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India to appoint envoy to Pakistan: PM

           New Delhi, May 2: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday announced in the Lok Sabha that India has decided to appoint a High Commissioner to Pakistan and restore civil aviation links on a reciprocal basis. Vajpayee said he had discussed ways of carrying forward bilateral relations during the telephone call he received from Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zaffarullah Khan Jamali on April 28.

          Giving details of the telephonic talk, Vajpayee said, "In this regard, I emphasised the importance of economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, people-to-people contacts and civil aviation links. These would create an environment in which difficult issues in our bilateral relations could be addressed. Prime Minister Jamali suggested resumption of sporting links between the two countries. We agreed that, as a beginning, these measures could be considered".

         Islamabad happy with Delhi's gesture (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, May 2: Pakistan will restore diplomatic ties with India in appreciation of India's decision to appoint a High Commissioner in Islamabad and restore civil aviation links. "We welcome Prime Minister Vajpayee's announcement in Indian Parliament today, including the one relating to the appointment of a High Commissioner," the Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri was quoted as saying by a TV agency. Kasuri also welcomed India's offer of dialogue, saying Pakistan had been pressing for a resumption for talks. However, he said the official reply to Vajpayee's peace overtures would come from Pakistan's Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Earlier, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that talks would begin very soon.

          Welcoming the resumption of links between the two countries, Pakistan's former envoy to India, Jaleel Abbas Geelani, said in a telephonic interview to a TV channel that his country welcomed Vajpayee's initiative and hoped the two countries would enter into a sustained, serious dialogue to resolve all issues. He, however, said there is no need for the intervention of any other country for talks between India and Pakistan.

Bank employees on a day's strike, seek wage revision (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 2: More than 200,000 bank officers across India went on a day-long strike on Friday to demand a wage increase, a move the unions said would halt banking operations. In the national Capital, they were out on streets shouting slogans. The strikers included officers in state-run banks, which account for about 70 per cent of all bank deposits and loans. They include the State Bank of India and other large banks such as Bank of India and Punjab National Bank. Around 260,000 of the 800,000 employees in the country's banking sector are taking part in the strike.

Pilots' Guild to stay de-recognised: Ministry (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 2: The Civil Aviation Ministry has decided not to withdraw de-recognition of the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) even after the latter called off its stir late on Thursday. Ministry sources on Friday said that disciplinary proceedings taken against the 45 suspended Air India pilots would continue since the week-long agitation had caused immense financial loss to the airline, besides lowering its image worldwide. The government had on Wednesday de-recognised the IPG while describing its stir as illegal.

          The pilots had refused to fly to Sars-affected countries. They also demanded a certificate that the crew members who had flown to a Sars-hit country during the past 10 days had not contracted the epidemic. When the government declined to fulfil their demands, the pilots decided to keep away from work. After nearly four days since the agitation started, the government took a hard stand and suspended more than 40 pilots for refusing to resume to their duty. On Thursday evening, the Air India pilots called off their ceasework after talks with Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma. Following assurances from the minister, they resumed work immediately.

         Meanwhile, the Mumbai High Court on Friday after hearing a petition filed by the Guild and 24 suspended pilots, allowed the 24 suspended Air India pilots to join duty but they must furnish replies to the chargesheet served on them by the management explaining the reasons for their refusal to operate flights. The court would decide on June 16 whether their suspension was per se illegal.

Sars kills 24 more in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan (Go To Top)

          Beijing, May 2: China, Hong Kong and Taiwan reported 24 more Sars deaths and 189 new cases on Friday, according to sources. The Chinese health ministry announced 11 new Sars fatalities and 176 new cases in the country. Eight more people died in Hong Kong, pushing the territory's toll to 170, but only 11 new cases of the disease were reported. Taiwan reported five more Sars deaths on Friday, bringing its toll to eight, health officials said.

Salman faces 10 charges, trial from July 2 (Go To Top)

          Mumbai, May 2: Salman Khan's plea for dropping the charge against him in the hit-and-run case was rejected on Friday, the sessions court holding him prima facie guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The case will go on trial on July 2. Ten charges have been framed against the actor but he has pleaded not guilty to each of them. If convicted, he faces a 10-year jail term. According to Khan, this is a case of rash and negligent driving for which two years of imprisonment is the maximum penalty under IPC. The film star had rammed his car into a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four.

GSLV to be launched on May 8 (Go To Top)

          Bangalore, May 2: The indigenous geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D2) will be launched on May 8, precisely at 5.30 pm, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at the spaceport of Sriharikota,Andhra Pradesh. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of senior officials of the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation, according to sources. GSLV-D2 would carry on board the second technology experiment satellite GSAT-2.

ASI allowed more time for Ayodhya excavation (Go To Top)

          Lucknow, May 2: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has granted 35 days more to the Archaeological Survey of India team to complete the excavation work at the disputed site of Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Earlier, the ASI had set May 10 as deadline to complete the excavation work. The special three-judge bench comprising Justices Sudhir Narain, SR Alam and Bhanwar Singh gave the direction while hearing a petition by Nirmohi Akhara which alleged that the ASI team was either negligent or that it was not doing the work expeditiously. The petition also urged the special bench to visit the site and inspect the progress itself.

Jail superintendent in Bihar town shot dead (Go To Top)

          Bhabua (Bihar), May 2 : In a daring incident, some unidentified persons shot dead the superintendent of Bhabua Jail on Friday morning. Ram Parishan Ram (55) was shot from close range while he was at his residence located inside the jail premises. He died instantly. Bhabua is a small town falling in Kaimur district. It has a sub- jail. Official sources said the assailants, who were three in number, were riding on two motrocycles.

Cong has two more general secretaries, portfolios juggled (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 2: Congress president Sonia Gandhi brought about changes in the top echelons of the party on Friday. Significantly high-profile aide Ambika Sonia lost the prized post of political secretary. However, two more general secretaries were brought in - Naval Kishore Sharma and RK Dhawan. Others who got a promotion were former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Miera Kumar (who recently rejoined the party) and Assam leader Vijar Handique, all of whom have been inducted into the Congress Working Committee. Janardhan Dwivedi has been inducted as a special invitee to the CWC.

           Ms Gandhi also set up a 12-member political affairs committee comprising heavyweights like Manmohan Singh, Arjun Singh, Natwar Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Karan Singh, Buta Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shivraj Patel, Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi and Jaipal Reddy. She herself will chair the committee which will look into the implementation of CWC decisions. A major reshuffle had been on the cards since the Congress debacle in the Gujarat Assembly elections in December last year.

70 die in mishap aboard Chinese submarine (Go To Top)

          Beijing, May 2: As many as 70 officers and crew members have been killed in a recent accident aboard a conventional submarine off China's coast. The accident occurred in Chinese territorial waters, apparently caused by mechanical problems, according to Xinhua news agency. The submarine has been towed to an unidentified port.