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Manmohan, Gilani may meet in Bhutan
UK poll |
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Pak seeks testimony of Kasab’s magistrates
Gatecrashers at Shoaib-Sania’s reception
Air Arabia plane makes emergency landing
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Manmohan, Gilani may meet in Bhutan
Thimphu, April 26 External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, who arrived here today for the SAARC Council of Ministers’ meeting to be held tomorrow, was quite guarded when asked if the two PMs would meet though he did not rule out the possibility. “I am not ruling it out…let’s wait and watch how things are going to work out. All bilateral issues between India and Pakistan will be discussed as and when the Prime Ministers meet,” Krishna said. Manmohan Singh is set to hold bilateral talks with the leaders of Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives on the sidelines of the summit. If the meeting between Manmohan Singh and Gilani takes place, it will be the first formal summit-level talks between the two leaders since they met at Sharm-el-Sheikh in July last year. The two merely exchanged pleasantries when they ran into each other at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. Meanwhile, Pakistan appears set to raise the pitch over its water row with India at the forum. This became crystal clear when addressing a meeting of the SAARC Standing Committee, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said South Asia was a water stressed region that needed a regional cooperative approach to address the issues of glacier melting, watershed management and pollution on an urgent basis. This came amid reports that Pakistan had decided to approach the World Bank to resolve the Kishanganga Dam dispute with India as soon as possible. Indus Water commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah said the government had decided to contact the World Bank as no positive result had emerged despite several rounds of talks with India. The Indus Waters Treaty, inked between India and Pakistan in 1960, provides appointment of a neutral expert by the World Bank as a last option to resolve water-related issues between both countries. India has contended that while it was fulfilling its commitments under the treaty, blame for Pakistan’s woes on the water sharing issue lies at the door of Islamabad. It argues that Pakistan has failed to properly manage its water resources.
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UK poll
For the first time in nearly 100 years, a third force is expected to count for something in the forthcoming British General Election. In India, we are so used to seeing either Labour or the Conservatives in charge that we have forgotten how Herbert Asquith once headed a British Liberal government way back in 1915.
Now the political applecart, which has for so long been characterised by a two-horse race, is poised for an upset. Indeed Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, the successor party of the old Liberals, has emerged as the dark horse that could upset all calculations. When it comes to seats in the next 650 member House of Commons, current opinion polls project Clegg winning anything from 90 to 150 seats, which means he will be in the position of a kingmaker once the final results have been tallied. Until recently, it was Labour under Gordon Brown that was expected to emerge as the single largest political party with anything from 250 seats upwards. But whether it is Labour or the Conservatives led by David Cameron that emerge with the largest slice, albeit one that is short of a majority, each will require outside help to form a government. These are the realities of coalition politics. Despite his recent assertion that he will not prop up an “irrelevant” Gordon Brown “squatting” in the Prime Minister’s residence at No 10 Downing Street, Clegg is ideologically closer to Labour. Nevertheless, once the election is over, his fellow Lib Dem MPs will inevitably insist he extracts the best possible terms for supporting whichever party has the largest number of seats. These terms extend far beyond demanding and obtaining a significant number of Cabinet positions in the next government. True, Clegg’s able deputy, Vince Cable, has been favourably spoken of as the next Chancellor of the Exchequer and many other ministerial jobs are being lined up for potential Lib Dem ministers. But it is the policies that matter the most and whether the Lib Dems join the next government, or merely support it from the outside, they are clear about their political agenda. Clegg’s big issues include a closer working relationship with the European Union, an amnesty for those illegal immigrants who have been in the UK for 10 years or more and jettisoning Britain’s outdated Trident nuclear deterrent. The biggest issue the Lib Dems are pushing for is electoral reform, which in Cleggspeak means accepting proportional representation as the basis for future elections. Time after time, the Lib Dems have polled a huge number of votes (six million in the last election), only to find they have won a relative handful of seats. If proportional representation replaced the current first-past-the-post system, the bedrock of Lib Dem sympathisers in the country would give them a comfortable number of seats in all future parliaments. Cameron and the Conservatives are dead set against any such change, prompting a sharp comment from Clegg who told a Sunday newspaper, “I am saying that we have got a problem. There is going to be a clear demand for political reforms, which I don’t think they (the Conservatives) can stop. It would be a massive strategic error to position themselves as a roadblock. They will condemn themselves to a cul-de-sac.” When Clegg articulates his policies, his choice of words is pored over by analysts in fine detail. But it is image that also counts that includes the way he is dressed. Unlike in India, where the humble dhoti kameez or kurta pyjama is de-rigeur for all politicians, Clegg delights in showing off his elegant Saville Row suits and defying the logic that says simple, inexpensive clothes help politicians identify with the masses. Sartorially, he is easily the most elegant of the three party leaders. Merit has pushed 43-year-old Clegg to the top. He graduated with a good degree from Cambridge, then worked as a civil servant in Europe before serving five years as a member of the European parliament. His credentials in other words are impeccable, although some eyebrows have been raised over his judgement in working as a lobbyist before he was elected to the British parliament in 2005. Some critics do look askance at his privileged background. His father is an extremely wealthy banker who could afford to send his son to a top private school in London, Westminster, where the fees are currently £28,000 a year. His mother Hermance, also independently wealthy, is related to the Dutch royal family. Likewise, his Spanish wife, Miriam, is the daughter of a well-to-do Spanish politician and she herself is a successful lawyer earning a six-figure salary. “I have been very, very lucky, clearly,” he said in another recent interview. I haven’t had the huge trials and tribulations other families have. I was also lucky not to have a very conventional upbringing. Posj seems to me to suggest conventional and my background isn’t.” None of these hues of privilege seem to matter with voters. What voters are attracted by is the clean, fresh-faced look of the Lib Dems and their profile as the party least affected by dozens year’s corruption scandal in which dozens of MPs were found guilty of claiming unjustified expenses. They included Labour’s Indian-born Lord Swraj Paul, a prominent donor to the Labour Party, who claimed £110,000 in expenses for living outside London, even though he owns a string of luxury properties close to the heart of the British capital. Legg has let the demands for drastic changes in the ways that MPs are paid their salaries and expenses. When the expenses scandal first broke in May last year, it was the Lib Dems who took the initiative by demanding a new and stricter all party code of conduct. If the expenses scandal gave the Lib Dems an anchor on which to rest their popularity, so too did the public perception of Labour and the Conservatives as jaded and old hat. When the three political parties subsequently agreed to participate in three televised political debates on the eve of the election, a hitherto relatively unknown Clegg suddenly shot to fame. What nine million television viewers have seen in the past two weeks is a Lib Dem leader who combines in himself the raw optimism, enthusiasm and sheer good looks of a young Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi in his first term, or even John Kennedy. In two successive television debates he has more than held his own against Brown and Cameron. After the first two televised political debates even Britain’s most seasoned analysts were forced to acknowledge that in the forthcoming election personalities will count at least as much as the policies espoused by party leaders. One more televised debate is planned before the election and once more it is Clegg who will have the edge over his rivals. His looks, youth, style and even his speech - using words like ‘daft’, ‘nutter’ and ‘casino banking’ - are all designed to appeal to the younger generation. Some say his language is reminiscent of US President Barack
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Pak seeks testimony of Kasab’s magistrates
Thimphu, April 26 Talking to reporters accompanying him on his visit to Bhutan for the SAARC Summit, Krishna said he had received the dossier containing the request late last night but was yet to examine it. Noting that Kasab’s trial was in an advanced stage in India, he said New Delhi would have to complete all legal formalities first before examining Pakistan’s request. Islamabad has made a request for three Indian officials, including two magistrates and an investigator, to be allowed to travel to Pakistan to testify that they had recorded Kasab’s statement. The Mumbai special court hearing his case is expected to deliver its verdict on May 3. On whether a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Reza Gilani on the margins of the SAARC Summit was on the cards, Krishna said he would not rule it out. Pointing out that the leaders would be under the same roof for the next couple of days for the multilateral meeting, the minister said there would be a number of bilateral meetings during the period.
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Gatecrashers at Shoaib-Sania’s reception
Lahore, April 26 The reception turned out to be a headache for Malik’s family since many uninvited guests showed up to take part in the celebrations at the Sialkot hockey ground. Added to this heavy security arrangement and the insistence of the administration on enforcing the energy conversation measures also led to the problems during the function. A private channel reported that Sania's family, which had arrived from India, left for Lahore early, as they were upset at the mismanagement at the function. Eyewitnesses at the function said Shoaib and Sania also left before the function ended. — PTI Yet more trouble
A local court here has summoned Shoaib Malik on May 3 for the hearing of a petition which claims that the former Pakistan captain has hurt the sentiments of his fans by selling invitation cards of his wedding reception in Sialkot.
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Air Arabia plane makes emergency landing
Islamabad, April 26 Spokesman of the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority said all passengers were safely evacuated after it was landed at the Jinnah International Airport yesterday. The plane crew contacted the Karachi air traffic control as soon as the fire alarm alerted them of the danger. The plane safely landed and the team of fire brigade immediately controlled the fire,Xinhua reported. So far, it is not clear that whether the passengers would travel by the same plane to Chittagang or would be provided alternative flight. — IANS
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A bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Reza Gilani on the margins of the SAARC Summit here later this week is almost a certainty now.External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, who arrived here today for the SAARC Council of Ministers’ meeting to be held tomorrow, was quite guarded when asked if the two PMs would meet though he did not rule out the possibility.
third force is expected to count for something in the forthcoming British General Election. In India, we are so used to seeing either Labour or the Conservatives in charge that we have forgotten how Herbert Asquith once headed a British Liberal government way back in 1915.
