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1000 held in Pak for flying kites
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Unique portrait show of Indian artists in UK
40 dead in Portuguese flash floods
Bangladesh pays tributes to 1952 language heroes
Zardari’s go-ahead to reopening of own cases
Couple say ‘iDo’ in Apple store wedding
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1000 held in Pak for flying kites
Lahore, February 21 The traditional practice of flying kites during Basant was banned three years ago after several people were killed or injured by glass and metal-coated kite twine. The arrests were made in the provincial capital of Lahore and other parts of Punjab. The police seized over 40,000 kites and 10,000 twine spools over the last couple of days. Among those arrested was Lahore Kite Flying Association president Sheikh Saleem who had allegedly announced that Basant would be celebrated on March 6 and 7 in defiance of the ban. Punjab police chief Tariq Saleem Dogar has said the crackdown will continue till March 7. Dogar said pickets manned by special magistrates had been set at entry points of Lahore to check the transportation of kites and twines from or to the city. "Special committees have been established at the union council level to ensure that the ban on kite flying is not violated," he said. The Lahore High Court recently dismissed a petition challenging the Punjab Prohibition of Kite-Flying Ordinance and seeking permission to celebrate Basant. The ordinance was promulgated in 2007 after several people were killed or injured by the sharp twine. According to the government figures, at least 18 persons were killed and 24 injured in incidents related to kite-flying during 2006-09. The local power utility suffered losses of over Rs 5 billion after twine damaged electricity lines and grid stations. In the past, Basant attracted a sizeable number of foreign tourists to Lahore as it was more popular than even religious festivals like Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha. Women in particular would participate in the festival in large numbers. However, Justice Ijaz Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court, in his judgement upholding the ban on kite-flying, observed: "The kite-flying ordinance ensures the safety of lives and property of people." On the other hand, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer said he favoured the traditional practice. "It is very unfortunate that Lahorites won’t celebrate Basant. Depriving us from celebrating Basant is tantamount to depriving us of our fundamental rights," he said. Taseer criticised the Punjab government for depriving the people of fun activities on one pretext or on the other. "I am a Lahorite and will certainly celebrate Basant," Taseer reiterated. The PML-N-led government has announced that it would not allow even the Governor to celebrate Basant. "He (Taseer) will be handcuffed if he dares to hold the event in the Governor’s House," PML-N Senator Pervez Rashid said recently. Kite flying associations have suggested the government could allow the practice in an open area to avoid any untoward incidents. The government says that even if a single person is killed by twine, the associations’ office-bearers will be booked for murder. — PTI
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Unique portrait show of Indian artists in UK
London, February 21 Bringing together 60 exquisite works from international collections, the exhibition will celebrate the beauty, power and humanity of these works of art. "The Indian Portrait 1560 - 1860" at the National Portrait Gallery here from March 11 till June 20 is being curated by Rosemary Crill, senior curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum and Kapil Jariwala, an independent curator. Starting with the Mughal court, the presentation includes some of the earliest realistic images of emperors and magnificent court portraits, as well as studies of Mughal courtiers, holy men and servants. The distinctive regional styles from Rajasthan and the Punjab Hills are also shown alongside the European-influenced works produced by Indian artists under the British rule. These paintings are a record of a rich and complex history, embracing influences from Iran and Europe as well as local Hindu and Muslim traditions, showing that the Indian portrait can stand shoulder to shoulder with outstanding examples of portraiture from around the world. Important works include: two pages from the Padshahnama made for Shah Jahan, now in the Royal Collection; a huge Mughal cloth painting of the Emperor Jahangir; and a pair of images of the Mughal courtier Inayat Khan close to death, which have never previously been shown together in the UK. There are also striking portraits such as those of Amar Singh II of Mewar taking his ease, and the Maratha general Ram Rao Phalke, which call for a re-examination of portraiture in India. "These beautiful paintings offer glimpses into the cultures that have flourished in the Indian subcontinent, as well as authoritative images of captivating individuals living through the 300-year span of the exhibition," says Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery. Exhibits have been assembled from several private collections as well as public institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the San Diego Museum of Art, the V&A, Musee Guimet, the David Collection, Copenhagen, the British Library, the British Museum and the Bodleian Library, Oxford. —
PTI
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40 dead in Portuguese flash floods
Lisbon, February 21 "We already have 32 fatalities and 68 injured, all of them in hospital," Joao Cunha e Silva the vice president of the island's government said. The Portuguese naval frigate Corte-Real set off from Lisbon yesterday night with helicopters, a medical team and relief supplies for Madeira, the armed forces said. Also en route were two helicopters and two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. A rescue team of 56 gendarmes and 36 firefighters was to depart Lisbon for the island's main city of Funchal today morning. Interior Minister Rui Pereira said: "We are studying the possibility of declaring a state of emergency and then seeking help from the European Union." The island's airport was closed and Funchal mayor Miguel Albuquerque advised residents to stay at home. The overnight strong winds and heavy rain caused flooding and landslides, particularly in the south of Madeira, a resort island located 900 km (560 miles) southwest of the Portuguese mainland. —
AFP
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Bangladesh pays tributes to 1952 language heroes
Dhaka, February 21 President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina offered the wreaths at the memorial at one minute past midnight yesterday while streams of barefooted people representing different social and political organisations and in individual capacity followed them in queues with flowers until midday today. The language movement is seen as the landmark for the growth of nationalist campaign which eventually resulted in the emergence of independent Bangladesh after nine months of the Liberation war in 1971. The UN in 1990s declared February 21 as the International Mother Language Day recognising their sacrifices for the mother tongue as a number of people were killed in police shootouts as they took to the street after the then rulers in erstwhile Pakistan declined to acknowledge Bangladesh as a state language. —
PTI
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Zardari’s go-ahead to reopening of own cases
Vowing not to have any conflict with the judiciary, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday gave the green signal to the Attorney General and Law Ministry to get the process started for reopening his Swiss cases. The formal request for reopening of the cases would be filed with the Swiss government by Monday. A senior presidential aide said Zardari had realised that landing on the wrong side of judiciary would make matters worse and would not go well with the public. He has, therefore, decided to face the Swiss court cases head on and directed that no hurdles should be created in the implementation of the Supreme Court verdict, the aide said. However, the Supreme Court would be told of the immunity he enjoyed as the President under the Article 248 of the Constitution at the right time. The President presided over a meeting of the core leadership of his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) till late Friday night. He said he did not want any confrontation with the judiciary and would respect the Supreme Court's verdict. Meanwhile, acting on the directive of the court, National Accountability Bureau chairman Navid Ahsan has issued orders immediately terminating services of Additional Prosecutor General Abdul Baseer Qureshi.
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Couple say ‘iDo’ in Apple store wedding
London: A couple obsessed with Apple products said “iDo” when they exchanged vows for each other this Valentine’s at a store in a ceremony dominated with the technology giant’s products and references to them. The couple, Josh and Ting Li, have become the first to dedicate their marriage to the technology major that manufactures iPod and iTunes, Mac laptop and desktop computers and the revolutionary
iPhone.
The pair, who met in the Apple store, had their priest dressed as Steve Jobs, the company’s chief executive, and read their vows from their iPhones, while the rings were tied to a ribbon wrapped around a first generation iPod, the Telegraph reported. Part of their vows included a passage from Jobs speech that said: “You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. This approach has never let me down.” Ling had her vows written on a card that said “I love you more than this” followed by a picture of an iPhone. —
PTI Taiwan men reported abuse by wives
Taipei: More than 4,000 Taiwan men sought help after being abused by wives last year, the Central News Agency said. In 2009, 4,428 men called the family abuse hotline set up by the interior ministry to seek help, after being abused by their wives, up from 1,325 in 2002, it said. "These men suffered verbal or physical abuse from their wives. One reason is that some women earn more money than men, so they play a dominant role at home and begin to curse or beat their husbands," the agency quoted Chang Hsiu-yuan, a ministry official in charge of domestic violence, as saying. — DPA
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