Handing
over of Jinnah House a closed chapter, says New
Delhi
New
Delhi: India finally says there would be no review on
handing over of the Jinnah House in Mumbai to Pakistan to
house its consulate. "It is a closed chapter," said highly
placed sources in the External Affairs Ministry. The official
was reacting to the process of restoring the strength of
diplomats in the High Commissions of both the countries.
The decision to restore the original strength of the missions
was taken at the meeting of External Affairs Minister Natwar
Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri
in September in New Delhi. Officials said the officials
of the Paksitan High Commission were shown five or six suitable
accommodations in Mumbai for their consulate but they have
not come back with a final word. The foreign secretaries
of both the countries will now review second round of meetings
on Confidence Building Measures held both in India and Pakistan
during November-December this year. New Delhi says the results
achieved in the earlier meetings were "substantive" on most
of the eight major subjects. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran
and his counterpart Riaz Khokhar will review the progress
during their two-days of meetings in Islamabad on Dec. 27-28.
Ex-Tripura
CM Nripen Chakraborty passes away (Go
To Top)
Kolkata:
Former Tripura Chief Minister and veteran Marxist leader
Nripen Chakraborty passed away on Saturday morning, following
a cardiac arrest at the SSKM Hospital here. Professor S
Paul of the Respiratory Care Unit of SSKM, who was attending
to the ailing leader, said that Chakraborty was suffering
from multiple diseases of the pancreas, heart and neurological
ones, among others. The end came at 4:20 a m (IST). Ailing
for some time, 101-year-old Chakraborty's condition turned
critical after he developed Septeceamia following a gall
bladder infection. Nripen was one of the founders of communist
movement in Tripura and a former CPI-M politburo member.
He was flown from Agartala to Kolkata on December 22 for
treatment. Nripen was a bachelor. His body would be taken
to Agartala by air where a state funeral would be accorded
to him. Interestingly, Nripen was expelled from CPI (M)
ninne years ago. His membership to the party was restored
on December 23, 2004. He was also in CPI-M's central committee
member in 1972 and politburo member in 1984. He took the
office in 1978 and remained Chief Minister of Tripura till
1988. He worked as a labourer in jute mills, as a journalist
in the Ananda Bazar Patrika, as also an ardent Marxist,
Nripen Chakraborty was involved in the Communist movement
in India for six decades. Follower of the Gandhian philosophy,
he took part in the Dandi March in 1930 and was in regular
touch with the Abhay Ashram. He became a party member in
1935 and the joint secretary of the Bengal Provincial Communist
party along with Hirendranath Mukherjee in 1936. He also
became Secretary of Bengal Provincial Communist party in
1943.
Talks
with New Delhi extremely positive: NSCN-I-M chief (Go
To Top)
Unknown
location in Nagaland: The chairman of a powerful rebel
group, fighting for the formation of a Greater Nagaland,
has said that negotiations with New Delhi to end the nation's
longest-standing revolt are moving along positively. National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN I-M)) Chairman Isak
Chisi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah have
both said that they are encouraged by New Delhi's attitude
and are hoping for a speedy resolution to their decades-old
conflict that has claimed the lives of over 20,000 people
in Nagaland. Swu and Muivah are visiting their camps in
Nagaland -- where around 90 percent of the two million people
are Christian -- to spend Christmas with rebel cadres. Analysts
say they are likely to use their stay to gauge the mood
among Nagas to possible compromises that may have to be
made to reach a settlement with New Delhi. "During our time,
we have a ceasefire with them and also we have started negotiation.
During our time, the government of India have recognised
the uniqueness of the Naga history and the situation of
Nagas. That is good understanding on the government of India's
side and for us also. We are happy that they are trying
to stick to our historical rights and perceptions," Swu
said.
NSCN
(IM) has held a ceasefire with New Delhi for the last seven
years. Swu and Muivah visited New Delhi for the first time
in January 2003 but there was no agreement on the rebels'
demand to unify all Naga-dominated areas in the northeast
into a "Greater Nagaland". That proposal has been rejected
by New Delhi and is also opposed by rival tribes in neighbouring
states where Nagas also live. "We have been discussing it
in the previous ceasefire also and there were some mistakes
from our side that we do not have anything with India. But
that perception has changed already and we want to have
understanding with India and we want to discuss it and settle,"
he added. Kuki tribesmen, one of more than 200 tribal and
ethnic groups in the northeast, have clashed in the 1990s
with Nagas over land, and Kuki groups are wary of the proposed
"Greater Nagaland". Swu said each side had to look at "sovereignty"
in the correct perspective. "The sovereignty, many people
do not understand the meaning of it. But sovereignty means
that no nation can have complete sovereignty. We have to
depend on each other, we have to help each other. There
should be sovereignty but sovereignty means to having our
own understanding to decide everything," he said.
Running
almost like a parallel government army establishment, the
NSCN(IM) centre is complete with its own cadres and training
centers loaded with a cache of modern arms and ammunition
including US-made M-16 launchers and carbines, Chinese pistols,
grenades and AK-47s. More than two dozen insurgent groups
operate in India's northeast, fighting for independence,
more tribal autonomy or statehood. They accuse New Delhi
of taking away the region's resources like oil and timber
and neglecting the local economy.
Christmas
being celebrated across India (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi/Cochin/Panaji: Special midnight mass, carol singing
and enthusiasm marked Christmas celebration across India
on Saturday with thousands attending the celebrations irrespective
of caste, creed or religion. The celebrations began with
the chiming of church bells on the midnight of December
24, symbolising the birth of Christ. For most it was an
occasion to remember the sacrifices of Jesus Christ. "This
is a festival of brotherhood and we should be together,"
said John Adams, a Christian from New Delhi. Large number
of people also visited churches in coastal Goa state, which
has a sizeable Christian community. Faithfuls visited the
churches, which have been tastefully decorated to offer
prayers. Christmas in India as everywhere else has transcended
the boundaries of religion and is a time of celebration
for all. Christians form less than three percent of India's
more than one billion population.
Missionaries
of Charity celebrate a special Christmas (Go
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Kolkata:
A large number of people, including foreigners thronged
Missionaries of Charity in India's eastern Calcutta city
on Saturday to celebrate Christmas at Mother Teresa's home.
A special prayer was held at the home to pay respect to
Christ and the Blessed Mother. Foreigners and children alike
lighted candles before the portrait of Mother Mary and Mother
Teresa. The frail ethnic Albanian nun, winner of the 1979
Nobel Peace Prize, attended the sick and dying of Calcutta's
slums for decades with the Missionaries of Charity, an order
she founded in 1950. Civic authorities earlier this month
decided to rename the famous Park Street, a landmark since
the British times, as Mother Teresa Sarani (road), to pay
their tribute to the Mother who served her entire life for
the city's lepers and disabled. She was beatified last year
at a ceremony, which was attended by Pope John Paul II who
was unable to pronounce for the first time due to age and
illness. The ceremony brought the world famous nun close
to sainthood, just six years after her death. Beatification
means that she is now publicly venerated. For actual sainthood,
proof of at least two miracles is required. She launched
the Missionaries of Charity with only 12 nuns. There are
now 4,500 sisters in 133 countries running homes, schools
and hospices.
Pak
churches, Christian outfits in security bind (Go
To Top)
Islamabad:
Churches and other Christian installations in Pakistan
have been placed in a security bind for Christmas. The government
has deployed police and plainclothed commandos around these
installations to foil possible attacks during Christmas,
officials were quoted as saying by a foreign news agency.
Police have reportedly stepped up patrols and have been
ordered to set up metal detectors at all entry and exit
points in Islamabad. Screening machines have also been installed
at the entrances of churches in different areas, a police
spokesman was quoted as saying. Special security arrangements
have been made in central Punjab while hundreds of policemen
have been deployed in Lahore to avoid any untoward incidents
on Christmas, reports the Daily Times. In Karachi, strict
security measures have been taken to prevent any attacks
on Christian and other minority community targets. Police
said bomb disposal squads conducted extensive searches of
all places of worship. Security has also been tightened
around foreign missions, luxury hotels, fast food chains
and recreational places.
