Urging the parliament to adopt the landmark constitutional reforms package that is aimed at stripping his sweeping powers, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday said it would restore the federal, democratic and parliamentary character of the 1973 constitution that was distorted by successive military regimes.

Addressing a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament a day before it starts a debate on the 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill, Zardari said by tabling the reforms package in parliament the government had "honoured our pledge to restore the supremacy of the parliament".

The package, known as the 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill, contains a slew of reforms that will, among other things, repeal the President's power to appoint the three service chiefs and dissolve parliament. All these power would be vested with the Prime Minister, as per the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan.

Zardari reminded the members that he had traversed from "gallows to Presidency" and fulfilled the promise he made two years ago to voluntarily cede his powers to the Parliament. “This is a historic occasion and I hope to be remembered in history for that,” he said while lauding contribution of all political parties to evolve consensus. “The national leadership has proved that democracy today is responsible even while it is still fragile,” he said.

The President said Pakistan was committed to creating peaceful and stable environment in the region and reaffirmed that Pakistan territory would not be allowed for terrorist activity against any other country. “We seek to normalise relations with India and resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir and water, through dialogue,” he observed.

Underpinning the serious nature of river water dispute with India, the President said he has been raising the water issue with Indian leadership in all meetings.

Kathmandu, April 5
Two Pakistani cities are the major manufacturers of fake Indian currency and the country is routing the counterfeit notes to India through Nepal, says the Nepal Police.

On Saturday, the Nepal Police arrested yet another Pakistani, Mohammad Hamid, from a hotel in Kathmandu, acting on a tip-off that he was a new courier.

Hamid, the police said, was carrying nearly Rs 9 million in fake Indian currency that had been given to him by an associate, identified only as Javed, a resident of Pakistan’s Lahore city. Cops also nabbed Hamid’s two Nepali accomplices.

The currency notes were to have been taken to India through Raxaul in Bihar and delivered to two Indians running a shop of electric appliances, Nepali daily Nagarik said on Monday.A report tabled by Nepal’s metropolitan police says Pakistan is the biggest manufacturing centre of the fake Indian currency that is seized in Nepal. Though Bangladesh and recently Sri Lanka have emerged as other routes for sending the fake currency to India from Pakistan, Nepal remains the biggest transit route.

Three busy cities on the Indo-Nepal border --- Janakpur, Nepalgunj and Birgunj --- are the main exits through which the money is taken to India, the report said.Of the foreigners arrested in Nepal with fake Indian currency, Pakistanis are the largest in number. Last year, Nepal police arrested eight Pakistanis. This year, four Pakistanis have been caught so far, including a woman.

The daily also said that most of the seized fake Indian currency was brought to Nepal via Pakistan International Airlines flights. The most sensational arrest occurred in January when police arrested the son of a powerful former minister, Yunus Ansari, who is alleged to have links with terror kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, said to be based in Karachi.

The two Pakistanis who were arrested while handing over fake Indian notes and drugs to Ansari's bodyguard said they had brought the consignment from Karachi.

The following month the murder of Jamim Shah, a controversial media baron in Kathmandu, is also said to have been linked with the fake Indian currency racket as Shah is said to have been involved with Dawood and Ansari. — IANS

Kuala Lumpur, April 5
After months of fretting by Hindu temples in Malaysia over the difficulty in obtaining visas for priests from India, the country's first academy to groom locals to take over as 'pujaris' has been set up.

Hindu Priests Academy, which will train, grade and certify priests, was opened yesterday in Jelapang Tambahan near the Ipoh town. The academy hopes to supply qualified priests to more than 3,000 Hindu temples nationwide.

Human Resources Minister S Subramaniam, an ethnic Indian Hindu himself, said the training centre would reduce the community's reliance on priests from India. The academy is owned and run by the Malaysian Archagar Sangam (Malaysian Hindu Priests' Association). A five-year syllabus had been drawn by the association, in consultation with priest training institutes in India.

“With the academy, the community is also assured of qualified and accredited priests to perform various Hindu ceremonies,” Subramaniam said after the opening ceremony. “This is a new beginning that will be filled with many challenges. But I am sure that the association, with the support of the government, would overcome the problems,” he added. Subramaniam said though there were locals who were trained as priests, the training was not done formally by recognised institutions and was not accredited at the national level. “The association would offer formal training with legitimate accreditation,” he said. — PTI

Colombo, April 5
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reconstituted a second court martial panel to try Gen Sarath Fonseka on the issue of alleged illegal arms deal made during the last phase of the LTTE war, before which the army’s former chief has been directed to appear tomorrow.

“President Rajapaksa (ho is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces) substituted a fresh convening order by nominating three new senior army officers to the second court martial, expected to hear charges against General Sarath Fonseka, now in military custody,” the army said in a statement.

Major General MP Peiris, Major General SWL Daulagala and Major General M Hathurusinghe are to sit for the tribunal, fixed for tomorrow. Rear Admiral WWJS Fernando is to serve as judge advocate. Meanwhile, the proceedings of the first court martial against Fonseka will resume tomorrow. The military court will hear charges that Fonseka got engaged in politics while in service. — PTI

London, April 5
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter Scale hit Mexico's Baja California area resulting in the death of two persons. The quake was also one of the strongest to hit southern California in decades, shaking buildings from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

The quake struck at 3:40 p.m. (23.40 UK time) 16 miles south-southwest of Guadalupe Victoria at a depth of 20 miles, according to the US Geological Survey.

Three aftershocks followed within the hour, SKY News reports. USGS seismologist Lucy Jones said: "Most of Southern California felt this earthquake." Baja California state Civil Protection Director Alfredo Escobedo said a man was killed when his home collapsed just outside of Mexicali. There were reports of more people trapped in the area. Rescue teams with dogs and digging equipment were rushing to the city from nearby Tijuana. There was substantial damage on the other side of the border in Calexico, California. — ANI

Moscow, April 5
A Russian newspaper quotes a man as saying that one of the Moscow suicide bombers may have been his daughter, a 28-year-old teacher named Maryam Sharilova.

BRIEFLY

Oz battles Barrier Reef ship
Sydney: The owners of a Chinese bulk coal carrier that ran aground and spilt oil on the Great Barrier Reef could be fined up to A$1 million ($920,000), the leader of Australia's Queensland state said on Monday. Salvagers were struggling to prevent the Shen Neng I breaking up in pristine waters off the country's northeastern coast, potentially spilling hundreds of tons of oil over the reef, which is one of Australia's top tourist attractions. The ship slammed into Douglas Shoal on Saturday travelling at full speed and significantly away from normal shipping lanes. — PTI

CT scan recreates woman’s face
Sydney: An anthropologist has successfully recreated the face of a woman, who lived 600 years ago in New Zealand, with the help of a skull excavated in 1939. Using digital technology, facial anthropologist Susan Hayes from the University of Western Australia determined the facial structure from the Computed Tomography (CT) scan of the skull recovered from a burial site on the Wairau Bar. Hayes was able to calculate the likely appearance of the eyes, nose, mouth and overall face shape before building up the soft tissues. — IANS

Indian’s documentary nominated
Dubai: A documentary by an Indian filmmaker based in the UAE has been nominated along with seven others for the top honour at the Gulf Film Festival (GFF) scheduled to be held from April 8-14. Soniya Kriplani's "Dobuy- The Fabric of Faith", based on the struggle of Emirati women to dispel the misconceptions associated with the 'hijab' (veil), has been chosen for in-competition category against a number of entries received from across the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait, WAM news agency reported. — IANS

Half-car, half-scooter!
London: It seems to be straight out of science fiction — an electric-powered vehicle which is half-car, half-scooter. Automobile engineers at car giant Nissan have designed the groundbreaking vehicle for the future, Land Glider, which has four wheels, but is little more than half the width of a family car and is designed with busy city streets in mind. The agile two-seater, which has a glider-like cabin, leans into corners and has a top speed of 62 miles per hour. And, a computer in the Land Glider takes into account speed and steering angle before automatically calculating the amount of lean required to corner, the 'Daily Mail' reported. — PTI