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For Rushdie, India LONDON, June 16: India-born writer Salman Rushdie says though he did not get the ......more
Sharif’s outbursts ISLAMABAD, June 16: With deposed Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif’s outbursts this week against the military’s......more Twins celebrate MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, June 16: Britain’s oldest twins, spinsters who say they have never spent a night apart,....more |
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Religion, education play vital roles in AIDS situation GENEVA, June 16: Denying adolescents and even young children .......more Uncertainty over funding KARACHI, June 16: Pakistan’s military rulers are likely to begin the next fiscal year in July with almost ......more C’wealth delegation in
SUVA, June 16: A Commonwealth delegation sent to coup-stricken Fiji said they were assured by the military .....more Pakistan has become ISLAMABAD, Jun 16: The number of Pakistanis living below the poverty line has increased phenomenally from 17.8 million in.....more India, US to strengthen WASHINGTON, June 15: India and US have signed two joint statements pledging to stimulate new cooperative efforts in ........more |
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For Rushdie, India is ultimate prize LONDON, June 16: India-born writer Salman Rushdie says though he did not get the Commonwealth writers’ prize in Delhi, he is quite happy because for him "India is the prize." In his ‘diary’ notings of the days he spent in India, which were published in a three-part series in The Times Daily here, Rushdie says "at quarter to eight in the evening on April 14, Zafar (Rushdie’s son) and I walk into the Commonwealth prize reception at the Oberoi Hotel and from that moment until we leave India the celebrations never stop. "Journalists and photographers surround us, their faces wreathed in most unjournalistic smiles. Friends burst through the media wall to embrace us. Actor Roshan Seth, recently recovered from serious heart problems, hugs me and says `look at us, yaar, we’re both supposed to be dead but still going strong’. "Eminent columnist Amita Malik, a friend of my family’s from the old days in Bombay, quickly gets over her embarrassment at mistaking Zafar for my bodyguard and reminisces wonderfully about the past, praising my father’s wit, his quick gift for repartee, and telling tales of my favourite uncle Hameed, who died too young, long ago". He says one of the great ladies of english-language Indian literature, novelist Nayantara Sahgal, clasps my hands and whispers. "Welcome home". I look around and there’s Zafar being interviewed for television and speaking fluently and touchingly about his own happiness at being here (in Delhi). "My heart overflows," he says touchingly. "I had not really dared to fears of the police, and had defended my heart against many kinds of disappointment. Now I can feel the defences falling away one by one, the happiness rising like a tropical dawn, fant and hot. There are few such moments in a lifetime. Forgive me for saying perhaps too much about this one. It is a rare thing to be granted your heart’s desire," Rushdie notes. Somewhere in there the commonwealth writer’s prize goes to J M Coetzee, thanks to the casting vote of the spectre at the feast, Indian judge Shashi Deshpande. But this a party even her "curdled judgements cannot poop. "India is the prize," he says. Referring to his visit to Anis Villa, the Rushdie family retreat at Solan in Himachal Pradesh, the writer says "as we go up into the hills my heart lifts. For me this is the emotional highpoint of the trip to date. And I can see that Zafar, too, is moved. We stop at a Dhaba near Solan for dinner and the owner tells me how happy he is that I’m there, and someone else runs up for an autograph. "Even though I’ve hardly ever been here in my life, and not at all since I was 12 years old, I feel like I’m home. "It’s dark when we reach the Villa. From the road we have to climb down 122 steps to reach it. At the bottom there’s a little gate and Vijay Shankardass, lawyer, also in a state of high feeling, formally welcomes me to the home he has won back for my family. "I’m not a superstitious man but I feel the presence at my shoulder of my grandfather who died before I was born, and of my parents’ younger selves. The sky is on fire with stars. I go into the backgarden by myself. I need to be alone." Referring to the political scene in India, Rushdie says "unlike V S Naipaul, I do not see the rise of Hindu nationalism as a great outpouring of India’s creative spirit. I see it as the negation of the India I grew up in, as the triumph of sectarianism over secularism, of hatred over fellowship, of ugliness over love. "It is true that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has tried to lead his party in a more moderate direction, and that Vajpayee personally is surprisingly popular among Muslims, but his attempt to reshape his party in his own image has failed. He says in all his conversations with the press he had tried to better his links with Muslims. "(I want to tell) indian Muslims that I’m not and have never been their enemy, and to stress that I’m in India to mend broken links and to begin, so to speak, a new chapter." "India is the land i love," he says expressing his feelings. Rushdie, however, still nurses bitterness at the manner in which his controversial book Satanic Verses was banned in India. (PTI) |
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Sharif’s outbursts draw further flak ISLAMABAD, June 16: With deposed Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif’s outbursts this week against the military’s handling of the Kargil incursions drawing flak from the Army and the political parties, Awami National Party has demanded a commission to probe the issue. ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan demanded a commission consisting of judiciary and political leaders to probe the intrusion, saying: "a new controversy has started and we demand a commission be set up to look into the whole affair." He said the commission should submit its report soon for the sake of national security. Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali described Sharif’s statement on Kargil as shocking, saying he had committed a treasonable act and was liable to action under the Official Secrets Act. He said Sharif’s statement was a gross violation of the Constitution of Pakistan. The oath of his office under the Constitution had also been seriously violated. "Sharif is not only answerable to the law of the land but also to the people of Pakistan," he said. Assef reminded Sharif of late Zulfikar Bhutto who, despite being under trial for murder, never disclosed any classified information just to strengthen his case or to draw mileage against the then Martial Law Government. "Whatever our differences with the present military Government, an attempt to malign the Armed Forces will only serve the enemies of Pakistan," he said. He said the statement also attempted to project the Pakistan Army as a "rogue" organisation which was out of control of the elected civilian Government. Sharif, who was toppled in a military coup in October, made his allegations on the sidelines of court appearances on Monday and Tuesday. Sharif told newsmen outside the Sindh High Court that the Kargil incursion was not his personal decision. "The operation was halted after consultations with Army general. And it was Gen Pervez Musharraf who asked me to go to the United States and consult President (Bill) Clinton on the matter." The deposed Premier said the Army had kept him in the dark about the Kargil intrusions, for which preparations were begun in January last year. He said he came to know about it in May when the operation was practically launched. Pakistan’s military-led Government has already hinted more charges could be laid against Sharif over his allegations. "The Government is reviewing this statement at the highest level," official spokesman Maj Gen Rashid Qureshi was quoted as saying in The Nation newspaper yesterday.(PTI) |
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Twins celebrate centenary still together MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, June 16: Britain’s oldest twins, spinsters who say they have never spent a night apart, celebrated their 100th birthday here. Alice and Nellie Clarke marked the occasion yesterday with a party at a retirement home near Manchester, Northwest England, where they both now live. According to them, the secret of long life is happiness and togetherness. Neither married, and they say they have never spent a night apart. "They have a very dry sense of humour," the home’s nurse manager Geraldine Lythgoe said. "Alice got a speeding ticket at the age of 91. Nellie never drove but she was the co-pilot. They got their maps out and went everywhere together." (AFP) |
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Religion, education play vital roles in AIDS situation GENEVA, June 16: Denying adolescents and even young children information that could save them from HIV/AIDS "is completely unacceptable," agreed reproductive health experts at a United Nations-sponsored debate. It is essential to invest much more in education and improving the information available to young people, maintained Mr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, the specialised UN agency in the fight against this epidemic. The discussion also covered the problems of erroneous beliefs and superstitions about AIDS and the role of religion. At the meeting, chaired by Mr Nafis Sadik, Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Mr Piot stressed that AIDS has become one of the major crises affecting development, not just in the present, but in the future as well. Adolescent females represent 50 per cent of all new infections and this trend must direct our priorities, he said. More than 20 per cent of the population in western and central africa between the ages of 15 and 19 are HIV positive - they carry the virus that leads to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Young women are more vulnerable to infection because, in general, in these African cultures, women have sexual relations with older men - who are more likely to have had multiple partners - and because these relations are often against their will, Mr Piot pointed out. Prevention programmes have proven successful among young people. Adults tend to believe that adolescents are not interested in such issues, but they are in fact receptive to the idea of safe sexual behaviour, much more so than adult men, he said. Progress in the fight against aids is achieved through various simultaneous actions. It is just as important to invest in educating women as it is to promote condom use, for example, and it is also essential that men participate in the process, said the UNAIDS leader. In addition, said Mr Piot, young people have the right to see their interests reflected in national health policy. Ms Pule Kwelagobe, a Botswana native who was crowned Miss Universe 1999, is currently a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. She agrees that adolescents must be included in the formulation of AIDS-prevention policies. "Nobody ever spoke about it to me or my friends. Since we were not prostitutes or homosexuals, nobody thought we needed to know about HIV and AIDS," says Ms Kwelagobe, age 20. In this context, ignorance and superstition can reach extremes. A friend had told Ms Kwelagobe that, according to her boyfriend, having sex standing up prevents transmission of the virus. President of the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and tobago, Dr Jacqueline Sharpe, stated that a widespread belief in the caribbean is that AIDS can be cured by sexual relations with a young female virgin. All this indicates that the role of men in the anti-AIDS fight is fundamental, said the Caribbean doctor. Girls are generally infected with HIV and impregnated by men who are ten to 15 years older. Programmes that target men aged 25 to 35 are essential, Dr Sharpe maintained. She said those responsible for these HIV transmissions and pregnancies are often wealthy men who can give the girls money. In the Caribbean there are also tourist areas where an informal sex trade has developed. Adolescents, men and women offer sexual services on the beaches, Dr Sharpe added. Kenyan doctor Khama Rogo said that in Africa no group can change the customs of the population unless it has the support and participation of the religious sectors. Efforts must be made to reduce the vulnerability of young people to aids, but it is also necessary to modify the role of organisations involved in the issue, including religious ones, he said. Instead of wasting energy attacking each other, we should be attacking AIDS, the enemy of adolescents, Dr Rogo said. He proposed organising a high-level conference for the African continent, involving politicians, religious leaders, doctors and other sectors, in order to evaluate what each sector is doing in the area and to combine efforts. In the city where Dr Rogo lives, close to Lake Victoria, "we bury a young person every day. The busiest people are the religious leaders who are in charge of the funerals. What are we working for? to satisfy our own egos?" he wondered. In Nairobi, he said religious groups gathered and made a bonfire of condoms, alleging that condoms transmit HIV. "That is irresponsible." As far as religion’s role in the AIDS issue in Trinidad and tobago, Dr Sharpe said her organisation is working with Hindu associations, providing medical services, but without dictating specific sexual behaviours. Mr Piot commented that there are differences among religions and between people. Last year, UNAIDS sponsored a meeting of churches in Botswana, hosted by the salvation Army, a protestant organisation. Mr Piot said that when it comes to AIDS, the catholic church is "less monolithic than you would think." In 1999, he participated in a meeting at the Vatican on the AIDS issue. The church has many HIV infected priests, he pointed out. The church’s discussions tend to focus on what it can do in the educational sphere. Caritas international, one of the largest non-governmental organisations in the world, works within its catholic morals and ethics, while UNAIDS applies a pluralistic approach, Mr Piot explained. The chief of this UN agency called attention to the agreement signed last week with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to bring the anti-AIDS campaign to the world’s workers’ unions - because they continue to be a refuge for ‘machismo’, Mr Piot said. (IPS) |
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Uncertainty over funding overshadows Pak budget KARACHI, June 16: Pakistan’s military rulers are likely to begin the next fiscal year in July with almost the same uncertainty their predecessors faced a year ago — the absence of any funding commitment by international donors. The budget, the first by a military regime in 15 years, will be presented tomorrow without the cushion of donor support to help meet foreign debt obligations after the suspension of a 1.56 billion dollars IMF credit last year. "A budget, obviously, without that anchor (donor support) will not be that meaningful," said an Islamabad-based economist. Mr Arshad Arif, research head at ABN Amro equities here, said without a donor-funded lending programme backing targets and policies, the budget risks major adjustments later in the year when and if the donors resume their support to the country. "There may be an understanding on some key headline numbers but going into the (fiscal) year without an agreed programme can result in adjustments in several areas of the budget later in the year when a lending programme is launched," he said. Uncertainty for business "This means uncertainty for business, which is not good," he added. Donors, led by the International Monetary Fund, have halted fresh lending, except for humanitarian and food programmes and old commitments, since June last year despite several rounds of talks since the military seized control in a coup last October. The country survived the current fiscal year by purchasing hard cash from the Kerb market, deferring payments on oil imports to friendly Arab nations and because of rescheduling of four billion dollars of foreign debt repayments by the country’s bilateral and commercial and private lenders agreed in early 1999. But a big chunk of the rescheduled repayments come due after next January and bankers forsee 4.6 billion dollars in debt payments alone for fiscal 2000/2001, against this year’s 2.8 billion dollars. These debt repayments would add to pressure from a trade deficit, expected to be over 1.8 billion and a diminishing foreign exchange cash reserve of 1.2 billion dollars. Finance Ministry officials said an IMF team would review the budget and a deal could be in place by the end of July but analysts said the first payment from the new loan could not be expected before September or October. Uncomfortable situation It is certainly an uncomfortable situation. It’s not only the money that is important, but saving the consolidation process is vital, the economist said. He was referring to debt rescheduling that could completely fall apart if the IMF continues to deny its stamp of approval to the country’s economic policies. The IMF suspended payments in June last year saying Pakistan was dragging on reforms, including implementation of general sales tax at retail level and documentation of the economy. The tax issue has become a major sticking point with international donors which have grown tired of lending to a country where only about one per cent of its 140 million people pay income tax and where the underground economy roughly equals the official one worth 60 billion dollars. The military, which has yet to fully deliver on any of its promises since seizing power eight months ago, must try to win over sceptical international donors who have watched previous Governments fall short on fulfilling their pledges. (REUTERS) |
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C’wealth delegation in Fiji assured return to civilian rule SUVA, June 16: A Commonwealth delegation sent to coup-stricken Fiji said they were assured by the military administration today that civilian rule would return "shortly" when the political hostages are released. "They told us as soon as the hostages are released they will move to an interim civilian Government," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters after meeting Martial Law Commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama. New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff, without elaborating whether the release of hostages was imminent said: "Our understanding is that they will be establishing an interim civilian Government shortly." Fiji’s elected Government, led by the country’s first ethnic Indian Premier Mahendra Chaudhry, has been held hostage in Parliament since May 19, when failed businessman George Speight staged a coup in the name of indigenous Fijians. "We are pleased Commander Bainimarama assured us that neither Speight nor any of his henchmen will form any part of the interim civilian Government," Downer added before boarding a plane to leave the troubled country. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), headed by Downer and Goff, travelled to Fiji to consider whether to recommend the country’s full suspension from the Commonwealth. They did not meet with Speight. Goff said a member of Speight’s group, who described himself as a lawyer, had attended one Commonwealth meeting, "but as soon as I knew that I discounted everything he said." The CMAG earlier this month announced the suspension of Fiji from councils of the organisation and called for an immediate return to democracy. (AFP) |
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Pakistan has become poorer, economic survey reveals ISLAMABAD, Jun 16: The number of Pakistanis living below the poverty line has increased phenomenally from 17.8 million in 1987-88 to 43.9 million in 1998-99, the Economic Survey 1999-2000 has revealed. Declining economic growth, persistence of severe macroeconomic imbalances, reduction in the flow of remittances from overseas Pakistani workers, lack of social safety nets, and poor governance have led to this significant increase. "There is a general consensus that poverty has increased and income distribution has worsened in the 1990s in Pakistan," says the survey. Comparing rural and urban poverty, the survey says that "according to the basic needs approach, poverty has increased from 28.6 per cent in 1986-87 to 35.9 per cent in 1992-93 and further to 35.7 per cent in 1993-94, but at a greater pace in the rural areas than in the urban areas". Income distribution has also worsened in the 1990s, it noted. "The Gini Coefficient (a measure of income inequality) increased from 0.369 in 1984-85 to 0.40 in 1996-97." Another indicator of income inequality is the shares of the lowest 20 per cent and the highest 20 per cent of households in the income. The ratio of highest 20 per cent to lowest 20 per cent increased from 5.5 in 1986-87 to 7.1 in 1996-97 showing the worsening of income distribution. Further analyses suggest that income distribution has worsened in rural areas while it has slightly improved in urban areas during 1979 to 1996-97, says the survey. The overview of survey says that the Government has taken a conscious decision to bring the issue of poverty alleviation to the centre-stage of economic policy making. The fundamental shift in policies would make the poor the focal point of the country’s socio-economic development process, he added. The Government has prepared a strategy to reduce poverty and improve income distribution. "Sustained pro-poor economic growth based on robust private sector activity and investment is the key element of the poverty reduction strategy. Macroeconomic policies are being integrated with social and sectoral objectives to ensure that plans are mutually supportive and consistent with a common set of objectives to spur growth and reduce poverty." The Government has also prepared the anti-poverty programme consisting of five major elements, namely integrated small public works programme, food supplement programme, micro credit bank and improving social indicators. Reduction in poverty is likely to improve the distribution of income as well.(PTI) |
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India, US to strengthen cooperation in health care WASHINGTON, June 14: India and US have signed two joint statements pledging to stimulate new cooperative efforts in the fields of HIV/AIDS prevention, research and maternal and child health research. The two accords, signed yesterday by visiting Minister for Health and Family Welfare C P Thakur and his US counterpart Donna Shalala here, said "the joint statements demonstrate the commitment of both countries to combat the epidemic of HIV/AIDS and to improve the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents through the expansion of cooperative biomedical and behavioural research." The statements are in accordance with agreements signed during the highly successful visit to India by President Bill Clinton. Shalala expressed the hope that the joint research by the US and Indian scientists will help both countries develop new methods and programmes that will improve the health of men, women and children around the world. "I am confident that these agreements will go a long way in strengthening the friendly ties between our Governments and the people of both our countries," Thakur said. Thakur, however, wondered whether this announcement would have any impact on the availability of antiretroviral drugs to common people in developing countries. In the areas of maternal and child health, the minister pointed out, the agreements envisaged cooperation and treatment of leading causes of maternal, neonatal and pediatric morbidity and mortality, maternal and child nutrition, reproductive health, traditional systems of medicines and drugs and related areas. To address these concerns, Indian and US scientists would undertake a coordinated programme, involving participation in research projects, scientific workshops, conferences, training and technology transfer. The Indian Council of Medical Research, with its network of research institutions in the country, the National AIDS Control Organisation, Department of Women and Child Development and other Indian agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations would actively participate in these activities, he said. (UNI) |
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