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Gilani’s wife given ‘undue favour’
123
deal: India wants reaffirmation
UN chief hails decision on IDPs
Almighty ensured justice: Hasina
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Gilani to lay stone of Guru Nanak varsity
Copenhagen meet: India for political consensus
H1N1: Indian among 4 Haj pilgrims dead
Blast leaves 5 Afghan guards dead
Bottling up negativity can lead to ill health
Koirala rules out change in Nepal govt
Foreign scribes ask Pak to ensure safety
Remains of crocodiles that ate dinosaurs found
Buss-up-shut among other Caribbean delicacies await PM
Pak troops kill 5 militants
China mine blast toll 87
Ferry with 200 on board sinks
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Gilani’s wife given ‘undue favour’
Although the wife of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had settled her default case with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), she had been given “undue favour” and asked to pay only Rs 45.5 million against total liabilities of Rs 570 million, a NAB source disclosed here.
Reacting strongly to news reports that his wife's name was on the list of those who benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), the Prime Minister last week offered to resign if it was proved. Fauzia Gilani had defaulted on bank loans and was sentenced to three years' jail term by a NAB court. The NAB later declared in the court that it had reached a settlement with Mrs. Gilani and the court disposed of the case. The details of the settlement were not revealed at the time but have now come to light. A scrutiny of Fauzia Gilani’s case revealed that she had obtained two loans totalling Rs 200 million from Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), but she settled the case after committing “wilful default that prevailed over a decade”. According to documents, she had obtained a loan of Rs 120 million for Multan Edible Oil Extraction and another loan Rs 77 million for Pak Green Fertilisers. The principal of about Rs 200 million had swelled to Rs 570 million as non-payment of instalments spanned a decade. However, she managed to settle the case by paying back Rs 45.521 million, according to a NAB press release. “After having received clearance of liability certificate from the ZTBL regarding full payment of the settlement amount of Rs 45.521 million, the NAB withdrew references against the companies.” The NAB source said Mrs Gilani had gone through the prescribed procedure of settlement of “wilful default cases”. The move was interpreted as a “confessed wilful default”. Another case of the Prime Minister’s personal secretary, Tariq Khakwani, in which he was accused of obtaining a plot in Sector I-8, Islamabad, under the Prime Minister’s quota in 1988-89 is still alive in Lahore High Court. The NAB had filed an appeal against its own reference and had requested an accountability court to dispose of the case. However, the court turned down the request and the NAB moved the LHC against the accountability court’s decision. The LHC upheld the verdict of the accountability court and the case is still pending.
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123 deal: India wants reaffirmation
Washington, November 22 Singh, who will arrive in Washington on a three-day state visit late tonight, said India would like to operationalise the “watershed” agreement and ensure that the objectives for the nuclear deal are realised in full merit. “We have no worries, but we would like a positive reaffirmation of this administration to carry forward the process,” Singh said in an interview to NewsWeek magazine, full transcript of which was released by the Ministry of External Affairs on its website. He was asked whether he was concerned about the US honouring the consent agreement. Singh said the partnership with US was for sustained and sustainable development of India and the new global world order which is in search of a new equilibrium. “India and the United States could be partners in refocusing our attention on an equitable, balanced, global order,” Singh, who will meet Obama on Tuesday, said. Asked whether India is worried about the Test Ban Treaty which President Obama seems very intent on pushing through the senate, Singh said, “Why should we be worried?. We are not worried at all.” The Prime Minister said India has a unilateral moratorium on testing imposed voluntarily and that it stands by that. “We would like to work with President Obama to promote the cause of global nuclear disarmament, a world free of nuclear weapons,” Singh said. “I think that is a world which has been the dream of our leaders
from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi. We would like to work with all like-minded countries to achieve that goal,” he said. Singh also hoped that the US will be “more liberal” in transferring technologies to India and clear the way for implementing the landmark agreement on nuclear cooperation. “We had a watershed and a landmark agreement with the US on nuclear cooperation. We would like to operationalise it and ensure that the objectives for the nuclear deal are realised in full merit,”
he said. Singh said the restrictions on technology transfers to India “make no sense” since the country has an impeccable record of non-proliferation. Top Indian and US officials are holding hectic parleys to conclude a deal on reprocessing of spent fuel before the
Singh-Obama meeting.
— PTI
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UN chief hails decision on IDPs
November 22, United Nations "The Secretary-General welcomes the decision by the Government of Sri Lanka to grant increased freedom of movement to internally displaced persons (IDPs) still residing in camps in northern Sri Lanka," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesperson. "These are steps which the UN has long been pressing for in its intensive engagement with the authorities in Sri Lanka, including during the Secretary-General's own visit in May," it added. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother and Chairman of the Task Force for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Basil Rajapaksa, told reporters in Vavuniya that the government had taken this decision to respect the human rights of the displaced persons. The government maintained a strict restrictions over the displaced persons citing security reasons,and fearing a resurgence of LTTE loyalists. Rajapaksa said that present decision to ease restrictions, would be in place till the end of January, when all those displaced from the fighting are expected to return home. "We have decided to allow freedom of movement to these people from December 1, " Rajapaksa declared. "They are free to move in and out of the camps and could even go home if they wished." The decision to allow them to venture out of the camps came soon after UN's top official for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, who recently wrapped up his visit to Sri Lanka noted that the government was making good progress to send the IDPs home. "The commitment of the government to resettle the IDPs is encouraging," he said. 274,000 people were displaced during the final months of the conflict in Sri Lanka, were later accommodated in closed camps in the Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar and Trincomalee
districts. The conditions in the refugee camps led to strong international criticism for human rights violations on the part of Sri Lankan government. Despite the returns of 150,000 displaced persons, some 127,000 people still remain in the camps, according to the government.
— PTI
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Almighty ensured justice: Hasina
Dhaka, November 22 In her first public comments after the apex court's appellate division upheld the death sentence for the soldiers who assassinated Mujib in a military coup in 1975, Hasina said the killers had forgotten that there was a judge "above all". "It has been proved through the judgement that anyone committing crimes will get punished... It is a triumph of truth and justice," the Prime Minister said at the armed forces day reception last evening at Dhaka Cantonment. Hasina, who lost most of his family members in the military coup and carnage, said the country had seen a misleading campaign to glorify the killings. She said the subsequent governments rewarded the killers, who used to say, "I killed Sheikh Mujib, dare you try me". "The killers had forgotten, a judge is there above all, who sees everything... I kept trust on almighty Allah who has ensured the eventual justice," Hasina said. Sheikh Mujib, popularly called Bangabandhu, who led Bangladesh to independence in 1971, was gunned down at his home in a posh Dhanmandi area, along with his wife and three sons in a coup on August 15, 1975. His daughter Sheikh Hasina, who is the current Prime Minister, was abroad at that time. A total of 20 persons, including domestic staff, were killed when the Army officers stormed into his house. Hasina along with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana were in Germany at the then work place of her nuclear scientist husband at the time of the carnage which also killed her 10-year old brother Sheikh Russel. Sheikh Mujib's close aides were also killed in prison after the coup leader killed Bangabandhu in 1975. Hasina said the process was also underway to bring to justice the culprits of the assassination of four independence leaders and Bangabandhu's close associates in jail. Hasina said she would also ensure the trial of the perpetrators of the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on her rally, the 1971 war criminals and those of the BDR headquarter massacre.
— PTI
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Gilani to lay stone of Guru Nanak varsity
Lahore, November 22 Syed Asif Hashmi, chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, which looks after shrines of minority communities, told PTI that the varsity will be established at a cost of Rs 5 billion. Gilani will lay the foundation stone for the institution, which will have sprawling campus of 2,500 acres at Nankana Sahib. “We will make it an institute of international learning and faculty will be hired from foreign countries, including India,” Hashmi said. The ETPB will acquire the land and funding for the varsity, which is expected to be built in three years, he said. The university has been a long-standing demand of Sikhs, living in various countries, including India. They had even offered to provide funds to the Pakistan government for the project. Sikhs have also demanded the development of an airport at Nankana Sahib,
which is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. The government recently improved the road, linking Lahore to Nankana Sahib. —
PTI
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Copenhagen meet: India for political consensus India will go to next month’s conference on climate change at Copenhagen on the basis of a political consensus which rules out any constraints on economic growth while advocating the implementation of the principles agreed upon in the UN Framework for Cooperation against Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Bali action plan. According to these agreements, developing countries are not legally bound to curb their greenhouse emissions while developed countries are expected to provide them resources and technology to reduce emissions. India is expected to convey its views to Washington when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets US President Barack Obama on Tuesday when the two leaders are slated to discuss the possible outcome of the Copenhagen conference and attempt to break the ongoing impasse. The two countries have serious differences on climate change negotiations though India is playing these down and focussing on the points of convergence which are premised on the US recognition of a linkage between climate change and energy security and includes a host of collaborative projects on energy efficiency. India disagrees with the contention of several leading countries, including the US, that a legally binding outcome be put off at the Copenhagen conference and would rather persist with ongoing efforts to forge a consensus on the basis of principles agreed upon in the UNFCCC and the Bali action plan. It was suggested at the recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting that it would not be possible to arrive at a legally binding agreement at the Copenhagen conference, which should instead come out with a political statement as there is no time to bridge the differences on targeted legally binding emission cuts. The view in the Indian establishment is not to throw in the towel but to continue with the intense negotiations so as to deliver on the mandate of the Bali action plan. India is well aware that Washington is constrained from making any commitments at Copenhagen as its climate change bill is yet to get Congressional approval. In case the Copenhagen conference fails to arrive at a consensus, India has laid down that the template for the subsequent negotiations must be within the framework of the UNFCCC as New Delhi does not want to diminish the prospects of its economic growth. At the same time, India has initiated domestic action plans, more in the nature of voluntary actions, which will result in a 20 per cent improvement in energy efficiency by 2020. A legislation, encapsulating all plans pertaining to climate change, is also on the anvil.
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H1N1: Indian among 4 Haj pilgrims dead
Dubai, November 22 In a statement, Saudi Arabia's ministry of health, has confirmed the death of four pilgrims, hailing from India, Sudan, Morocco and Nigeria. The ministry said, all those who died, had not taken the vaccine against the virus. Three of the victims, including the Indian, were 75 years old, and the fourth was a 17-year-old Nigerian, it said. The identity of those dead, have however, not yet been revealed. The virus has cast a shadow on this year's Hajj. All able-bodied Muslims are required to perform Hajj at least once in their lifetime, if they have the financial means to undertake it. The pilgrimage, that attracts millions of people from 160 countries, begins this year on November 26,
as the winter flu season approaches in the Northern Hemisphere. The authorities have been taking measures to minimise the impact of swine flu. Eight new first aid clinics were opened until mid-night, to counter the second wave of the swine flu. Additionally, 25 ICU-beds have been made operational by the ministry at the 100-bed King Saud Hospital, which will be utilised temporarily for pilgrims. The Saudi government had earlier recommended that elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and children should skip the Hajj this year.
— PTI
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Blast leaves 5 Afghan guards dead
Kabul, November 22 The attack comes amid reports that at least 12 militants suspected of having ties to high-ranking Taliban members were detained in separate operations today.
— AP
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Bottling up negativity can lead to ill health Washington, November 22 Pelle investigated such patients with a so-called type D personality, people who never express negative experiences for the fear of being rejected by others. The presence of D-type among cardiac patients is associated with anxiety and depression as well as reduced state of health. However, Pelle also described which processes might contribute to this. Many D-type patients did not contact the physician or specialist nurse in the event of heart failure symptoms. Consequently, they were six times more likely to experience a worse state of health than non type-D counterparts. Pelle established that not just the patient's personality but also that of the partner had a significant effect on the patient's mood. In particular, the combination within the couple proved to be particularly important. — IANS
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Koirala rules out change in Nepal govt
Kathmandu, November 22 Nepali Congress president Koirala, who met Prime Minister Nepal at his residence soon after returning from Singapore, dismissed speculations that his meeting with Maoist chief Prachanda was aimed at bringing about a change in the leadership of the government. Raghu Pant, the Prime Minister’s political advisor, said that Koirala today underlined his party's support for continuity of the coalition. "This government must continue until a new constitution is framed," Pant quoted Koirala as saying. According to Pant, they discussed the passage of the budget in parliament and formation of the high-level mechanism to end the current political deadlock with the Maoists. During his treatment in Singapore, Koirala had met Prachanda in an effort to end the deepening political crisis in the country. The ailing former Prime Minister returned from Singapore after a week-long treatment with improved health condition. Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala, the daughter of the Nepali Congress supremo, said her father was in "good health condition". "He is in good health condition," the Foreign Minister told mediapersons upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). "He may have to go for follow-up check-ups after a month," she added. The Maoists today began the third phase of their agitation, leading to a three-day general strike from December 20, in a bid to dislodge the government even as it ended its blockade of the parliament to allow the passage of the crucial budget. The former rebels, after a key meeting of the Unified CPN (Maoist), decided to allow the parliament to function for three days so as to facilitate the passage of the 2009/10 budget. The Maoists' move to end the Parliament deadlock has given a much needed relief to the government which is facing financial crunch amid fears that it would be unable to pay salaries to the civil servants, police and army. The Maoists announced yesterday a month-long agitation programme, including a three-day general strike from December 20 to 22, under their third phase of agitation to dislodge the coalition in a dispute over "civilian supremacy". The political parties are deadlocked over the Maoists' demand to discuss the President's "unconstitutional move" in Parliament. The standoff has put new stresses on Nepal's reconciliation efforts amid fears that the stalled peace process may be derailed if the Maoists-led agitation is not ended soon.
— PTI |
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Foreign scribes ask Pak to ensure safety
Islamabad, November 22 In a joint letter to Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, editors and executives of the media organisations expressed strong concern over the alarm, caused by the daily's report among foreign journalists. Among those who signed the letter, were editors and executives of CNN, BBC, Reuters, AFP, AP, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Independent, ABC News, Al-Jazeera English, Time and Wall Street Journal. The Nation, a newspaper that has carried a series of unsubstantiated anti-US and anti-India reports over the past few weeks, claimed earlier this month in a front-page report, that Wall Street Journal correspondent, Matthew Rosenberg, was working for the CIA, Israeli intelligence and US military contractor Blackwater. Daniel Pearl, also a reporter of the Wall Street Journal, was subjected to similar criticism a few years ago, before he was kidnapped and killed by the militants. According to the letter to the Information Minister, “Rosenberg is a respected journalist of high standing. Not only was the article (in the Pakistani newspaper) unsubstantiated, it critically compromised his security and raised questions about whether he can return to Pakistan to work safely in the future. The article also has broader implications.” The letter further mentioned that these were difficult times for all journalists in Pakistan, and the reporters working for International News Organisations faced an array of threats, including violence and kidnapping, as they strived to provide accurate coverage. — PTI
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Remains of crocodiles that ate dinosaurs found London, November 22 Unlike their modern cousins, the ancient predators were as agile on land as they were in the water and even hunted dinosaurs, said palaeontologists. Their remains were uncovered in the Sahara by one of the world’s greatest fossil hunters, Paul Sereno of Chicago University. In 2001, Sereno had discovered the “supercroc”-an eight tonne, 40-foot monster that lived at the time of dinosaurs. The latest haul includes new species with an astonishing array of snouts and teeth. The most ferocious is the “Boar Croc”, a 20-foot meat eater with an armoured snout for ramming its prey and three sets of dagger-shaped fangs for slicing up meat, The Daily Mail reported. Equally long was the “Pancake Croc”, a squat fish eater with a three-foot-long pancake-flat head which rested motionless for hours, its jaws open, waiting for prey. There were three other snappy little devils, each about three feet long. The “Rat Croc” was a plant and grub eater, while the “Duck Croc” had a broad, overhanging snout with which it rooted around in shallow water and mudbanks for fish and grubs, according to Sereno. The fifth one was the “Dog Croc” that ate plants and grubs. It had a soft dog-like nose and was probably a good swimmer and fast runner. Most of the crocodiles were found lying on the surface of a remote, windswept stretch of rock and dunes. — PTI
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Buss-up-shut among other Caribbean delicacies await PM
Port-of-Spain, November 21 Orvin Sanes, director of food and beverage at the downtown Crowne Plaza, said local talent would be on show to prepare Manmohan Singh’s menu. Sanes said: “To be honest, I think the delegates are very excited about local food. We are getting a lot of requests for roti, roti, roti. This request keeps coming up. They are not only excited about CHOGM-2009 but just to experience Trini culture.” Coconut water is high on the list as well for Manmohan Singh who will visit this nation of 1.3 million people where the Indian diaspora forms 44 percent of the population. There is excitement in the country over hosting some 51 world leaders, a first for Trinidad and Tobago. Scores of welcome signs have come up on the road from the Piarco International Airport to the capital city. Queen Elizabeth II will arrive here Nov 26 and will formally open the meeting at the $80 million National Centre for the Performing Arts on November 27. Trinidad Minister of Trade and Industry Mariano Browne said that the projected cost of the summit hovers around US$40 million. — IANS
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Islamabad, November 22 The militants were killed when a gunbattle erupted while soldiers were conducting a search operation in villages near the former Taliban stronghold of Sararogha, the military said. A soldier was injured and 10 IEDs defused during the operation. Troops continued consolidating their positions around the militant base of Kaniguram and also carried out clearance operations in several villages around the Taliban hub of Makeen. — PTI
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Beijing, November 22
The death toll in the pre-dawn underground blast at the state-run Xinxing Coal Mine has risen to 87 and another 21 are still trapped in the shaft, they said. The blast occurred around 2.30 am on Saturday at the Xinxing Coal Mine under the state-owned Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group’s subsidiary in Hegang City. A total of 528 miners were working underground, among whom 420 had escaped the accident, said staff with the company. More than 240 rescuers in 19 groups have been sent into the shaft, while more than 300 others were helping with the rescue work, said Zhang Zhenlong, assistant chief engineer of the subsidiary. “The blast didn’t result in much damage to the laneways, but it crippled the ventilation system and communication facilities,” Zhang said, adding that the rescue work in the past few hours was to repair the ventilation system. “Fresh air from the outside could add more chances for survival of the trapped miners,” Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang as saying. Till yesterday, 42 deaths were confirmed and the number leaped to more than double after 45 more bodies were recovered in overnight rescue operations. — PTI
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Jakarta, November 22 According to the local police official boy, Herlambang ,the Dumai Express was sailing from Batam island to Pekanbaru in Riau province, when it went down at around 0300 GMT off Karimun island near Singapore. “The ship's manifest listed 213 passengers and 13 crew members including the ship's captain,” he said. “Right now, many of them are still floating in the water and we're trying to rescue them as quickly as possible. "The boat sank likely due to heavy rain and big waves and it is difficult to get to them because of bad weather conditions." Indonesia's 234 million people are spread across 17,000 islands and are heavily dependent on a network of ships and boats, which have a poor safety record. Up to 335 people were killed when a ferry sank off Sulawesi island in January. In December 2006 a ferry went down in a storm off the coast of Java, killing more than 500 people. — AFP
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