Cricketers upbeat about Pak tour (Go To Top)

          Ahmedabad: Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Sunday said players were upbeat about next month's cricket tour of Pakistan. India has not played a Test series in Pakistan in over 14 years but its government late last year lifted a ban on bilateral cricket between the neighbours after a thaw in relations. The decision has been welcomed by people in both the cricket- crazy nations. "I met the players of the Indian cricket team in Lucknow yesterday, including captain Sourav Ganguly and wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. They were very excited about going to Pakistan and winning all the matches," Advani said on the sidelines of a party function in Ahmedabad. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had earlier raised concern over players safety, also came out in support of the government's decision.

          Media reports in India this week said the tour might be stopped due to doubts over players security. A three-member team of the Indian cricket board is touring Pakistan to assess the situation. "Security angle has to be looked into by the government. As a political party from outside we cannot say that all is well and go ahead...it's about the security of the team...it is very important. They made an assessment and came to a conclusion. It is not correct to say that we were opposed to it at all," BJP president Venkaiah Naidu told a news conference in Hyderabad. The tour, which begins in March, comprises three Tests and five one-day matches.

          Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board has ruled out withdrawing Karachi and Peshawar from the itinerary of the Indian tour. "The fans of the two cities have already been deprived of watching international cricket as no match of South Africa and New Zealand was held there due to visitors' security concerns. But this time, the PCB will not compromise on the two centres,'' a PCB spokesman was quoted as saying in Islamabad. He said the final shape to the Indian team's tour in March-April for the three Test matches and five one-day internationals would be given shortly.

          A three-member team sent by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to review the security and other arrangements at various match venues, will complete its week-long tour of Pakistan tomorrow. Media reports say the team has expressed its satisfaction over the arrangements made for the security of the players at different venues. Pakistan has already stated that it would provide Presidential- level security to the Indian players.

Indo-Pak talks set to begin, but J and K may have to wait (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: India and Pakistan will on Monday discuss in Islamabad the modalities for the composite dialogue process, but it may take some more time before the two countries get down to the nitty-gritty of contentious issues like Jammu and Kashmir. "We are going to start the process agreed to in the joint statement. That will mean looking into modalities for the dialogue process and see what meetings should be organised in the next few months to keep up the dialogue on a sustained basis," Foreign Secretary Shashank was quoted as saying. Asked whether the eight-point composite dialogue agreed to by both the two countries in 1997 would be carried forward, Shashank said the process would be started and the likely scheduling of meetings taken up. The eight issues comprise peace and security including confidence-building measures, Jammu and Kashmir, Tulbul project, Sir Creek, Siachen, trade and economic cooperation, friendly exchanges and terrorism.

         In the joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad last month, both sides had agreed to hold composite dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. Musharraf had assured that he would not allow Pakistani soil to be used by terrorists against India.

Kalyan vows to spearhead BJP to thumping victory (Go To Top)

          Ghaziabad: Former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh on Sunday said he would spearhead the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a thumping win in the forthcoming national elections. Singh had earlier this month rejoined Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's BJP, four years after he was expelled. The BJP had been wooing Singh, a powerful low-caste leader, to improve its fortunes in Uttar Pradesh where it finished third in the last state polls.

          The BJP, which has called for early elections, has decided to go it alone in the state which sends a maximum 80 law-makers to Parliament. "The main purpose of my meetings with people is that I have started my campaign for the forthcoming elections. Today I am covering Ghaziabad, Bulandshehar and Aligarh districts. People are excited about all this. Bharatiya Janata Party's expectations of winning 300 seats in the elections will be fulfilled by the people of Uttar Pradesh, and I am sure that will happen," Singh said in Ghaziabad as he kicked off his campaign.

          The BJP wants to capitalise on a booming economy and strong gains in recent state polls. Its chances have been further boosted by prospects of peace with Pakistan and an opposition in disarray. Polls show Vajpayee is far more popular than Italy-born Sonia Gandhi, widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who heads the dynastic and once unbeatable Congress party and the BJP-led alliance of almost 20 parties is expected to retain power in the 545-seat parliament.

Agni-III can be test-fired this year: Fernandes (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The country is all set to test-fire this year its new longer-range `Agni-III' surface-to-surface missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons, Defence Minister George Fernandes has said. "Yes, the missile should be test-fired this year. We have so far not not zeroed in on any date for its launch. This is just the beginning of the year," Fernandes reportedly told a news agency here Sunday. When asked whether the missile would have a strike range of over 3000 kms, Fernandes said: "I will not not make any commitment on that".

Thousands of students re-take IIM exams (Go To Top)

          Ahmedabad: Almost two and a half months after its results were cancelled following a paper leak, over 127.000 students took the rescheduled Common Admission Test (CAT) on Sunday. The test held across 27 cities in over 150 centers is for admission to the prestigious six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and over 50 top business schools. The examination, originally held on November 23, was quashed after the question paper was leaked in a scam worth over millions of rupees.

          Last year's examination leak was the first scandal to hit CAT since it was instituted in 1977. India's federal investigation agency has nabbed four persons including three doctors, for leaking CAT papers. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said the four, including three doctors from Bihar had been charging 500,000 rupees for leaking the papers. The CBI said that IIMs, which prepare the question paper, were not the source of the leakage and has instead pointed fingers at the press which printed the question papers. Over hundred thousands of students take the admission tests to some of the world's best management institutes every year.

Pak has seats for women in legislatures: Najma (Go To Top)

          Wagah: India's Deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha on her return from Pakistan said New Delhi should take cue from Islamabad and reserve seats for women in parliament and legislatures. Women across India have been lobbying intensely for a controversial bill, which seeks to reserve one-third of seats for them in the lower house of parliament and state legislatures. Introduced a couple of times since 1999, the Bill has been stalled due to lack of consensus ammong the major political parties.

          Najma Heptullah told reporters at Wagah check post on Sunday that if Pakistan could reserve seats for women, why could not India. "What I think we should learn from Pakistan is that there they have given 30 percent reservation to women. We don't have it. I don't even think we will be able to get that much reservation, but something should be done about it. But if Pakistan can have it why can't we?," Heptullah said. Heptullah had gone to Pakistan to attend the Regional Steering Committee for the Advancement of Rural Island Women of the Asia-Pacific (RSC-AP).

Bullet-proof screen will protect Blair in Parliament (Go To Top)
by Trevor Barnard

          London: When Parliament reassembles at Westminster after its Easter break, visitors in the public gallery will be sitting behind a bullet-proof glass screen and listening to the speeches via loudspeakers. This security measure is being introduced to shield Prime Minister Tony Blair and his fellow MPs from would be assassins. Security officials are concerned that MPs in the House of Commons chamber are sitting targets for any terrorists who manage to smuggle in weapons or explosives. Although X-ray machines and metal detectors have been in use at entrances to the Parliament buildings for many years, it is thought that they are not sophisticated enough to detect explosives in a liquid or plastic form or weapons made mostly from plastic. Every day that Parliament sits, hundreds of visitors, mostly tourists, queue to gain entrance to the public gallery to watch and hear the debates.

          The nervousness about security was given point earlier this month when disturbances in the public gallery by activists protesting against the war in Iraq disrupted a speech by the Prime Minister, and caused the Speaker to suspend the sitting for 15 minutes while the public gallery was closed for the first time in 17 years. The Speaker, Michael Martin, chairs the House of Commons Commission, which has just carried out a security review, in the light of advice from intelligence, police and security experts. There has been concern, both in Britain and the United States, that terrorists are targetting leaders, and Blair is feared to be high on their list. Preliminary work has already begun on security in the Chamber, but the main work will be carried out during the Easter recess, which has been extended by a week to enable the job to be finished. It should be completed by mid-April.

20 killed as quake hits northern parts of Pak (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: At least 20 people died and more than 30 injured after an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale hit northern parts of Pakistan on Saturday, the News quoted interior ministry officials as saying. "Some 20 people have died, including 10 in a passenger van when it was caught in a landslide in the northern town of Batgram," Brig Javed Cheema, head of the National Crisis Management Cell said while giving details. At least 150 homes were damaged, he added. Quoting a PTV report, the paper said that tremors were felt in Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Muzaffarabad, Abbottabad, Haripur, Sawat, Chitral and Mirpur. After shocks were also felt in Srinagar, an Indian meteorological department official and witnesses said.