 |
|
|
Obama vows to secure nukes from terrorists
Freezes senior staff salary Plunges into full agenda on Day 1 |
|
|
President asked to rein in Iran’s nuclear plans
‘Don’t undo Bush’s work’
US to chalk out new war strategy
Is Michelle the new style icon?
New immigration policy may help Indians
Moscow puts off delivery of N-subs to India Fierce fighting near
last LTTE bastion
Karzai, US Gen discuss terror
Tackling Destruction of Schools
|
|
Obama vows to secure nukes from terrorists
Washington, January 21 This is because the new administration believes that nuclear weapons and related material pose the gravest threat to the people of the US, White House said yesterday, releasing the foreign policy agenda of the new President. "The gravest danger to the American people is the threat of a terrorist attack by nuclear weapon and the spread of nuclear weapons to dangerous regimes," said the White House in its agenda document revealing key elements of its foreign policy. President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will secure all loose nuclear materials in the world within four years, it said. Stating that the new administration has set a "goal of a world without nuclear weapons" the White House said it will pursue it. "While working to secure existing stockpiles of nuclear material, Obama and Biden will negotiate a verifiable global ban on the production of new nuclear weapons material. This will deny terrorists the ability to steal or buy loose nuclear materials," it said. "Obama and Biden will crack down on nuclear proliferation by strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty so that countries like North Korea and Iran that break the rules will automatically face strong international sanctions," it added. Observing that the new administration will always maintain a strong deterrent as long as nuclear weapons exist, the White House said it will take several steps down the long road towards eliminating nuclear weapons. — PTI
|
|
Freezes senior staff salary
Washington, January 21 "During this period of economic emergency, families are tightening their belts and so should Washington," Obama said as he welcomed new staff members to the White House the day after he was sworn in. “And that's why I am instituting a pay freeze on the salaries of my senior White House staff," he said. Obama, who made government ethics reform and transparency major themes of his campaign, said he was putting in place strict new rules on former lobbyists who work in government. He said he had set an order that would prohibit people who worked in the private sector as lobbyists from working on matters they previously lobbied on. The President also put in place a ban on gifts from lobbyists and promised much greater access for the public to government documents that are sensitive because of national security or privacy issues. — Reuters
|
|
|
Plunges into full agenda on Day 1
Washington, January 21 Obama, who before taking office vowed a bolder pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian peace than his predecessor George W Bush, phoned Israeli and Arab leaders to commit to “active engagement” in resolving the long-running conflict and to help consolidate the Gaza ceasefire. “He pledged that the United States would do its part to make these efforts successful, working closely with the international community and these partners as they fulfill their responsibilities as well,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. It was the strongest signal yet that Obama, sworn in yesterday, was determined to make a clean break with Bush on policies at home and abroad. Critics had faulted Bush for taking a largely hands-off approach to West Asia peacemaking for much of his eight years in office. Obama spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah not long after he stepped into the Oval Office for the first time since his historic inauguration as the first black US president. He is expected to name a West Asia envoy soon. — Reuters
|
|
|
President asked to rein in Iran’s nuclear plans
Washington, January 21 Protesters from the Coalition for Peace, consisting of some Jewish, Hindu and Christian organisations, hung signs along a fence in Lafayette Park across the White House, demanding an end to Islamic radicalism and West Asian oil imports. The group also expressed its support for Israel's invasion of Gaza. One of the group's leaders said the message was not so much a protest but a plea. "It is directed toward Barack Obama in that we want him to make a clear statement to stop Iran's march to nuclear weapons and Pakistan's threat against India," one of the protestors, Marion Dreyfus said through a police fence separating the park from the street. "We are also supporting Israel against the aggression of Hamas in Gaza." There were a number of other groups and individuals who came to the inaugural festivities to have their causes heard. Amnesty International staged a small demonstration outside a metro station to protest the seventh anniversary of the opening of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Some advocates of gay rights booed when the Rev Rick Warren of California's Saddleback Church delivered the invocation. Warren, one of the nation's best-known Evangelical preachers, opposes gay marriage. — IANS
|
|
‘Don’t undo Bush’s work’
Beijing, January 21 The China Daily praised Bush for laying “'a decent foundation for one of the world’s most influential relationships,” between the United States and China, which it described as a fine bequest. “After decades of dramatic ups and downs, the once volatile relations are just beginning to show signs of stabilising,” it said in an editorial.— Reuters
|
|
US to chalk out new war strategy
Washington, January 21 The meeting, according to officials, would be to draw out the strategy for Obama’s shift in emphasis from Iraq to Afghanistan. During the crucial meeting, the new president would conduct a video-conferencing with his top field commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan. The meeting would be attended by defence secretary Robert Gates -- the lone Cabinet member to be retained from the Bush regime — and chairman chiefs of staff committee Admiral Michael Mullen and the joint top commander for Iraq and Afghanistan General David Petraeus and other members of the National Security Council. From the battlefield, he will talk to Gen Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, and Gen David McKiernan, the top Commander in Afghanistan. Obama in his election pledges has already set out that he wants US forces out of Iraq in 16 months and wants greater American efforts in Afghanistan. In his inaugural speech last night, Obama gave a glimpse of what he intends to do when he said: “We will begin to leave Iraq and attempt hard-earned peace in Afghanistan." In his first move as the President, Obama issued an order to stop prosecutors at the controversial military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. This would suspend all ongoing trial proceedings. — PTI
|
|
Is Michelle the new style icon?
Washington, January 21 The one-of-a-kind silk chiffon confection was embellished with organza rosettes, Swarovski crystal rhinestones and silver embroidery. The 45-year-old wore diamond chandelier earrings, a white gold and diamond ring and a stack of diamond bangles. — PTI
|
|
|
New immigration policy may help Indians
Washington, January 21 Governmental statistics in the past have indicated that Indians are mostly legal immigrants. “Fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill,” according to the White House document that outlines the immigration agenda of the new administration. “Our broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting politics aside and offering a complete solution that secures our border, enforces our laws, and reaffirms our heritage as a nation of immigrants,” Obama says in the paper. The agenda document also promises to remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. The Obama administration would also support a system that allows undocumented immigrants, who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens. Delivering a speech on the floor of the Senate on May 23, 2007, then as the US Senator, Obama had said: "The time to fix our broken immigration system is now... We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace. — PTI
|
|
Moscow puts off delivery of N-subs to India
Moscow, January 21 The Amur Shipyard is yet to constitute a new trial team for these class of nuclear submarines after November 8 accident in which 20 members of the trial team were killed during the subs sea trials in Sea of Japan, the paper said. It said the new team will not be ready before March and would have to undergo up to one year long refresher course before it could be authorized to resume pre-delivery trails. Under the larger Gorshkov package with Russia, the Indian Navy was to get first of the two Shchuka-B project nuclear submarines on lease last year. But later the Russians revised the delivery schedule to August 2009. The submarines are being acquired to train the Indian crews for the indigenous submarines being developed under Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. “Some members of the trial team, which was on the submarine during last year’s accident have died, some are medically unfit, while some others have refused to go to the sea due to psychological reasons,” Gennady Bagin, Director of ‘Vostok’- a unit of the Amur shipyard, was quoted as saying by the daily. The accident-hit nuclear submarine is berthed at the cash-strapped ‘Vostok’ plant and some work is still underway on it despite the cut in the power quota due to non-payment of power bills. India and Russia have still to renegotiate the deal for the refitting of the aircraft carrier Gorskov with Moscow demanding double the negotiated price of USD 2.5 billion. The delivery of the warship is already delayed till 2012. — PTI
|
|
|
Fierce fighting near last LTTE bastion
Colombo, January 21 A number of LTTE cadres were killed by the troops in five different clashes in the Ramanadapuram and Dharmapuram areas in Mullaittivu yesterday, it said. Subsequently, body of an LTTE cadre and a T-56 weapon was recovered in a search operation conducted in Dharmapuram, it said, adding that some soldiers were also wounded in the battle. The LTTE sustained severe damages in 14 different confrontations in the east of Pudukuduiruppu area and north east of Mulleyaweli, the army said. A number of LTTE cadres were wounded by in separate fighting in Pudukuduiruppu yesterday. The troops, subsequently, recovered two bodies of LTTE fighters and some weapons from the area. The troops encountered heavy resistance from the LTTE as they extended their boundaries further eastwards down the Mullaittivu-Paranthan road, the Defence Ministry said. According to reports, heavy clashes took place in northeast of Dharmapuram and Pulliyanpokkerni areas in Mullaittivu since this morning. Troops, during subsequent search operations, recovered nine bodies of LTTE cadres, four T-56 weapons and one radio communication set, the ministry said. Intercepted LTTE radio transmissions revealed heavy damages to the rebels, it claimed. — PTI
|
|
Kabul, January 21 The US military has had to look at new ways to help supply its troops in the landlocked country from the north after Taliban militants have attacked and torched dozens of trucks carrying supplies on the main route through Pakistan. That need to supplement the Pakistan route is even more great now as President Barack Obama is expected to soon approve plans to almost double the 30,000 US troops in Afghanistan, as part of his pledge to make the war one of his top priorities. Petraeus arrived in the Afghan capital late yesterday from Pakistan after visiting Afghanistan's northern neighbours Kyrgystan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. He met Karzai and left shortly afterwards, the US military said. “During this visit, they discussed and exchanged views on their common relations, how to effectively combat regional terrorism and the way to prevent civilian casualties and gain the trust of the people,” Karzai's office said in a statement. The meeting came only hours after Karzai told parliament that civilian deaths at the hands of foreign troops was a main source of instability in Afghanistan. Some 2,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year, including around 450 by international forces, aid groups say. A rights group warned last week that if US military procedures did not change, more foreign troops could mean more casualties. — Reuters
|
|
Tackling Destruction of Schools
The Federal Cabinet on Wednesday assured full backing to the NWFP provincial government in stopping destruction of schools in the troubled Swat region by religious extremists.
The militants blew up two more schools taking the total toll to 186. Their major target is school for girls, which have been closed till the end of next month under the threat of the militants. About 1,00,000 girls have been affected by continued onslaught against their schools. The National Assembly adopted a resolution last night condemning the grave violation of human rights through terrorist acts in Swat and rejected the ban on educational institutions imposed by the Taliban while urging the government to restore peace and rebuild the destroyed infrastructure. The PML-N abstained from voting while protesting against that the government has failed to implement any resolution passed by the assembly in the past one year. Leader of the opposition Chaudhry Nisar said it was time for action instead of merely making promises.
|
|
|
| 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 | |
Washington, January 21
