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Pak supports Lahore-Amritsar bus service: Elahi

     Amritsar: The Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, has said that Pakistan in principle supports the demand of Sikh pilgrims for starting a Lahore-Amritsar bus service. According to the Daily Times, Elahi said that the bus service would help the Sikh pilgrims to visit gurudwaras in Pakistan in a better manner. His statement assumes significance as earlier the government in Indian administered Punjab had also announced that New Delhi is keen to start the bus service between Amritsar and Lahore to enable Sikh devotees to visit Gurudwaras in Pakistan. India has proposed to ply as many as six buses each month between Golden Temple in Amritsar and Lahore. The Amritsar-Lahore bus service like the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus link and the Khokrapar-Munabao rail link will be seen as points for facilitating greater people-to-people contact between the two countries. The Amritsar-Lahore bus service was activated first in February 1999, when India's then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee travelled to Lahore and was received by then Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif after crossing the Wagah border checkpost that separates the two countries. The Wagah checkpost is the only land route open between Pakistan and India at present.

Trinamool's `Bangla Bandh` against petro price hike (Go To Top)

      Kolkata: The 12-hour Trinamool Congress (TC) sponsored bandh in West Bengal to protest against hike in fuel prices and other commodities began this morning amid tight security arrangements. This is the third bandh called in the state in the last three weeks. As many as 250 bandh supporters have been arrested from different parts of the state, but there are no reports of any kind of untoward incident from anywhere, police said. In many areas shops and markets remained closed and there was very less vehicular movement. Train services were normal except in the Sealdah-Canning section where the bandh supporters tried to disrupt train movement, said railway sources. The Calcutta High Court had already declared the TC-sponsored bandh illegal and unconstitutional. TC chief Mamata Banerjee, however, refused to call off the bandh and said her party will go ahead with the shutdown to protect the interests of people.

UK Hindus agitate over TV serial misuse of Ganesh idol (Go To Top)

     London: Britain's Hindu community is reportedly up in arms over a scene in the popular ITV television serial, Coronation Street, in which an idol of Lord Ganesha has been used as form of attack. According to the BBC, Hindu viewers and community leaders reacted quite strongly when saw Maya threatening Sunita with a statue of Lord Ganesha as part of a long running plot line. ITV's apologies for having caused offence to Hindu sentiments have not been accepted, as community leaders felt the apology was conditional. "The apology is not unconditional, it makes a justification for the behaviour.This is not acceptable to us," the BBC quoted Ramesh Kallidai, the secretary of The Hindu Forum of Britain, as saying. The scene shows Maya ordering a cowering Sunita to be submissive or her husband would come home to find Sunita had been "beaten to death by Ganesh, the God of good fortune". The ITV statement said it was clear Maya "had no regard for anyone or anything at the moment that the line was said and any right-minded individual would believe her actions to be abhorrent". "We have had lots of calls from agitated Hindus - do you think they would have filmed a scene where a mentally ill person is shown throwing a Koran on the floor?" Kallidai said. The forum has now reportedly sought an assurance that it would be consulted before including any use of Hindu icons that may cause hurt or anger in the community. The Hindu Forum of Britain is the largest umbrella body for British Hindus, with more than 230 member organisations from across the UK.

Russia won't sell arms to Pak (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: Russia has categorically denied any future plans to sell arms and ammunition to Pakistan. The Daily Times quoted Russian officials as saying, that keeping in view New Delhi's traditional ties with Moscow, Russia honoured Indian sentiments as far as selling arms to Pakistan was concerned. The Russian gestures carry significance as Moscow has been hinting at signing the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) with New Delhi in order to protect the transfer of sophisticated technology to third nations without each other's acquiescence. India and Russia are also to sign a number of security deals between them during Russian President Vladimir Putin's first state visit to India after the Manmohan Singh government assumed power. Russian officials however added that if India did not keep Russian interests in mind, Moscow may resume arms supply to Islamabad. "If India won't fully honour our interests, then there is no need for Russia to attach strings, conditions and demands on trading (in arms) with Pakistan," the paper quoted a Russian Defence Ministry source as saying.

No Amritsar trip for Dixit, Aziz, Dec meeting elsewhere (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: Indian National Security Adviser JN Dixit and his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Aziz will not be meeting in Amritsar this week as reported earlier, but are likely meet in a third country in the third week of December. Ruling out a meeting between the two in Amritsar this week, official sources were quoted by the Daily Times as saying that Dixit and Aziz would most probably discuss modalities for starting bus services between Jammu and Sialkot and from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad, how to take nuclear and conventional confidence building measures (CBMs) forward and ways to end the Balighar Dam stalemate. Meanwhile, New Delhi has ackbnowledged receiving proposals from Islamabad for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute that has dogged bilateral ties for over five decades. India's Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told Upper House of the Indian Parliament on Thursday that the Indian government was ready to have a sustained and productive dialogue with Pakistan on the issue. Ahamed reiterated that Islamabad had been told that the dialogue process would necessarily have to be based on President Musharraf's commitment to not let Pakistani territory be used for terrorist activities.

Pak, India agree on renovation of Khokharapar rail track (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: Indian Additional Member Railway Board Lajpat Rai Thapar said that India would keen to resume Khokharapar-Monabao train service from October next year whereas Pakistan has view point that the service could only be resumed after completion of basic infrastructure. According to The News, a joint declaration was issued at conclusion of the two days rail talks between Pakistan and India in which both sides have decided to start repair work of the track soon. Pakistan would construct broad gauge track on 128 kilometers from Mirpur Khas to Khokharapar and 10-kilometer track from Khokharapar to border with Rs.2.1 billion costs. Railway service would be started instantly as soon as the infrastructure would be completed. Replying to a question, Lajpat Rai said that initially, the service would be available once in a week which may facilitate 500 to 1000 passengers. It could be enhanced if needed, he added. Pakistan's Secretary Railway Board Zaiem Ahmed Chaudhry said that details of travel documents would be discussed in the next session of the meeting. Getting visa would become easier after opening of the Karachi and Mumbai consulates, he further said. Next round of the train talks will be held in New Delhi whose dates would be announced later.