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Pak
has taken Manmohan's remarks 'very seriously': Qureshi
Islamabad:
Pakistan has said it has taken Prime Minister Dr Manmohan
Singh's remarks 'very seriously', asking New Delhi to provide
information regarding Pakistan based terrorists planning
fresh attacks against India. Talking to the media on the
sidelines of a function at the Foreign Services Academy,
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said India must share
the information supporting Dr.Singh's statement, in accordance
with the Sharm-el-Sheikh agreement. "We can't take any such
statement lightly. Pakistan wants peaceful and friendly
relationship with all its neighbors and that's why it wants
that the misunderstandings should be ratified. So, let's
see what they respond to us," The News quoted Qureshi, as
saying. Earlier, India's Deputy High Commissioner, P. Kumaran,
was summoned to the Foreign Office by Director-General of
South Asia, Afrasiab Hashmi, on Monday. Sources said Hashmi
told Kumaran that both India and Pakistan had agreed to
share information regarding terror threats in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
"In all sincerity, we would request India to share real
time information that they have and for our part we stand
ready to cooperate fully in pre-empting any act of terror,"
Hashmi was quoted, as saying. Hashmi said Islamabad needed
credible information to crackdown on extremists planning
attacks on India. Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit
said Dr.Singh's remarks 'warrant serious and prompt attention.'
Speaking after inaugurating a Chief Ministers' Conference
on Internal Security in New Delhi, Dr. Singh, on Monday,
had said there is credible information that terrorist groups
based in Pakistan were planning to carry out fresh attacks
in India and advocated the need for utmost vigilance. Dr.
Singh said : "We have put in place additional measures after
the last year's Mumbai terror attack. But there is need
for continued vigilance. The area of operation of these
terrorists today extends far beyond the confines of Jammu
and Kashmir and covers all parts of our country."
7-month
old dies of swine flu in Mumbai, death toll rises to 29
in India Top
Mumbai:
The death of a seven-month-old girl due to H1N1 virus in
Mumbai on Tuesday, pushed the country's swine flu death
toll to 29. The girl's death due to swine flu has risen
the total number of deaths in Mumbai to three. "The girl
Modia Mohammad Shaikh, a resident of suburban Ghatkopar,
died at the hospital early today," said Additional Municipal
Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar. The girl had been shifted
to Kasturba Gandhi hospital from a private hospital and
her blood sample was sent to Haffkine Institute for tests.
The nationwide count of fresh H1N1 cases now stands at 152
with the 97 positive cases being reported from Maharashtra.
Owing to the rising count and death toll, the Centre too
has revised its treatment guidelines, doing away with H1N1
tests for people with mild to moderate symptoms and quarantining
before starting the treatment. The patients will be categorised
depending on the severity of infection and given appropriate
treatment.
Reserve
Bank of India fears increase in prices Top
New Delhi:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said that prices
are likely to go up this year due to erratic monsoon. "Erratic
monsoon may put pressure on inflation," said K C Chakrabarty,
Deputy Governor, RBI on the sidelines of a meeting of the
Regional Rural Bank chiefs. On rescheduling of farm loans
because of the uncertain monsoon this year, he said that
is an issue for next year. Earlier, an Empowered Group of
Ministers (EgoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,
was set up by the Centre to tackle drought situation in
nearly one-fourth of the country. EgoM includes Agriculture
Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Railway
Minister Mamata Banerjee, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Power Minister Sushil Shinde.
Other members include Rural Development Minister C P Joshi,
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Urban Development Minister
Jaipal Reddy. As many as 161 districts out of over 600 have
been declared as drought-hit in the country. The EGoM will
take decisions and approve new and innovative schemes, besides
examining the existing schemes for suitable modification.
The term of reference for the EGoM includes assessment and
monitoring of the situation arising out of drought and deficient
rainfall.
Nepal
PM arrives, hopes to strengthen ties with India Top
New Delhi:
Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal arrived here on
Tuesday on a five-day official visit, as the head of a 64-member
delegation. His spouse Gayatri Nepal, six cabinet ministers
including the Foreign, Finance and Energy Ministers, high-level
government officers, businessmen and journalists are accompanying
him. Speaking to reporters soon after his arrival, Nepal
said: "It is a goodwill visit. There is no particular agenda
before me. So, I think, this will strengthen relations between
Nepal and India and will lead to a new height." This is
Nepal's first visit to New Delhi after assuming the office
of Prime Minister. On Wednesday, the visiting dignitary
will lay a wreath at Rajghat, the memorial dedicated to
Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. Prime Minister
Nepal will then meet External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna
at the Hotel Oberoi. He will proceed to meet President Pratibha
Devisingh Patil for about 30-minutes. He will attend and
address a business luncheon meeting hosted jointly by the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the
Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM).
On Wednesday evening, he will call on Vice President Mohammad
Hamid Ansari at the latter's official residence and will
meet UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence.
Thereafter, he will proceed to Hyderbad House for delegation
level talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A
signing of bilateral agreements will follow the meeting.
Although the Pancheshwar multi-purpose project will be discussed,
no specific agreement will be signed. The main opposition
CPN (Maoist) has warned the government not to sign any agreement
related to the Pancheshwar project without a consensus.
On Thursday, Nepal will meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. In the evening,
he will address a meeting of intellectuals and academia
at the India International Centre. He will leave for a daylong
visit to Mumbai on Friday and will return to Kathmandu on
Saturday afternoon.
Afghan
presidential palace bombarded with rockets Top
Kabul: Rockets
were fired at the presidential palace in the Afghan capital
Kabul on Tuesday. The attack came two days before the country's
presidential election. The first rocket caused some damage
inside the heavily fortified palace compound, while the
second hit the capital's police headquarters, but caused
no casualties, reports Sky News. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah
Mujahid, in a message sent on a mobile phone, claimed the
fighters had fired four rockets at the capital. He gave
no further details. On Saturday, militants launched the
biggest attack in Kabul since February when a suicide car
bomber killed seven Afghans and wounded scores more. Authorities
have ringed the capital with security forces and checkpoints
in a bid to prevent bomb attacks.
Newsweek
says, "We Are All Hindus Now" Top
Nevada (US):
"We Are All Hindus Now"-headlines the article in the upcoming
edition of prestigious newsmagazine "Newsweek", saying "U.S.
Views on God and Life Are Turning Hindu". Written by its
religion editor Lisa Miller, it says, "...recent poll data
show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming
more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in
the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and
eternity." Commenting about the Newsweek viewpoint, Rajan
Zed said that community was glad that rich philosophical
thought of Hinduism was being recognized and accepted widely
outside the Hindu circles. The article quotes a religion
professor at Boston University who has long framed the American
propensity for "the divine-deli-cafeteria religion" as "very
much in the spirit of Hinduism..." It further says: "So
here is another way in which Americans are becoming more
Hindu: 24 percent of Americans say they believe in reincarnation,
according to a 2008 Harris poll. So agnostic are we about
the ultimate fates of our bodies that we're burning them-like
Hindus-after death. More than a third of Americans now choose
cremation, according to the Cremation Association of North
America." The article ends with: So let us all say "om."
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