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Heat wave kills 370 people in South

          Hyderabad, May 27: A two-week heat wave has killed at least 370 people in south India where temperatures have soared to 47.5 degrees Celsius, official sources said Tuesday. High temperatures are expected to persist in some parts of Andhra Pradesh before the arrival of the monsoon, which normally hits the southern coast on June 1. Last May, the heat wave killed more than 1,000 people in Andhra Pradesh.

 

Aziz Ahmed tipped as new Pak envoy to India

          Islamabad, May 27: Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan is most likely to become Pakistan's new ambassador to India, information minister Sheikh Rashid said Tuesday. Senior government officials in both Islamabad and New Delhi confirmed that Pakistan had submitted Khan's name to India on Monday as the proposed new envoy, a foreign news agency reported. Pakistan, however, was waiting for India's approval before announcing Khan's appointment, officials said. India has named current ambassador to China, Shiv Shankar Menon, as its new envoy to Pakistan. Rashid said Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali had selected Khan after two weeks of deliberations over several suggested names.

More steps to improve Indo-Pak ties will lead to talks: PM

          New Delhi, May 27: A day after New Delhi announced restoration of bus service to Pakistan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said more steps would be taken to improve ties. Talking to reporters at New Delhi airport on Tuesday before leaving on a three-nation tour, Vajpayee hoped such steps would eventually lead to a dialogue. Besides announcing resumption of bus service connecting New Delhi with Lahore, an Indian Foreign Ministry statement on Monday said India would also release 70 Pakistani prisoners. In a goodwill gesture, Pakistan had released 25 Indian prisoners a few weeks ago. Another Pakistani parliamentary team is arriving here on Tuesday after a similar delegation paid a week-long visit, the first exchange of people in more than a year.

Prime Ministers will talk and I'm no obstacle: Musharraf (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, May 27: President Pervez Musharaf has declared that he will not be a hurdle before talks with India and Prime Minister Mir Zafarulla Khan Jamali will confer with his counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee. He made this observation during a telephonic interview with Jang on Monday evening in response to a question whether the Indian premier was giving an impression that he (Musharraf) was an obstacle to Indo-Pak dialogue, reports the News.

           "The Indian Prime Minister has talked to our Prime Minister, who will talk to him (Vajpayee)," he said. "We have taken first step towards improvement of relations with India and Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali first contacted the Indian leadership. I am fully backing the Prime Minister in this regard," Musharraf added. Answering a question, he said Pakistan wanted an end to oppression in Jammu and Kashmir. "We have adopted the course of dialogue with India thoughtfully and process of confidence- building measures is going on. We have sent our proposals for restoration of ties to India and they (Indians) are considering them," the daily quoted the General as saying.

          The proposal for declaration of South Asia as a nuclear-free zone was, he claimed, floated by Pakistan and Islamabad was continuously working on this matter. Pakistan was ready to hold talks with India on this issue. About the Indian proposal about intelligence-sharing with Pakistan to check terrorism, the President remarked that if any concrete proposal came from India, Pakistan was ready to look into it.

Intelligence sharing not practical at the moment: Kasuri (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, May 27: Pakistan has termed as impractical India's proposal on joint intelligence sharing to halt cross- border infiltration. Referring to Indian Foerign Minister Yashwant Sinha's statement to this effect, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told the News that sharing of intelligence was not something new. Pakistan shares intelligence with major countries of the world with whom it has no disputes but as far as India is concerned, bilateral ties need to be improved and the process of dialogue initiated before such an exercise can be undertaken. "This composite dialogue would help resolve all outstanding issues between us including that of Jammu and Kashmir. If this happens, I do not see why we cannot have normal relations with India also," he added while speaking to the newspaper.

Lawyers' petition against Musharraf's occupation of dual office (Go To Top)

          Lahore, May 27: Pakistan Lawyers Forum has filed a petition before the Lahore High Court challenging Pervez Musharraf's authority to simultaneously hold the offices of President of Pakistan and the Chief of Army Staff. The petitioner, AK Dogar, an advocate, maintained that even if the Legal Framework Order is assumed to be part of Constitution, Musharraf could neither hold the office of the President of Pakistan nor that of Chief of Army staff, and should be required to show under what authority of law he claims to hold the office of President, the Nation reports.

Child killed as tribals' bandh turns violent in Jharkhand (Go To Top)

          Ranchi, May 27: An eight-year-old child was killed and several people injured on Tuesday as tribals demanding reservation in government jobs exploded four crude bombs in Ranchi city. The tribals have called for a 48-hour shutdown in Jharkhand since Monday. They are protesting against the state government's move to allow for open recruitment to over 10,000 posts of teachers in state- run schools, the selection tests for which were conducted on Tuesday. Protestors exploded four crude bombs in two schools, the venues for the recruitment tests.

          "In Ranchi there was firing only in three areas - Pulondon, Harmmo and Samlong," state interior secretary J.B Tubid told reporters. The tribals are pressing for implementation of the controversial domicile policy which makes it mandatory for job seekers to prove their ancestral roots in the state as far back as 1932. The policy, which was notified by the state government, was struck down as "unconstitutional" by Ranchi High Court on an appeal by anti-reservation groups. The largely tribal Jharkhand state witnessed largescale protests last year when thousands of striking tribals brought the city to a halt over the domicile policy.

Leh prepares for Sindhu Darshan festival (Go To Top)

          Leh, May 27: Hectic preparations are on for a three-day cultural festival on the banks of river Sindu (Indus) in Leh, 430 km east of Srinagar. Known as 'Sindhu Darshan', the festival in its sixth year now, will begin on June 1. It serves as a platform for people of the Sindhi community to meet and interact with each other. The festival also aims at projecting the Indus as a symbol of India's unity and communal harmony. It also aims at tapping tourism potential in the region. Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani flagged off a motorcycle rally to Leh. The participants will traverse through some of the most treacherous routes in the world, before they reach the banks of the Indus for the festival. Originating in Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet 17,000 feet above sea level, the Indus enters Leh from Pakistan before merging in the Arabian Sea.

Sonia flags off 100 relief trucks to drought-stricken Rajasthan (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, May 27: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi flagged off a contingent of 100 relief trucks to drought-hit Rajasthan on Tuesday. The trucks will reach state capital Jaipur by the weekend and then disperse to various villages. Taking a snipe at Bharatiya Janata Party, Randeep Singh Surjewala, president of the Congress youth wing, said the Congress felt the poverty-stricken people of the desert state need foodgrains rather than tridents. "Our party is sending 9,000 quintals of wheat for the drought affected areas of Rajasthan. On the one hand, when Bharatiya Janata Party is distributing tridents, our party is distributing foodgrains in order to help the poverty-striken people," he added.

           Praveen Togadia, a radical Hindu leader of a hardline group affiliated to the BJP, was arrested some months back in Rajasthan for defying a ban on public distribution of tridents. Rajasthan last year received scanty rains with overall rainfall about 18 percent below normal, leading to a 13 percent fall in agriculture production. Drought in Rajasthan has caused food shortages and widespread migration among villagers, with the spectre of starvation looming large in several parts of the state. The Central government has set up a task force to monitor the situation in several parts of the country hit by severe drought.