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Pakistan demands complete arms embargo on Afghan ISLAMABAD, Apr 1: Pakistan has demanded a complete arms embargo on all warring .....more Pak child sexual abuse suppressed by silence ISLAMABAD, Apr 1: A new study on child sexual abuse in Pakistan reports a .more BARCELONA,
Apr 1: The
world’s biggest book is a real lockbuster - A
whopping ........more KOUROU
(FRENCH GUYANA), Apr 1: India’s state-of-the-art INSAT-2E
multi-purpose .....more |
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Yugoslav President replaces Army Chief in Montenegro PODGORICA,
MONTENEGRO, Apr 1: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic .....more BEIJING,
Apr 1: The
Communist Party of India (Marxist) today urged China and
......more COLOMBO,
Apr 1: In a
move to wean away voters from the opposition United
........more COLOMBO, Apr 1: At least 37 North Korean sailors were missing....more |
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Pakistan demands complete arms embargo on Afghan ISLAMABAD, Apr 1: Pakistan has demanded a complete arms embargo on all warring factions to stop the protracted civil war in Afghanistan and called for punitive measures against countries violating such curbs. A steady inflow of arms from outside is responsible for prolonging the conflict in Afghanistan, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed told newsmen here yesterday calling for a total arms embargo on the country. He also suggested that those countries violating the arms embargo be punished under the UN charter. Rejecting allegations that Pakistan was meddling in Kabul’s internal affairs, he said Pakistan’s sincerity and policy of non-interference can be judged from its suggestion for a complete arms embargo on warring Afghan factions. Pakistan, he said, was directly affected by developments in Kabul and would not like to see turmoil there. Warring Afghan factions have repeatedly accused Pakistan and Iran of interfering in Afghanistan’s affairs and helping rival groups leading to tension between Islamabad and Tehran. Shamshad conceded there have been a few difficulties in bilateral relations between Iran and Pakistan over the Afghan issue in the past. But these (difficulties) are now waning. In fact, we have asked Iran to make a collective endeavour towards lasting peace in Afghanistan, he said. (PTI) |
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Pak child sexual abuse suppressed by silence ISLAMABAD, Apr 1: A new study on child sexual abuse in Pakistan reports a doubling of cases reported in newspapers in one year - to the dismay of child rights activists. As many as 478 cases of sexual assaults on children were reported by the national press in 1997. The number rose to 866 during 1998, said Saifullah Chaudhry of ‘Sahil’, an Islamabad- based group working for child protection from sexual abuse. "Most such cases are never reported. Say only ten per cent are reported to the police. Our study is based on cases reported by eleven national and four Sindhi-language newspapers ... We cross checked them with relevant police stations," Mr Chaudhry explained. According to a recent report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), "the instances that made it to the press (in 1998) were often only those that had led to the murder of the child or grievous injury, or when the child remained kidnapped." Sexual abuse of children is rampant, across class and gender boundaries in Pakistan, but strong social taboos and notions of family honour bind communities into silence in this Muslim majority Muslim country. "Society reinforces such heinous practices by refusing to acknowledge a child’s rights over his or her own body and the right to live in a violence-free atmosphere," observed Mr Chaudhry. Asked if he had ever handled a case of child sexual abuse, Farhat Kazmi, a former head of a police station in the capital city Islamabad, declared that in 14 years he has come across only one case of a five-year-old girl. "It’s not that they aren’t reported, such cases don’t really take place," he said firmly. According to police rules, only rape constitutes a sexual offence in the case of children. "We only register cases where it is established that intercourse with the child has taken place," confirms Mr Kazmi. Activists point to the case of a judge of the Supreme Court who failed to register a criminal case against his cook who had sexually assaulted the 13-year-old daughter of his maid in 1997 in his official residence, preferring instead to have the cook dismissed from service. The cook struck again the same year in November in the Supreme Court colony in Rawalpindi where he raped the three-year-old daughter of another court employee. Now he is in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail facing trial, though not on multiple charges of rape. Instead of dealing sternly with child rapists, with a law that deals specifically with child sexual offenders, the Government has sought to use laws that are either outdated or vague and specifically for adults. It has been left to the discretion of the investigating officer to decide which one of the variety of laws - Pakistan penal code, Islamic Zina and Hudood ordinances and Tazir - is to be applied against the child sexual offender. Most of the cases are registered under Islamic Zina (adultery) and Hudood Laws concerning rape, under which a woman has to produce witnesses to register a case of rape. The ordinances are a legacy of Pakistan’s martial law past. Women’s groups have been campaigning for the repeal of the Islamic laws. According to an Islamabad-based lawyer, they punish the victims and in many cases allow the perpetrators to go scot free. "For example if a 15-year-old girl gets pregnant after rape and she fails to produce four adult witnesses against the accused, then she will be charged with Zina," he explained. In 1997, the present Nawaz Sharif Government introduced the death penalty for rapists charged with attacking children under ten years, and said such cases should be tried in the special courts set up under the anti-terrorism laws. But the death sentence, experts around the world have pointed out repeatedly, has never served as a deterrence. Instead it is a death sentence for the victims of sexual crimes who are killed by their violators. According to the NGO Sahil’s study, of the 866 reported cases of child sexual abuse in 1998, 69 children were killed by their attackers after the assault. "We question death penalty as a way to deter this crime. But more seriously we are concerned with the age of the child the Government has set. What about children of eleveen years who are raped," asks Sahil’s Chaudhry who says Pakistan is lagging in the implementation of the convention of the rights of the child. An official in the Ministry of Law, who naturally did not want to be named, said there is nothing wrong with Pakistan’s laws, the real deficiency lies with the investigation. "Some of the laws, like the hudood laws, cannot be changed since they are given by the Allah almighty. It’s the bad application of the law that creates difficulties," he said. But child rights groups would like to see the enactment of a law that would guide investigation countrywide. States Sahil: "The investigation does not lay enough emphasis on forensic data, rather it focuses on evidence and extracting confessional statements from the accused." (IPS) |
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BARCELONA, Apr 1: The world’s biggest book is a real lockbuster - A whopping four metres tall, four metres wide and weighing two tons. It can’t be read yet, however, because it hasn’t been written. The writing got under way yesterday with presentation of "world book on tour" in Barcelona, Spain. For a small contribution to charity people will be able to write in the 10,000-page tome as it visits cities around the globe over the next five years. The organisers estimate that two million people will contribute their thoughts to the book. A part of the proceeds will go to the United Nations Children’s Fund. (DPA) |
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INSAT-2E launch rehearsal on, all set for lift-off KOUROU (FRENCH GUYANA), Apr 1: India’s state-of-the-art INSAT-2E multi-purpose satellite is all set to be launched from here on an ariane rocket on Saturday as the final tests of the system have been termed satisfactory by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists. INSAT-2E, designed and built by Indian scientists, is awaiting its spectacular lift-off from this high-tech space complex of the ariane space agency. The final launch countdown will begin tomorrow and the rocket will be launched on April three between 3.33 a.m and 4.23 a.m (Ist). The final launch readiness review has been conducted and all the trials have given satisfactory results. We are eagerly looking forward to the launch, a Baskaranarayana, Project Director of INSAT-2E, told here. Baskaranarayana is among the 14 ISRO scientists conducting various tests on the satellite since its arrival here on February 15. ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, who arrived here last week, reviewed the readiness of the spacecraft and expressed satisfation over the results. The 2.5 tonne satellite, built at a cost of Rs 200 crore, is last of the INSAT-2 series and has a life span of 12 years. It will carry 17 C-band transponders which can be used for telecommunications, television broadcasting and meteorological services. The satellite was integrated with the launcher on Monday. The transponders could provide 12,000 two-way voice links or broadcast about 100 digitally compressed TV channels or suitable mix of both uplinks to the satellite could be made from India, China, West Asia and major parts of Southeast Asia, Central Europe, Australia and Southern parts of Russia. The International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation (INTELSAT) has already taken nine transponders for lease bringing valuable foreign exchange revenue of about 100 million dollar. The rest of the transponders will be provided to domestic users. The master control facility at Hasan, Karnataka, would take control of the satellite less than 30 minutes after ariane’s lift-off. The satellite would be co-located at 83 east longitude along with the INSAT-1D, ISRO officials said. The satellite also carries for the first time an improved version of a high resolution radiometer to be used for imaging cloud coverage, including cyclone formation, estimating and predicting rainfall. The charged coupled device camera, featuring for the first time, would improved pictures and assist in cyclone analysis, local storm monitoring, heavy rain forecast and snow forecast. ISRO officials said after the failure of INSAT-2D, which was launched from here in 1997, certain changes had been made in INSAT-2E according to the suggestions of the national review committee, which went into the failures of the earlier satellite. (PTI) |
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Yugoslav President replaces Army Chief in Montenegro PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO, Apr 1: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has removed the head of the second Yugoslav Army, which is stationed in Montenegro, and replaced him with a loyal ally, sources close to the military has said. The sources yesterday said General Radosav Martinovic was urgently recalled to Belgrade on Tuesday and has not returned. They said he would be substituted by General Milorad Obradovic, a Serb who is currently Assistant Chief of Staff for the Federal Army. The Montenegro Government, which has distanced itself from Milosevic and branded the federal administration in Belgrade as illegitimate, said earlier this week it had a steady rapport with Martinovic, despite tensions over NATO military attacks. Montenegro, which together with Serbia forms the federal republic of Yugoslavia, refused to ratify Belgrade’s declaration of a state of war last week following the beginning of the NATO bombardment. It has also told its citizens to ignore a general call-up to the Army. Government officials here warned this week that Milosevic may seize on the present troubles to undermine their administration and impose a Belgrade-friendly regime in Podgorica. Deputy Prime Minister Dragisa Burzan told reporters that he had heard about reports of a change at the top of the second Army, but he could not confirm them. (REUTERS) |
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CPI-M favours strategic India-China-Russia triangle BEIJING, Apr 1: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today urged China and Russia to seriously consider forging a strategic triangle among themselves to counter hegemony of the United States. In wake of fresh uncertainties in the post-cold war era, new relationship between India, China and Russia would go a long way in helping world peace and security, member of the CPI-M Polit Bureau Sitaram Yechury told PTI here. Yechuri, who is leading a five-member CPI-M delegation to China expressed his party’s support for such a proposal, first mooted by Russian Premier Yevgeny Primakov during his visit to India in December. In view of developments in Yugoslavia and NATO’s eastward expansion cooperation between the three would act as a sobering counter influence in world politics, Yechuri said after a meeting senior CPC officials here yesterday. He said that though the Chinese side were not very forthcoming about the proposal they did not reject it outright. However, the partnership should not be one of confrontation reminiscent of the cold war era, he said. Both parties agreed on the need to put Sino-Indian ties back on track to ensure stability in the region as well as strengthen ties in other fields. On the vexed border issue, they agreed that talks were the only way out. India’s nuclear tests also figured in the talks. The Chinese expressed resentment against attempts to portray China as a threat to India’s security, Yechury added.(PTI) |
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Kumaratunga directs officials to use Tamil in records COLOMBO, Apr 1: In a move to wean away voters from the opposition United National Party, Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga has directed officials to use Tamil in keeping official records in all divisions where minority Tamils constitute one fifth or more of the population. Days before the April six polls to five provincial councils in South, where Tamils and Muslims constitute a significant votebank, the decision was announced yesterday at a meeting of the on-the-spot-service started recently by the Government to redress the grievances of Tamils, who complain of regular harassment by security agencies. Prof Peiris, author of the Government’s devolution proposals, said the latest order would enable Tamil-speaking people to transact their business with the Government in their own language. It would also benefit Tamil-speaking Muslims. The order was issued as the proposals providing adequate safeguards for Tamil language failed to get through the parliament due to lack of a two-thirds majority, Peiris said. The proposals were introduced in the parliament in Nov, 1997 but could not be passed as the United National Party (UNP) refused to extend support. Kumaratunga is first Sinhala leader to admit Tamils’ genuine grievances and encourage Government departments to adopt measures to alleviate their hardships, he said. As per the Government’s proposals, Sinhalese would be the official language of records in seven provinces while Tamil would have same status in North and East where Tamils are in a majority. (PTI) |
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37 North Koreans missing in Indian ocean as ship sinks COLOMBO, Apr 1: At least 37 North Korean sailors were missing when their merchant ship sank after colliding with a South Korean cargo vessel in the Indian Ocean last night. India immediately launched search and rescue operations for the two ships which collided around 1500 GMT (2030 hrs IST) between Sri Lanka and Sumatra at latitude five degrees and 56 minutes north and longitude 83 degrees and 52 minutes east, officials here said today. A Maritime Ministry spokesman in Seoul said the 7,000-tonne Manopok, which collided with the 52,000-tonne South Korean Hyundai Duke, was carrying altogether 39 North Koreans. Two have been rescued. So far only two have been saved while all others are still reported missing. The vessel apparently went under after hitting our ship, the spokesman said. India has pressed two Naval ships and an aircraft to search for the missing sailors, Indian officials here said. Colombo Radio, Sri Lanka’s ship-to-shore communication centre here, said all the merchant ships in the vicinity have been alerted. As the scene of the accident appears to be closer to the Andamans than Visakhapatnam the Indian authorities there sent a plane from Port Blair, it said. The South Korean ship, which picked up the two survivors, is arriving here tomorrow, the radio said. (PTI) |
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