There is no question that children have been the most severely affected by the recent conflict,” said George Graham, spokesman for Save the Children in the provincial capital, Goma. Fighting between Tutsi rebels and pro-government troops and militia fighters has subsided into sporadic clashes in recent days as African leaders staged summits and leant on both sides to avert a repeat of Congo’s devastating 1998-2003 regional war. —
Reuters
|
1 killed, 13 hurt in bus crash Therapy for Web addicts 
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
