W O R L D

CEC rejects Zardari’s eligibility reference
Chief Election Commissioner Justice Hamid Ali Mirza has dismissed a petition challenging the eligibility of President Asif Ali Zardari to contest presidential election in September 2008.

Lankan man, Indian wife attacked in Australia
Melbourne, March 2 In a fresh incident of violence against Asians in Australia, a Sri Lankan man and his Indian wife were attacked and racially abused by a group of drunken men at their home here.

Indian-origin tycoon shot dead in Nepal
Kathmandu, March 2
Less than a month after a controversial media magnate was gunned down in daylight in the best-protected area of the capital, a media tycoon of Indian origin was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Nepal's restive southern plains adjoining the border with India.

Obama picks another Indian American for top job
Washington, March 2
In yet another appointment of Indian Americans in the Obama administration, an eminent attorney from the community has been chosen for the US President's Advisory Committee on the Arts.

CEC rejects Zardari’s eligibility reference
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Chief Election Commissioner Justice Hamid Ali Mirza has dismissed a petition challenging the eligibility of President Asif Ali Zardari to contest presidential election in September 2008.

The validity of nomination papers filed in 2008 for the office could not be allowed to be challenged in 2010 on the basis of ‘flimsy, fake and fabricated grounds’, the CEC said in his judgment released here.

Petitioner Moulvi Iqbal Haider had sought re-scrutiny of the nomination papers of President Zardari on the ground that he was convicted on corruption charges but pardoned under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2008 which has since been declared unconstitutional.

He maintained that Zardari’s papers had been accepted provisionally when the ordinance was in operation. The Supreme Court in its ruling on December 16 held the NRO void ab initio and ordered reopening of all cases against beneficiaries of the NRO.

The CEC in his order said the petitioner failed to produce any court document in support of his claim that Zardari was convicted. He merely relied on newspaper clippings, which could not be entertained.

The CEC declared the respondent, Asif Ali Zardari, the elected president of Pakistan. He further ruled that under the constitution, the validity of presidential election could not be called into question.

He also pointed out that no objection was raised at the time of scrutiny by anyone. Nomination papers of Asif Zardari were validly accepted and polls were held under the law in September 2008. It was also pointed out that petitioner Moulvi Iqbal Haider was not one of the validly nominated presidential candidates,” the CEC observed.

In another development, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday refused to hear the case against President Asif Ali Zardari holding dual office - of the President of Pakistan and the Co-chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The judge said he had been a prosecutor in a case against Zardari in the past.

Consequently, the Lahore High Court then adjourned the hearing of the petition against President Zardari till March 15. Consequently, a full bench of the court will now have to be reconstituted.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court also adjourned the hearing of the petition seeking third-time premiership till March 8 because of non-availability of Attorney-General Anwar Mansoor Khan was unavailable. Former premier and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif alone is hit by the person-specific law which military ruler Pervez Musharraf had enacted to exclude him and late Benazir Bhutto out of contention for the office.

Lankan man, Indian wife attacked in Australia

Melbourne, March 2
In a fresh incident of violence against Asians in Australia, a Sri Lankan man and his Indian wife were attacked and racially abused by a group of drunken men at their home here.

A group of 25 drunken thugs bashed up 60-year-old Ranjit Sahasranaman, who is married to Indian-origin Agalya Sahasranamn, outside his own home in Carrams Down suburb on Sunday morning. Sahasranaman, a Sri Lankan national, revealed his over two-and-a-half hour ordeal of how he fought back with the thugs till the police arrived and dispersed them, the Herald Sun reported today. Sahasranaman, who has lived in Australia for 19 years with his wife and two kids, said he was assaulted and racially abused by the gang of mostly white men who damaged his back fence and gained entry to his yard.

He said he was forced to fight back with a bar when the intruders got within centimetres of his back door. Interestingly, this time the police dropped home one of the injured offender who allegedly got hurt by Sahasranaman. "They were throwing punches at me," Sahasranaman said, adding "they were calling names and told me to get lost from this country." The attack came at a time when Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith is in India to discuss with authorities there the security preparation for the Commonwealth Games and the issue of attacks on Indians here.

There have been over 100 cases of attacks on Indians, mostly on students, in Australia since the last year. Meanwhile, Sahasranaman also alleged that the police was slow to respond to his 'SOS'. "I told them my life was in danger, but they kept asking silly questions. Finally, I told them we are going to die. What was I supposed to do? If the the police say they can't do it, then I have to do it myself," he said.

Sahasranaman claimed the police did not take his statement and made no arrests despite apprehending several youths. "They left a letter in my mailbox asking me to contact Crime Stoppers." The report further mentioned that police Spokeswoman Creina O'Grady confirmed that the police did give lift to one of the offender but denied that the police was slow to react. "Within 15 minutes of Ranjit's call, two police units were on the scene breaking up the disturbance," she said.

Victorian Premier John Brumby said the matter was being investigated. Meanwhile, a task force of 127 specially-trained police personnel was announced which will be rolled out to trouble hot spots from this week in a high-visibility campaign that the police claimed will help halt the carnage on the streets. — PTI

Indian-origin tycoon shot dead in Nepal

Kathmandu, March 2
Less than a month after a controversial media magnate was gunned down in daylight in the best-protected area of the capital, a media tycoon of Indian origin was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Nepal's restive southern plains adjoining the border with India.

Arun Singhania, the 50-year-old publisher of the Nepali daily Janakpur Today, published from southern Nepal, died during the Holi revelry in the Terai Monday evening while on his way home, police said Tuesday.

Singhania received three bullets shot from close quarters by unidentified assailants who accosted him on two motorcycles, police said. Janakpur, southern Nepal's famous temple town renowned for its Janaki temple, remained paralysed Tuesday after the Janakpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry called a shutdown to protest the murder.

The Federation of Nepalese Journalists also condemned the killing and said they would stage a protest rally in the restive town to demand the immediate arrest of the culprits and security for Nepal's beleaguered media that remains under attack even four years after the end of the Maoist insurgency.

Singhania, whose media group also ran an FM radio station as well as an Internet portal, had returned to Janakpur, the main town in Dhanusha district, on Sunday after a month-long sojourn in India where he had been on a pilgrimage.

Reports said his last port of call was New Delhi where he had gone to see his son Rahul, who is studying MBA in the Indian capital. — IANS

Obama picks another Indian American for top job

Washington, March 2
In yet another appointment of Indian Americans in the Obama administration, an eminent attorney from the community has been chosen for the US President's Advisory Committee on the Arts.

Obama has appointed eminent Indian American attorney, Amy K Singh, as President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the prestigious John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the White House has said. Based in Obama's home town Chicago, Singh practises in areas of entertainment, advertising and marketing, and provides counsel to clients on event production and promotion, television production, talent and other matters.

Before starting her own practice, she held several positions, including as General Counsel/Senior Vice President of DDB Chicago Inc, and as an associate in the Chicago office of the firm. — PTI