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Nepal Maoists to declare ‘parallel governments’
Zardari hands over control of Pak Nuke weapons to Gilani
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Is Headley distantly related to Pak PM?
Presidential poll in Lanka on Jan 26
‘Sikh of the year’ award for Preneet
S Korean fined for abusing Indian prof
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Nepal Maoists to declare ‘parallel governments’
Kathmandu, November 27 Days after the CPN-Maoist lifted its five-month-old blockade of Parliament to facilitate the approval of the 2009 budget, party vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai announced the decision to declare “13 parallel regional governments” in an effort to step up the pressure on the government. The political parties are deadlocked over the Maoists’ demand to rectify the decision of President Ram Baran Yadav, who reinstated Gen Rukmangad Katawal, the then Army chief dismissed by Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda in May. The Maoists, who have around 40 per cent of the seats in Parliament, argue that the President’s move was unconstitutional and has compromised “civilian supremacy” over the military. According to the Maoist journal ‘Janadisha’, the former rebels have also decided to hold massive rallies across 13 regions of the country from December 11 to 18 in protest against the President’s “unconstitutional move”. In a significant development, Maoist chief Prachanda met President Yadav and expressed his party’s willingness to end the current political deadlock that has stalled the peace process in the country. During the one-and-half-hour long meeting, Yadav told Prachanda that he wanted the political parties to move forward to complete the crucial task of drafting the constitution on time, President’s press advisor Rajendra Dahal said. The President expressed his willingness to cooperate with the political parties to end the deadlock and forge consensus on key political issues. Sources close to the President said the main objective of the meeting was to learn about the President’s mood on the current political situation. Prachanda told the President that his party was not against him “personally” though they have been forced to launch an agitation against the reinstatement of the Gen Katawal, sources close to the Maoist leader said. Prachanda underlined his party’s commitment “to resolve the current political stalemate”. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has expressed concern about the Maoists’ plan to declare autonomous regions as it would lead to confrontation in the country. He said it was irresponsible on the part of the Maoists to quit the path of political consensus and declare autonomous regions. At a time when the parties were talking of formation of high-level political mechanism to end the deadlock, the Maoists’ announcement has created a situation of confrontation in the country, the Prime minister told mediapersons at the airport in western Nepalgunj. He said the path chosen by the Maoists would prove harmful. According to analysts, Prachanda’s meeting with the President is an attempt to find a middle path to resolve the crisis. It is interesting to note here that Prachanda, whose party has launched a movement against the President for months, has met him twice after he quit the Prime Minister’s post over the reinstatement of the army chief. Meanwhile, a senior Nepali Congress leader said Maoist leader Prachanda had offered the post of the President to Koirala during his meeting with the former prime minister in Singapore last week. A report in the Rajdhani daily said the meeting in Singapore was aimed at toppling the coalition government. However, the Nepali Congress supremo had dismissed the report on his arrival in the country last week. In the earlier second phase of the protest, which came to an end in mid-November, the Maoists blockaded the capital and thousands of its cadres picketed the country´s central secretariat at Singha Durbar for two days. The Maoists have kick-started a month-long new protest programmes from November 22 to December 22 for the enforcement of “civilian supremacy” in the country. — PTI
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Zardari hands over control of Pak Nuke weapons to Gilani Islamabad, November 27 Zardari divested himself of the powers of the chairman of the National Command Authority which controls the country’s atomic weapons and transferred them to the Prime Minister late tonight. Zardari gave up his control over the nuclear arsenal by re-promulgating the National Command Authority Ordinance and amending it, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said. Babar described the move as a "giant leap forward to empower the elected Parliament and the Prime Minister". Zardari also said in an interview with a TV news channel that the 17th constitutional amendment - which gives the President sweeping powers to dismiss the premier and dissolve parliament - will be done away with during December. "We wanted to abolish the 17th amendment from day one but we wanted to do it through a unanimous decision, (just) as the 1973 Constitution was also approved unanimously," he said, referring to the constitution framed during the tenure of Pakistan People’s Party founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was responsible for creating the National Command Authority and pushing through the 17th constitutional amendment to give himself sweeping powers. — PTI
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Is Headley distantly related to Pak PM?
New Delhi, November 27 Sources close to the investigation said Headley's father Sayed Salim Gilani, a Pakistani diplomat and former Director General of Radio Pakistan, traced his ancestry to the same Gilani family to which the Prime Minister belongs. Daood Gilani, who changed his name to David Coleman Headley three years ago, was arrested by the FBI in Chicago last month for allegedly plotting terror attacks in India along with a Canadian-Pakistani Tahawwur Rana. Headley's step brother Danyal Gilani was working in the office of Pakistan Prime Minister as his Public Relations Officer (PRO), the sources said. PM Gilani issued a condolence message when Salim Gilani passed away on Christmas last year at the age of 80 and may have attended the funeral, according to the sources. Saleem Gilani had also worked with the Pakistani mission in the US. He hailed from an influential political family from Multan, who were descendants of Syed Musa Pak - a spiritual figure of Qadri Sufism order that traces its origins to Gilan province of Iran. Saleem Gilani was an avid musicologist and a poet but his marriage with Serrill, Headley's American born mother, soured when they came to Lahore to settle down. In 1977, Pakistan's government was overthrown in a military coup and Serrill feared for her children. She withdrew Headley from Hasan Abdal Cadet College and brought him to the US to live with her. At the age of 38, Headley, who was known as Daood at that time, was arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the US but he turned approver and later went to Pakistan to conduct surveillance operations for The National Investigating Agency, set up in India after the 26/11 terror strikes, has also registered a case against
Rana-Headley duo for allegedly conspiring to wage a war against
India. — PTI
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Presidential poll in Lanka on Jan 26
Sri Lanka’s next Presidential election will be held on January 26 next year, the Election’s Department announced on Friday with incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa expected to face a challenge from former Army chief Sarath Fonseka, architect of the military victory against the LTTE. “Elections will be held on the 26th of January,” Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake said. An official statement said that nominations would be accepted on December 17. Sri Lanka has over 14 million eligible voters. The announcement came four days after President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to advance the polls by nearly two years. Rajapaksa and his allies decided to hold the polls by January next year apparently to cash in on the military victory against LTTE, which held one-third of Sri Lanka’s land under its control when he took over as President in 2005. However, the President is expected to face a tough challenge from Sarath Fonseka, who quit as Chief of Defence Staff a fortnight ago following a spat with Rajapaksa, as he is expected to enter the fray as the common candidate for the Opposition. Almost all the Opposition parties, including former Premier Ranil Wickramasinghe’s United National Party, have expressed support for Fonseka’s candidature.
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‘Sikh of the year’ award for Preneet
London, November 27 At the annual dinner of Sikh Forum International held at the House of Lords here last night, NRI businessman Lord Iltaf Sheikh presented the award to Kaur in the presence of a distinguished gathering including Lord Navnit Dholakia, Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Others present at the function included Lord Viscount Slim, Justice Mota Singh, Ranjit Singh, OBE, President of the Forum, R S Baxi, founder of Europe's leading recycling firm and winner of Asian of the year 2008 award, Surinder Aujla, NRI entrepreneur and Rami Ranger, leading NRI entrepreneur. Ranjit Singh presented a cheque for 10,000 pounds to a charity to help heroes families of those killed in action. The Forum had donated 32,000 pounds to the charity of Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, last year. — PTI
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S Korean fined for abusing Indian prof
Seoul, November 27 The 31-year-old South Korean man, only identified by his surname Park, was ordered by Incheon District Court, to pay one million won (USD 865) for hurling abuse at Bonojit Hussain, who hails from Assam. "It is good that the verdict has come... I hope today's verdict will have a big impact and encourage more foreigners to go to court when they are racially abused," 28-year-old Hussain, a research professor at Sung KongHoe University in Seoul said. "It is acknowledged that the accused hurled racial abuses, causing the complainant to feel insulted," the court said in a statement. The case, which has drawn strong media attention, marked the first time, that a South Korean has been convicted of using racial slurs, Yonhap news agency reported. "Migrant workers in Korea are always vulnerable. Now my case has become a precedent and several foreigners have gone to court against local Koreans after seeing my success in fighting the case," Hussain said. — PTI
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