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Dr
Farooq led Indian Haj DUBAI, Feb 26 : A 17-member Indian Haj Delegation, led by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah arrived, in Jeddah last evening. The delegation was received at the Jeddah Haj terminal .....more OIC
welcomes LONDON, Feb 26: The new anti-terrorism laws, designed to end extremist groups using British soil as a base to incite violence overseas, have been welcomed by Overseas Indian Congress (OIC), saying it would act as a damper on those raising funds and promoting the cause of militants, among other places, in Kashmir in the name of Jihad (Holy War).......more Chinese
premier likely to BEIJING, Feb 26: Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji is expected to make a maiden visit to three South Asian countries including India in the first half of......more 2
security personnel COLOMBO, Feb 26: Mortar fire by LTTE in northern Jaffna peninsula claimed the life of a Sri Lankan Army soldier, while a special task force......more |
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Uphill
task ahead NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Ousted Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, awaiting the country’s Supreme Court......more Maoists
call for election to KATHMANDU, Feb 26: Maoist insurgents waging what they call "peoples war" in Nepal called today .....more Gunmen
kill MULTAN (PAKISTAN), Feb 26: Masked gunmen killed a Shi’ite Muslim activist....more
Pak
SC asks military ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: Pakistan Supreme Court today ordered the Army Government to answer allegations.......more |
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Dr Farooq led Indian Haj delegation arrives in Jeddah DUBAI, Feb 26 : A 17-member Indian Haj Delegation, led by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah arrived, in Jeddah last evening. The delegation was received at the Jeddah Haj terminal by Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Talmiz Ahmad and other officials. A press release issued by the Consulate General of India in Jeddah said that during its stay in the Kingdom, the delegation would call on various Saudi dignitaries, interact with other delegations and meet Indian Pilgrims. A total of 1,20,000 Indian pilgrims are expected to perform Haj this year. Of these, 72,000 will be travelling through the Central Haj Committee in India and the rest through private tour operators or by arrangements made by themselves. The consulate claimed that it had made all possible arrangements to provide welfare and consular assistance to the Indian Haj pilgrims. Meanwhile, news reports said Saudi Arabia was giving final touches to the preparations for the pilgrimage. An estimated two million pilgrims, around two thirds of whom are from outside Saudi Arabia, will take part in the pilgrimage that starts on March three. Official statistics showed more than 1,052,000 pilgrims from outside the Kingdom have already arrived by land, air and sea for the pilgrimage. Saudi Authorities, keen to ensure a hassle-free Haj, have spent more than 180 million dollars to police to make the event better and avoid stampedes. Various improved facilities, like fireproof tents and water storage tunnels dug in mountains to help fight fires, are new additions. The facilities have been upgraded against the backdrop of a blaze in 1997 in which more than 300 pilgrims were killed and a stampede in 1998 which claimed more than 100 lives. Last year, more than 1.73 million pilgrims performed the Haj. Of these, 1.26 million came from abroad. Officials were quoted as saying that they expected a 15 per cent increase in the number of foreign pilgrims this year.(UNI) |
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OIC welcomes anti-terrorism laws LONDON, Feb 26: The new anti-terrorism laws, designed to end extremist groups using British soil as a base to incite violence overseas, have been welcomed by Overseas Indian Congress (OIC), saying it would act as a damper on those raising funds and promoting the cause of militants, among other places, in Kashmir in the name of Jihad (Holy War). "Several groups have been raising funds on the name of religion and sending innocent Muslim youths to fight in Kashmir in the name of `Jihad’ and the new laws will deter them from doing so," Balwant Kapur, president of the OIC said in a statement today. "For long we have been impressing upon the British Government to do something to curb the anti-terrorism acts in this country. Several organisations have been collecting money in the name of religion and sending them through unauthorised channels to Pakistan and India. I urge upon the British Government to enforce the law strictly," he said. Britain’s Terrorism Act 2000, the country’s first permanent anti-terrorism legislation, aims to prevent support and fundraising for extremist groups abroad. Previous laws of that type - first introduced in 1974 to outlaw the Irish Republican Army - were temporary provisions and had to be renewed at regular intervals by Parliament. The new law gives the Home Secretary Jack Straw, the power to ban groups believed to have links with terrorism -subject to Parliamentary approval - adding to an existing list of banned northern Irish Guerrilla groups. The definition of terrorism is widened to the use or threat of violence for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause. (PTI) |
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Chinese premier likely to visit India in first half of 2001 BEIJING, Feb 26: Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji is expected to make a maiden visit to three South Asian countries including India in the first half of this year, official sources said here today. "While Premier Zhu’s exact schedule has not yet been conveyed to us, we expect him to visit South Asia within the first half of this year," an official source told PTI here. Commenting on Vajpayee’s invitation, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhu Bangzao said China was pleased by the invitation and hoped to continue the high-level exchanges between the two neighbouring countries. "The Chinese side expresses its gratitude to the Indian Government and Prime Minister Vajpayee for their invitations to Premier Zhu Rongji for a visit to India," Bangzao said. (PTI) |
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2 security personnel killed in LTTE attack COLOMBO, Feb 26: Mortar fire by LTTE in northern Jaffna peninsula claimed the life of a Sri Lankan Army soldier, while a special task force police constable was killed in a confrontation in Ampara in the east, the military said. The soldier was killed in an attack in Ponnar area yesterday, four days after the rebels extended the unilateral ceasefire, an official statement said. In Ampara’s Sagama area, a special task force constable was killed in an encounter with the tigers yesterday, it said. Meanwhile, troops recovered nearly 300 anti-personnel mines in Muhamalai area, it said. Troops and rebels also exchanged mortar and artillery fire for about an hour in Arialai east in the Jaffna Peninsula, but there were no casualties to the Army, the statement said. (PTI) |
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Uphill task ahead to bring Fiji back to normal:Chaudhry NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Ousted Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, awaiting the country’s Supreme Court judgement on restoration of an elected Government, today said bringing Fiji back to normal would be "an uphill task." "So much damage has been done to the national economy and racial relations that whichever Government comes will have an uphill task," Chaudhry said here. Chaudhry, who called on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, told reporters that he apprised him of "the latest situation" in Fiji. He said the country’s Supreme Court is taking up the case of restoring an elected Government on March one. The ousted Premier said his meeting with Vajpayee was "fruitful" and that the Prime Minister assured him of due help. Chaudhry, who was toppled in a coup by rebel leader George Speight last year, said the international community in general and Government of India in particular should "intervene immediately" to help out the Indians settled in the Island nation. "The plight Indian farmers is serious as most of the land lease is to expire on December 31 and the Indians are being driven out of their place of stay," he alleged. "Hundreds of people have been rendered homeless and forced to camp in refugee camps," Chaudhry said. Pointing out that after the first coup in 1987 no effort was made to improve racial relations or adequate legislation enacted to provide protection to Indians, he said " we second time". Chaudhry, who originally hails from Rohtak in Haryana, is expected to hold discussions with Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on February 28. (PTI) |
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Maoists call for election to draft peoples’ constitution KATHMANDU, Feb 26: Maoist insurgents waging what they call "peoples war" in Nepal called today for an interim Government and "peoples’ constitution" to resolve the present political crisis. A statement issued by the underground party and faxed to newspaper offices called for an all party meeting to elect the interim Government whose primary duty would be to conduct elections for a constituent assembly that will draft the "peoples’ constitution". The new demand by the Maoists came at the end of their secretly conducted national convention which promoted the party general secretary, Pusha Kamal Dahal, known more popularly as Prachanda, to president of the party. The national convention amended the party statute making the post of president much more powerful than that of the general secretary. The statement did not mention the status within the outlawed party of another well known and enigmatic leader, Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai. The statement said the national convention decided to push for a central peoples’ Government by strengthening local bases. The insurgents are reported to have made "considerable" inroads in the remote areas of West Nepal in their drive to set up a communist state in Nepal. The Maoist insurgency that began five years ago has cost over 1,525 lives and is the longest and costliest armed struggle ever waged in Nepal. (DPA) |
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Gunmen kill Pak Shi’ite activist MULTAN (PAKISTAN), Feb 26: Masked gunmen killed a Shi’ite Muslim activist at a village in the central Pakistan province of Punjab today in what seemed to be the latest incident in a wave of sectarian violence, police said. They said Tanvir Shah was driving home from Vehari district in southern Punjab when two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle sprayed bullets at his car with automatic weapons. The gunmen fled after the shooting, which follows similar attacks recently between militants from the majority Sunni and the minority Shi’ite sects of Islam. Unidentified gunmen killed a Shi’ite religious leader and two other Shi’ites in separate shootings four days ago. Hundreds of people have been killed in recent years in clashes between Sunni and Shi’ite militants, whose followers disagree over the interpretation of some Islamic beliefs. Police have arrested hundreds of Sunni activists in Punjab province in the past few days to avert possible violence after the scheduled hanging of a Sunni activist on Wednesday for the murder of an Iranian official in 1990, local newspapers said. (REUTERS) |
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Pak SC asks military regime
to answer ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: Pakistan Supreme Court today ordered the Army Government to answer allegations that the corruption trial of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was manipulated to guarantee a guilty verdict. The order was issued on the first day of Bhutto’s appeal of an April 1999 corruption conviction. Bhutto, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates with her three children, was found guilty of corruption, sentenced to five years in jail, fined and disqualified from politics for seven years. She has appealed the conviction, as has her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who was found guilty in the same case. She was ousted on corruption charges by the president, who used his constitutional powers to dismiss her as well as Parliament. Bhutto’s corruption conviction was handed down during her successor Nawaz Sharif’s abbreviated term in office. Bhutto did not appear in court, although her party workers say she plans to return to Pakistan before the end of the year. So far Bhutto has given no date for her return. Her lawyer, Hafeez Pirzada, argued that a taped telephone conversation between a member of Sharif’s Government and the judge, trying Bhutto, provided proof of an unfair trial. A transcript of the taped telephone conversations indicated that the judge had written the judgment in the Bhutto corruption case before handing down his guilty verdict. The appeal was adjourned until Wednesday when the Government representative is expected to appear. (AP) |
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