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Prachanda reinstates Indian priests

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:11:00 -0500

Nepalese Prime Minister Prachanda has temporarily reinstated a group of sacked Indian priests to offer worship at the Pashupati Temple.

Prachanda late on Wednesday told the National Assembly that he had ordered officials "to manage normal worship at the temple by the same Indian priests for the time being."

Daily worship and religious functions at the centuries-old temple have been disrupted since last week amidst some priests protesting over the replacement of Indian priests with Nepali national.

Hindu organisations here have been protesting against the removal of the priests.

In New Delhi, protestors also accused the Nepalese Government of hurting Hindu sentiments by appointing Nepalese national as priest at the ancient temple.

For centuries the chief priest of the Pashupatinath Temple was appointed by temple authorities with approval of the king of Nepal from high caste Hindus from neighbouring India.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had asked the government and the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) not to let the newly appointed Nepali priests offer worship at the temple till the Supreme Court issues its final verdict on the case.

The government had earlier said they defended their decision to appoint new priests at the temple.

Prachanda said that he would abide by the interim order delivered by apex court. (ANI)

Pak opposition parties flay Govt’s handling of Kasab issue as “blooper of a confused regime”

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:11:00 -0500

Opposition parties in Pakistan have blasted the Government for its inept handling of the Kasab nationality issue, while demanding that no culprit found guilty should ever be handed over to India.

“We are committed to our principled stance and we will put to trial non-state actors according to our law, but the government should never hand over any culprit to India”, the Nation quoted PML-N Secretary Information Ahsan Iqbal, as saying.

“If any individual of any state is found guilty in heinous crimes it does not mean that the whole country is put under trial,” Iqbal added.

Commenting on Pakistan’s acceptance that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving Mumbai attacker was its national, and contradictory remarks made by authorities regarding it, Iqbal said: “It has shown that there is a disjointed decision-making process in power corridors.”

Leaders in Pakistan have termed the contradictory statements of Government functionaries regarding Ajmal Kasab’s nationality as ‘the blooper of a confused regime’.

PML-Q Parliamentary leader in the NA Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat said that it has proved that the Government has no policy, no direction at all.

“The manner in which whole episode was conducted reveals immaturity of the sitting regime” Hayat said.

He further criticized the ruling party for tarnishing Pakistan’s image in the global community.

“Due to blunders of the Government, India has successfully tarnished Pakistan’s image among the world nations,” Hayat added.

He said that after the admission by Pakistani Government that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani national, an independent international inquiry should be conducted into Mumbai carnage to unearth the real culprits behind the acts of terrorism.

“United Nations could also be invited to probe Mumbai terror attacks so that a transparent investigation could fix the responsibility on non-state actors” Hayat said. (ANI)

New POK PM will only increase anti-India rhetoric, pushing back Kashmir issue

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:10:00 -0500

The way the new Pakistan Occupied Kashmir Prime Minister Muhammad Yaqub was forced by the PPP-led Government to dislodge his predecessor Sardar Attique Ahmed, has made it clear that he will ratchet up the anti-India rhetoric now in vogue in Pakistan, without regard to how far it pushes back the cause of Kashmir.

The ruling Muslim Conference in POK was split on the directives of Islamabad to replace Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed with Muhammad Yaqub following a no-confidence vote based on allegations of “corruption and nepotism”.

It is becoming more and more imminent that Yaqub will only cleanse the administration of corruption and leave the posturing over Kashmir.

Charges of “interference” will never be irrelevant in POK because of Article 21 of its Constitution, which vests all authority in the Prime Minister of Pakistan, rather than the Prime Minister of POK, the Daily Times said in its lead editorial.

This means the POK PM serves at the pleasure of the Kashmir Affairs Ministry in Islamabad and often has to encash his infinite flexibility with marginal “collection” of rewards for himself and his cronies.

Sardar Attique’s Muslim Conference has been in power since July 2001 when the government of the POK People’s Party was toppled after it was accused of moral impropriety and promoting graft.

The Muslim Conference was loyal to the PML-N and it had supported the Kashmir policy of General Zia too. After 2001, the realism of Muslim Conference made it ride with General Musharraf’s new proposals for Kashmir, like the Theory of Four Regions and the declaration of Line of Control (LoC) as Line of Commerce (LoC).

The man behind this change was the intellectually supple Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, Sardar Attique’s father, who could communicate at the global level.

The PPP government if it has at all participated in the toppling may want to get rid of the vestiges of former President Pervez Musharraf and his policy. (ANI)

Durrani sacked for stealing Gilani’s thunder over admission of Kasab’s Pak nationality

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:10:00 -0500

Highly informed sources in the Pakistan Government have said that the sacking of the National Security Advisor Major General (retd) Mehmud Durrani was more related to the fact that Durrani denied PM Gilani of taking the credit for breaking the news about Ajmal Kasab’s nationality, the Dawn reported.

“Durrani was apparently sacked for leaking the news, since it not only caught the Prime Minister off guard, but perhaps also deprived him of taking the credit for breaking the news,” the website quoted a highly placed source in the Pakistan Government, as saying.

“The probe had concluded that Ajmal Kasab was in fact a Pakistani national, but it was left to the Prime Minister, to decide whether or when it should be made public,” it added.

Earlier, right after news about Pakistan’s acceptance of the fact that the lone surviving Mumbai gunner belonged to its soil was flashed in the media, Pakistan Prime Minister Yusu Raza Gilani dismissed his National Security Advisor Major General (retd) Mehmud Durrani for being too candid on the tricky issue of Mumbai carnage suspect Ajmal Kasab, ‘without taking him into confidence’.

“Security Advisor had ‘embarrassed me and the country by going public with the report of Ajmal Kasab’s nationality without my permission. I have dismissed him with immediate effect,” Gilani told media yesterday.

The sacking of a senior official proves that there is wide rift inside the Pakistan government, and it shows that there is a complete disconnect between the members of Pakistan ministry. (ANI)

Nervous Khaleda backers call for seasoned Pak diplomats to counter India’s growing influence

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:08:00 -0500

The landslide victory of Sheik Hasina’s Awami League has jolted the pro-Pakistan political forces in Bangladesh who want Islamabad to send some seasoned diplomats here to look after its interests in the wake of growing Indian influence in the country.

The rise of Indian influence could be measured from the fact that the Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh was the first foreign diplomat to call on Sheikh Hasina Wajid after the election results were announced and met her for two hours.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to visit Dhaka next week to meet the new Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“If Pakistan wants to safeguard its interests in Bangladesh, then it needs to immediately send a seasoned diplomat as its High Commissioner. Diplomats like Riaz Khokhar, Dr Tanveer Ahmed Khan and Hamayun Khan have served Pakistan with distinction in the past as HC,” observed one MP of Khalida Zia’s Bangladesh National Party.

Background interviews revealed that as the Hasina Wajid-led Awami League prepares to start the trial of “war criminals” within the next six months, a seasoned Pakistani diplomat is required here who could deal with this very sensitive issue.

India would be the sole beneficiary of these trials as Pakistan would be at the receiving end. Many former generals of the Pakistan Army are included in the list of 210 ‘war criminals’.

Pakistan has shown no sign of urgency in countering the Indian influence and has not fully realised the impact of the sea change that has taken place in Bangladesh, The News said.

It would do Pakistan a world of good if Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi could find time to visit Dhaka immediately to open a new chapter in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations.

The Indians, on the other hand, are taking full advantage of the situation, feeling satisfied that, after Afghanistan, now they have a friendly government in Dhaka. This new situation might greatly help India in promoting its regional agenda. (ANI)

Dubya has just two weeks to keep tradition at ‘presidential eatery’

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:08:00 -0500

US president George W. Bush has been issued a warning that he has only two weeks left to keep the tradition that has been going on at famed eatery ‘21’.

Dubya had eaten at ‘21’ when he was the Governor of Texas, but the eatery is determined that he visits them before his tenure as president gets over.

“We''ve hosted every sitting president since FDR, but GWB hasn''t been here in his eight years,” the New York Post quoted a source as saying.

“Everybody around him - Dick Cheney, Laura Bush, Barbara and Jenna, Karl Rove, Condi Rice and George H.W. and Barbara Bush - has made it.

“There''s less than two weeks left, but we''re still hoping.

“He doesn''t even need to eat. He can just say hi to our doormen Pedro and Shaker or our men''s room guy, The Rev., and we''ll count it,” the source added. (ANI)

It’s official, Obama is the next US President

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:07:00 -0500

The tallying of the votes for the 2008 US presidential election took place on January 8, and President-elect Barack Obama was officially declared the winner.

The counting of the Electoral College votes, during a joint session of Congress, showed that Obama and Joe Biden received 365 electoral votes, while John McCain and Sarah Palin got 173, reports Politico.com.

The reading of electoral votes for each state is a quadrennial formality for members of the House and Senate, with Vice President Dick Cheney presiding over the joint session in the House chamber.

The house was packed with Democrats, who were applauding and laughing, while the Republicans, the ones who decided to show, pretended to look happy.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), both in attendance, leapt to their feet when the final tally was called.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who spent most of the session whispering behind clenched fists, were the last to stand. (ANI)

Indian woman who burnt hubby’s genitals granted ‘home’ bail by Oz court

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:07:00 -0500

An Indian woman charged with husband''s murder after allegedly setting fire to his genitals has been granted strict home detention bail by Adelaide Magistrates Court.

Rajini Narayan, 44, was released on bail after an appearance in the court to face allegations she set her husband on fire while he slept after learning he was having an affair.

Narayan has been ordered to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and live with her mother at suburban Magill.

She will be back in court in February, reports News.com.au.

Magistrate William Ackland also ordered the mother-of-three to accept any psychiatric assessment, monitoring, counselling and treatment considered appropriate.

Prosecutor Lucy Boord remained opposed to bail, saying there were concerns about whether Narayan fully comprehended the result of her actions.

Mr Narayan suffered major burns in the December 7 blaze and was admitted to hospital, but died last week.

Boord said Mrs Narayan told her neighbours she was a "jealous wife" and that her husband''s "penis should belong to her".

Mrs Narayan allegedly said: "I just wanted to burn his penis so it belongs to me and no-one else ... I didn''t mean this to happen".

The fire gutted the family''s suburban Unley home. (ANI)

UN Security Council resolution calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:06:00 -0500

The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza and durable truce between Israel and Hamas after three days of intense negotiations.

The resolution passed on Thursday night by a 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining, FOX News reported.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US agrees with the principles of the cease-fire resolution but wants to see the outcome of an Egyptian effort to bring the Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table.

The cease-fire resolution spearheaded by Egypt and France must be “not just applauded, but supported,” Rice said.

Despite the breakthrough in the United Nations, the two-week-old war in the Gaza Strip raged on, and early Friday, an Israeli airstrike flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, one of more than 30 targets struck before dawn by Israeli warplanes.

Hamas security officials said the strike killed at least seven people, including an infant.

Israel launched its offensive on December 27 in response to cross-border rocket attacks by the Islamic group Hamas, which the United States and Israel consider a terrorist organization and whose charter calls for the descrution of the state of Israel.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, and Arab nations that have close ties to Hamas negotiated the text of the UN resolution that was passed on Thursday, but it will be up to Israel and Hamas to decide to stop their military activities.

The conflict has left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza increasingly desperate for food, water, fuel and medical assistance, and the situation was expected to worsen as humanitarian efforts fall victim to the fighting. (ANI)

NYPD training for new threats in wake of Mumbai terror attacks

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:05:00 -0500

After studying the Mumbai terror attacks, the New York Police Department (NYPD) is looking for ways to disrupt cell phone calls and other forms of electronic communication among terrorists in the event of another terror attack in New York.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is scheduled to discuss this and other “lessons learned” in testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, FOX News reported.

Kelly stressed the need for law enforcement to be able to disrupt cell phone calls and other communications during an attack, pointing to threats posed by the media when they disclose law enforcement tactics during live coverage that can get passed back to the attackers.

Kelly said that in the Mumbai attack, the terrorists’ handlers used cell phones and other portable communications devices to order the killing of hostages and to adjust other tactics while the attacks were underway.

It’s not clear from his testimony whether the NYPD has the means to disrupt electronic communications for a small group of terrorists without shutting down cell phone service to a large part of Manhattan.

Kelly’s testimony also warns that although New York has adopted the most robust counter-terrorism programs, but police still “cannot fully protect New York’s harbor” given the vast amount of un inspected cargo that enters the ports of New York and New Jersey each day.

As a result, Kelly says he has continued to highlight the “urgent need” for better port and maritime security, FOX News reported.

“We are mindful that the attackers approached Mumbai from the water,” his statement reads.

The 36,000-member NYPD, the nation’s largest city police force, has already changed some procedures and conducted new drills in response to vulnerabilities identified by a three-member NYPD counter-terrorism team that visited Mumbai three days after the attack in India’s financial center ended. (ANI)