The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	US ready to reach out to North Korea: Kerry Tokyo, April 14 US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday stressed the United States is willing to engage with North Korea as long as it takes steps to give up nuclear weapons. He also vowed Washington would protect its Asian allies against any provocative acts by the North, but said it wants a peaceful solution to rising tensions in the region. "We are prepared to reach out but we need (the) appropriate moment, appropriate circumstance," Kerry told a small group of reporters, adding that North Korea had to take steps toward giving up its nuclear programmes. "They have to take some actions. Now how many and how much I want to have a discussion with folks back in Washington (about)... but they have to take action," he added. The North has threatened for weeks to attack the United States, South Korea and Japan since new UN sanctions were imposed in response to its latest nuclear arms test in February. Speculation has mounted of a new missile launch or nuclear test. "I think it is really unfortunate that there has been so much focus and attention in the media and elsewhere on the subject of war, when what we really ought to be talking about is the possibility of peace. And I think there are those possibilities," Kerry earlier told a news conference in Tokyo after a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida. Kerry was in Japan for the final stop on an Asian tour aimed at solidifying support for curbing North Korea's nuclear programme, and reassuring US allies. Kerry said the United States would "do what was necessary" to defend its allies Japan and South Korea, but added: "Our choice is to negotiate, our choice is to move to the table and find a way for the region to have peace." Kerry also sought to clarify his comments made in Beijing on Saturday, which some took to suggest he might be offering to remove recently boosted missile defence capabilities in Asia if China persuaded North Korea to abandon its atomic programmes. The Pentagon in recent weeks has announced plans to position two Aegis guided-missile destroyers in the western Pacific and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system in Guam. "The president of the United States deployed some additional missile defense capacity precisely because of the threat of North Korea. And it is logical that if the threat of North Korea disappears because the peninsula denuclearises, then obviously that threat no longer mandates that kind of posture. But there have been no agreements, no discussions, there is nothing actually on the table with respect to that," Kerry said. Kerry said he might consider using someone other than an official US government envoy to reach out to the North and he left the door open to a negotiation with the North that might not require them to take denuclearisation steps in advance. "If the Chinese came to us and said, 'look, here's what we've got cooking and so forth,' I'm not going to tell you that I'm shutting the door today to something that's logical and that might have a chance of success," he said. — Reuters
	Pak SC takes note of lifetime perks for government dignitaries Afzal Khan in Islamabad Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, has taken suo motu notice of the last-minute measures by outgoing governments to appropriate lifetime of perks and privileges for certain government dignitaries and lawmakers. The Chief Justice has also taken notice of an unprecedented security protocol being provided to ex-prime ministers and other officials. Notices have been issued to the ex-rulers concerned and the Attorney General of Pakistan. In a last-minute hurried legislation, the Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition governments in Sindh and at the Centre, through bills and notices, had conferred indefinite perks and allowances for the office bearers of key government posts. Former prime ministers Raja Pervez Ashraf and Yousaf Raza Gilani, speaker Fehmida Riaz, interior minister Rehman Malik, speaker Sindh assembly Nisar Khoro and chief minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah have been summoned to appear in person or through their counsel on April 16 to explain the validity of these measures. A Supreme Court bench, headed by the chief justice will hear the case. The notice was taken on media reports.
	Venezuela votes to choose Chavez successor Caracas, April 14 Venezuelans will elect Hugo Chavez's successor today in a duel between the heir of the late leader's socialist revolution, Nicolas Maduro, and an opposition vowing change in the divided nation. One month after Chavez died, his leftist legacy goes on the line after a swift but bitter race between Maduro, the acting president who casts himself as the late leader's "son," and opposition leader Henrique Capriles. Riding a wave of sympathy over his mentor's death, Maduro led opinion polls as he promised to continue the oil-funded policies that cut poverty from 50 to 29 per cent through popular health, education and food programmes. But Capriles hopes that discontent over the nation's soaring murder rate, chronic food shortages, high inflation and regular power outages will give him an upset victory after 14 years under Chavez. Maduro has Chavez's well-organised electoral machine behind him, with supporters expected to wake up voters before dawn by playing military-style bugles across the Andean nation. Polls open at 1030 GMT and close at 2230 GMT. The opposition accused the government of abusing its power by unfairly using state resources for Maduro's candidacy while flooding the airwaves well after official campaigning ended on Thursday. — AFP
	Imran’s party admits presence of Kashmiri jihadi forces in Pak Islamabad, April 14 Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's party has acknowledged "Kashmiri jihadi forces" active in Pakistan as one of key factors driving "terror and lawlessness" within the country. The 'Naya Pakistan Plan', a document posted on the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf's special website created for the May 11 polls, lists six factors in its section on internal security that "drive terror and lawlessness in varying degrees". These factors are "Taliban resistance movement in Afghanistan; Pakistani Taliban trying to enforce their interpretation of Shariah; Kashmiri jihadi forces working from within Pakistan; sectarian violence, particularly Shia-Sunni killings; ethnic terrorism and violence, for example in Karachi; real and perceived disenfranchisement of Balochistan". Though anti-India groups like the banned Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Al-Badr Mujahideen openly operate from bases and camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Pakistani political parties have for long been reluctant to acknowledge that such organisations have a presence in the country. Most political parties usually state in their election manifestos that they will support the Kashmiri people in their movement for the right to self-determination. They also toe the Foreign Office's stated position that Pakistan only extends "political, moral and diplomatic support" to the Kashmiri people. The admission in the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf document is possibly the first time a Pakistani political party has acknowledged the presence of "Kashmiri jihadi forces" within the country. Though the issue of internal security also figures in the party's manifesto released by Imran Khan on April 9, there is no mention of the Kashmiri jihadis in that document. Sources told PTI that a draft of the manifesto had contained material similar to that found in the "Naya Pakistan Plan" but it was dropped after some Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf leaders noticed it. While the "Naya Pakistan Plan" document lists several steps that the party intends to take to improve the internal security situation if it comes to power, it does not state how the issue of Kashmiri jihadis will be tackled. The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf states that if it forms the government after the May 11 general election, it will pull Pakistan out of the "US dictated war on terror" and help the US in its "exit strategy" for Afghanistan. — PTI
	Once a bonded labourer, Pak Hindu woman enters poll fray Hyderabad (Pakistan), April 14 When Veero Kolhi made the asset declaration required of candidates for Pakistan's May elections, she listed the following items: two beds, five mattresses, cooking pots and a bank account with life savings of 2,800 rupees ($28). While she may lack the fortune that is the customary entry ticket to Pakistani politics, Kolhi can make a claim that may resonate more powerfully with poor voters than the wearily familiar promises of her rivals. For Kolhi embodies a new phenomenon on the campaign trail - she is the first contestant to have escaped the thrall of a feudal-style land owner who forced his workers to toil in conditions akin to modern-day slavery. "The landlords are sucking our blood," Kolhi told Reuters at her one-room home of mud and bamboo on the outskirts of the southern city of Hyderabad. "Their managers behave like pimps — they take our daughters and give them to the landlords." To her supporters, Kolhi's stand embodies a wider hope that the elections — Pakistan's first transition between elected civilian governments — will be a step towards a more progressive future for a country plagued by Islamic militancy, frequent political gridlock and the worsening persecution of minorities. To sceptics, the fact that Kolhi has no realistic chance of victory is merely further evidence that even the landmark May 11 vote will offer only a mirage of change to a millions-strong, but largely invisible rural underclass. Yet there is no doubt that hers is a remarkable journey. A sturdy matriarch in her mid-50s who has 20 grandchildren, Kolhi — a member of Pakistan's tiny Hindu minority — is the ultimate outsider in an electoral landscape dominated by wealthy male candidates fluent in the art of back room deals. Kolhi was once a "bonded labourer," the term used in Pakistan for an illegal but widely prevalent form of contemporary serfdom in which entire families toil for years to pay often spurious debts. — Reuters
	Embattled Palestinian PM Fayyad quits London, April 14 Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad quit on Saturday after months of tension with President Mahmoud Abbas, leaving the administration in disarray just as the USA tries to revive peace talks with Israel. Abbas, who has been unhappy with Fayyad's handling of the cash-strapped government, accepted the resignation and asked Fayyad to stay on as caretaker until a new government is formed, according to official Palestinian news agency WAFA. Palestinian law requires the President to appoint a new Prime Minister within two weeks. Fayyad, a Texas-educated former World Bank official, is credited with helping create institutions in the occupied West Bank which would be needed if the Palestinians are to gain independence from Israeli occupation. Sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Fayyad offered to resign. Fayyad, appointed Prime Minister in 2007, had offered to stand down before, only for Abbas to reject his requests after pressure from Western donors. Western diplomats expressed dismay at the latest turmoil within the Palestinian Authority at a time when the USA is making a concerted effort to revive peace negotiations with Israel and boost the local economy. During a visit to the region last month, U.S. President Barack Obama praised Fayyad, and Secretary of State John Kerry held private talks with the beleaguered prime minister earlier this week, in a gesture of support. — Reuters
	ANP leader killed in Pakistan blast Islamabad, April 14 A leader of the secular Awami National Party was killed and another injured in two roadside bomb attacks in Pakistan's restive northwest today, the latest in a string of strikes by the Taliban against the party's workers ahead of the May 11 polls. ANP leader Mukarram Shah died when his pick-up vehicle was targeted with a roadside bomb in the erstwhile Taliban stronghold of Swat this afternoon. The bomb was triggered by remote control as Shah was driving from Manglor to Banjot in Swat Valley, located about 160 km from Islamabad. Shah, who was also a member of a local 'aman lashkar' or anti-Taliban militia, was killed instantly, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. In the second incident, ANP leader Syed Masoom Shah and three others were injured when their motorcade was targeted with a roadside bomb in Charsadda district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Shah is a candidate for upcoming polls to the provincial assembly. Witnesses said the explosive device was hidden in a pile of garbage. Police and local residents took the injured persons to a nearby hospital. Shah was returning from an election rally at the time of the attack. Shah was injured in an attack on an ANP rally before the last general election in 2008. The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attacks on both ANP leaders. Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan told reporters in the northwest that the ANP leaders were attacked because of the "secular views" of their party. In yet another incident, a bomb disposal squad averted a possible terrorist attack by defusing a bomb planted in the house of Pakistan Peoples Party leader Muhmmad Naeem Khan at Swabi in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. — PTI
	India, Germany to step up pressure for permanent UNSC seat Berlin, April 14 India and Germany have discussed ways to take forward the long-overdue expansion of the UN Security Council at a meeting of their top leaders here this week. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who accompanied PM Manmohan Singh to Germany, has said Security Council reform was naturally one of the focus areas of discussions at the inter-governmental consultations. He said India will continue to collaborate with Germany and intensify the pressure for UNSC reform. Inter-governmental consultations between India and Germany took place here on Thursday co-chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany and India recalled their cooperation in the UN Security Council during 2011-12 and agreed to continue to collaborate in strengthening and reform of the UN and the multilateral system. — PTI
	UN acknowledges Indian soldiers’ bravery in S Sudan United Nations, April 14 Despite being outnumbered, Indian peacekeepers fought with valour and prevented more casualties in the recent attack against a UN peacekeeping convoy that killed five Indian soldiers in South Sudan, a senior UN official said today. Assistant Secretary General for Field Support, United Nations, Anthony Banbury travelled to Jonglei state in South Sudan and met the Indian contingent in the wake of the April 9 attack that killed five Indian peacekeepers including a Lieutenant Colonel and five civilian UN staff contractors. Banbury, who received a briefing by the contingent commander about the incident, said the attackers numbered around 150-200 while only 35 Indian soldiers were escorting the convoy. "It was clear that this was an unprovoked, unjustified and deliberate ambush against the convoy. The Indian soldiers fought with great professionalism, bravery and distinction," Banbury told PTI over phone from the South Sudanese capital of Juba. He said the Indian soldiers showed "gallantry" in defending themselves and the civilians in the convoy adding that the number of deaths on the UN side would have been "much worse" had the Indian soldiers not fought with "such determination and professionalism." Banbury said the Indian peacekeepers in the UN mission in South Sudan are "upset" at the loss of their comrades but "they will continue to carry on their work in a professional and dedicated manner. We are lucky to have the Indian soldiers in our peacekeeping operations." — PTI
	NASA on lunar water mission Washington, April 14 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration of USA (NASA) is developing a Moon rover to find how water can be produced on the lunar surface by analysing liquid droplets trapped in deep freezes at its poles. Scheduled to fly in November 2017 the mission, called Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE), will have a week's time to accomplish its goals. Mission managers are planning to use solar energy to power the rover's systems and science instruments for the $250 million project which includes a rocket ride to the Moon. However, sunlight in the areas where water and other volatiles may be trapped only occurs for a few days at a time, the 'Discovery News' reported. As the rover lands on the Moon, it would have about 2.5 days of sunlight to get started searching for hydrogen, then hibernate for two days of shadow. For the next five days of sunlight, the rover would drill about a meter deep into the lunar surface to extract a sample for mineral analysis. The sample would be heated with a hope to produce liquid water. The rover would then finally demonstrate how oxygen can be chemically pulled out from the lunar soil and mixed with hydrogen to produce water. "The primary mission is lunar ice prospecting, but since we're there and since we don't know if we'll find water, we wanted to also demonstrate that we can extract oxygen from the lunar soil," Larson said. "That is the most challenging time-line of any surface mobility mission the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has ever attempted before — and we're trying to do it on the cheap," he added. The project builds upon the ongoing Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mapping mission and the 2009 impacts of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) spacecraft and rocket motor into a permanently shadowed crater called Cabeus, located near the Moon's south pole. Material blasted above the crater's rim during the impacts and other analysis showed it contains about 5 per cent frozen water, the report said. The origin of the water on the Moon, however, remains a mystery. — PTI
	US town bans wearing of sagging pants Los Angeles, April 14 Don't let it slip! A US town has outlawed wearing of saggy pants, imposing a fine on offenders saying that it was for the "general welfare" of the people. It will be illegal to wear saggy pants in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, as its Council passed an ordinance Wednesday night that will impose fines for anyone who wears pants below the waist in public that expose underwear or what police and the courts determine to be too much skin. Council members voted 8-1 to send the ban to Parish President Michel Claudet, who is expected to sign it into law. Under the law, violators would face these fines to the tune of, $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense, and $100 and 16 hours of community service for a third offence and subsequent offences, WWL-TV reported. "Appearing in public view while exposing one's skin or undergarments below the waist is contrary to safety, health, peace and good order of the parish and the general welfare," the ordinance says. Violating the law does not give police the authority to arrest violators or do a "full search", the ordinance says. In a public hearing before the vote, the council heard arguments from residents for and against. Jerome Boykin, president of the Terrebonne NAACP, expressed his support for the law. "There is nothing positive about people wearing saggy pants," Boykin said. "This is not a black issue, this is not a white issue, this is a people issue." Diana Collins, NAACP youth director, brought her youth group to the council meeting. — PTI