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Reforms to clip President’s sweeping powers get nod
US rules out N-deal with Pak, for now
Oppn forms interim govt in Kyrgyzstan
Prez rejects reports of his resignation
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Sibal asks Victoria govt to share data on attacks
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Reforms to clip President’s sweeping powers get nod
The Pakistan National Assembly on Thursday approved the 18th Amendment Bill with unprecedented and overwhelmingly unanimous vote. All 292 members present in the 342-member house voted for the Bill after clause-by-clause votes during which some members abstained voicing reservations, particularly on the renaming of North West Frontier (NWFP) as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhawa. The Bill makes 103 changes in various clauses, the largest ever in country’s constitutional history. These restore federal parliamentary character of the constitution as envisaged in the original 1973 document, stripping president of discretionary powers accumulated in the office by two military dictators Gen Zia-ul Haq and Gen Parvez Musharraf. The amendment also expands extent of provincial autonomy in matters relating to legislation, share in natural resources and right to trade with foreign countries. The procedure for appointment of judges has been institutionalised by ending discretion of chief justice and constituting a seven-member judicial commission composed of four judges, law minister, Attorney-General and an eminent lawyer. For parliamentary oversight, an eight-member bipartisan committee has been given limited veto to reject any name recommended by the commission with three-fourth majority. Besides abrogation, the suspension or holding the constitution in abeyance, the expressions used by Zia and Musharraf, have been made as acts of sedition liable to death sentence. The judiciary has been prevented from validating any violation of the constitution. The President’s discretionary power to name governors, services chiefs and heads of several state organisations have been transferred to the prime minister making him a titular heads as envisioned in the 1973 constitution and close to other parliamentary governments including in neighbouring India. While the name of Zia-ul Haq has been deleted from the constitution, Musharraf’s acts of October 12, 1999, to topple Nawaz Sharif government and promulgation of Legal Framework Order (LFO) have been declared illegal. Members shouted anti-Zia and anti-Musharraf slogans. Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali while acclaiming the passage of the bill a momentous occasion demanded Musharfraf’s treason trial to make an example for any future adventurer. However, the National Assembly dismissed the opposition voiced by the PML-Q over the renaming of the NWFP. The members of the PML-N also abstained from voting on the clause though all of the voted in support of the bill itself. The NA session was delayed for over an hour due to poor attendance of participating MNAs whose presence was necessary for the voting on the 18th Amendment bill. Earlier in their speeches, ANP chief Asfandyarf Wali called for extending 1973 constitution to tribal areas (FATA) while MQM and Baloch nationalist members wanted greater provincial autonomy. The bill will now go to the upper house of Parliament, the Senate, whose two-third majority is also required for its passage before it goes to the President for assent.
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US rules out N-deal with Pak, for now
Washington, April 8 “We are focused on Pakistan's energy needs, but, as we said last week, right now that does not include civilian nuclear energy,” Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley said. A high-level Pakistani delegation led by the country's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was here last month to launch the US-Pak Strategic Dialogue. The Pakistani delegation sought a civil nuclear deal with the US on the lines of that of India. The Obama administration did not give any concrete assurance to Qureshi, neither did it totally reject the request. Meanwhile, chairing a special meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security in Islamabad, Gilani said: “A well-established, foolproof safety and security culture fully qualifies Pakistan for equal participation in civil nuclear cooperation at the international level, which would help us in addressing our immediate energy problems and would bring greater stability as well.” Crowley reiterated that the US had full confidence in the safety and security of nuclear weapons in Pakistan. Earlier in the day, another Obama administration official said, “It favours a new global civil-nuclear architecture allowing countries to meet their energy needs without posing proliferation risk.” —
PTI
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Oppn forms interim govt in Kyrgyzstan
Moscow, April 8
Announcing that they would run the turbulent Central Asian nation for six months, Otunbayeva said the new alliance proposed to hold new elections within this period. She accused the deposed President who fled the capital of attempting to rally support in his southern stronghold. “The president is trying to consolidate his electorate in the south, in order to continue defending his positions,” Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister, said at a news conference. “The opposition insists that he stands down,” Otunbayeva told reporters during the first news conference since the new provisional government took over the country Wednesday evening. Her warning to Bakiyev came as thousands of his supporters are converging in the central square of his hometown Jalal-Abad as the bloody uprising left a trail of 75 people killed and 500 injured. In her first action, Otunbayeva designated the head of the interim government said that a US airbase outside the capital Bishkek, which is seen vital to the NATO campaign in nearby Afghanistan would remain open despite the shift in power. — PTI
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Sibal asks Victoria govt to share data on attacks Melbourne, April 8 Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal during a closed-door meeting with Victorian Premier John Brumby asked him to share data on attacks and raised issues like accommodation and transport concessions for students. “We asked the Victorian government to share the data about prosecution made in regards to assaults on Indians,” he said. “This kind of information sharing will increase level of comfort among the community in Down Under,” he added. Sibal also praised the federal and state government's initiative in resolving the issue, and said he believed the incidence of attacks had declined. Sibal also raised the issue of students with Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Jullia Gillard this morning and also mentioned "incidents that took place outside the student community," officials said. Brumby, on his part, has assured that he would try to provide for the same. Sibal also said he had no doubt about the efforts of the Australian government to resolve the issue citing that Australia was already trying to put a regulatory framework. During his meeting with Gillard, the minister agreed on three initiatives, including establishing an India-Australia education council as a bilateral body with representatives from academia, policymakers, business and industry to interact on issues education and further collaboration. The initiative also included an agreement to facilitate the organisation of India-Australia inter-university convention of vice-chancellors and academia to interact on issues of mutual concern among academics. Under the initiative the two sides also agreed to facilitate the initiation of joint faculty development programmes through regular exchange of faculty and training in areas like teaching, research and curriculum development. It was agreed that senior officials would advance the initiative through joint working group meetings and report progress at ministerial meetings, officials said. — PTI
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Indian wins top US research award Father penalised for slapping
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