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Truckers threaten to stop essential commodities

          New Delhi: Trucking unions today warned that they could stop the flow of essential commodities into various towns and cities, if the government refused to backtrack on the introduction of a new service tax on goods transhipment. The threat, if carried out, could force the government to apply the Essential Services Maintenance Act. Wednesday was the fifth day of the strike. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), the country's largest truck union with nearly three million vehicles, today rejected Finance Minister P Chidambaram's appeal to end the strike, saying the agitation would continue till the Government withdraws the 10 per cent service tax. "The strike is total in all parts of the country. There is no loading or unloading of goods taking place anywhere in the country," said B N Dhumal, the president of the AIMTC. Chidambaram had on Tuesday night told reporters that the new tax would only apply to booking agents and not to truck owners or transporters. Dhumal, however, claimed that the government was engaged in a futile exercise of dividing the transport community. "What they ignore is that all the different components of the industry are neatly woven together and have a symbiotic relation. Any change or problem in one segment disturbs the whole chain. Therefore, it is childish to claim that only the goods booking agencies are to pay service tax and that the truck owners and operators shall not be affected by it, " Dhumal told reporters here.

Uma surrenders, remanded to 14 days judicial custody (Go To Top)

         Hubli (Karnataka): Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti today surrendered before a court here in connection with a 10-year old criminal case and was remanded to 14-days judicial custody. Shortly after arriving here by train, Bharti surrendered before the Judicial First Class Magistrate (JMFC) Mohammad Ismail and refused to seek bail. "I accept court verdict with pleasure and honour," said Bharti, who would be lodged in the Hubli sub-jail, as per the order of the JMFC. The court had issued a non-bailable warrant against her on August 3 in connection with a case relating to the hoisting of the national tricolour and subsequent violence at the Idgah Maidan on August 15, 1994. "I can sacrifice my life for the honour of the national tricolour. I am ready to go to jail," said Bharti, who arrived here by the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Goa Express, which she boarded at Bhopal soon after her resignation from the chief minister's post. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh on Wednesday rebutted as "false" a charge by BJP leaders that the 10-year-old criminal case against Uma Bharti was reopened at the instance of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "I am unable to understand why they (BJP) are bringing the name of Congress president. Sonia Gandhi is the last person to intervene and I am also the last person to resort to such things", Singh asserted.

Kuwait Foreign Minister arrives (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Kuwait Foreign Minister Mohammad Sabbah al-Salem al-Sabbah arrived here Wednesday on a three-day official visit. Sheikh al-Sabbah is leading a high-level delegation comprising Kuwaiti and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) officials, since Kuwait is also the current Chairman of the six-nation grouping. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up of a strategic consultative group between the two countries and a framework agreement between India and the GCC for economic co-operation will also be signed during the course of the visit. Al Sabbah will hold delegation level talks on Thursday with External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh where the two leaders are likely to review bilateral relations as well as international developments. According to officials, India and Kuwait are expected to sign four major accords, including an extradition treaty and an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister will also call on Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

M'rashtra parties get ready for poll (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: Both the ruling as well as Opposition alliances - Congress-NCP and BJP-Shiv Sena - have said they are ready to face the Assembly elections to be held in the state on October 13. The Election Commission of India had yesterday announced the poll schedule. The term of the Congress-NCP coalition government expires on October 20. The ruling coalition is pitted against the BJP-Shiv Sena combine. Shiv Sena leader Udhav Thackrey said: "Party is all ready and we were eagerly waiting for the dates. Shiv Sena and BJP together will not only fight rather win also." The Opposition says it will take the government on various issues like the recent suicides by farmers, the multi-million dollar fake stamp paper scam and the latest deaths of children of malnutrition. Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party would hold a meeting later this week to discuss the seat-sharing arrangement. Chhagan Bhujbal, a leader of NCP and former deputy CM, said: "All the matters have been solved between the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) and the Congress party. Then we will also sort out the seat sharing matter also." BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar welcomed the election dates saying: "The BJP-Shiv Sena coalition is completely ready for the elections. And the elections which are going to be held on 13th October, we welcome it with great enthusiasm."

Husband gives `talaq' to Mumbai woman over phone (Go To Top)

         Mumbai: Life suddenly turned ugly for 29-year old Shabana Syeed Rizvi when her marriage ended with just a phone call. Rizwan Sayeed, a cook in Qatar, pronounced "Talaq" three times and hung, never to call her again. Jobless Shabana, living in a single room apartment with her old mother, has a four-year old daughter and is also expecting her second child. Shabana says Rizwan divorced her by saying "talaq, talaq, talaq", after they had a minor argument over phone last week. A shattered Shabana said Muslim men were misusing the law of Shariat. "According to the Shariat, I also agree, that we have been divorced. But this practice should not be there in Shariat that divorce could be given over phone to destroy somebody's life. The men are misusing this nowadays. People are misusing Shariat. Whenever they feel they don't like us anymore or are angry with us, they will leave us. My six years of married life is finished. I have kids also," she said.

          The "triple talaq" is one of the many forms of divorce permissible under the Shariat law. "New laws cannot be included in them because these are not personal law rather laws of Shariat because they have been in practice on for the past 1400 years. We have to follow them," said Mohammad Rafiq Razvi, General Secretary of Raza Academy, a representative of the Muslims. However, it is not recognised by the Shia sect of Muslims. The issue has been highlighted recently after several Indian Muslims have taken to divorcing their wives by mail, over the phone and even through mobile phone text messages. The practice of instant divorce is banned in several Islamic countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. But it still continues in India.

Conduct code off, but lawyers strike continues (Go To Top)

         Chennai: Lawyers here continued their stir on Wednesday despite the removal of a new code of conduct. Lawyers demanded that their colleagues in police custody should be set free if the strike was to end. "With the release of the arrested lawyers our boycott of court will come to end immediately. Later on we will decide how to strengthen the judiciary," NGR Prasath, a member of Madras High Court Advocate Association, said. Lawyers have been on an indefinite strike since August 9 protesting the code of conduct announced early this month. The 25-point court notification was removed following a joint appeal from the lawyers association.

Kuwait promises full support for release of hostages in Iraq (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Kuwait on Wednesday said that it was making all endeavours to secure an early release of the three Indians held hostage in Iraq for over a month. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohammad Sabbah Salam al-Sabbah said the insurgents should not have kidnapped those involved in bringing in humanitariann aid. "They (Indians) are working to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people. People who were kidnapped in Iraq were not part of the army or military force or a fighting unit. They were bringing humanitarian food, aid, supplies, medicines for the Iraqi people. So they were doing good work...actually for that reason we are working closely with our Indian friends, our Eyptians friends, Kenyan friends. Some of their nationals have been kidnapped. We will not leave any opportunity or stones unturned to find a peaceful resolution to this humanitarian case," al-Sabbah, who is on a three-day official visit to India, told reporters here. Sheikh al-Sabbah is leading a high-level delegation comprising Kuwaiti and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) officials. Seven foreigners including three Indian truckers, working for a Kuwaiti company, Kuwait and Gulf Transport Link Company, KGL, were kidnapped in Iraq last month by a little-known group "Holders of the Black Banners".

Shujaat resigns, decks cleared for Aziz as next Pak PM (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Pakistan's interim Premier Shujaat Hussain resigned today, paving the way for Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz to take over as the country's 20th Prime Minister. Hussain announced his resignation in the National Assembly, 61 days after assuming the job, saying that Aziz would be taking over shortly. Aziz has to be a member of the National Assembly before assuming charged as Prime Minister. Aziz was declared elected from two constituencies last week. Last month, he escaped an attempt on his life. He is expected to take over as Prime Minister on August 27.

Jihad a supreme duty of every Muslim: Shujaat Husaain (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain has said that Jihad is different from terrorism in as much as the former is a supreme duty of a Muslim, and the latter a crime. "There is a great difference between the two, but Jihad cannot be declared as terrorism," The News quoted Hussain as saying. Pakistan has often said that what is going in Jammu and Kashmir is a Jihad and not terrorism. Claiming that Kashmiris had launched a struggle for freedom, Islamabad has maintained that it is merely supporting their struggle. Whenever, New Delhi has complained about Islamabad being involved in infiltrating terrorism into Kashmir, the latter has described it as a Jihad.

60 pct of US citizens want Pak madrasas banned (Go To Top)

          Washington: A leading American newspaper has revealed that an astounding 60 percent of Americans that it surveyed are in favour of a ban being imposed on madrasas in Pakistan. According to the Daily Times, the people surveyed said that the ban is necessary to prevent students from getting indoctrinated with Jihadi ideology. They also suggested that the way out of this was for Pakistan to strengthen its system of public education. As many 23 percent of the people were of the opinion that all madrasas operating in Pakistan should submit themselves to a public scrutiny.

90 feared dead in simultaneous plane crashes in Russia (Go To Top)

          Moscow: At least 90 passengers and crew aboard two Russian passenger jets were killed on Wednesday after both planes crashed almost simultaneously, raising immediate suspicion of terrorist action. A `Tupolev 134' operated by the regional carrier Volga-Express carrying 44 people on a flight from Moscow to Volgograd, went down on Tuesday night outside Tula around 180 km south of Moscow. The wreckage of that plane was located quickly and deaths of all passengers and crew aboard the splane confirmed by the Russian emergency situations ministry. Officials said witnesses saw an explosion before that plane crashed. At almost the same time as the Volga-Express plane went down, a larger Tupolev 154 passenger jet owned by the carrier Sibir and carrying 46 people from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi also disappeared from radar screens. The wreckage of the second plane and human body parts were found on Wednesday scattered across a field outside the Rostov-on-Don, Russian media reported. President Vladimir Putin, currently on holiday in Sochi, ordered the security services to investigate the circumstances of the crashes without delay, Russian news agencies and television reported. The incidents occurred four days ahead of controversial elections in the separatist Russian Caucasus republic of Chechnya.

Katmandu returns to normalcy as rebels lift blockade (Go To Top)

          Kathmandu: Katmandu returning to normalcy on Wednesday after Maoists lifted a blockade of the city but gave the government one month to compromise. A Maoist statement said the blockade was being suspended for "about one month" after appeals from a wide range of society. "If the government ignores our demands, we will launch protests and blockades more serious than the present ones," the statement warned.

Hikmat-ul-Jihad claims responsibility for Dhaka blast (Go To Top)
by Nazrul Islam

          Dhaka: An Islamic outfit called the Hikmat-ul-Jihad has claimed responsibility for Saturday's grenade attack at an Awami League rally that was addressed by former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina. In an e-mail to a Bangla daily here, the HUJ also issued a fresh threat to kill Sheikh Hasina within a week. "Don't think that Sheikh Hasina is out of danger. We missed out the previous chance, but now we are very careful about our mission. Tell her to be prepared. We are coming and this time we will accomplish our target within seven days," the message addressed to the Daily Prothom Alo said.

ICC gets tough with anti-dope laws (Go To Top)

          London: Players or officials breaching the International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-doping laws at next month's Champions Trophy will face bans and severe financial penalties. The ban will range from a minimum of two years to life, coupled with forfeiture of money and other awards earned during the tournament, according to an ICC release. The ICC is working with UK Sport to implement an anti-doping policy for the tournament that meets stringent international standards, including the use of World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratories for the testing of samples, the release added. According to Online News, two players from the 12 competing teams will be randomly selected for drugs testing at all of the 15 Champions Trophy matches. In the event of a test turning out to be positive, the player will be immediately suspended and the case referred to the tournament Drugs Tribunal, which is an independent three-person panel consisting of a senior legal practitioner, a medical specialist and a former cricketer or administrator.

          The player and the ICC can appeal against the decisions reached by the Drugs Tribunal. Any appeal would be referred to a Drugs Appeal Tribunal, which will also consist of a senior legal practitioner, a medical specialist and a former cricketer or administrator. Legal practitioner John Gallagher will chair the Drugs Tribunal. Its members will be medical specialist Rod Jacques and former Pakistani cricketer and ICC referee Talat Ali. Legal practitioner David Griffith-Jones will chair the Drugs Appeal Tribunal. Its members will be medical expert Richard Budgett, who has detailed knowledge of doping procedures, and former Indian wicketkeeper Farookh Engineer. "International cricket has a good track record in steering clear of drug-related problems. No player tested positive for drugs at the last World Cup in South Africa and I would expect the same high standards to be maintained during the Champions Trophy," ICC chief Malcolm Speed said. A second offence would attract a lifetime ban. In addition, there would be a fine, loss of financial assistance, rewards or records received during the tournament.