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first shot at chemical weapons arsenal GORNY, RUSSIA, Aug 25: Burdened with 40,000 tons of deadly Soviet-era chemical weapons, Russia this week proudly unveiled its first purpose-built plant for their gradual disposal. ........more World summit on OHANNESBURG, Aug 25: A ten-day world summit on sustainable development begins here tomorrow to discuss contentious issues of growing disparities between developed and poor nations in a globalising world and the need to eliminate.......more Pak Govt puts off inquiry against ex-ISI chief ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Pakistan Government has put off an inquiry against former ISI chief Lt Gen Javed Nasir, who has been accused of swindling Rs three billion worth of state funds. ...more |
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B’desh accepts India’s propsal for expanding multi-modal transport link DHAKA, Aug 25: Bangladesh today agreed to expand multi-modal transport links with India in a move aimed at giving a major boost to bilateral trade as .....more FBI resorts to maximum deployment in Pakistan to hunt Al-Qaeda ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Besides opening 44 offices in Pakistan, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has spent billions of dollars to deploy satellite-based communications system, unmanned aerial vehicles and .....more Pak charges attempt to divert attention from terrorism: India ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Taking strong exception to "unwarranted allegations" of attack on Pakistani Army posts on Thursday, India has accused Pakistan .....more |
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Russia takes first shot at chemical weapons arsenal GORNY, RUSSIA, Aug 25: Burdened with 40,000 tons of deadly Soviet-era chemical weapons, Russia this week proudly unveiled its first purpose-built plant for their gradual disposal. Built since 1993 using a 40-million-euro grant from the German Government, the facility at Gorny, situated about 1000 kilometres southeast of Moscow, will start its first trials in the coming weeks. "Its completion shows the will of many countries to help free US from the misery of chemical weapons," the Director of Russia’s munitions agency, Zinovy Pak, said as the military admitted foreign journalists to the site in the remote steppe by Kazakhstan. With Gorny due to treat just 1,200 tons of lewisite irritant gas and mustard gas - or less than three per cent of the total arsenal -by 2005, the destruction of Russia’s stocks of the armaments is a daunting task. Yet Moscow is committed to it under a 1997 international agreement, and estimates the work will cost around eight billion dollars. "We want to finish by 2012 as agreed," Pak said, although talks are already underway with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague for deadline extension. Meanwhile, public awareness of the deadly inheritance is growing, in itself a major departure from old Soviet traditions of ignorance and disinformation about the threat in the country’s own backyard. "Either we destroy chemical weapons or they destroy us," reads Graffiti painted on a perimeter wall at Gorny by a group of ecology students invited this summer to help build parts of the plant. The Russian military has stored chemical weapons here since the arms race against the United States escalated in the 1950s. Most is still kept in aging tanks and cisterns on the sprawling grounds by the new plant. "No one knows exactly in what state these substances are now in," said Horst Minning, construction director for the German Defence Ministry’s procurement and logistics wing. He is charged with ensuring donated funds are used by the Russian partners as agreed. At first glance Gorny looks like an ordinary chemical plant, a sprawling mass of storage containers, pipelines, filter systems, counters and dials. But the double rows of barbed wired, watch towers and two armoured cars parked by the gate indicate the particular hazards within "object 1280-opo", as it is officially classified. Inside, dozens of technicians bustle in modern surroundings, some of whom wear camouflage uniforms beneath their white overalls and lab coats. "Most of our specialists are civilians," said Professor Vyacheslav Mukhidov, designer of the robot system used for extracting samples of the gases to avoid any direct human exposure, one of a number of innovations installed in the premises. The substances will be deactivated by a hydrolysis procedure developed by Russian scientists, breaking them down through chemical reaction with water and then enabling them to be decomposed further. "We did all this to ensure that people feel safe both in and around the plant," Pak said. The civilian authorities in the regional centre of Saratov are nonetheless alarmed at the waste that will be produced at the plant, mainly large quantities of arsenic yielded by the disposal process. Despite its conventional applications in industry, this residue is also potentially lethal. To temper the concerns, a new hospital, schools, play schools and apartments are being built for the local community. Its a modest start. Gorny is by far the smallest of the seven chemical weapons storage depots located across the country. Hardest to treat will be the 32,000 tons of nerve agents Sarin and Soman which are stored at five of these sites. These will eventually be taken to the settlement of shchuche in the southern urals, which along with Kambarka in northern Russia will see the construction of large disposal plants with help from the United States and the European Union. Russia hopes that a good proportion of the 20 billion US dollars allocated this year by the G-8 for disarmament will be released for work on chemical weapons as well as for nuclear security purposes. As well as the separate German aid, accords have also been signed with Italy and Britain to help dispose of Russian weapons, which clearly pose a common threat in the wrong hands. France, Norway and the Netherlands are also interested in helping, Mikhail Margelov, the head of the Russian Federation Council’s Committee for International Affairs, told Itar-Tass news agency. (DPA) |
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World summit on sustainable development begins today JOHANNESBURG, Aug 25: A ten-day world summit on sustainable development begins here tomorrow to discuss contentious issues of growing disparities between developed and poor nations in a globalising world and the need to eliminate trade distorting subsidies that inhibit sustainable consumption and production patterns in developed countries. Leaders from different continents will congregate here to thrash out the draft plan of implementation that will also seek to establish a world solidarity fund to eradicate poverty and to promote social and human development in the developing countries. A high-level Indian delegation, which will be headed by Environment Minister T R Baalu for the first six days and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha in the second part, will attend the conference. Congress MP Laxman Singh and BJP Mp Brikam Keshari Dev, former Environment Minister Digvijay Singh, who had attended the world summits in Stockholm and in Rio De Janeiro in 1972 and 1992, and environmentalists Mohan Dharia, Sunita Narain and K V Sarabhai will also be part of the Indian delegation. The Johannesburg summit will take off from the Bali meeting early this year where a draft plan was agreed. The Johannesburg summit will seek to establish the world solidarity fund which will stress on the voluntary nature of contributions and the need to avoid duplication of existing un funds. It will also encourage role of the private sector and individual citizens relating to Governments in funding the endeavours. The summit declaration would keep in mind the UN millennium declaration’s commitment to make every effort to ensure the entry of Kyoto protocol into the UN framework convention on climate change and embark on the required reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases. It will call upon the states to work cooperatively towards achieving the ultimate objectives of the UN framework convention on climate change. "Globalisation has meant increased trade and capital flows, increased sharing of ideas and the extension of democracy and rule of law to an ever-widening circle of countries", it says. The document says although globalisation has improved lives around the world and offers enormous opportunities for further improvements, the challenge remains to ensure that its benefits are enjoyed by all countries. Developing countries and countries with economies in transition face special difficulties in responding to the challenges and opportunities of globalisation, the document acknowledges. It also feels that while globalisation offers opportunities and challenges and has great potential to improve living standards, it is a matter of great and increasing concern that not all countries are reaping the benefits of globalisation and some may even be falling behind. "There is further fear of increasing instabilities in the international economic and financial system, marginalisation, negative social implications and loss of cultural diversities. "Globalisation should be fully inclusive and equitable and there is strong need for policies at the national and international levels, formulated and implemented with full and effective participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition," it says. Following up on Rio meeting, the current summit will take up the issue of developing countries’ sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their environmental and development policies while avoiding the misuse of that approach as a disguised barrier to trade restricting exports from developing countries. The document seeks to strengthen the capacities of developing countries by increasing assistance from multilateral and regional financial institutions for public and private initiatives that will improve access, accuracy, timeliness and coverage of information on countries and financial markets. This, it hoped, would strengthen capacities for risk assessment. On health and sustainable development, the draft seeks implementation of WTO agreement on trade related intellectual property rights as part of the wider national and international action to address public health problems affecting many developing and least developed countries. It referred specifically to problems arising from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics while affirming that the agreement can and should be implemented in a manner supportive of members’ rights to protect public health, in particular to promote access to medicines for all as envisaged in the Doha declaration. (PTI) |
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Pak Govt puts off inquiry against ex-ISI chief ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Pakistan Government has put off an inquiry against former ISI chief Lt Gen Javed Nasir, who has been accused of swindling Rs three billion worth of state funds. The National Accountability Bureau, which earlier convicted former Premier Benazir Bhutto and a naval chief in corruption cases, put off the probe against Nasir for "unknown reasons," a report said. "Yes investigations were going on against nasir but no case was pending against him," a Colonel at NAB’s office told local daily `Dawn’. The official failed to give any reason why the investigations against Nasir had been put off and not pursued by the NAB as it has been doing in the cases of corruption against opposition politicians particularly Bhutto and her spouse. The NAB official also refused to disclose the nature of investigation pending against Nasir, who was also the head the country’s prime intelligence agency during the tenure of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, it said. Nasir was accused of indulging in corrupt deals while he was the Chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board. He held the post after his retirement and alleged to have committed largescale irregularities through 20 land deals. He relinquished the charge of ETPB on July 16, 2001 much after the Musharrf Government took over power in 1999 and is reported to have fled the country. NAB’s action to drop proceedings against Nasir has been slammed by the PPP. "This has shown once again that serving and retired officers of army have been kept beyond the preview of accountability," PPP spokesman Faratulah Babar said. "It is now clear that the on-going process is politically motivated aimed at keeping political opponents out of the election contest," Babar said. He said the PPP, which has been facing the brunt of accountability process, would lodge a formal complaint with NAB Chairman Munir Hafeez to investigate this scam and apprehend all those involved in it irrespective of their rank or position. Commenting on the scam, another newspaper ‘Daily Times’ said "Gen Nasir was removed from the isi in 1993 after it was discovered that he had pared off big sums of money by buying property for the isi at inflated rates. It was also discovered that he had taken the entire isi foreign exchange budget and placed it in Mehran Bank, which later collapsed". Naisr was made chief of EPTB, when Sharif won the elections for the second time in 1997 and continued in the post till 2001. "All the while, he wrote low IQ articles praising the Kargil operation and urging Gen Musharraf to take on the Indians. Although he was an engineer in the Army, he steadily advanced in career because of his "Islamic" guise", the daily said adding "the flight of Nasir is a big blow to the already maligned ISI in particular and to our intelligence institutions in general", it said. (PTI) |
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B’desh accepts India’s propsal for expanding multi-modal transport link DHAKA, Aug 25: Bangladesh today agreed to expand multi-modal transport links with India in a move aimed at giving a major boost to bilateral trade as the two countries resolved to turn economic linkages as the bedrock of enhanced relations between them. Bangladesh’s decision to widen the multi-modal transport was conveyed by Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia to visiting External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha who called on her on the concluding day of his two-day visit to Dhaka, Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told reporters. The proposal for beefing up multi-modal transport linkages was put forward by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee during his visit to Dhaka last year to inaugurate Kolkata-Dhaka bus service. India has been pressing Bangladesh for years to agree to strengthen transport links between the two countries as a means for strengthening trade and people-to-people contact. Begum Zia said Dhaka-Agartala bus service would be introduced soon and instructions have been given to Bangladesh Communication (Surface Transport) Ministry for expediting the project. Chowdhury said the two countries agreed that economic ties should be the bedrock of Indo-Bangladesh relations and it is in this context that Dhaka agreed to expand multi-modal transport. He said Bangladesh voiced concern over the killing of 47 people in skirmishes at the border saying this was "violative" of agreement for maintaining peaceful frontiers. Sinha pointed out that one third of them were Indians but assured Begum Zia that he would convey her concern to Indian Home Ministry. Begum Zia accpeted Vajpayee’s invitation to visit India and dates of her visit would be worked through consultations between the two sides. On her part, the Bangladesh Premier invited her Indian counterpart to visit Bangladesh. India agreed to increase the number of seats for Bangladeshi students in Indian Institute of Technologies in either self-financing or sponsorship categories. Earlier, Sinha, in an interaction with senior Bangladeshi journalists, denied India was playing ‘big brother’ in South Asia and assured bilateral relations with Bangladesh would be on an equal footing. He said India did not subscribe to the notion of it having a "big brotherly attitude" towards its smaller neighbours. "India is indeed a big country in all aspects in comparison to Bangladesh but I can assure we will maintain bilateral ties on the basis of equality and and as sovereign countries," Sinha said was quoted by those present at the meeting. (PTI) |
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FBI resorts to maximum deployment in Pakistan to hunt Al-Qaeda ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Besides opening 44 offices in Pakistan, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has spent billions of dollars to deploy satellite-based communications system, unmanned aerial vehicles and night vision radars to step up operations against Al-Qaeda. The FBI offices, camouflaged as import and export firms and joint-venture establishments producing consumer goods, including a multinational soft drink company, are concentrated mostly in Punjab and North West Frontier Provice, a newspaper here reported said quoting sources. The FBI initially wanted to set up 200 offices displaying its signboards, and post Pakistani military and police guards at them. However, the Pakistani Government did not approve the plan, the report in ‘Daily Times’ said. More such offices were also planned in Sindh and Balochistan, it said. While the Government had earlier encouraged the FBI to share intelligence with Pakistani agencies during the opeartions against Al Qaeda suspects, it did not allow the American agency to conduct raids on its own inside Pakistan. The Pakistani Interior Ministry and intelligence agencies were now considering extending the operational cooperation with the FBI into a formal arrangement, including training more Pakistani investigators, the sources said, adding the FBI had trained some Pakistani officials to monitor international airports. The FBI was working closely with the Interior Ministry’s crisis management cell, headed by Brig Javed Cheema, which was established to curb sectarian violence and to neutralise Jihadi outfits, the report said. The Interior Ministry had on several occasions denied FBI operations in Pakistan whereas US Embassy spokesperson Mark Wentworth told reporters the FBI was working closely with Pakistani authorities on various cases, the paper said. It said officials from the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), US National Security Agency (NSA) and US National Reconnaissance Organisation (NRO) were also present in Pakistan. (PTI) |
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Pak charges attempt to divert attention from terrorism: India ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Taking strong exception to "unwarranted allegations" of attack on Pakistani Army posts on Thursday, India has accused Pakistan of trying to divert world attention from its involvement in cross-border terrorism by levelling these charges. In an indirect reference, India said the allegations were timed to coincide with the visit of US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to the region. Replying to yesterday’s note verbale of Pakistan, India said the allegations were a futile attempt on the part of Islamabad to divert the attention of the international community from cross border terrorism. In the reply, handed over to Pakistan foreign office last evening, India said the allegations that Indian Army and airforce launched an unprovoked attack two days ago on Pakistani defence post in the high altitude drass sector have been verified by the Indian officials and found to be wrong. India rejected the charges on Friday itself. However, the reiteration of the allegations by Pakistan yesterday by summoning the Indian diplomats ... Appeared to be unwarranted and raised doubts about Pakistan’s motivations in making the allegations, the reply said. The Indian reply was sent after pakistan foreign office yesterday summoned the Indian Charge-De-Affairs (CDA), Sudhir Vyas and Secretary (Political) Vikram Mistre and handed over a protest note accusing India of launching an unprovoked attack on the night of August 22. Earlier, refusing to comment on the allegation, Armitage said "I think the facts on the ground are something that the us can judge but I think the facts would clear over time. I think any violence is regrettable but I do not think it interferes with this mission anyway". (PTI) |
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