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22 Indian fishermen arrested in Pakistani waters

      Karachi: Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (MSA) has arrested 22 Indian fishermen for illegal entry and fishing in Pakistani waters with their three boats. The number of Indian fishermen captured in Pakistan's sea limits has reached to 670. According to The News, MSA arrested 22 fishermen about 90 nautical miles' distance from Karachi in Pakistani waters on Sunday- the international day of fishermen. Arrested fishermen were given into Docks Police custody.

Pak Supreme Court grants bail to Asif Zardari (Go To Top)

      Islamabad: Pakistan Supreme Court full bench in Islamabad has granted bail to Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former senator Asif Ali Zardari in BMW reference, reports The News. SC full bench with Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui in chair granted bail to Zardari. Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Farooq Naik, Babar Awan and Shafqat Abbasi appeared before the court for Asif Ali Zardari while Ibrahim Satti Advocate appeared from NAB. Eight references were filed against Asif Ali Zardari. Courts had granted bails to Zardari earlier in other cases. Zardari is spouse of the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He is imprisoned since November 1996 when President Farooque Leghari had dissolved Benazir Bhutto's government. Eight references were filed against him including tractor case, Cotecna reference, SGS reference, steel mills case, gold reference and BMW reference. Various cases including murder cases of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, Justice Nizama and Sajjad Hussain were registered against him. A Karachi court has already acquitted Asif Ali Zardari in murder case of Sajjad Hussain, the former chairman of Pakistan Steel Mills. The court in its short order has ordered release of Asif Ali Zardari on Rs. one million bail, said his defence lawyer Barrister Farooq Naik. Courts had already granted bails to Zardari in cases pending against him, he said.

26 killed in Nepal gunbattle (Go To Top)

      Padaun (Western Nepal): Nepali troops have killed at least 16 Maoist rebels and lost 10 soldiers in a an overnight gunbattle at Pandaun, 665 km west of Kathmandu, an international news agency report quoted an army official as saying on Monday. Army sources said that the offensive was launched against 500 guerrillas in densely forested hills during a security patrol. Initial reports said that the exchange of fire lasted for over six hours. Kailali in western Nepal is a stronghold of Maoist rebels who have been fighting since 1996 to establish a one-party communist republic in place of the constitutional monarchy in the world's only Hindu kingdom.

Pak gets 300 mln dlr military aid from the US (Go To Top)

      Washington: The US Congress has passed a 300 million-dollar military aid to Pakistan. Besides, it okayed a budgetary proposal for Afghanistan, including 400 million dollars for training and equipping the new Afghan national army. This is a 350 million dollars increase compared to the past year. According to The News, the US Senate on Saturday voted 65-30 for the 'omnibus spending bill' that combines nine of the traditional 13 appropriations measures. Earlier, the House of Representatives passed it 344-51. The paper said that the passing of the proposal for military assistance to Pakistan is reflective of the cordiality of Pak-US relations, and is seen as an acknowledgement of Pakistan's significant role in the ongoing war on terrorism as a close US ally. It further said that the budget passed is part of the first instalment of the 701 million dollars out of the historic three billion dollar economic and military assistance package announced in Camp David on June 24, 2003.

Buddhist antiquities unearthed near Taxila (Go To Top)

      Islamabad: The Pakistan government's archaeology department has discovered eight antiquities dating back to the first century AD, including rare sculptures of 'future' Buddha, Hindu God Indra and his bodyguard from an ancient archaeological site very near to Taxila, considered as a seat of learning during the Buddhist period. According to the Daily Times, experts from the archaeology department's preservation and restoration team unearthed the treasures while carrying on preservation work at the world renowned Dharmarajika Stupa and monastery dating back to 3rd century BC to 5th Century AD, regarded as the epitome of the Gandhara civilization. Archaeologists have confirmed that one of the antiquities excavated depicts in exact detail the 'the reappearance of Buddha' as told in Buddhist mythology. Apart from the other discovery of Corinthian capital, which was used in Magna, Garcia and Sicily from the early third century, the statue of Indra, regarded as the rain god in Vedic mythology and another depicting the bodyguard of Indra has also interested experts to a great extent. Archaeologists have said that the artefacts made of grape black schist and green phylite belong to the early stage of the first or second century AD.

Remarks torn out of context: Mukesh Ambani (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of the over Rs.60,000 crore Reliance Group, on Monday said that the interview that he had participated in the United States had been grossly quoted out of context, and this had been a major factor in affecting the bourse performance of the company over the past three days. In what appeared to be a very clear-cut attempt at a damage- control exercise, Ambani issued a statement that categorically said that his father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, had settled all ownership issues well before his death, and that there were no differences with his younger brother, Anil Ambani, on the same.

      The following is his statement: "On my return last evening from the US, I was shocked to find that my response to a question pertaining to the way our businesses are going to go in the future has been torn out of context. Obviously, it was an attempt to build a sensational story around the phrase "ownership issues" leading to a spate of speculations and misrepresentation. I am sensitive to the concerns that would have naturally arisen in the minds of our shareholders, various stakeholders and numerous well-wishers at the media blitz during the last few days. It is necessary to remove confusion caused by deliberate misinterpretation or genuine misunderstanding. Therefore, I would like to set the record straight. As I was leaving a function, a TV journalist said that "there have been a lot of rumours about the Reliance Group and the way the businesses are going to go in the future." In response I made two points, namely, that the question itself, does not recognise that "Reliance is one of the strongest, professionally managed company", and that "there are other issues, which are ownership issues, those are in the private domain."

      This question-answer context makes it clear that I was responding to the query about the future businesses. It is well known that in the process of its growth and expansion, Reliance is engaged in diversification, acquisition of running businesses and creation of new assets. In such a rapid growth phase all big companies have to deal with several issues concerning corporate ownership of future initiatives. Reliance is no exception. I will like to restate that all such ownership issues are in the private domain. Placed in the context of the question put to me, it is obvious that my reply has nothing to do with the family ownership in Reliance. I will also like to take this opportunity to strongly deplore some totally unjustified and tendentious comments in a section of the media about our father Shri Dhirubhai Ambani. Reliance is an eloquent testimony of Dhirubhai's farsighted vision, unflinching dynamism, and unparalleled wisdom. In keeping with the worldwide trend of transformation of family owned businesses, Dhirubhai took, within his lifetime, all necessary steps to separate ownership from management and made Reliance a world-class professionally managed company. With his extraordinary foresight, he has also settled all ownership issues pertaining to Reliance within his lifetime. I wish to assure all stakeholders that I am committed to uphold the steps taken by him and that the foundation of Reliance is and will remain very very strong . I hope all speculation on this issue will come to rest with this clarification."

Indian batters through the gauntlet back at the Proteas (Go To Top)

      Kanpur: India on Monday gave a fitting reply to South Africa's mammoth first innings total of 510 on the third day of the first test at Kanpur today. At stumps, India were 185 for no loss in their first innings with both the openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir unbeaten on 85 each. The two openers unleashed a barrage of strokes to record India's best opening partnership in the last seven months. The start of the third day's proceedings was delayed by two hours because of a thick fog, but Sehwag and Gambhir enthralled the noisy home crowd with some entertaining cricket in the extended post-lunch session. Earlier, South Africa declared their first innings at 510 for nine with Shaun Pollock remaining not out on 44.