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Natwar, Kasuri begin talks, terrorism takes centre stage

          New Delhi: As expected, Kashmir and cross-border terrorism surfaced before and during the deliberations between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on the first day of their two-day meeting to review the progress of the composite dialogue process. While Indian External Affairs Minister K.Natwar Singh raised the issue of cross-border infiltration and terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri sought to underplay New Delhi's reaction to his comment on Saturday that Kashmiris should join the talks. Briefing reporters, MEA Spokesman Navtej Sarna said that the talks were held in in a "friendly, cordial, affable and constructive atmosphere." He said that Singh and Kasuri first held a one-on-one meeting for over an hour, and this was followed by delegation-level talks. He said the two ministers reviewed the recommendations of the Foreign Secretaries and assessed positively the results of the meetings held in the first round of the composite dialogue. In reply to a question, he said that cross-border infiltration and terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan were a matter of concern "that has been raised at all the meetings" that have taken place between the two countries. He said certainly there is a commitment and determination on both sides to take the peace process forward.

        The meeting was held at New Delhi's Hyderabad House. Earlier, reacting to Kasuri's statement made at the Pakistan High Commission here on Saturday evening, India termed it as disappointing, saying that it violated Pakistan's own call for a rhetoric restraint regime. "There is considerable disappointment at the unifocal statement made by the Pakistan foreign minister about India-Pakistan relations prior to his departure from Islamabad," the MEA spokesman, Navtej Sarna, had said. "This is not in consonance with the spirit in which we have conducted the composite dialogue so far," added Sarna. The foreign ministers meeting comes ahead of a possible meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of this year's UN General Assembly.

Patil arrives in Imphal, but Apunba Lup opts to stay away (Go To Top)

         Imphal: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has arrived here to carry out an on the spot assessment of the situation on ground arising out of a civilian protest against the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Patil was greeted by a day-long shutdown and was confronted with a setback of sorts, when the working committee of the Apunba Lup, a conglomeration of 32 organisations spearheading the current stir in Manipur, refused to meet him till an activist belonging to an organistaion was released. The activist was arrested last night ahead of Patil's visit. Patil, however, was briefed on the security situation in the state by top officials, including Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh. While defending his decision to finally visit Manipur nearly three months after the agitation had broken out, Patil said the demand for the withdrawal of the AFSPA would be dealt with sympathetically. Patil is also expected to meet representatives of other civilian organisations and former state chief ministers Rishang Keishing, R K Dorendra Singh, R K Ranbir Singh and Radhabinod Koijam. Normal life in Manipur has come to a grinding halt with shops, markets and business establishments remaining closed between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Transport services between Manipur and neighbouring northeastern states have been cancelled in view of the shutdown. People also preferred to remain indoors.

Congress demands Mulayam's resignation (Go To Top)

         Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress party today called on the state Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to quit following Friday's police baton charge on lawyers and called for a statewide shutdown in protest against the incident. Terming the lathi-charge on advocates as "condemnable and barbaric", UPCC President Jagdambika Pal told reporters here that the Congress, which was giving outside support to the state government, had given a call for a shutdown in the state on Monday. Pal also said that not registering a case against those guilty of the baton charge was most unfortunate.

Kolkata remembers Mother Teresa (Go To Top)

         Kolkata: People from all walks of life today paid tribute to Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa, on the seventh anniversary of her martyrdom. Nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, an order that she set up here 52 years ago, held a special prayer ceremony in her memory. Sister Nirmala, the Superior Sister of the Charity, said:"We are celebrating, rejoicing with her and everybody and thanking god for the gift of her to us as a blessing in heaven. Physically yes, we are missing her. Because it is not long time ago when mother had left us but spiritually she is ever closer than any time." Albania-born Mother Teresa was beatified on October 19 by the Pope. During her life, she was the recipient of several national and international awards for her social service. They included the Magsaysay Award in 1962, the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the John F. Kennedy International Award in 1971 and the Nobel prize for Peace in 1979.

New ministers inducted into Kerala cabinet (Go To Top)

          Thiruvananthapuram: Fifteen ministers were today formerly sworn into office by the Governor of Kerala, R.L.Bhatia. The oath of office and secrecy to the ministers inducted into the government headed by Chief Minister Oomen Chandy was administered at the Raj Bhavan here. There are 10 ministers from the Congress while the other five are from its ally, the United Democratic Front. Upset over the rejection of his proposals in the selection of ministers, seniorCongress leader K. Karunakaran and several of his followers stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony. Chandy was elected the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) after A.K. Antony resigned owning up responsibility for his party's rout in the state in the April-May parliamentary elections. Congress-led United Democratic Front lost 19 of the 20 seats Kerala sends to the lower house of parliament.

Jaitley, Swaraj court arrest in Bangalore (Go To Top)

         Bangalore: Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj led around 1,500 party activists in courting arrest here today, the fifth day of the BJP's agitation, demanding the withdrawal of cases against former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti. BJP Uttar Pradesh unit chief Kesrinath Tripathi, his predecessor Vinay Katiyar, former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, former Uttaranchal Chief Minister Bhagatsingh Koshiar and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Premkumar Dhumal also courted arrest. Sadhus from UP led by Katiyar also courted arrest as part of the BJP's stir involving the party's top leaders, including L K Advani, to build pressure on the state government to withdraw cases against the Bharti. Addressing BJP workers from MP,UP,Himachal Pradesh and some parts of Karnataka, Swaraj accused the Congress-led government in the state of giving the whole episode a communal colour. Earlier, she told reporters that the relationship between the UPA government in the first 100 days of rule and the Opposition had "come to the lowest ebb."

Rift emerges between AASU and ULFA (Go To Top)

          Guwahati: For the first time, the people of Assam are protesting against the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), after it had claimed responsibility for the blast that took place in Dhemaji, killing 13 people including 10 school children on August 15. This incident has now reportedly brought into focus the growing distance between the ULFA and the All Assam Students Union (AASU). There is now a considered view that the ULFA through its violent activities has been hurting the socio-economic interests of the Assamese people. For years, the AASU has been accused of being soft on the ULFA, but now the Dhemaji blast seems to have redrawn the battle lines.

         The AASU accuses the ULFA of betraying the cause of the Assamese people. It claims that, to begin with the Assam movement of 1979- 85 was a people's movement over the issue of large-scale infiltration of the Bangladeshis, a problem that threatens to reduce the indigenous population of the state into a minority owing to the physical and cultural similarities. "They are still coming, the illegal Bangladeshis, the illegal foreigners are coming and they are taking our land and property. They are occupying political field also. But they are in majority within the 126 seats of Assam constituency. Out of 126,40 are majority and they can handle the 40 majority seats. There is a crisis - political crisis and identity crisis in Assam," Aasu president Prabin Boro said. After suffering at the hands of the ULFA, the people in Assam are no longer willing to buy the argument that the ULFA has a solution.

Osama hiding in a Pak city or in POK: Expert (Go To Top)

         Washington: Al Qaeda mastermind Osama Bin Laden is in all probability hiding either in a Pakistani city or somewhere in the mountains of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, claims Peter Bergen, a leading expert on terrorism. "The conventional wisdom now, of course, is that tracking bin Laden down won't make much of a difference to the larger war on terrorism anyway. Bin Laden may now be somewhere in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, and if so, the area involved is approximately 40,000 square miles, a largely mountainous tract the size of Virginia," the Daily Times quotes Bergen as saying in an article that appears in the current issue of the American magazine Atlantic Monthly. "A further possibility, which to date has received scant attention, is that bin Laden is somewhere in the mountains of Pakistani Kashmir - an area that is off limits to outsiders and home to numerous Kashmiri militant groups, some of which are deeply intertwined with al Qaeda," Bergen adds. Bergen's contention is based on his investigations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He conducted a large number of interviews with a cross-section of people and comes to the conclusion that it would be erroneous to assume "the movement will carry on whatever bin Laden's fate."

2 killed in another Bangladesh bomb blast (Go To Top)

          Dhaka: At least two people died and seven were critically wounded after a powerful bomb exploded in the northeast Bangladeshi city of Sylhet on Sunday. Police said the bomb exploded at about nine in the morning at a rundown building, where a group of day labourers use to live. The building is adjacent to the Sylhet Cantonment. Police identified the dead as Anwar Hossain, 35, and Jalil Mia, 12. The injured have been admitted to the Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital. Zaman Munir, a Sylhet-based journalist, told ANI after visiting the spot that the blast blew up the roof of the building and made a big hole on its floor. Police are yet to ascertain the culprits behind the blast.

Zee bags India cricket telecasting rights (Go To Top)

          Chennai: Zee Network today bagged the lucrative telecast rights for all international cricket matches to be played in the country for the next four years. Zee, the highest bidder at 260 million dollars, was awarded the rights by Cricket Board's Marketing Committee, which held negotiations over the past two days with the top brass of both Zee and the second highest bidder ESPN-Star Sports. "The rights have been given to Zee by the Marketing Committee," Board sources said. As per the tender opened on August 14, Zee had quoted 260 million dollars while pledging a further Rs. 95 crore for the coverage of domestic cricket matches while ESPN had quoted 230 million dollars.