Washington, In a rebuff to Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, US president Barack Obama did not meet him on the margins of the NATO Summit in Chicago as the two countries failed to strike a deal on reopening the NATO supply lines to Afghanistan. Zardari, who flew to Chicago with hopes of lifting his stature with a meeting with Obama, was preparing to leave empty-handed as the two countries continued to feel the repercussions of a NATO air strike last November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, an incident for which the US President has offered condolences but no apology. As the two-day NATO summit opened in Chicago last evening, Obama remained at loggerheads with Zardari, refusing even to meet him without a deal on the supply routes, which officials in both sides acknowledged would not be coming soon, US media reported on Monday. But White House deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes said that Obama could not meet Zardari as he had a "full slate of summit meetings to attend." "The two bilateral meetings, really, that he did, or President (Hamid) Karzai for obvious reasons given the focus on Afghanistan here, and the Secretary General of NATO given that it's ...
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Chennai, AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Sunday stepped up her lobbying for the candidature of NCP leader and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma for the upcoming Presidential elections. She spoke to several non UPA leaders including BJP leader LK Advani, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI leader AB Bardhan, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu in an effort to build consensus in Sangma's favour. . "As part of her campaign for Sangma, Jayalalithaa has spoken to the leaders over the phone and asked them to support Sangma who is also a tribal leader from north east and capable person for the presidential post," a statement issued by the AIADMK headquarters here stated. It also recalled Sangma's meeting with Jayalalithaa on May 15 at the state secretariat in Chennai. Jayalalithaa officially announced her support for Sangma on May 17. Jayalalithaa's latest initiative comes two days after she asked all parties to "rise above political considerations," and support the tribal leader for the top constitutional post. . In a coordinated move, Jayalalithaa and her ...
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Islamabad, A brawl occurred between Pakistan International Airlines crew members and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's son Ali Musa on a flight from Lahore to Karachi, according to a media report on Friday. Ali Musa, a parliamentarian, insisted that his guard, who had an economy class ticket, would sit with him in the business class, The Express Tribune reported. The matter was resolved when the captain of the flight intervened and told the premier's son that he would turn the aircraft back to Lahore if he persisted with his demand, which was against the rules. The threat by the captain worked and Ali Musa gave up his demand, following which the flight continued and landed at Karachi, the report said. The report did not say when the incident had ...
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Dera Ismail Khan, Intelligence officials say the Taliban have beheaded two Pakistani soldiers and hung their heads from wooden poles in a town in the country's northwest. A Pakistani Taliban commander says militants seized the two men on Sunday night when the army raided two houses in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area. The military operation followed a militant ambush on a security checkpoint in Miran Shah earlier Sunday that killed nine soldiers. The intelligence officials did not specify how the soldiers were seized, but confirmed that their heads were hanging from poles in two different parts of Miran Shah. The officials and the Taliban commander spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday because they were not authorized to talk to the ...
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Chennai, With the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant all set to commence power generation, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday demanded that the entire power produced from it be given to the state. "Now I understand that nuclear fuel loading is going to take place in the next few days in the first unit of the plant of 1000 MW capacity. It is expected that criticality will be reached in the following 20 days or so, leading to power generation from the first unit of the plant", she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Recalling her March 31 letter to him in this regard, she said details with regard to action on the allocation of the entire power to be generated from the KNPP to the state were "yet to be known". In the backdrop of the first unit of KNPP expected to attain criticality, Jayalalithaa said she would like to remind the Prime Minister about her earlier request. "I am sure that you will do the needful by accepting the absolutely justified demand of our state", she ...
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Kabul, As many as 36 Taliban militants, who launched a series co-ordinated of attacks in Kabul on Sunday, were killed as the encounter between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces ended after 18 hours on Monday, said a top official. Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Mohammadi on Monday confirmed all 36 militants involved in the attacks, were gunned down in the heavy street fighting that started at Sunday noon. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesperson Siddiq Seddiqi told media: "The encounter ended at 7.20 am. All militants were killed. The areas have been cleared." Reports said four insurgents in Kabul, four in Jalalabad, three in Paktia, three in Logar were killed by Afghan police, while 14 police and 9 civilians wounded. The militants were hiding in a construction site as NATO helicopters launched strafing attack runs on them. Taliban militants launched a series co-ordinated of attacks in Kabul on Sunday, targeting western embassies and the nation's parliament with explosions and gunfire rocking western and central parts of Afghanistan's capital city. Gunmen and suicide bombers also attacked targets outside Kabul, including government buildings in Logar ...
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Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to trust the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) on unwilling states. She also urged Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting of chief ministers to discuss the matter. In a letter to the prime minister, Jayalalithaa said: "I request the formation of NCTC may first be ordered to be held in abeyance and a meeting of chief ministers may be convened to discuss this matter. "The views of chief ministers will have to be given due consideration and a purposeful discussion on counter terrorism should be made possible. I request an early reply in this matter." Her demand follows a statement by the Home Secretary that the office memorandum on NCTC has not been withdrawn and is deemed to have come into effect on March 1. Expressing surprise at the central government convening a meeting of chief ministers April 16 to discuss internal security issues including NCTC, she said: "It is indeed unfortunate that, without taking into consideration the views and sentiments of chief ministers, the constitution of the NCTC is sought to be steamrolled into existence." States critical of ...
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Chennai, After giving the green signal to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday demanded that the entire 2000 MW power to be generated by its two units be given to the state in view of the "severe power shortage." In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said it would be "proper and justifiable that the entire power to be generated from the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is made available to Tamil Nadu." "This is also inevitable as the transmission corridor congestion problem still continues and has also been brought to your notice," she said in the missive coming almost two weeks after the state cabinet gave the nod for the plant. The chief minister pointed out that out of the 2000 MW to be generated by two units in KNPP, Tamil Nadu has been allocated a share of 925 MW only. She recalled she had already made a request of allocation of 1000 MW from Central pool last year against which a "mere 100 MW" was made available to the state which was facing "severe power shortage". "I hope that this request will be positively considered by you. May I also reiterate that we require and deserve this power?" she ...
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Melbourne, A Perth-based Indian student will spend 14 months in jail for his involvement in a scam to falsify English test scores to get Australian visas. Rajesh Kumar, 31, faced ten charges for his part in fraudulently altering the International English Testing System (IELTS) scores at Perth's Curtin University between November 2009 and June 2010. A Perth District Court sentenced Rajesh Kumar on Monday after he pleaded guilty for changing the outcomes of IELTS test apparently to get permanent residence in Australia. Nine other persons have already been jailed in a scam to increase the IELTS scores to get permanent residence in Australia. The list includes Kok Keith Low, a Curtin University English Language Centre employee who would be behind the bars for two years for playing the key role in falsifying the scores for various, mostly, Indian students. Anyone achieving a score of a minimum 7.0 in four IELTS components gets extra points in the skilled points test to get permanent residence in Australia. Rajesh Kumar was found guilty of taking a total of $32,000 from three IELTS candidates applying for Australian visas. He kept $14,000 for himself while giving remainder ...
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Chennai, The ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK, a key UPA component, on Thursday took credit for India's vote in favour of the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka for war crimes at a special session of the UN Human Rights Council ( UNHRC) in Geneva. AIADMK supremo and chief minister J Jayalalithaa in a statement claimed that her continuous efforts in pressing the Centre over the issue yielded the desired result. DMK chief M Karunanidhi thanked PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi for India's vote against Sri Lanka. He, however, added, "I have written to the PM indicating that there is apprehension among Lankan Tamils about possible attacks on them. Request him to kindly prevent such undesirable developments." In TN, there was jubilation among both the Dravida parties as well as other smaller nationalist parties over the outcome of the vote coming as a shot in the arm for them in political ...
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New Delhi, With Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa giving the nod for the Kudankulam nuclear power plants, Russia said that it was going to send its scientists to the site on Tuesday to start commissioning work for the first unit of the reactors. Russian officials in India said that Moscow stood vindicated by Jayalalithaa's decision to back the reactors that couldn't be commissioned last year because of sudden protests by locals. "If local authorities guarantee security, a team of Russian scientists will be sent to the plant on Tuesday itself to start the commissioning work," Russian embassy senior counselor Sergey Karmalito told TOI. The two pressurized water reactors being built by the state-owned Atomstroy Export at Kudankulam are 98% complete. "Despite not being allowed to access the site, more than 80 scientists have stayed put in India. We understand that a team of Indian officials visited the plant today and we are waiting for their report," he added. Karmalito said that there was never any doubt in the minds of Russian scientists about what decision the Tamil Nadu government was going to take. "We welcome the decision taken by the chief minister. The reactors at ...
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Lucknow, Art of Living (AoL) founder and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shanker has offered his "good intentions and services" to the Pakistan government and said that he was ready to broker peace between the Pakistan government and Taliban. Back from a trip to Pakistan, Sri Sri told IANS that during his trip to Pakistan, he "could feel the urge in the Pakistan masses to find peace and get over violence". Moved by the successive terrorist attacks and the emotional welcome and send off he got at the AoL camps in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, the spiritual guru said he would be the happiest if any efforts by him could bring peace to the strife torn Pakistan. "There is a lot of violence in Pakistan and people are fed up, they want to live peacefully. If I could be of any help in bringing an end to the vicious cycle of violence, I am ready to talk to the Taliban," Sri Sri said. In fact, he added, as a spiritual guru, he was duty bound to bring peace to the world and he would leave no effort untried in doing so. In Lucknow, for a Satsang attended by over a lakh people at the Police Lines, recalling his Pakistan trip, Sri Sri said he was overwhelmed at the response he got ...
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New Delhi, Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was Wednesday questioned here for recommending a Pakistani visa for a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack in the capital, police said. "Geelani reached Lodhi Road office of the Special Cell around 3 p.m. today and was let off after 15 minutes of questioning," said an investigation officer. Police earlier found a copy of Geelani's recommendation letter with Ahtesham Malik, one of the two alleged Lashkar terrorists arrested in Delhi. According to police, the 24-year-old Malik was in Pakistan last summer. He went on a valid passport -- which police said was a new Lashkar strategy of sending recruits from the Kashmir Valley to Pakistan, with legal papers, for "arms and explosives ...
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New Delhi, The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Akali Dal emerged big winners Tuesday, with one poised to govern Uttar Pradesh and the other breaking a four-decade jinx to retain power in Punjab, leaving national parties BJP and Congress to count their losses despite wins in two of the five states. Two ruling parties ousted, two holding on to power despite the odds and a neck and neck race in a fifth state - it was a confused electoral pastiche as millions of votes were counted for elections held in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. It was the biggest popularity test since the 2009 general elections. Punjab was set to go back to the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, which survived anti-incumbency to emerge winner with leads in 63 seats against the Congress' 51 in the 117-member house. In Manipur, the Congress overcame the anti-incumbency to sweep the polls. However, the Congress government in Goa prepared to make way for BJP rule. In Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) faced defeat with trends indicating that it would get just 88 of the 403 seats, leaving the SP triumphant with a stunning mandate of 214 seats. The ...
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Chandigarh, Shiromani Akali Dal is all set to create history in Punjab. The party, along with its ally BJP, is cruising to victory, bucking anti-incumbency for the first time in the state's electoral history. The winning streak began early on Tuesday, and by 2 pm, SAD (32) and BJP (11) had together bagged 43 seats to Congress' 33. SAD was leading in 21 seats and Congress in 16. Around 2 pm, CM Parkash Singh Badal's media adviser Harcharan Bains addressed the media at Badal's home in Lambi, saying: "In the next few hours, SAD is going to emerge as the single largest party. We are on the verge of breaking 45-year-old record." The members of the Badal family, however, still chose to remain confined in the house and not make a public apperanace. Rebel Manpreet Badal Punjab has been rejected by the electorate of the state losing both his seats, including Gidderbaha, a seat he has been winning for four terms. The Congress' biggest blow came from what is considered its forte, the Doaba region of Punjab, which has a huge Dalit base. Mayawati may not have retained her magic in Uttar Pradesh but Punjab's Dalit belt has rejected the Congress that has lost in a number of seats and ...
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Washington, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has said that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is a good partner in war against terrorism, even as Pak military or the ISI, according to her, have maintained relationship with terrorist groups for decades. Testifying before a Congressional committee on Wednesday, Clinton said, "I think Congressman, what President Zardari told you on behalf of the civilian leadership of the government of Pakistan is true." "He has been a good partner in going after terrorism that threatens his country and Afghanistan and our troops," she said while responding to questions from Senator Michael Mccaul. Denying that US has any proof of any Pakistani high-level officials knowing about the presence of Osama bin Laden, she said, "We have no evidence of any high-level official knowing about bin Laden. But, like you, I have to assume that lower-level people had to have known something. But we haven't proven that. It could be asserted, but not yet proven." "This is a complicated, difficult relationship. What we are doing now is making it very clear what our expectations have to be going forward. And there is no doubt in my mind that certain ...
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Tehran, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said that the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Islamic Republic will be another blow to the country's enemies. In Friday's elections, Iran will serve another blow to the hegemonic powers, which would be even harder than that delivered Feb 11 during rallies marking the anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Xinhua quoted Khamenei as saying Wednesday. On Wednesday, Khamenei said that Friday's vote will be much more important than previous elections as enemies have invested all their remaining energy in the parliamentary elections. On Feb 11, hundreds of thousands of Iranians had celebrated the anniversary of the Islamic revolution by chanting slogans against the US and Israel. In January, Khamenei asked the Iranians to actively participate in the parliamentary elections slated for March 2, 2012, and said that the enemies of the country were trying to discourage people from participating in the elections. According to a report, over 48 million Iranian voters are eligible to cast their ballots and more than 3,400 candidates are in the fray for the 290 seats of the Iranian Majlis (parliament). ...
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Kabul, A Taliban suicide car bomber targeting NATO troops at an airport in eastern Afghanistan killed nine people Monday, the seventh day of violence over the burning of the Koran at a US airbase. The insurgents also said they were behind an attempt to poison foreign troops, as the death toll from unrest and protests that spread to even usually peaceful parts of the war-ravaged country hit about 40. The UN announced that it was pulling its international staff out of their base in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz after it came under attack Saturday by demonstrators protesting the burning of the Koran. The move came after NATO's International Security Assistance Force pulled all its staff out of Afghan ministries at the weekend when two US advisors were shot dead in the interior ministry, apparently by an Afghan colleague. Six civilians, an Afghan soldier and two local guards were killed in the bomb attack on the military base at Jalalabad airport, but NATO troops escaped unhurt. The Taliban said it was revenge for the Koran burning. "The foreign forces have insulted our religion and this attack was revenge," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told ...
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New Delhi, The Enforcement Directorate has issued notices to two former executives of the UBS Switzerland to appear for evidence recording at Mumbai in the Hassan Ali money laundering case. The former executives are believed to have helped the Pune-based businessman Ali in his money laundering allegedly estimated at more than $8 billion. The income Tax had also served Ali with notices in the same case for recovery of Rs 70,000 crore, including penalty for tax evasion. The summons was issued after a Mumbai court allowed ED to investigate the former UBS officials under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). One of the UBS employees served UBS as its executive director and had been mentioned in bank documents recovered from Ali during search at his residence. Ali had allegedly been in contact with a Saudi arms dealer, and there were banking transactions that ED sleuths suspect could be commission he may have received in arms deals. The Mumbai court has asked the two former UBS officials to present themselves before investigating officers in the second week of April. Earlier, the agency had sought information from UBS and the Royal bank of Luxembourg in an ...
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Kabul, At least 10 people were killed and a dozen others injured Monday when a Taliban suicide bomber blew up an explosives-laden vehicle near the gate of the airport in Afghanistan's Jalalabad city, officials said. The dead comprised the suicide bomber, five civilians, two armymen and two local security guards, police chief of Nangarhar province Abdullah Stanekzai told Xinhua. "A suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle near the gate of Jalalabad city airport this morning. Ten people, including the suicide bomber, were killed and 12 others were injured," Stanekzai said. Jalalabad is the capital of the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. Two American soldiers and six Afghan soldiers were among the injured, he said. Several cars were damaged in the blast that occurred around 6.30 a.m., witnesses said. "There was a young man driving a car who intended to enter the airport but he detonated his car shortly after army soldiers intercepted him and stopped his car," a witness told Xinhua. The massive explosion created a crater one metre deep and two metres in diameter in the road, the witness added. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for ...
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