|
|
|
|
|
South Korea elects dictator’s daughter its first woman Prez
Obama wants to discuss gun proposals
in State of the Union speech
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Pentagon to reimburse $688 mn to Pakistan; Congress notified
ISI, its former chiefs enjoy immunity in 26/11 case: US Pirates take 5 Indian sailors hostage
|
|
South Korea elects dictator’s daughter its first woman Prez
Seoul, December 19
With 85 per cent of the national vote counted, Park had an insurmountable lead of 51.6 per cent to 48 per cent over her liberal rival, Moon Jae-In of the main Opposition party.
The election was largely fought on domestic economic issues, with both candidates offering similar policies as they went in search of centrist voters beyond their conservative and liberal bases.
Park had pushed a message of “economic democratisation” — a campaign buzzword about reducing the social disparities thrown up by rapid economic development — and promised to create new jobs and increase welfare spending.
"I will be a President who fulfils in every way the promises I made to the people,” Park told cheering, flag-waving supporters at an open-air victory celebration in central Seoul.
However, she had been far more cautious than Moon about the need to rein in the power of the giant family-run conglomerates, or "chaebol", that dominate the national economy.
On North Korea, Park has promised a dual policy of greater engagement and "robust deterrence", and held out the prospect of a summit with the North’s young leader Kim Jong-Un, who came to power a year ago.
She also signalled a willingness to resume the humanitarian aid to Pyongyang suspended by current President Lee
Myung-Bak.
But she will be restricted by hawkish forces in her New Frontier Party as well as an international community intent on punishing North Korea for its long-range rocket launch last week.
To some extent, today's election was seen as a referendum on the legacy of Park Geun-Hye’s father, Park
Chung-Hee.
In an effort at reconciliation, Park publicly acknowledged the excesses of her father's regime during her campaign and apologised to the families of its victims.
— AFP
her parents
|
|
|
Obama wants to discuss gun proposals
in State of the Union speech
Washington, December 19 Speaking to reporters, Obama said that while he supports Americans’ right to own guns, there needs to be a serious effort to prevent further violence and that Friday’s massacre at a Connecticut school should serve as a wake-up call for change. Obama added that the effort led by Vice-President Joe Biden will not be a typical Washington commission that takes months and can often lead to inaction. He added that it will include members of his Cabinet, lawmakers and others.
— Reuters
|
|
Pentagon to reimburse $688 mn to Pakistan; Congress notified
Washington, December 19 Deputy Defence Secretary Ashton Carter notified the Congress of its decision of the US Department of Defence in a letter dated December 6, 2012, a Pentagon official said. "In making this determination, I find that the reimbursement is consistent with the national security interest of the United States and will not adversely affect the balance of power in the region,” Carter wrote. In summer, the US had reimbursed $1.118 billion under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) which has now crossed the $10.5 billion mark post-9/11, defence officials said. “This is a concrete illustration that our security relations with Pakistan are indeed moving forward," a defence spokesman said. Meanwhile, the Senate and the House of Representatives in a conference on the National Defence Authorisation Act for the fiscal year 2013 has authorised $1.65 billion in Coalition Support Funds to reimburse cooperating nations supporting the effort in Afghanistan. The bipartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) in a October 2012 communication to US lawmakers said that CSF have accounted for nearly half of US financial transfers to Pakistan since 2001; as of May 2011, some $8.9 billion had been disbursed.
— PTI in US’ interest
Under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF), it is the cost of providing support to some 1,40,000 troops stationed at the Afghan-Pakistan border
|
|
ISI, its former chiefs enjoy immunity in 26/11 case: US
While insisting that Pakistan must take steps to dismantle LeT and support India’s efforts to counter this terrorist threat, it told the federal court: “In the view of the United States, the ISI is entitled to immunity because it is part of a foreign state within the meaning of the FSIA (Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act).” “Furthermore, the Department of State has determined that former Directors-General (of ISI) Pasha and Taj are immune because plaintiffs’ allegations relate to acts that these defendants allegedly took in their official capacities as directors of an entity that is undeniably a fundamental part of the Government of Pakistan,” Stuart Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, said. “Because foreign sovereign immunity and foreign official immunity provide an adequate basis upon which to dispose of this case with respect to the ISI and former Directors-General Pasha and Taj, the United States takes no position on the political question doctrine issues that are also presented in this case,” he said. Delery stated this in a 12-page affidavit, which was submitted to the court on December 17, in response to the case filed by relatives and family members of the American victims of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Claiming that the ISI of Pakistan was involved in the planning and execution of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the American survivors of the strikes and family members of the victims had filed their case against Pasha, Taj and other ISI officials, besides the LeT leaders, including its founder Mohammed Hafiz Saeed and its operations commander Zakiur Rahman; and Sajid Mir and Azam Cheema. In fact as many as four identical court cases were filed, including one by Linda Ragsdale, a resident of Tennessee who was shot in her back by one of the LeT terrorists at the Oberoi Trident hotel in Mumbai. “In making this immunity determination, the United States emphasises that it expresses no view on the merits of plaintiffs’ claims,” the affidavit said. The United States “strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and continues to believe that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan must take steps to dismantle Lashkar-e-Taiba and to support India’s efforts to counter this terrorist threat,” it said. The US government argues that in its view FSIA requires that the ISI be accorded immunity from this civil suit because the spy agency is a fundamental part of the government of Pakistan itself and no exception to immunity applies. — PTI india disappointed The leadership of the US has publicly stated its commitment to counter terrorism, to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and to bring those responsible for the Mumbai attack to justice. In this context, the decision of the US authorities in this case is a cause of serious disappointment. — Syed Akbaruddin, MEA spokesman
|
|
|
Indian team leaves for Pak
to pave way for panel’s visit
New Delhi, December 19 The team led by Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Dharmendra Sharma will interact with Pakistani officials for four days and look into the purpose of the visit of the Commission which wants to cross examine four Mumbai- based witnesses of 26/11 cases. Islamabad has been insisting that the Pakistani panel's India visit is key to early completion of the 26/11 trial in Rawalpindi as the court had refused to accept the findings of the Commission's earlier visit as it did not get the chance to cross examine the four witnesses. New Delhi has agreed to Islamabad's request but put two conditions, it sought an assurance from Pakistan that this would be the final visit by the panel and New Delhi wanted Pakistani law officers to certify its admissibility in Pakistani courts. The visiting Indian delegation will also set modalities for the Pakistani panel's Mumbai visit. During his recent visit to India, the Pakistani Interior Minister had said if the Indian team visits Pakistan this week, the Pakistani Commission will be able to visit India by first week of January. — PTI
|
|
|
Pirates take 5 Indian sailors hostage
Abuja, December 19 The ship’s operators, Medallion Marine, said today that the ship SP Brussels was attacked roughly 65 km off the oil-rich Niger Delta by pirates who stormed the vessel and looted it before taking five Indians hostage. “The pirates ransacked the vessel for personal belongings and took five crew members with them on their departure,” the operators said in an initial statement and later clarified that the five crew members were Indians. The Nigerian Navy and the police were not immediately available for comments but Medallion Marine said they are working hand-in-hand with authorities here to get the abducted men released. The vessel later sailed to a port in Lagos after the pirates left it with the five crew members. — PTI New Delhi: Family members of 17 Indian sailors captured by Somali pirates in March met Defence Minister AK Antony today seeking urgent action by the government to ensure that no harm was done to them. The minister was apprised of the trauma that the families of these sailors were going through. It was also pointed out to him that the sailors belong to the poorest sections of the society. While one-thirds of them are from Kerala, the others are from other states, according to BJP MP Tarun Vijay, who accompanied the family members of the sailors to the Defence Minister.
— TNS
|
|
|
Two more polio workers shot dead in Pakistan
Peshawar, December 19 The United Nations in Pakistan has pulled all staff involved in the campaign off the streets, spokesman Michael Coleman said. The government said immunization was continuing in some areas without UN support although many workers refused to go out. Women health workers held protests in the southern city of Karachi and in the capital, Islamabad. Wednesday saw four separate attacks, all in the north. In the district of Charsadda, men on motorbikes shot dead a woman and her driver, police and health officials said.
— Reuters
|
Benghazi attack report cites failures Mexico prison clash leaves 17 dead
Abbas to UN: Help Syrians enter Palestine Obama named ‘Person of the Year’; Malala is runner-up Floods, mudslides kill 20 in Lanka 
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
South Korea elected its first female president today, handing a slim but historic victory to conservative ruling party candidate Park
Geun-Hye, daughter of the country’s former military ruler. As leader of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, Park, 60, will face numerous challenges, handling a belligerent North Korea, a slowing economy and soaring welfare costs in one of the world’s most rapidly ageing societies.
New York, December 19
