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PML (Qasim
group) ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: Pakistan Muslim League (Qasim group) president Syed Kabir Ali Wasti has welcomed India extending cease-fire in Kashmir,...more Women for changing DHAKA, Jan 24: Shahida Huq was born and grew up in Bangladesh. On completing her graduation she went to France for higher studies and....more Britain’s Mandelson in
LONDON, Jan 24: Prime Minister Tony Blair’s closest political ally, Cabinet Minister Peter Mandelson, faced mounting anger today over his involvement.....more Blast kills 11 as Sri COLOMBO, Jan 24: A powerful mine blast killed 11 troopers, including three officers, as security forces tried to consolidate in an area captured.....more |
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US
AG-designate begins WASHINGTON, Jan 24: U.S. Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft began plowing through about 350 newly submitted written....more Iran protests over DUBAI, Jan 24: Iran has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over the killing of an Iranian cleric in Karachi on Saturday. ....more ‘Social background is FRANKFURT, Jan 24: Social background is more important than qualifications when it comes to climbing the career ladder, according to a.....more How to help internet MANNHEIM (GERMANY), Jan 24: These days computer games are part of everyday life for most young people and for many participants they.....more |
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PML (Qasim group) welcome cease-fire extension ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: Pakistan Muslim League (Qasim group) president Syed Kabir Ali Wasti has welcomed India extending cease-fire in Kashmir, and said every step should be welcomed that is aimed at achieving a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue. Mr Wasti, who is perhaps the first Pakistani leader to welcome the cease-fire extension, said Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should be appreciated for the step taken against heavy odds and intense opposition from within the country. There should be a permanent ceasefire in Kashmir and the peace loving people on both sides should rise against extremist elements who do not want to see the normalisation of relations between the two countries, Mr Wasti said in a statement here. (UNI) |
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Women for changing citizenship law DHAKA, Jan 24: Shahida Huq was born and grew up in Bangladesh. On completing her graduation she went to France for higher studies and subsequently joined a UN agency. Married to a French citizen, Shahida has two sons. Her husband has learnt to speak Bengali and likes wearing traditional Bangladeshi dresses. The family visits Bangladesh every year and her husband and sons now want to become Bangladeshi citizens. But the Home Ministry rejected their application for citizenship because a Bangladeshi woman married to a foreigner is barred by an over 50-year-old law from transferring her nationality to her husband and offspring. However, the 1951 Citizenship Act does not put this restriction on a Bangladeshi man who marries a foreigner. Shahida is only one of the hundreds of Bangladeshi women who are complaining against this legalised gender discrimination. Several hundred Bangladeshi women married to foreigners have appealed to the country’s law courts after the Government refused citizenship to their spouses and children. The Bangladesh High Court is still to rule on their petitions, but women’s rights groups and leading lawyers in this country agree that the citizenship law needs to be overhauled. This is all the more necessary as the law was enacted even before the birth of Bangladesh in December 1971 out of the former East Pakistan, they point out. According to leading woman lawyer Tania Amir, the citizenship law should be scrapped as it violates the constitution of Bangladesh. She cites Article 27 of the Constitution, which states that "all citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law". In addition, Article 28 says that the state "shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth." Moreover, the constitution clearly lays down that women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres, she points out. More than three million Bangladesh citizens live abroad. Thousands of Bangladeshi women, mostly educated and living in countries like Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia, are married to foreigners. These include several hundred women ‘dishonored’ by the nine-month-long war that led to the country’s birth 30 years ago. Thousands of Bengali women and girls in the then east Pakistan were allegedly kept as sex slaves by the Pakistani Army. Hundreds of these girls were rescued from Pakistani Army camps after the surrender by Pakistani troops. However, many of these women were turned away by their families and subsequently chose to leave the country with the help of foreign Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Rights groups say the citizenship law is also inconsistent with Bangladesh’s international obligation to end discrimination against women. Bangladesh is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). However, Home Minister Mohammad Nasim has said the Government would examine the law and if there was any "ambiguity and complexity" in the Citizenship Act, it should be corrected according to legal advice. Kushi Kabir, chairperson, Association of the Development Agencies in Bangladesh — an apex body of NGOs working in the country — describes the citizenship law as "obsolete, outdated and out of context now." The law was made at a time when women were not allowed to step outside the home and did not even have the right to vote, she says. Women’s rights activists also criticise the continuance of the Islamic law of ‘Shariah’, though the country is governed by civil law. Under the Muslim family law of inheritance, a daughter is entitled to only half of a son’s share of family property. While men are entitled to unilateral divorce, women are not. Traditional Bangladeshi society, like elsewhere in South Asia, treats girls and women as subordinate to males. Girls face discrimination from the moment they are born — a baby boy is better looked after while a girl is denied equal nutrition and health care. According to a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) survey, the diet of the average girl child in Bangladesh has 20 per cent less calories than that of a boy of her age. Fewer girls than boys are sent to school. This is why only 40 per cent of women in the country are literate, compared to 62 per cent men. Though more than half the women in the villages of this mainly rural nation work on farms or related jobs, their contribution is not counted in national economic statistics. Women workers on urban construction sites are paid only 60 per cent of what a man gets for the same job. Women make up barely 12 per cent of the over one million people with Government and semi- Government jobs. However, women now outnumber men in the country’s garment export industry, making up 90 per cent of the estimated 1.3 million garment workers. Women also make up the bulk of the nine million beneficiaries of Bangladesh’s highly-acclaimed micro-credit schemes run by NGOs. (IPS) |
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Britain’s Mandelson in growing passport row LONDON, Jan 24: Prime Minister Tony Blair’s closest political ally, Cabinet Minister Peter Mandelson, faced mounting anger today over his involvement in a British passport application by an Indian tycoon. Mandelson, who is Northern ireland secretary, insisted in a round of television interviews that he had done nothing wrong in connection with the application by Srichand Hinduja. Many newspapers accused Mandelson of failing to tell the truth about the matter after he first denied personally contacting another British minister over the passport application and then admitting that he had in fact done so. "He must go," said the daily express in a front page headline. "He fights for political life as passports for favours row boils over," said the mirror. Political analysts believe Mandelson will most likely survive this episode but agree it raises serious questions about his ambition to become foreign secretary. With an election expected in May, Blair’s Labour Party runs the risk of being tarred with the same sort of sleaze allegations that helped to bring down the conservatives in 1997. Mandelson, who has resigned once before from the Government over a financial scandal, was adamant that he was guilty of no impropriety and Blair’s office made clear that he had the Prime Minister’s backing. "I acted in an entirely proper way," Mandelson said. "I did not intercede on behalf of any member of the Hinduja family." Mandelson said he had talked to the immigration minister in 1998 about Hinduja’s passport application. Hinduja, and his brothers Gopichand and Prakash, are now in India for questioning by police about an arms scandal. The billionaire brothers, whose business interests span media, banking, oil and chemicals, deny any wrongdoing in the Bofors scandal involving alleged kickbacks. Hinduja later made a payment of one million pounds (1.4 million dollars) towards the cost of the millennium dome, for which Mandelson had been responsible. Mandelson rejected a suggestion that his actions in the matter had the appearance of corruption. "No, I don’t accept that claim," he said. "The facts don’t substantiate that." He said he had neither supported nor sponsored Hinduja’s application for a passport. "An innocent inquiry was made in a two minute phone conversation facilitated by civil servants and monitored by them," he said. "That is the beginning and end of this story." Mandelson spoke to home office minister Mike O’Brien about the process of passport requests, having met Hinduja at a party. Blair’s spokesman said Mandelson had merely passed inquiries on to the relevant department. "There is nothing improper at all in Peter having been approached at an event." But he was forced to admit that the Government’s line earlier in the week — that Mandelson had been asked to get involved but had not — had not proved strictly accurate. Mandelson, the archetypal spin doctor, was widely credited as the architect of labour’s 1997 lanslide election victory. But he was forced to resign from Government in 1998 when it was discovered he had borrowed a large sum from ex-minister and millionaire Geoffrey Robinson to help buy a house. Mandelson failed to declare the money to his home loan company. His department was investigating Robinson’s business affairs at the time. Blair brought him back into the fold within a year, making him a favourite target for Britain’s media. Srichand Hinduja received British citizenship, having been turned down years earlier. (REUTERS) |
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Blast kills 11 as Sri Lanka Army advances COLOMBO, Jan 24: A powerful mine blast killed 11 troopers, including three officers, as security forces tried to consolidate in an area captured from Tamil tiger guerrillas in Northern Sri Lanka, officials said today. The booby-trapped device went off at Muhamalai in the Jaffna Peninsula yesterday as troops tried to dig in following their lightening offensive the previous day, Defence Ministry spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said. He said another officer and four more soldiers escaped with injuries. The victims were clearing mines and other booby trapped devices when they were caught in the blast. However, there were no major confrontations in the region today, Karunaratne said. The blast came as tiger guerrillas extended their unilateral truce by one month till February even as fighting raged in the region. The LTTE said they decided to prolong the Christmas ceasefire to pave the way for Norway’s bid to broker peace in the island where over 6 0,000 people have been killed since 1972. Their decision was taken in "compliance with the wish of the international community," it said. The LTTE in its two-page statement said they were urging the United States, Britain, European Nations and India to persuade the Sri Lankan Government to reciprocate the truce and give up its "belligerent attitude." Both sides appeared to be keeping an eye on Britain’s announcement expected by the middle of next month on a reclassification of British-based overseas groups in line with new anti-terrorism laws. (AFP) |
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US AG-designate begins
plowing through WASHINGTON, Jan 24: U.S. Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft began plowing through about 350 newly submitted written questions from former Senate colleagues, many challenging his civil rights record. At the same time, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to request an automatic one-week delay in the panel’s consideration of President George W. Bush’s nominee. The panel, chaired by Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, had been expected to send the nomination today to the full Senate for anticipated confirmation. But Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee’s ranking Democrat, informed Hatch yesterday he would ask for a delay at the panel’s meeting today. "Sen. Leahy told Sen. Hatch he will request it be held over for a week because the nominee’s confirmation record is far from complete," a Democratic aide said. Under the committee’s rule, any member can obtain a one-week delay to have more time to consider a nominee. In addition to answers to the 350 questions, the panel was waiting for copies of several Ashcroft speeches, along with an FBI financial disclosure report, an aide said. During his six years as a U.S. Senator from Missouri, Ashcroft, an ardent conservative and a hero to the religious right, had a reputation for putting Presidential nominees through a wringer. "We certainly wouldn’t want to hold Senator Ashcroft to a tougher standard than he held other nominees, but I’m sure he would not want us to hold him to any less," Leahy said. Hatch accused Democrats of subjecting Ashcroft to procedural delays, but said, "at the end of the day, John Ashcroft will be confirmed." Leahy, who chaired last week’s four-day confirmation hearing, submitted more than a third of the 350 written questions for Ashcroft on Monday night, the deadline for such submissions. Ashcroft worked on the questions yesterday at the Bush transition offices in downtown Washington. Among the questions were ones asking Ashcroft to explain why as Missouri Governor in 1988 he vetoed legislation to increase minority voting, and if as U.S. Attorney General he would be "a watchdog on civil rights." Ashcroft fielded many of the same questions, or at least variations of them, during two days of testimony before the committee last week. He also vowed to enforce all the nation’s laws, even ones he has opposed, such as abortion rights and gun control. Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi has predicted that once the Ashcroft nomination comes to the Senate floor he will be "confirmed comfortably," with the support of up to 70 of the chamber’s 100 members. Yet critics of Ashcroft, including people for the American way, a liberal public interest group, expressed hope that Ashcroft could still be stopped. "We remain confident that if all the Senators looked at John Ashcroft’s record, what looks like a done deal would not be a done deal," said Ralph Neas, the group’s president. Neas presented Senators petitions signed by what he said were more than 300,000 people opposed to Ashcroft. Americans for the Bush cabinet, a coalition of about 140 conservative groups, said its members sent twice as many messages of support for Ashcroft to Congress. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, has threatened to try to mount a filibuster, a procedural delay, to block Senate confirmation. Yet Lott and other Republicans said they believe they would be able to muster the 60 votes needed to end debate and bring the nomination up for a confirmation vote. Lott has predicted all 50 Republicans would vote to confirm Ashcroft, a former Senator from Missouri who earlier served as the state’s Governor and Attorney General. Most of the chamber’s 50 Democrats have not publicly said how they will vote, but a few announced they opposed Ashcroft. Yesterday, Sens. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Jack Reed of Rhode island, became the fourth and fifth democrats to announce their opposition and more were expected. Two sate Democrats said they plan to vote for Ashcroft: Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Zell Miller of Georgia.(REUTERS) |
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Iran protests over cleric’s killing in Karachi DUBAI, Jan 24: Iran has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over the killing of an Iranian cleric in Karachi on Saturday. The Iranian Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires and conveyed to him its protest over the murder of Hajatoleslam Mohammad Haji Sultani. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asafi said the Pakistani diplomat expressed his Government’s "deep regret" over the killing and sympathised with the family of the bereaved, according to IRNA. The Iranian official quoted the Pakistani Charge d’Affaires as saying that his Government had begun vigorous measures to arrest those responsible for the murder. The Foreign ministry spokesman said "the Pakistani Charge d’Affaires stressed that his Government is determined to deal decisively with terrorism which has targetted the interests of people and the country as terrorists want to harm Pakistan’s relations with its friends". The spokesman said "unfortunately, the dimensions of terrorism in Pakistan are monumental and the Government of that country is expected to do its best to uproot this sinister phenomenon". The murder of Iranian nationals in the past few years in Pakistan has been a soring point in relations between the two countries. Recently, the Pakistani Supreme Court suspended the execution of a man affiliated to an extremist religious group who was convicted of the 1990 murder of an Iranian diplomat. Iran has already conveyed to Pakistan its unhappiness over the ruling.(UNI) |
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‘Social background is key to career not qualifications’ FRANKFURT, Jan 24: Social background is more important than qualifications when it comes to climbing the career ladder, according to a new, unpublished study by the Technical University in Darmstadt, Southern Germany. Sociologist Professor Michael Hartmann studied the career progression of 6,500 academics who had graduated from University with a doctorate and found that favourable family circumstances had given future captains of industry an almost unassailable lead. According to the study, which is due for publication this summer, the chances for would-be careerists from middle class families are steadily declining. For the project the tu darmstadt examined the curriculum vitae of all the students who left the university in 1955, 1965, 1975 and 1985 with a doctorate in law, economic sciences and engineering. It turned out that hard facts such as the swiftness of study or quality of the qualification were not as important as "soft factors" like biography. "The really key success factor was social background," said hartmann. The larger the company the more the principle came into play, the researchers found. Typical of such family careers is that of Volkswagen carmaker Boss Ferdinand Piech. His father was a lawyer and before World War II Managing Director of VW. His mother, the daughter of car designer ferdinand porsche, also worked for the firm for many years. Hartmann rejects suggestions of nepotism, or that family members or aquaintances are regularly "preferred" over other candidates. "The important thing is the way people present and conduct themselves, a kind of natural confidence," said Hartmann. These are qualities of family breeding and cannot be obtained later on, insists the sociologist. "Of course you can acquire good taste or manners but they don’t become instrinsic. As soon as something untoward happens you come unstuck," said Hartmann. Rolf Pfeiffer, in charge of human resources at the Arthur D Little Personnel Consulting Firm, said he was in two minds about Hartmann’s findings. Pfeiffer said that while he did believe in the theory of "natural confidence" he was certain such skills could be acquired in later life. He also reckons on being able to gauge a candidate’s social background during an interview in 80 per cent of cases. A recruiting manager is unlikely to be influenced by a candidate’s good connections either, said Pfeiffer. "If that was the case a company would run into a big credibility problem." Previous studies have shown that more than four fifths of all top managers come from a strata of society that contains the top three per cent. The best of these are in line for the most powerful jobs. Their number includes the sons of entrepreneurs running large companies, Board Chairmen, Secretaries of State or Court Presidents. In the groves of academe the opposite seems to apply, at least in Germany. "PhD holders from standard backgrounds are more likely to become professors," said Hartmann. This may be because those higher up the social ladder are attracted by big business. It’s worth noting that there are hardly any doctorate holders in German politics. Hartmann’s research showed that in additional to a lack of the right family background another "exclusion factor" plays a role in career progression - a person’s gender. Only 4.2 per cent of PhD holders in the four sets of alumni were women and in most cases the corridors to management power were barred to them. (DPA) |
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How to help internet addicts kick the habit MANNHEIM (GERMANY), Jan 24: These days computer games are part of everyday life for most young people and for many participants they represent an uncomplicated way of coming into contact with peers. Others use their PC to flee reality and spend their time in a virtual world. Regardless of whether a person is playing "football manager", grappling with a monster-slaying "warrior" or simply surfing the net, when a user’s experiences on the computer seems more important than real life, alarm bells should be sounding. Parents must realise that a danger point has been reached and that addiction can result. It is not known how many people are affected although experts at Humboldt University in Berlin put the rate of addicts in Germany between the ages of 15 and 18 at between 2.2 and 15.8 per cent of those questioned. "What is clear is that the number of patients who come to me because of internet or computer addiction has sharply increased recently," says Friedrich Gocht, a child and youth psychotherapist in Reutlingen. Internet or computer game addiction is not easy to diagnose. "duration alone is not a criteria," said Thomas Huenerfauth, a psychologist and behavioural therapist in Mittenbuch, Bavaria. For one thing, excessive use of the internet can be prompted by bona fide reasons, such as extensive research for a school project. Addiction exists when a person finds it hard to quit the internet and leave the games alone. "Boys are the biggest group affected," said Christiane papastefanou, a youth and family psychologist from mannheim. It seems boys’ open-mindedness towards technology plays a key role here. In addition, the mastery of a computer game is a way for young people to gain recognition from their contemporaries. In order to get good a player has to participate over a long period, said papastefanou. Gocht prefers not to speak of an "addiction" at all and opts for the term "pathological internet use" instead. "The term addiction mainly applies to certain substances such as alcohol," he says. Online and computer addiction can be termed excessive behaviour, he said. People affected with this compulsion move in a vicious circle. "the reason for retreating into games is often social. Yet social problems do not solve themselves at the computer, they only get worse," said Papastefanou. Computer addiction also distinguishes itself from other compulsions, such as alcoholism, in that self-imposed abstinence is rarely possible. "Many people come into contact with computers and the internet in the workplace," said Huenerfauth. As with people with eating disorders, who cannot entirely do without food, it is important that the PC abuser learns discipline if the problem is to be solved. Huenerfauth’s therapy consists of first establishing a fixed timetable: "For example, the client might set himself a time limit for a computer session, using an alarm clock and taking notes." The goal is still to get the client to retake control himself. Friedrich Gocht believes it is more fruitful to tackle the subject’s emotional problems. "Rules often don’t help, the patient’s mental trauma has be to taken on directly." The dangers of computer abuse lie mainly in its capacity to isolate people from friends and relations. "This is especially harmful in adolescence, at the very time in which people should be learning to establish and maintain social contacts and become involved in society," says Huenerfauth. The exchanges common to internet chatrooms are also no alternative to a conversation with others, says Papastefanou. Some of those afflicted by the compulsion often develop a deep fear of meeting other people, said Huenerfauth. As with other compulsive disorders, relations and friends are in no position to tackle the problem themselves, says Huenerfauth. What is important is that the young person receives some feedback: "He should be told what effect his behaviour has on his surroundings," says the psychologist. "Parents should attempt to generate enthusiasm for other activities such as sports," suggests Papastefanou. And, says Gocht, the best thing is that the addicts should be referred to a psychologist in the neighbourhood. "Yet the chance of stumbling on computer experts in this field is rare. Research here is in its infancy," says Papastefanou. Gocht maintains that a therapist does not necessarily need training in computer studies and the internet to be able to offer help. (DPA) |
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