 |
|
|
PPP amends reconciliation ordinance
Lankan army chief warns military against dabbling
in politics
|
|
|
India, Pak should not allow ultras to sabotage peace process: Qureshi
Senior Taliban leader held in Karachi
Nepal Maoists launch protests to stall govt
Stalin-era killings unjustifiable, says Medvedev
NASA scientist held for espionage denied bail
Headley a frequent flyer to Pak: FBI
Study: Working women face more domestic violence in India
Obesity greater evil than alcohol for liver
Raise additional funds for UN to boost security: Ban
|
|
PPP amends reconciliation ordinance
In a smart move, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has amended the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that would ensure its passage in Parliament and lift the dark shadow of the Supreme Court rejection on the basis of being constitutionally invalid.
A panel of the National Assembly on law voted 7-6 to approve the amended text of the ordinance promulgated by former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf on October 5, a day ahead of his controversial re-election in deal with slain PPP chairperson, who kept her party out of the opposition’s move to resign from Assembly seats in order to deny him legitimacy. The PPP MPs abstained on the fateful day. The NRO pardoned all corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and several senior leaders and bureaucrats in the present government. It also condoned criminal charges like murder, kidnapping, extortion and terrorism against hundreds of activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movember (MQM). The amendments would apply to all the citizens, who could prove political victimisation in a court and also drop the fixed period of its implementation from 1986 to 1999. These would take case of objections that the NRO was discriminatory and violated Article 25 on the fundamental rights. There is also no time limit. It means even the main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his party leaders can also get relief in cases registered against him by Musharraf after the 1999 coup. “Yes, we have amended the NRO draft and added new points to the section ‘Withdrawal and Termination of Prolonged Proceedings’ in Clause 7, under which, any case registered even before 1986 or after 1999 could be closed by the courts. We have added the word ‘and any other person’ after the word ‘Public Office Holder’ which will extend the benefits of NRO to every citizen instead of merely politicians and bureaucrats,” PPP Minister of State for Law Muhammad Afzal Sindhu admitted, while talking to reporters after the in-camera meeting of the panel. The committee was sharply split and remained entangled in a heated debate, while voting for each clause. The amendments will also cover the period after February 3, 2008, till July 31, 2009, during which President Asif Zardari and others benefit from the ordinance even though it had expired.
|
|
Lankan army chief warns military against dabbling
in politics
Colombo, November 1 Army Chief General Jagath Jayasuriya also made it clear that action would be taken against any personnel engaged in political work. “We should be partial to the government in power. All governments at the end of their tenure hold elections. Army officer or a soldier wearing a uniform has no right whatsoever to engage in political work with any contesting candidates,” the army website quoted Jayasuriya as saying. “Any soldier or officer if found (violating the advisory) will be subjected to disciplinary action and faces discharge from the army,” he said while speaking to senior army officers here late last week. “Support given by President (Mahinda Rajapaksa) and Secretary Defence (Gotabhaya Rajapaksa) for the victory of the war directly attributed to its win over terrorism,” he said. The opposition parties are wooing General Fonseka, the war hero and the top army man, into the race for mid-term Presidential polls, speculated to be held in coming months. “Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said there was nothing wrong in military personnel entering politics but definitely not in uniform,” the island nation reported. Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said the opposition seemed to be making a desperate bid to challenge the President whose popularity was at its “zenith”, the paper reported. “This is nothing but a despicable plot being hatched at the expense of the entire country,” he said. “An irate Defence Secretary rejected the opposition allegation that the former Army Commander (Fonseka) had been ill-treated by the government,” the paper said. — PTI
|
|
India, Pak should not allow ultras to sabotage peace process: Qureshi
Kuala Lumpur, November 1 Stating that Pakistan was committed not to allow its soil to be used for acts of terrorism against any country, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said India should reciprocate its positive gestures to effectively fight terror. The peace process has been put on hold by India since last year’s Mumbai terror attacks. India has linked Pakistan’s actions against terrorists to resuming the composite dialogue. “We continue to strongly believe that the terrorists are out there to sabotage the peace process between Pakistan and India... Our two countries should not be driven and dictated by them,” Qureshi told Malaysian news agency Bernama in an interview. Qureshi, who is here for a meet of the Group of Eight Developing Islamic Countries (D-8) beginning tomorrow, said terrorism was a common challenge requiring a joint response. He later told newsmen that forces had surrounded the key South Waziristan region, choking the Taliban militants in their stronghold, as it hopes to establish its foothold in the area before the winter sets in next month. Qureshi said the Taliban were in “disarray” and “on retreat” in the face of sustained offensive by the military. Qureshi said the Pakistani government was very clear that it wants peace and stability in the country. “We have got to ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan. There is a linkage between the two. You cannot ignore one and have peace on the other side,” he said. He said the offensive had been successful and the resistance they had expected initially had not come with the same stiffness as expected. — PTI
|
|
|
Senior Taliban leader held in Karachi
Karachi, November 1 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's Amir (chief) in Karachi Bahadur Khan Mohmmand and his associates Abid Hussain Shah and Qari Yasir were arrested yesterday, Central Investigation Department official Fayyaz Khan said here. Large quantity of explosives, arms and ammunition were seized from their possession, he said. Last week, the police claimed it had arrested the TTP head of Karachi Akhtar Zaman Mehsud and described it as a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorism. When asked how could the police claim Bahadur was the amir of TTP in Karachi when they already arrested the TTP Karachi chief last week, Khan said, “You must understand that last week the person we arrested was the former amir of TTP in Karachi but this time we have nabbed the present head.” But despite Khan's explanation there is plenty of skeptics over the real identity of those arrested. Another police official said the three arrested yesterday were all trained in Waziristan tribal area and were based in Karachi to raise finances for the banned outfit. “They were involved in extortion, kidnapping for ransom and bank robberies and other criminal activities in the city,” he said. The security agencies have been conducting raids in the city in the past few weeks after information and threats of possible terrorist strikes in the city. — PTI
|
|
Nepal Maoists launch protests to stall govt
Former Maoist rebels of the Himalayan nation started their launched their two-week-long nationwide protest on Sunday to dislodge the government in a dispute with the President over the reinstatement of the former army chief. After efforts for consensus made no headway, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, announced the protest by inaugurating the torch-light rally from here Sunday evening. Earlier, the Maoists had given the deadline to the government to address their demand by Sunday. The Maoists decided to intensify the stir after the ruling parties refused to entertain their proposal on discussing the President’s move regarding the army chief row in the Legislature-Parliament. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala, including the ruling coalition partners, have once again urged Prachanda to call off the protest and solve the problem through dialogue. As part of the programme, the Maoists have vowed to picket government offices at village and district levels and planned a blockade of the capital, shutting the country’s only international airport and blocking all highways to the capital on November 10. The Maoists have also told the government that it would not cooperate in the passage of the budget. Without the budget being legitimately passed, the government has not been able to withdraw money from the state fund and even pay regular salaries to the ministers and politically appointed advisors. “We are committed to establish the principle of civilian supremacy, and president Ram Baran Yadav can help us simply by issuing a public statement that he violated that principle while reinstating Rookmangud Katawal as chief of army staff after he was sacked by the prime minister,” said Baburam Bhattarai. “If that is acceptable, the issue should be debated in parliament through a resolution,” he added. But while president Yadav is reluctant to make such an apology, ruling parties, mainly the Congress and the UML are ready to accommodate the Maoist demand for a debate in the house.
|
|
Stalin-era killings unjustifiable, says Medvedev
Moscow, November 1 Millions of people were killed in purges and forced collectivisation as Stalin asserted his power in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s, actions seen by most historians as one of the worst crimes in human history. Yet Stalin remains lauded in Russia for his role in leading the Soviet Union to victory in World War II, and last year even came a close third in a television poll for the greatest Russian ever. “I am convinced that the memory of national tragedies is as sacred as those of victories,” Medvedev said in a posting on his videoblog to mark Thursday’s national day of remembrance for the victims of political repression. “Even now, you hear it said that the huge losses were justified by some kind of higher state aim,” Medvedev said. — AFP
|
|
NASA scientist held for espionage denied bail
Washington, November 1 Stewart David Nozette (52), who was one of the principal investigators for the Chandrayan-I mission of the ISRO and played a key role in finding water on the Moon, pleaded not guilty when he was produced before a court here on Thursday. But, the judge Deborah Robinson denied his bail application arguing that he was being considered as a flight risk and should remain in jail awaiting trial. Nozette, who was indicted early this week on charges of selling classified US information to an undercover Israeli agent, faces death penalty. He has been charged with two counts of attempted espionage for allegedly trying to sell secrets to an FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer. Nozette, who had made several trips to India in connection with his association with the Chandrayan-I mission, had served 16 years in sensitive position in various wings of the federal government, including the White House, the NASA and the Energy Department, assisted in the development of the Clementine bi-static radar experiment which purportedly discovered water ice on the south pole of the moon. According to the grand jury indictment, the information which Nozette tried to provide Israel included directly concerned satellites, early warning systems, means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack, communications intelligence information and other major elements of defense strategy. The Washington Post in its recent report had said Nozett had threatened to sell top US secretes to Israel or India, if the federal authorities tried to put him behind bar in a fraud case filed against him, in which he had pleaded guilty early this year. However, there is no mention to India in any of the affidavit or indictments, except for direct mentioning of Israel and an unnamed “Country A”. — PTI
|
|
Headley a frequent flyer to Pak: FBI
Washington, November 1 49-year-old Headley was arrested on October 3 along with Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, by FBI at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Philadelphia, intending to travel to Pakistan. According to the affidavit submitted by FBI to the US District Court of Illinois, Headley, alias 'Daood Gilani', at times has claimed to be a consultant with or representative of First World Immigration Services, a company owned and operated by Rana. Surveillance of Headley's activities as well as his phone conversations and e-mail exchanges, reflect that he performed few services for First World. “Headley has no known or reported employment other than with First World. His residence in Chicago is an apartment leased to an individual who is deceased,” the affidavit says. “Notwithstanding his apparent lack of financial resources and substantial employment, Headley has engaged in extensive international travel since the second half of 2008, including multiple trips to Pakistan and various countries in Europe,” it says. Records reflecting the locations of internet protocol addresses used by Headley, who changed his name to ‘Daood Gilani’ in 2006, to send e-mails indicate that he has spent “substantial time” in Pakistan and elsewhere during the last several years often for months at a time, the affidavit says. For example, records of e-mail accounts used by Headley reflect that between in or about August 2008 and December 7, 2008, he sent multiple e-mail messages from internet addresses located in the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore. The affidavit says that on January 24, 2009, Headley left for Pakistan via Frankfurt, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. Records of e-mail accounts reflect that between in or around late January and early March 2009, he sent multiple e- mail messages from locations in Pakistan. Headley, Rana and co-plotters, including persons only identified as ‘Individual B’ and ‘Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A’, have used several methods of communication, including in- person meetings, telephone conversations and e-mails. Based in Pakistan, the banned LeT has been mainly involved in terrorist attacks in India, including the Mumbai strikes last year in November. The FBI has told a Chicago court that both Headley and Rana, now lodged in a downtown Chicago jail, were in close contact with LeT leaders in connection with a major terrorist attack in India. Headley in particular, used a cell phone, the account of which is in the name of a deceased individual, the FBI says. In nearly all of their communications, Headley, Rana, Individual B and LeT Member A have used coded language. In addition to ‘Mickey Mouse Project,’ the co-conspirators have referred to this plot, as well as discussions of other targets as “investments”, “projects”, “business”, “action” and in other terms and have described their hopes for success both in terms of receiving religious awards as well as getting “rich”, “richer” and making "profit." During his visits to Pakistan, Headley also toured the unruly region of Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) and in an e-mail questioned the notion that emerged from a survey that a large majority of the local population opposed the Taliban. On October 3, when Headley was arrested, FBI agents checked his luggage. Among other items recovered from his checked luggage was a photocopy of the front page of an August 1, 2009 issue of the ‘Jyllands-Posten’, a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in 2005 which had enraged the Muslims. Headley also had a street guide for Copenhagen and a list of phone numbers, including a Pakistani telephone number he had used to contact ‘Individual B’. He also had a memory stick which had 13 short videos of the Danish city. — PTI
|
|
Study: Working women face more domestic violence in India
Washington, November 1 The study carried out between 2005 and 2006 on 750 married women aged between 16 and 25 in Bangalore, found that those who became employed during that time had an 80 per cent higher chance of being abused by their husbands than women who remained unemployed. It also found that women whose husbands had difficulty finding or keeping a job were more than twice as likely to experience domestic violence during that period. The research, conducted by RTI International, a North Carolina-headquartered research institute, in association with Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore and other US institutions, examined the association between spousal employment status and physical domestic violence in the southern Indian city. According to Suneeta Krishnan, an epidemiologist in RTI’s Women’s Global Health Imperative, the women subjected to the study were interviewed three times during the two-year period and their research “highlights the complex challenges of women empowerment”. “While increasing women’s access to meaningful and fair employment, we must recognise the potential social repercussions of these efforts,” she said. “Our study is consistent with evidence that rapid changes in gender roles and relations can lead to backlash, including violence against women,” Krishnan said. He added that key social expectation of men once married is that they work and earn for their family, and failure to meet this expectation can lead to social disapproval. “Social disapproval, a sense of inadequacy and frustration associated with living in poverty may increase the likelihood of men perpetrating domestic violence,” she reasoned. Fifty-seven per cent of women participating in the study reported having experienced domestic violence prior to joining the study. Additionally, 19 per cent of women who had not experienced domestic violence prior to the study experienced it at some point during the two-year period. The findings also showed that women in “love” marriages were almost twice as likely to experience domestic violence than those in more traditional arranged marriages, highlighting the adverse impact of flouting social norms. “This study underscores the urgent need for programmes that address the impact of poverty and gender norms on men and programmes that explicitly focus on promoting unbiased gender attitudes and norms so that we can achieve a violence-free and gender-equitable future,” Krishnan added. The research was funded by the US Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. — PTI
|
|
|
|
Obesity greater evil than alcohol for liver
London, November 1 “Obesity is the biggest health problem we face in this century. It is almost certainly going to reverse the rise in life expectancy, so we start living shorter lives than before. It will increase the risks of a number of cancers; hip and knee surgery requirement is going to be vast; and it is now projected to overtake alcohol as the biggest cause of liver cirrhosis within two decades,” he told ‘The Observer’. A new poll of 1,959 persons released today has found that while the majority understood that obesity could cause diabetes, high blood pressure and infertility, few understood its link to certain cancers or liver problems. New figures show a huge spike in the number of people under the age of 65 dying of liver disease while deaths linked to other problems, such as diabetes, cancers and stroke, have fallen for that age group. The average age of death from liver disease is 59 compared with between 82 and 84 for heart and lung disease and strokes. Dr Hawkey said the poll also showed that people don’t realise other complications are related to obesity. He said the healthiest option is to have small portions of foods that release carbohydrates slowly. — PTI
|
|
Raise additional funds for UN to boost security: Ban
United Nations, November 1 “I have requested additional funding to augment the security and safety capacity of the United Nations premises and staff,” Ban said. The statement came after six workers of the world body were killed in a bomb attack at a UN guest house in Kabul on Wednesday. Earlier, the UN lost five staff members in a terrorist attack against the World Food Programme office in Islamabad. This year, not counting peacekeepers, 27 civilian staffers had been killed- more than half in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said. Ban has appealed both to the Security Council and General Assembly to allocate resources to better protect UN workers. “I am encouraged by the unreserved support and cooperation of the member states. They said they would positively consider my additional budgetary support,” he said. “This is not only budgetary support - we need political, moral, logistical and financial support,” he added. The UN Chief spoke about the possibility of engaging more security officials and even private security companies. — PTI
|
|
|
| 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 | |
