Acting
President signs 'dual-offices' bill
Islamabad:
Acting President Mohammedmian Soomro has signed the
dual-offices bill. According to The News, the bill allowed
the president to keep both offices according to his discretion.
According to details the bill would be applicable only on
President Musharraf. While talking to Geo, Federal Information
Minister Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed said that the acting President
Mohammadmian Soomro has signed the bill today. According
to the constitution, it is mandatory for president to sign
the bill within 30 days after approval of the national assembly
and senate, minister added. The senate passed the bill on
Nov 1. Now President Musharraf can keep the office of chief
of army staff as well.
Nukes
will remain Pak's main deterrence: Aziz (Go
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Islamabad:
Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has categorically
stated that nuclear weapons will remain Pakistan's main
deterrence for any military misadventure undertaken by any
hostile nation. According to the Daily Times, Aziz while
addressing participants at the fifth National Security Workshop
at the National Defence College said that despite the country
playing an active role for ensuring in the international
forum for ensuring non- proliferation, Pakistan as a sovereign
country was always prepared to protect its self interests.
India
and ASEAN sign historic partnership pact (Go
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by Smita Prakash
Vientiane:
India on Tuesday signed a historic partnership pact
with the ASEAN nations. The agreement signed at the end
of the two-day India-ASEAN summit seeks cooperation in the
fields of trade and economy, at international fora and jointly
combat the menace of international terrorism. The agreement
provides for an institutional and funding mechanism for
implementation of specific activities and projects included
in the action plan. The pact reaffirmed the faith of members
of ASEAN and India to each other's independence, soverignty,
territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal
affairs of other states, mutal respect and mutual beneft.
The 10-nation grouping and India have decided to cooperate
in a coordinated manner to accelerate and mutually reinforce
"sustainable growth and development of their economies towards
spared prosperity, poverty alleviation and reduction of
social disparities."
Wen
Jiabao to visit India in March (Go
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Vientiane
(Laos): Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Tuesday
confirmed that he would be visiting India in March next
year. ''My visit to India next year will be the most important
item on my agenda and I hope it will send a positive signal
throughout the world,'' Wen is believed to have told Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh at their first meeting that he was
looking forward to his visit to New Delhi, and added that
his handshake with Singh ''will catch the attention of the
whole world.'' Dr Singh said he too looked forward to Wen's
visit. The Chinese Premier is also believed to have suggested
to Dr. Singh that the special representatives of the two
countries - J.N.Dixit and Dai Bingao should resolve the
boundary dispute, involving parts of Arunachal Pradesh and
some areas of China before the March visit.
PM
flags off second leg of India-ASEAN car rally (Go
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Vientiane:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagged off the India-ASEAN
rally in Laos in the capital Vientiane on Monday. On November
22, he had flagged off the commencement in Guwahati, Assam.
Here in the presence of Laotian Prime Minister Vorachith
and Secretary General of the ASEAN Ong Keng Yong, Manmohan
Singh said that he saw the car rally "as a journey into
the future, demonstrating the possibilities that can come
about in trade, tourism and people to people contact" in
the region. The Prime Minister also called the participants
"pioneers in knitting our countries together". He also said
"in future such overland travel will become commonplace
as it was centuries ago. But today there are considerable
hurdles for overland travel". He hoped that the car rally
would "capture the imagination of our people in demonstrating
the essential oneness of our integrated region". The rally
has proven the existence of land route connectivity that
could facilitate free flow of trade investment and tourism
between ASEAN and India. The rally will travel through eight
of the 10 ASEAN nations and cover a total distance of 8000
km. It culminates its 20 day run on December 12 in Batam,
Indonesia.
Anil
Ambani's REL asks resigned directors to reconsider (Go
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Mumbai:
At a significant board meeting held here today, Reliance
Energy Limited (REL) requested its six directors, who handed
in their resignation on Thursday, to reconsider their decision.
It was also decided that the REL board would consult the
Reliance Industries board on the company's future prospects.
It was agreed that the board members would stay on until
consultations with RIL are completed. The directors who
had resigned were Satish Seth, JP Chalasani, S C Gupta,
K H Mankad, J Ramachandran and Amitabh Jhujhunwala. All
of them are said to be close to REL Chairman Anil Ambani.
Meanwhile, in a separate though related development, Reliance
board member Y P Trivedi described the differences between
Mukesh and Anil Ambani as a battle of egos. He said he was
hopeful of time being a great healer in resolving the exisiting
differences between the two.
Indian
duo wins Pak women's doubles badminton tourney (Go
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Islamabad:
The top seed Indian pair of Dhanya Nair and Sharada
Govaradini won the women's doubles title of the Asian International
Satellite Ranking Badminton Tournament here. According to
The News, the Indian duo convincingly defeated the Nepalese
team comprising sisters Pooja Shrestha and Sumina Shrestha
15-10, 15-6.
