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Updated on October 29, 2002 |
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South Asian News, September 3, 2002 --- (International)
Pakistan asks the US to release and repatriate the 58 Pakistanis who have been held along with other suspected al-Qaeda members at Guantanamo Bay prison. India rules out possibility of a meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in New York next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. An investigation begins in a government hospital in the Indian city of Calcutta where 15 babies have died in the past three days. In business news, India's exports of electronics and software is projected to grow by 23 percent in dollar terms to 11 billion US dollars in the current fiscal year.
Africa
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N/A
Americas
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* Nepal tightens security after Maoist bomb attacks (The News Mexico)
Asia Pacific
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* Opponents denounce election ban on Benazir (Star Malaya)
* Pakistani troops shell Indian posts along Line of Control (Xinhuanet)
* Indian Deputy PM urges people to take part in Kashmir Polls (Xinhuanet)
* Pakistanis in Guantanamo Bay have no links with al-Qaeda: spokesman (Xinhuanet) (Japan Today)
* Indian-controlled Kashmir official escapes bid on life (Xinhuanet)
* 160 Pakistanis detained in Afghanistan to return home (Xinhuanet)
* Pakistan rejects India's claim about killings in Kashmir (Xinhuanet)
* Indian police turn to cyberspace to get tough with criminals (Channel News Asia)
* Large amount of drugs seized in Nepal (Xinhuanet)
* Thailand invites Nepal to ACD (Xinhuanet)
Europe
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* Pakistan asks US for prisoners (BBC)
* Kashmir minister escapes assassins (BBC
* Court endorses Gujarat polls delay (BBC)
* Imran Khan's nomination in trouble (BBC)
* Outrage over India hospital baby deaths (BBC) (Swiss Info)
Middle East
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* India says no talks with Pakistan at UN meet in New York (IRNA)
* Indian troops killing civilians in Kashmir (Arab News)
* People's Conference, Hurriyat settle row (Arab News)
* Supreme Court rejects early poll in Gujarat (Arab News)
* No compromise on democracy's revival: PML leader (IRNA)
* Pakistan 'no' to more US troops (Gulf Daily News)
* Election setback for Imran Khan (Gulf Daily News)
* Row as 13 infants die in hospital (Gulf Daily News)
* October polls ideal opportunity to reject status quo: Pak analyst (IRNA)
* US attack will directly affect Indian economy: professor (IRNA)
Editorial/Opinions
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N/A
Business
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* India's IT exports to grow by 23 percent (Xinhuanet)
Africa
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N/A
Americas
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* Nepal tightens security after Maoist bomb attacks
Kathmandu -- The Nepalese government has beefed up security after a series of bomb attacks in the capital which have left a soldier dead and many others injured, it was reported Monday.
Since a 10-month state of emergency -- imposed to combat a Maoist insurgency -- expired on Wednesday the rebels have stepped up their attacks, with bombs going off almost daily in Kathmandu. On Monday police said a group of rebels targeted a school in Chitwan, south of Kathmandu, setting two buses on fire. On Sunday night four Maoists shot and injured an official of the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) party in the eastern Bhaktapur district, state-run radio said.
http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=34334
Asia Pacific
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* Opponents denounce election ban on Benazir
Islamabad -- Opponents of Pakistan's military government yesterday denounced the rejection of opposition leader in exile Benazir Bhutto as an election candidate and warned it could cause instability. Election officials rejected nominations for Benazir to stand in three constituencies on Friday and Sunday, citing her July conviction for failing to answer corruption charges. The rulings are subject to an appeals process lasting until Sept 12, but appeared to virtually extinguish an already dim prospect of Benazir contesting the Oct 10 elections being organised by General Pervez Musharraf's military government
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/9/3/asia/mdon&sec=asia
* Pakistani troops shell Indian posts along Line of Control
New Delhi, September 2 -- Pakistani troops have targeted about 14 Indian forward defense locations and border outposts with artillery and small arms fire from across the Line of Control and International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir since Sunday evening, military officials said Monday. Pakistani troops targeted four forward defense locations in Drass sector with artillery fire since Sunday evening forcing Indian troops to retaliate, they said, adding the exchange of fire continued till Monday morning. Intermittent small arms firing exchange along IB between two sides was reported at eight places in Kanachak and Samba sectors in Jammu district during the last 24 hours, the Press Trust of India said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/02/content_547401.htm
* Indian Deputy PM urges people to take part in Kashmir Polls
New Delhi, September 2 -- Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani Monday said that the Indian government had decided to conduct elections in Jammu and Kashmir in an impartial and smooth manner and hoped "more and more" people will take part in it. Addressing a BJP party convention in Bijapur of southwest India's Karnataka state, he asserted that Pakistan would not succeed inits bid to disturb the Jammu and Kashmir elections through terrorism and said the ongoing talks with the leaders of Kashmir would continue after the polls.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/02/content_547357.htm
* Pakistanis in Guantanamo Bay have no links with al-Qaeda: spokesman
Islamabad, September 2 -- Pakistan maintains that 58 Pakistani prisoners detained in the Guantanamo Bay have no links with the al-Qaeda terrorist network and it is taking up with the US authorities their release and repatriation. This was stated by Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan at a weekly press briefing here on Monday. Khan said that a Pakistani delegation which returned from the Bay last week had submitted its report. "The Pakistani delegation met the prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay and our impression is that majority of them are not connected with the al-Qaeda," Khan said. Khan said that Pakistan had informed the US authorities and wasdiscussing their release and repatriation with them
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/02/content_547354.htm
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=228707
* Indian-controlled Kashmir official escapes bid on life
New Delhi, September 2 -- Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir Industries Minister and brother of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal, Monday escaped an attempt on his life when militants indiscriminately fired bullets on his motorcade, local officials said. A group of militants, equipped with sophisticated weapons,d fire on the motorcade of Kamaal, who is seeking re-electionfrom Gulmarg assembly constituency, at Khepora in Jammu and Kashmir soon after he addressed an election rally, they said. There was no casualty in the firing, which took place around 1 p.m. when the minister was heading towards nearby Hardushiva to address another election rally.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/02/content_547294.htm
* 160 Pakistanis detained in Afghanistan to return home
Islamabad, September 2 -- One hundred and sixty Pakistanis detained in Afghanistan are expected to reach here in the first week of September, according to the Peshawar-based daily Frontier Post on Monday. Quoting advisor to the governor of Punjab province Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, the paper said Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah during his visit to Pakistan had brought up the issue of releasingAfghan prisoners detained in Pakistan in return of Pakistani prisoners. On this issue, said the advisor, the Pakistani government is considering releasing Afghan prisoners involved in minor crimes.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/02/content_547234.htm
* Pakistan rejects India's claim about killings in Kashmir
Islamabad, September 2 -- Pakistan's Foreign Office on Monday released a statement, rejecting India's claims that the killing of innocent Muslim civilians in the Indian-controlled Kashmir was a job of Islamic freedom fighters. "The government of Pakistan has noted with deep concern the recent alarming rise in the killings of innocent civilians in the Indian occupied Kashmir and was of the view that Indian secret agents are behind the recent incidents in which several innocent civilian Muslims were murdered," said the office. It said the government of Pakistan is convinced that Indian security agencies are behind these killings, the main target of which are Kashmir Muslims. "This fact has been acknowledged by reputed Human Rights Organizations, such as Human Rights Watch andAmnesty International," said the statement.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/02/content_547316.htm
* Indian police turn to cyberspace to get tough with criminals
September 2 -- Police in many Indian cities are using the Internet to get tough with criminals. The crime detection rate is 65 per cent in India and now the police hope that with the help of the web, their efficiency will improve further. Police forces in almost all states in India have come under flak for human rights abuses, custodial deaths and so on. Added to this is the image that the country's police force is slow, corrupt and inefficient. In almost all major cities, state governments are trying to computerise procedures. It is easy to access the online police network of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh at www.apstatepolice.org. This US$10 million system is expected to increase transparency and accountablity of the police department, and increase the efficiency of the entire force.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/17825/1/.html
* Large amount of drugs seized in Nepal
The Nepali police has confiscated 284 kilograms of hashish worth more than 500,000 Nepali rupees (about 6,500 US dollars) hidden in a truck Monday night in Nepal, a local newspaper reported Tuesday. A police team seized the drugs during a check on the truck Monday night in Siraha district in southeastern Nepal, the independent English daily The Himalayan quoted an unnamed police officer as saying. "The contraband was found hidden in the sack of chicken feed," the police officer noted, adding that four suspected people have been taken in custody by the local police.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/03/content_548097.htm
* Thailand invites Nepal to ACD
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he invited Nepal to the second Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) meeting next year, the Nation newspaper reported Tuesday. Thaksin sent out his invitation during a working breakfast withvisiting Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The ACD, proposed by Thailand, is an informal forum meeting and aimed at enhancing the cooperation between Asian countries. The first meeting of the ACD was held this June in Cha'am, 300 kilometers south from Bangkok. Seventeen Asian countries sent foreign ministers or their representatives to attend the meeting.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/03/content_548098.htm
Europe
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* Pakistan asks US for prisoners
September 2 -- Pakistan has asked the United States to release and repatriate the 58 Pakistani nationals who have been held along with other suspected al-Qaeda members at Guantanamo Bay prison. A team of Pakistani intelligence and security officials recently visited the detention centre at the naval base on Cuba and interrogated each of the Pakistani prisoners. Based on the results of the interrogation, the investigators concluded that none of them had any links with the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2231202.stm
* Kashmir minister escapes assassins
September 2 -- Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say the state's minister for industry, Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, has escaped an attempt on his life by militants. They say Mr Kamal was on his way to Sheikhpora, north of Srinagar, when suspected militants fired at his motorcade. A civilian who was with the minister was injured in the attack at Khaipora, which happened as fears mount of more violence ahead of elections later this month. The attack on Mr Kamal came shortly after a senior activist of the state's governing National Conference party was abducted and killed near the northern town of Bandipora.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2231595.stm
* Court endorses Gujarat polls delay
September 2 -- The Indian Supreme Court has rejected a plea by the government of the western state of Gujarat that elections to the state assembly be held without delay. The Supreme Court has been adjudicating a dispute between the independent election commission which says polls should not be held before November or December, and the federal and state governments which demand immediate elections.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2231734.stm
* Imran Khan's nomination in trouble
Election officials in Pakistan have rejected a bid by the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan to run for parliament in one of the three constituencies he was planning to contest. They have turned down his application on the grounds that he had not provided a certified copy of his bachelors degree. His application for two other seats is still under review.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2227949.stm
* Outrage over India hospital baby deaths
An investigation has begun in the Indian city of Calcutta after 15 babies died in the past three days at a state-run hospital. The latest casualty was a three-year-old girl, who died on Tuesday of respiratory problems, the authorities say. Reports say a shortage of oxygen and hospital beds may have contributed to the high death toll.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2232749.stm
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=1312470
Middle East
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* India says no talks with Pakistan at UN meet in New York
India ruled out any meeting between Indian Premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in New York next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, asserting the climate for resumption of dialogue was not conducive. India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Nirupama Rao told reporters Monday evening that there has to be a "permanent and visible end to infiltration and the infrastructure of militancy in Pakistan has to be dismantled before we can consider resumption of dialogue." She said: "I would like to repeat the considered opinion of the Indian government that the climate for resumption of dialogue is not conducive."
http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml
* Indian troops killing civilians in Kashmir
Pakistan yesterday accused India of being involved in large-scale killings of innocent civilians in Kashmir and expressed deep concern over the recent surge in atrocities against Kashmiris in Indian-controlled Kashmir.Pakistan is convinced that Indian security agencies and renegade elements in their pay are behind these killings, the main target of which are Kashmiri Muslims, a Foreign Ministry statement said.It said Indian authorities invariably make the false claim that Kashmiri freedom fighters are responsible for these deaths.
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=18290
* People's Conference, Hurriyat settle row
Srinagar,India -- The All Party Hurriyat Conference yesterday staved off a showdown with the People's Conference, one of its main constituents, by deciding not to expel it over the issue of participation in upcoming polls to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. The Hurriyat, angered by the decision of four People's Conference leaders to contest the polls as independent candidates, accepted a clarification from the party that it had nothing to do with the move as it had already expelled the four leaders. The controversy had exposed sharp differences within the Hurriyat, a conglomerate of 23 groups campaigning either for Kashmir's merger with Pakistan or its secession from India.
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=18291
* Supreme Court rejects early poll in Gujarat
Ahmedabad, India -- The Supreme Court rejected yesterday a plea by the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government for early elections in the riot-torn western state of Gujarat, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported. The government had sought the guidance of the court after the Election Commission rejected plans by the BJP to hold elections in Gujarat ahead of schedule. The commission had said the state had not yet fully recovered from the recent Hindu-Muslim riots to be ready for polls before October as the BJP wanted.
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=18292
* No compromise on democracy's revival: PML leader
A senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Syed Zafar Ali Shah, on Tuesday said political forces would never compromise on a revival of true democracy in Pakistan. "Despite all hurdles, the struggle for restoration of democracy will continue at all cost," declared the PML (Nawaz) vice-president during an interview with IRNA here. He said there is no denying the fact that October election results, if they are not manipulated, would be in favor of his party and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) parliamentarians.
http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml
* Pakistan 'no' to more US troops
Deployment of more US troops in Pakistan to hunt for members of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network would be unwise and was unnecessary, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday. Asked in an interview with Cable News Network television how he would respond if the United States asked to put more troops in Pakistan, General Musharraf replied: "US troops? No, I don't think that would be wise at all.We are looking after any foreign elements in Pakistan. We have deployed a part of our army and the frontier force for this purpose and the US knows what we are doing".
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=31543&Sn=WORL
* Election setback for Imran Khan
Election authorities rejected bids by cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan to run for parliament because he failed to prove he is a college graduate - a new standard that has sunk numerous candidates hoping to contest fall elections to restore civilian rule to Pakistan.
Khan's nomination papers for a seat in the National Assembly were rejected yesterday in his hometown of Mianwali in Punjab province. He was also rejected as a candidate in Ahmadpur East, about 440km south of the capital, Islamabad, Akbar S Babar, spokesman for Khan's group Tehrik-e-Insaaf, or Movement for Justice, said yesterday.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=31546&Sn=WORL
* Row as 13 infants die in hospital
Calcutta, India -- Angry parents protested at a hospital in eastern India yesterday, alleging that at least 13 children died over the weekend due to the absence of doctors and the unavailability of oxygen. Parents said the deaths occurred since Saturday at the government-run B C Roy Memorial Child Hospital in Calcutta, in West Bengal state. State Health Minister Pratyush Mukherjee acknowledged at least eight to 10 children aged between one and four died at the hospital, but did not comment on the reasons.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=31541&Sn=WORL
* October polls ideal opportunity to reject status quo: Pak analyst
Pakistan's Jamaat-e Islami senior leader, Dr. Muhammad Kamal, on Tuesday said that the upcoming general election in his country would be an ideal opportunity for the masses to reject the politics of the status quo. During an interview with IRNA here, he said that it was high time for the people to say no to the decades-old politics of exploitation, hollow slogans and feudalism. "Setting aside their differences, patriotic religious forces have joined hands to provide the nation with a substitute leadership under the banner of Mutahida Majlis-e Amal," he pointed out.
http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml
* US attack will directly affect Indian economy: professor
A US attack on Iraq would adversely affect India's economy, especially the oil sector, says an Indian professor. Talking to IRNA, Prof. Anwar Alam of the Center for Persian Gulf Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, said on Tuesday that "with the start of war in the Persian Gulf prices of oil will go up and this will be a shock to India's economy as it is the largest consumer of oil which is already affected by severe drought."
http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml
Editorial/Opinions
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N/A
Business
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* India's IT exports to grow by 23 percent
New Delhi, September 2 -- India's exports of electronics and software will grow by 23 percent in dollar terms to 11 billion US dollars in the current fiscal from 8.86 billion dollars in the previous year, according to the Electronics and Computer Software Exports Promotion Council (ESC). "Our projections are based on the steady feedback we are getting from exporters and the performance of the industry in the first quarter of the fiscal year," said D.K. Sareen, ESC Executive Director, in a statement Sunday. Exports in the first quarter of 2002-03 are estimated to rise by 13.7 percent over the corresponding period last year. "This trend will pick up speed in the next three quarters," Sareen said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-09/02/content_546806.htm
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South Asian News, September 3, 2002 ---(International)
The Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA) is a national non-profit organization committed to the political empowerment of the Indian American community. For additional information on IACPA, please visit www. .
These links are provided for informational purposes only and no representation is made for the accuracy of information posted on other people's websites. String Information Services (www.stringinfo.com , contact: Prashant Kothari at ppkothari), a provider of secondary research, data harvesting and data conversion services prepares these links and the KS group manages, edits and distributes the list. E-mail Kapil Sharma at information if you have any questions.
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Copyright © 2001, Indian American Center for
Political Awareness. All rights reserved.
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