Lahore:
Indian Cabinet Minister and film star of yesteryears
Shatruhgan Sinha is among the Indian fans who have arrived
here to watch the fifth and final one-day international
to be played between Pakistan and India at the Gaddafi Stadium
here tomorrow. His wife, besides artistes from street theatres,
TV and Radio, accompanied Sinha. "I always received a warm
welcome in Pakistan. Cricket is playing a very vital role
in the peace process," Sinha was quoted by the Dawn as saying
on his arrival at Lahore's Allama Iqbal airport.
According
to the paper, film legend Amitabh Bachchan might also arrive.
Besides, at least four Indian ministers will come to watch
the match on Wednesday. Indian film artistes Akshay Kumar,
Shilpa Shetty, Mehak Chahel and others are scheduled to
perform in Lahore on March 25. But, the paper said, Akshay
and Shilpa would perform at a musical programme and not
watch the match. Mehak will arrive on March 24 to watch
the match besides music director Jatin Lalit and singer
Babul Supriyo. Similarly, singers Shaan, Sunidhi and compere
Sajjid Khan are also due to come, said the report.
Best
Bakery case: SC hearing appeal today (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: An appeal filed by Zahira Sheikh, the daughter
of the owner of the Best Bakery where 14 people were burnt
alive during the Gujarat riots over two years ago, will
be heard by the Supreme Court today. Tuesday's hearing comes
11 days after the apex court had issued notices to all 21
accused in the case on an appeal filed by the Gujarat Government.
The court had said then that if it felt that a re-trial
in the case needed to be ordered, then, it would not go
into the merits of the case. Though the Gujarat police had
arrested 21 persons in connection with the murders, a lower
court in Gujarat acquitted all of them for lack of adequate
evidence. The Gujarat High Court also upheld this judgment
later.
On
March 1, 2002, rioting mobs had burnt to death 14 persons
in the Best Bakery in Vadodara when Gujarat was engulfed
in a communal frenzy following the 27 February 2002 train-burning
incident in Godhra in which 59 Hindus were killed. On June
27, 2003, a fast-track court had acquitted all 21 persons
accused in the Best Bakery case for lack of evidence after
37 out of 73 witnesses, including key witness Zaheera Sheikh,
turned hostile. On September 29, 2003 the Gujarat government
filed a 'amended' appeal challenging the acquittal and seeking
a retrial after being chastised by the Supreme Court. On
December 23, 2003, the Gujarat Government pointed out the
lapses by the police in 'registering and recording of FIR'
and on the part of the prosecution in 'recording of evidence'
of witnesses in the Best Bakery case, in which all 21 accused
were acquitted by a fast-track court this year.
Making
his submissions on the 'amended' appeal challenging the
acquittal and seeking retrial in the case, Gujarat's Advocate
General S N Shelat pointed out these lapses before the division
bench of Justice B J Sethna and Justice J R Vora. He referred
to the case of a witness, Rahish Khan Pathan. Doctors at
the SSG Hospital in Vadodara had stated that he had serious
head injuries and 'his mental state did not permit him to
give any statement'. However, his statement was recorded
on March 2, 2002 and 'treated as an FIR'. Shelat said it
was an obvious attempt by the police to 'help the accused,
as no names of the accused were mentioned in this statement'.
The Best Bakery case is seen by human rights organizations
in India as a test case given the strong evidence against
the accused.
Cinemas
in Maharashtra shut for fifth day (Go
To Top)
Mumbai:
Theatres in Maharashtra remained closed for the fifth
day on Tuesday due to an indefinite strike against a slew
of taxes levied by the state authorities. More than 700
theatre owners are taking part in the strike jointly called
by the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association of India and
the Theatre Owners' Association, representing single audiotorium
cinema theatres in the state. Theatre owners say the state
government has not cut entertainment tax to 30 percent as
promised earlier and that the steep rate has almost crippled
the industry, already hit by a sharp fall in audiences.
They are also miffed at the state government for giving
preferential treatment to multiplexes that enjoy tax breaks.
They asaid most of the cinemas are on the verge of closing
down and therefore they had asked the government to reduce
entertainment tax to 30 percent, as in other states. The
strike was called off after talks with the government.
US
ready to give India also non-NATO ally status (Go
To Top)
Washington:
Keen to allay New Delhi's fears over the granting of
non-NATO ally status to Pakistan, the Bush Administration
has reportedly sent signals to the Indian government indicating
its willingness to grant it a similar status. White House
Press Secretary Scott McClellan was quoted as saying late
on Monday that Washington was not averse to the idea. ''I
think we made it clear that we're willing to explore the
same possibility of similar cooperation with India,'' McClellan
said. The statement assumes significance in the wake of
the Indian government taking U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell to task for keeping New Delhi in the dark about Washington's
decision to grant non-NATO ally status to Pakistan on March
17. By making that announcement just a day after completing
a two-day visit to New Delhi, Powell ensured that Pakistan
would have structured access to military hardware and software
technologies, including advance satellite information systems.
The granting of the non-NATO status was seen in both Islamabad
and Washington as a move at acknowledging Pakistan's contributions
towards the U.S.-led campaign against global terrorism.
On
Monday, however, India's Minister of External Affairs, Yashwant
Sinha, is reported to have given an earful to Powell over
the issue, claiming that the possible supply of America-
manufactured weapons to Pakistan could pose a danger to
India's long-term security interests. He is also believed
to have told Powell that as New Delhi was seen as a strategic
partner of the United States, the least that Washington
could have done was to keep the Indian government informed
about the development before going public about it from
Islamabad. Powell is believed to have extended his apologies
to Sinha and told him that the US considered India to be
a very valuable partner. He told Sinha that he was instructed
to announce Washington's decision on the new status vis-a-vis
Pakistan after he had reached Islamabad. This new status,
however, did not mean that the sale of new weapons to Pakistan
would be cleared automatically, as Washington had an elaborate
procedure in place for the clearing of such sales.
Chinese
defence team in Pakistan (Go
To Top)
Chakal
Airbase (Pakistan): A high-level Chinese military delegation
has arrived in Islamabad on a five-day visit to Pakistan.
The team is led by Defence Minister General Cao Gangchuan.
It also includes senior members of the People's Liberation
Army (PLA). The delegation was received at the Airbase by
Pakistani Defence Minister Rao Sikander Iqbal. The visit
is aimed at boosting bilateral co-operation between China
and Pakistan in the defence sector. During their stay, the
delegation is expected to meet President Pervez Musharraf,
Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali and high ranking military
officials.
