Mehmood
laid to rest
Bangalore:
Bollywood's legendary comedian Mehmood Ali, who died
on Friday, was buried at his hometown in Bangalore on Thursday.
Mehmood's widow, two daughters, a son and his sister and
a battery of film stars, friends and relatives were present
at the funeral. "Mehmood is the only actor who has the distinction
of making maximum people laugh. He was a very simple man,
in his simplicity there was a genius," Sanjay Khan, veteran
actor and filmmaker said. Mehmood suffered from breathlessness
and had travelled to the US for treatment with his second
wife, an American.
Jharkhand
HC orders Soren to surrender before Aug 2 (Go
To Top)
Ranchi:
The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday ordered JMM chief
Shibu Soren to surrender before the sub- divisional judicial
magistrate in Jamtara before August 2. Former Coal Minister
Shibu Soren has been untraceable for more than a week since
non-bailable warrants were issued against him in relation
to a murder case nearly three decades ago. The HC bench
in Ranchi ordered Soren to appear before the court by August
2. "He will surrender on or before the second August in
the court of sessions judge, where the issue is pending.
He will pay for bail there, after surrendering as an ordinary
citizen. As far as warrant is concerned, it has been quashed
because it has been issued following a August 5, 1986 order,"
R.R Mishra, counsel for Jharkhand state told reporters in
Ranchi. Soren's lawyer R.S. Majumdar said: "The court has
held that the order of July 17, 2004 is illegal, and on
the other hand it has said the sessions judge order of September
15, 2000 recalling want of arrest saying that the case has
not been committed, and has been set aside. In view of the
argument advanced by Jain, the court under section 209 CrPC
has directed that the entire case has been committed," Majumdar
said.
We'll
continue to boycott Parliament committees: Advani (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani on Thursday
said the (NDA) boycott of parliamentary committees will
continue until the government amends the condemnation statement
made against the Opposition in the House. Advani made the
position clear during a meeting of senior party leaders,
including Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj and V.K. Malhotra.
NDA Convenor George Fernandes also attended the meeting.
Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj
said after the hour-long meeting that the NDA boycott was
over Mukherjee's statement condemning the Opposition. "The
statement is insulting. In Parliament, Mukherjee is Leader
of the House, not of his Congress party. He has to take
everyone along," she said.
Quoting
Advani, Swaraj said the "ball is now in the court of the
Government. Till the Government ends its confrontationist
attitude and amends the statement made by Mukherjee in the
House, our boycott will continue." She further said that
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had written a letter
to Advani on ending the boycott, but the Leader of Opposition
had told him that the NDA boycott was not against him and
the onus of unwinding the situation was on the government.
Meanwhile, hardening its stance on the boycott issue, the
government today categorically ruled out expunging remarks
made by Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, attacking
the Opposition. Dubbing the BJP demand for expunging the
remarks as "unjust and unfair", Parliamentary Affairs Minister,
Ghulam Nabi Azad said it was strange that "they want the
Government to apologise". The government instead asked the
opposition to apologise for targeting the Speaker. "I do
not think there is anything wrong in the statement of Mukherjee.
Speaker or Chairman are free to speak anytime but he was
told to sit down. This is unprecedented and unheard of in
any democracy," said Azad.
Manmohan
in Bangkok for BIMST-EC meet by Vikas Khanna (Go
To Top)
Bangkok:
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh arrived in Bangkok
today on his first overseas tour to attend the first summit
meeting of BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka
and Thailand - Economic Cooperation). Dr Singh, who makes
debut in the international arena in the summit meet, will
also have separate meetings with leaders of the member nations.
This is the first time that that the grouping, which was
founded in 1997, is holding a summit meeting. Till now,
all the BIMSTEC meetings have been held at the ministerial
level. The first summit meeting of the grouping, which is
being seen as a vital bridge between the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN), was to be held in Phuket in February this
year. But the meeting was postponed to July after the then
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayyee could not attend
it due t national elections. The BIMSTEC countries have
identified six areas in which they wish to work closely.
These include tourism, transport and communication, trade,
fisheries and energy cooperation. The heads of the states
of the seven nations will meet on July 31, a day after foreign
ministers and senior officials meet to hold talks on multilateral
trade and anti-terrorism cooperation. As per the original
draft, BIMST-EC's more developed members, Thailand, India
and Sri Lanka, are expected to cut tariffs to zero by 2012,
five years ahead of less developed members, Bangladesh,
Myamar, Nepal and Bhutan.
BIMST-EC
to get a new name (Go
To Top)
Bangkok:
BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and
Thailand - Economic Cooperation) is likely to get a new
name. With Nepal and Bhutan joining the grouping early this
year during a meeting in Phuket, there is likelihood of
the grouping get a new nomenclature. If it does get a new
name, then this will be the third time the grouping will
be renamed. When it was formed in 1994, it was known as
BIST- EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand - Economic
Cooperation). It became BIMST-EC when Myanmar joined the
group in 1997. Meant as a link between South Asia and South
East Asia, BIMST- EC's five members - India, Bangladesh,
Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka - are part of the seven-member
SAARC, while Thailand and Myanmar are members of the ten-nation
ASEAN.
UPA
Govt to have close look at NDA-approved FTA pacts (Go
To Top)
Bangkok:
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday
his government will take a hard look on all the free trade
agreements signed by the previous government. Singh was
speaking to reporters on board the special aircraft on his
way to Bangkok to attend the first summit meeting of the
BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand-
Economic Cooperation). "We are a two-month old government
and therefore we are taking a hard look at all areas," said
Singh. Singh, however, said all efforts would be made to
strengthen cooperation among member nations. He described
BIMST-EC as a bridge between South Asia and South East Asia.
Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan are members
of the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation while Thailand and Myanmar are members of the
10-nation gouping ASEAN. As regards the BIMSTEC timetable
to cut tariffs to zero by 2012, Singh said "If we can accelerate,
we will." As per the original draft, BIMST-EC's more developed
members, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka, are expected to
cut tariffs to zero by 2012, five years ahead of less developed
members, Bangladesh, Myamar, Nepal and Bhutan. Singh also
said that during his meetings with BIMST-EC leaders, he
will discuss the steps to fight terrorism. "Terrorism is
a global problem. All countries should cooperate," he said.
Singh later attended a reception hosted by ambassador of
India. Addressing members of the Indian community, he hailed
the contributions made by them in strengthening ties between
the two countries. Thailand has more than 80,000-strong
Indian community. Indians today are a vibrant community
of professionals and businessmen in this country. Sikhs
form the largest part of the Indian community numbering
about 35,000. Hindus are next numbering about 20,000.
PM
hopes for release of hostages (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said all
efforts were on for the safe return of three Indians taken
hostage in Iraq. Manmohan Singh, before departing for a
regional summit in Bangkok, told reporters he hoped the
truck drivers would be released soon. "All the efforts are
on from our side. We are hopeful of a positive result,"
said Singh. A group calling itself the "Holders of the Black
Banners" seized the Indians and four other drivers - three
Kenyans and an Egyptian - last week and threatened to start
beheading them unless the Kuwait transport company employing
them pulled out of Iraq. The militants have demanded that
India, Kenya and Egypt withdraw their citizens from Iraq.
None of the countries are part of the U.S.-led military
coalition in Iraq but many of their nationals work as drivers
and contractors. The group has twice extended the deadline
demanding compensation for the Iraqis who have lost their
families in violence. Singh's comments came at a time when
reports of two Pakistani hostages, killed brutually by their
captors in Iraq, have shocked the subcontinent. On prospects
of talks with Kashmiri separatists, Singh said his government
was willing to talk to all groups. "We have repeatedly said
we are willing to talk to all groups, various shades of
public opinion in Jammu and Kashmir," said Singh.
Heavy
rush for TCS' institutional tranche (Go
To Top)
Mumbai:
The institutional tranche of Tata Consultancy Services
Ltd., India's biggest initial public offer, was fully bid
on Thursday afternoon. About 33 million shares of the 55.4
million shares on offer were reserved for qualified institutional
buyers. Ganesh Shanbhag, a financial consultant with SMS
Financial Services Pvt. Ltd, said retail applications had
only started to come in but a rush was expected towards
the close of issue on August 5. "Retail investors are looking
forward to the issue (TCS) for a long time. I think the
response should be very good. The first day's collection,
we are just half an hour down with it and it has already
collected 20 percent. I would not be surprised if they get
50 percent subscription today itself," said Shanbhag. TCS,
which has said the flotation could raise as much as 1.2
billion dollars, has grown strongly alongwith a boom in
outsourcing of foreign software design and call-centre and
back- office services to India. The company, a unit of India's
second-largest private conglomerate Tata, set the price
range for the offer last week. The final price will be set
through book-building. The issue is a combination of a fresh
issue of shares and an offer for sale by existing shareholders.
The offer of 63.75 million shares, including a green shoe
option, amounts to 13.33 percent of the expanded equity
and will be priced between Rs. 775 and 900.
Pakistani
hostages executed in Iraq (Go
To Top)
Baghdad/Islamabad:
Two Pakistani contractors held hostage by a militant
group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, have been
killed, while their Iraqi driver has reportedly been released.
A video aired by the Arabic channel Al-Jazeera said that
the Pakistanis were killed as their country was discussing
the possibility of sending troops to Iraq. The kidnapped
men were identified Raja Azad, 49, and engineer and Sajad
Naeem, 29, a driver, both of whom worked for the Kuwait-
based al-Tamimi group in Baghdad. An Iraqi driver, Omar
Khaled Selman, was however, released after it was clear
he had been duped by the Pakistanis. The militants released
a video Wednesday showing Selman describing his ordeal.
"After interrogation, they charged us all with all the death
penalty, and then they postponed mine and carried out the
death penalty for the two Pakistanis because it was clear
that they were spies," he said. "After further interrogation
with me, they found out that I was only a driver and they
released me," he added.
Forget
`Fernandes', US now strip searches Pak envoy, diplomats!
(Go
To Top)
Islamabad:
Good relations between Washington and Islamabad notwithstanding,
a paranoid Bush Administration hasn't even spared Pakistan's
envoy or that country's diplomatic staff from strip searches
at airports. Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri disclosed
this fact before the National Assembly on Wednesday, adding
that when he was in Washington, he had specifically instructed
Ambassador Jehangir Qazi not to receive or see him off at
the airport to avoid the search procedures. He also expressed
his helplessness in convincing Washington to go soft on
visitors from Islamabad. Kasuri said that he had personally
talked to US Secretary of State Colin Powell and US ambassador
to Pakistan Nancy Powell about the issue. "These laws have
been passed by the US Congress and no one can do anything
in the Bush Administration, although many share our concerns
over such tough security procedures at airports," The News
quoted Kasuri as telling the House. He further went on to
say that when Washington had not spared India's former Defence
Minister George Fernandes on two occasions, it wasn't surprising
that Islamabad was also in such a loop because of American
fears of terror.
Saddam
Hussein suffers stroke, may die before trial: lawyer (Go
To Top)
London:
Incarcerated Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has reportedly
suffered a stroke, and if one of his lawyers is to be believed,
he could die before he is put on trial. According to the
Daily Telegraph, Jordanian lawyer Mohammed al- Rashdan was
quoted as saying that a brain scan had revealed a stroke
and he (Saddam) was in poor health. "Our information is
that he's in very poor health. We believe Saddam could die
because of his health problems. We also think an attempt
may be made on his life. We're worried that we won't have
a client. Under the Geneva Convention, we're entitled to
have access to our client but all our requests have been
ignored," the paper quoted al-Rashdan as saying. The latest
health bulletin is reportedly in conflict with earlier reports
that said that Saddam was depressed and dejected but fit.
An member of the Iraqi cabinet was quoted as saying this.
