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China says considers attending Iran nuclear meeting

April 7, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

China said on Tuesday it was considering whether or not to attend a nuclear disarmament conference in Tehran later this month, after Iran said the Chinese would take part.

Iran, embroiled in a deepening nuclear row with the West, says experts and officials from 60 countries have been invited to the April 17-18 meeting in Tehran, called “Nuclear energy for everyone, nuclear arms for no one”.

The meeting will be held just days after Chinese President Hu Jintao is due to attend a nuclear security summit in Washington.

Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was quoted as saying on Sunday by the official IRNA news agency that China would take part.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China’s participation was not a done deal.

“We have received the invitation and are now studying it,” Jiang told a news briefing without elaborating.

Iran rejects Western accusations it is seeking to develop nuclear bombs, saying its atomic work is aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more of its oil and gas.

China, which buys large amounts of oil from Iran, has for months fended off Western calls to back further U.N. Security Council sanctions on the Islamic state.

But in moves last week that could ease strained Sino-U.S. ties, China announced Hu would attend a April 12-13 nuclear security summit in Washington, while its diplomats signalled readiness to join serious talks with Western powers on new sanctions on Iran.

China is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, each wielding the power to veto any resolution and thus block proposed U.N. sanctions.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Huang Yan; Editing by Emma Graham-Harrison)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Hu Jintao, irna, resolution, Saeed Jalili, Washington

Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan: Gilani

September 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep.20 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yosuf Raza Gilani is back to singing his ‘K-tune’ by describing Kashmir as Pakistan’s jugular vein.

Interacting with a group of political leaders during an Iftaar party at the PM House here, Gilani said Islamabad’s policy on Kashmir was based on Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s stance that “Kashmir was the jugular vein of Pakistan.”

Referring to the government’s recent decision to grant internal autonomy to Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilani said Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir would remain unchanged.

“I want to express in clear and unequivocal terms that this decision of the government will not bring any change in Pakistan’s principled stand on Kashmir,” Gilani said.

Gilani blamed India of neglecting the long pending Kashmir issue and said that Pakistan wants a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“We want to resolve the Kashmir dispute peacefully and have invited India for negotiations, despite it repeatedly ignoring them,” The Daily times quoted Gilani, as saying.

Gilani said he had categorically told Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during their meeting at the margins of the NAM summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh earlier this year that resolving the issue was very important for establishing peace in the region.

“There could be no peace in the region until the Kashmir dispute was resolved according to the aspirations of its people,” he added. (ANI)

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New evidence points towards water on Moon

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 19 (ANI): Two separate lunar missions have found evidence which indicates that the polar regions of the moon are chock full of water-altered minerals.

According to a report in Nature News, early results from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched on June 18, are offering a wide array of watery signals.

The Moon, in fact, has water in all sorts of places: not just locked up in minerals, but scattered throughout the broken-up surface, and, potentially, in blocks or sheets of ice at depth.

“We are on the verge of a renaissance in our thinking about the poles of the Moon, including how water ice gets there,” said Anthony Colaprete, principal investigator for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), which on October 9, will slam into a polar crater with the intention of ploughing up a plume of water ice for many telescopic eyes to see.

The initial LRO results confirm what was long suspected as a way for ice to stay trapped on the Moon for billions of years.

A thermal mapping instrument showed that permanently shadowed regions within deep polar craters are as cold as 35o Kelvin (-238o Celsius).

Project scientist Richard Vondrak said that they are the coldest spots in the Solar System – even colder than the surface of Pluto.

Variations in the flux of neutrons suggests variability in water content among craters.

But, the surprise comes from a different instrument on LRO, which counts slow-moving neutrons as a way of measuring hydrogen abundance in the top metre or so of the surface.

This hydrogen is often interpreted as a proxy for water ice, although it could also be molecular hydrogen or hydrogen trapped in other molecules.

The LRO instrument has already found a significant excess of hydrogen at the poles.

But, with added resolution, it is seeing surprising variability within the polar regions. Some of the craters appear enriched in hydrogen. Others are not.

Stranger still, some areas outside the crater walls, which were thought to get too hot for water to linger, show an excess of hydrogen.

Vondrak said this shows that the water could have arrived more recently, or that it can persist if buried as impacts till the lunar soil.

If the LCROSS impact spews up ice, it will eliminate the last vestiges of doubt about water on the Moon.

It could also start a new hunt: to find a record of impact events, such as water-rich comet strikes, that put the ice there in the first place. (ANI)

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Gilani rejects inking safe passage deal for Musharraf

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep.19 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has denied inking any ‘safe exit’ deal to facilitate former President General Pervez Musharraf’s safe passage from the country after he stepped down from the Presidency.

In an interview to a private television channel, Gilani said: “If there had been such a deal, it would have surfaced by now, as the media is very vibrant today.”

Gilani also said would be wrong to say that Musharraf has been ‘pardoned’, as neither he has been convicted by the court of law nor been ‘indemnified by parliament’.

When asked whether there is any possibility of invoking the Article Six of the Constitution against Musharraf, Gilani reiterated that he was willing to do it if parliament passed a unanimous resolution.

“I am for it. We must create history. But at the same time, we should not rock the boat. If there is a unanimous resolution, the whole nation would be together,” The Daily Times quoted Gilani, as saying.

Commenting on the Baloch issue, he said the government is preparing a package for the insurgency hit province which would include constitutional, administrative and economic reforms. (ANI)

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Planck spacecraft obtains first peek of big bang’s ‘afterglow’

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 18 (ANI): European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Planck spacecraft has obtained its first peek at the afterglow of the big bang, revealing it in unprecedented detail.

The ESA spacecraft was launched into space on May 14 this year. It is observing the glow of hot gas from just 380,000 years after the big bang, called the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

According to a report in New Scientist, the detailed properties of this background may contain hints of hidden extra dimensions or multiple universes, as well as providing clues to what caused a brief, early period of incredibly rapid cosmic expansion.

Planck began surveying the microwave background on August 13, a few weeks after reaching its planned perch 1.5 million kilometres from Earth at a point called L2 and cooling its detectors to within 0.1 degrees Celsius above absolute zero.

Now, the Planck team has released the probe’s first image, an observational strip covering about 5 per cent of the sky.

Slight variations in temperature from place to place in the early universe give the image its mottled appearance.

“With a few per cent of the data in, you can see it’s working well and delivering good stuff,” said team member George Efstathiou of the University of Cambridge.

Planck is expected to provide the most detailed all-sky map of the cosmic microwave background yet, improving on the best current map, obtained by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which launched in 2001.

Planck’s detectors have more than 10 times the sensitivity of WMAP’s, and about 2.5 times the angular resolution.

“Every strip that Planck scans, we’re getting data that is many, many times more sensitive than WMAP,” Efstathiou told New Scientist.

Although Planck was only designed to observe the sky for 15 months, the team believes it could last for more than 30 months, based on new estimates of how long its coolant will last.

The extra time will allow Planck to measure the radiation with even greater precision, since it will scan the entire sky four times – two more than originally planned. (ANI)

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Findings from India’s Chandrayaan to provide new understanding of lunar surface

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 18 (ANI): India’s Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) has gathered data for a total of 30 solar flares, giving the most accurate measurements to date of magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, and iron in the lunar surface.

Although contact was lost with Chandrayaan-1 last month, the enhanced performance of the C1XS instrument, which exceeded its design specification, means that the science team will be able to determine the geochemistry of new areas of the lunar surface, adding some vital pieces to the jigsaw of the mineralogy of the lunar surface.

The miniature C1XS instrument investigated the lunar surface using an effect whereby X-ray illumination from the Sun causes rocks to fluoresce, emitting light at a different wavelength.

This re-emitted light contains spectral peaks that are characteristic of elements contained in the rock, revealing its composition.

Solar flares act like a flash bulb, giving added illumination and allowing C1XS to ‘see’ more elements.

During normal conditions, C1XS could detect magnesium, aluminum, and silicon and collected data on the levels of these elements, enabling detailed mapping of areas of the lunar surface during its operational period.

During the 30 solar flares, C1XS detected calcium and iron (and sometimes titanium, sodium, and potassium) in key areas in the southern hemisphere and on the far side of the Moon.

The spectral resolution of 50 km was much better than previous missions.

According to Professor Grande, “The C1XS team will be analyzing the data collected during the Chandrayaan-1 mission over the next few months, and the results will help us further our knowledge of the Moon and planetary formation.”

In addition, the design of the instrument has been proved very successful in that it withstood passage through the Earth’s radiation belts and went on to produce these wonderful high-resolution spectra. We were able to separate clear peaks for each of the target elements, allowing us not only to identify where they are present but give an accurate estimate for how much is there,” he said.

“The technology developed for C1XS opens up some exciting opportunities for future missions,” he added. (ANI)

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Now, computers become lawyers!

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 13 (ANI): European researchers have created a legal analysis query engine that combines artificial intelligence, game theory and semantics to offer advice, conflict prevention and dispute settlement for European law.

European law is complex, many layered and expanding. There are thousands of regulations, so many that compliance is difficult, time-consuming and expensive.

While harmonization is underway, the process itself demands that individuals, companies and law firms often have to relearn the system.

Meanwhile, areas like intellectual property rights (IPR) and digital rights regulation that seek to combat piracy are becoming evermore complex to understand and apply consistently across Europe.

Now, the ALIS Project has developed a computerized platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI), game theory and semantic technologies to ‘understand’ and track the regulations in a large, and expanding area of expertise – in this case IPR.

ALIS sought to develop a working system in IPR to tackle the fundamental technological challenges before expanding it to more areas later on.

The system is much more than a simple database of relevant legal regulations.

It uses insights from game theory to help contentious parties come to an amicable agreement, either through conflict prevention or dispute resolution, and it can assist lawmaking as well.

Game theory looks at how strategic interactions between rational people lead to outcomes reflecting real player preferences.

It can be used to develop algorithms that find equilibria in games, markets, computational auctions, peer-to-peer systems, security and information markets.

Now, with ALIS, it is available for legal systems too.

This concept of equilibria supports conflict prevention, dispute resolution and offers decision support for lawmaking.

A key factor in the system is its test for regulatory compliance.

This is very powerful. It can help citizens, companies and lawyers quickly scan the relevant legal corpus to discover if they are compliant. It is a key factor for the other roles in the ALIS system as well.

For conflict prevention, dispute resolution and lawmaking, the ALIS first establishes if the parties, or the proposed legislation, are compliant with current law.

Once compliance is established, the system can present a series of options based on an analysis of the potential conflict or dispute, or it can provide information to further assist lawmakers to formulate policy.

Similarly, the tool aims to rapidly speed up the work done by lawyers, helping to resolve relatively straightforward cases faster, so they can concentrate on more complex problems. (ANI)

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Pak to rake up ‘K’ issue, Indian atrocities in UN General Assembly

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep.12 (ANI): Pakistan is looking to rake up the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly which is scheduled to be held later this month.

According to sources, in two separate meetings held at the Foreign Office, concerned officials briefed Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi regarding both the Kashmir and Afghanistan issues.

Sources said that it was decided that Islamabad would urge the United Nations to ensure a resolution of the long-lingering Kashmir dispute on a priority basis for durable peace in the region.

“The international community would also be informed about the human rights violations committed by Indian forces in held Kashmir,” The Dawn quoted sources, as saying.

They said the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha was also present in the meeting.

According to a private television channel, Pakistan is also likely to take up the issue of presence of US led allied forces in Afghanistan

Islamabad has decided to inform the international community about the problems being faced by it due to the presence of NATO forces in Afghanistan, the channel reported.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that resolution of the Kashmir issue is the key to establishing good ties with India and restoring peace in the sub-continent.

During a meeting with Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) Prime Minister Sardar Yaqub Khan, Gilani said resolving the Kashmir dispute was Islamabad’s top priority. (ANI)

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World’s most advanced CT scanner to see through solids

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 11 (ANI): Researchers at The University of Nottingham, UK, have created the most advanced 3D X-ray micro Computed Tomography (CT) scanner in the world, which will help scientists from a wide variety of departments across the University literally see through solid materials, including soil.

Known as the ‘Nanotom’, the machine will make previously difficult and laborious research much easier as it allows researchers to probe inside objects without having to break into them.

The Nanotom will produce high-resolution 3D and slice images of solids with a pixel resolution of up to half micron or 500 nanometres.

It will be based at the School of Biosciences as the centrepiece of research into efforts to understand the microscopic interactions between plant root growth and soil structure.

The first project to use it will examine the sensing ability of roots to grow in the best direction for the health of the plant through the soil.

It aims to provide evidence of how the root reacts and adapts to soil stresses like drought and compaction by adjusting the genetic information in the tips of the root as it grows.

The Nanotom will allow researchers to follow the progress of the root growth and soil structural development for the first time without disturbing the sample of the plant growing in the soil.

The eventual aim of research like this is to contribute to worldwide efforts for food security and sustainable food production by preserving and improving the vital but finite soil resources of the planet.

It will enable scientists to come up with a recipe for the best soil composition and level of compaction as well as informing plant breeding programmes.

Accurate soil structure measurement will be also be essential in changing farming practices to cut CO2 which is released into the atmosphere during traditional ploughing of agricultural soil.

According to Dr Sacha Mooney from the University’s Division of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, “This new kit will completely revolutionize our work in trying to understand the key factors that control some of the many functions that soils perform.”

“Of course it’s not just soils we’ll be scanning, I think I am just as excited about the opportunity to look inside newly created environmental building materials, eco-friendly crops developed to improve yield and even chocolate bars for the food industry,” Mooney added. (ANI)

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KNP to hold Black Day on Oct.22

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.8 (ANI): The Supreme Council of the KNP held an important meeting in Luton on September 6, which was presided by the party Chairman Abbas Butt. The meeting discussed and analysed the current situation of the Kashmiri struggle and made important decisions.

The Supreme Council strongly condemned the government of Pakistan’s latest attempts to grab territory which is legal part of State of Jammu and Kashmir. The SC said Pakistani governments have never been sincere with the cause of Kashmir and always have formulated policies to snatch Kashmir; and have deliberately deprived people of their fundamental human rights.

The SC said people of Gilgit Baltistan deserve to have their basic human rights which have been denied since 1947; but no one should be allowed to implement their imperialist designs in name of giving rights to people of the region. The KNP leaders said, if Pakistani authorities were sincere they could have discussed the issue with the people of the region and given these rights without making the region a ‘province’ of Pakistan.

PPP government claims to advance rights of people and democracy, but their policies are designed to deprive people of basic rights and advance undemocratic and unconstitutional practises. They tried to make Pakistani Administered Kashmir a province after the Shimla Pact and they plan to make Gilgit Baltistan a province and pave way for division of Jammu and Kashmir.

KNP leaders said some people of Jammu and Kashmir hold Black Day on 27th October, as that is the day when Indian army landed in Kashmir. KNP leaders said in our opinion their wisdom is misdirected. We have to look at the root cause. Indian army came after the tribal invasion and subsequent ‘Provisional Accession’.

KNP Supreme Council said, ‘It was the Pakistani tribesmen supported by the Pakistani government of the time which violated the Standstill Agreement and invaded parts of the State territory. It was these tribesmen which contravened the State sovereignty and killed thousands of innocent Kashmiri men and women. It was because of this unprovoked and unjustified attack on our sovereignty which seriously threatened life, honour and property of people that the Maharaja was compelled to seek help from India.

KNP leaders said we have serious issues with India on their Kashmir policy, as we believe Kashmir is not their internal part; but as for the Black Day is concerned we should have Black Day on 22 October because this is the day when our troubles and miseries started.

KNP SC has decided to take a lead on this matter and hold a BLACK DAY on 22 October; and in this regard various responsibilities have been given to Dr Shabir Choudhry and Nawaz Majid who will liaise with other like minded people and parties. The meeting was addressed by ZubairAnsari, Nazam Bhatti, Nawaz Majid, Asim Mirza, Abbas Butt and Dr Shabir Choudhry.

Earlier KNP held an Iftar Party in which more than eighty people were present; among them were leaders and political activists of various Kashmiri parties who spoke against the new package for Gilgit and Baltistan and condemned designs of Pakistani government. In the meeting pro Pakistan and nationalist leaders were present, and they all strongly spoke against this new package and demanded that it must be taken back.

A unanimous resolution was passed which strongly criticised the new package and demanded from government of Pakistan to withdraw it as it will seriously damage our struggle for right of self determination. The resolution fully supported fundamental rights of people of Gilgit Baltistan; but added that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is one political entity and it must not be divided. (ANI)

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Indo-Pak foreign secretary talks not on the cards

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.4 (ANI): Talks between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan-Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir-are not going to be held in the forseeable future in the wake of the latest statements emerging from Islamabad with regard to the 26/11 probe and its less than acceptable reactions to the six dossiers provided to it by the Indian Government.

According to sources, while the meeting between the Indian External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi will take place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later this month, any hopes of a limited dialogue taking place at lesser levels is remote.

Incessant ceasefire violations at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan’s consistent non-compliance to the six dossiers provided by India and the inaction against 26/11 mastermind Hafeez Saeed are proving to be a recipe for a new face off between the two neighbours.

Dismayed by Pakistan’s double speak and its refusal to accept the evidence provided by India in the sixth dossier, sources said “It is up to Pakistan to decide what relation they want with India”.

Hafeez Saeed and his organization are banned under UN resolution 1267 and he should be brought to books, the sources added.

Interpol has already issued Red corner notices against Hafeez Saeed and Lakhvi, the key suspects who masterminded the Mumbai terror attacks.

But Pakistan is still asking for concrete evidence from India.

The Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has already indicated that India may not respond to further demands from the Pakistan Government for information on the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.

The apparent bitterness between the two neighbours is evident from the fact that the meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries is not yet finalized.

Sources have told ANI that no dates are fixed for the meetings so far.

It was decided between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Yusuf Raza Gilani at Sharm-al-Sheikh last month that foreign secretaries of both countries should meet more often and it was also decided that Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao should meet her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir before the ministers of both countries meet in New York.

The Pakistan Foreign office has also reportedly invited the Indian Foreign Secretary for talks in Islamabad, but no decision has been taken regarding her visit as if now, sources have told ANI.

India is also alarmed by the recent US reports about Pakistan’s increasing nuclear capabilities. The Indian Army chief has also expressed apprehensions over the development and has said that Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile is going beyond nuclear deterrence. He has also cautioned Pakistan over the rising ceasefire violations. By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)

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Concerned US asks Pak for immediate resolution of explosive Baloch issue

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep.2 (ANI): Expressing concerns over the Baloch insurgency, the United States has asked the Pakistan Government to settle all outstanding issues with the Baloch people as soon as possible.

According to sources, three US Senators met President Asif Ali Zardari and asked him to resolve the crisis while expressing concerns over the deteriorating law and order situation in the region.

Senators Carl Levin and Jack Reed of the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee and Edward Kaufman of the Foreign Relations Committee stressed on the need for complete peace and stability in Balochistan during their talks with Zardari, The Dawn reports.

The US Congressional delegation led by Senator Carl Levin, which is on a visit to Pakistan currently, told Zardari that the stability of Balochistan was imperative for success in the ‘war on terror’.

Briefing media person after the meeting, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari urged the senators to try to hasten the reimbursement and supply of critically needed equipment, including helicopter gunships.

Zardari also requested Washington to speed up the process for the early adoption of the Kerry Lugar Bill, and also asked the White House to release all outstanding dues amounting to 1.6 billion dollars in order to help Islamabad counter extremism effectively.

“Payment of outstanding amounts in the support funds is important for the security forces to continue the ongoing military operation against militants,” The Dawn quoted Babar, as saying.

“President Zardari said attaching conditions to aid would be counter-productive and impart a transactional nature to the relationship which must be avoided,” he added.

Zardari also welcomed the Obama Administration’s commitment to help Pakistan address its increasing energy needs. (ANI)

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Battle lines drawn as PML-N issues 48 hrs ultimatum to PPP to stop vilifying Sharif

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, Sep 1 (ANI): The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has issued a 48 hours ultimatum to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to halt a “malicious” campaign against party chief Nawaz Sharif or be prepared for a forceful response.

“The PML-N is restraining itself for the sake of democracy, or it could have exposed hundreds of corruption stories involving PPP leaders,” PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal told reporters.

He said all information pointed towards the Presidency being responsible for the disinformation, the Daily Times reported.

He claimed the campaign was launched to divert the public’s attention from rental power projects, the Pakistan Steel Mills issue, the sugar scandal and former president Pervez Musharaf’s trial.

Iqbal said the PML-N would not allow anyone to distract it from its stated agenda on these issues.

He said a recent Gallup Polls survey had shown that 71 percent of Pakistanis wanted Musharraf tried for sedition and there was no need for a resolution.

Replying to a question on whether the renewed conflict between the PML-N and the PPP could jeopardise the system, Iqbal said his party would continue to fight for the constitution and democracy.

Meanwhile, in a tit-for-tat reply to PML-N’s warning that they would respond against the PPP leadership if it did not mend its ways within 48 hours, the PPP leaders said they were not afraid of any ultimatum.

The president’s spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, rejected and condemned the attempts to accuse the Presidency of being involved in what has been described as “character assassination” of some political leaders.

“There is no question of the Presidency being behind the resurrection of old accusations against some political leaders,” he said.

He said the accusation relating to the distribution of slush funds among politicians some two decades ago were not new and kept popping up every now and then. (ANI)

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Himachal HC judges to make public their assets

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Shimla, Aug 30 (ANI): The judges of the Himachal Pradesh High Court also decided to make their property public, on the lines of Supreme court justices.

Earlier, the judges of Kerala and Delhi high court had announced their decision to make their assets public.

“A decision to declare assets has been taken unanimously by all the nine judges, including acting Chief Justice R.B.Mishra, after the apex court judges’ resolve to make public their assets,” V.K. Sharma, Registrar General of the High Court, said.

Sharma informed that the details of the assets of the judges would be put up on the high court’s website at the earliest.

He added, “We are awaiting the guidelines that have been finalised by the apex court in this regard. As soon as we get these, the list of assets of the judges would be put on the High Court website.”

The Himachal Pradesh High Court had adopted a resolution in 2008 that all judges should declare assets and investments in their name or in the name of their spouse.

Earlier on Wednesday, a meeting of the Justices of the Supreme Court chaired by Chief Justice K.G.Balakrishnan decided to make public the details of their assets.

The issue of disclosing of assets by judges caused a major debate after an article written by Justice Shylendra Kumar of the Karnataka High Court. (ANI)

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BJP concept note calls for setting its house in order in three months

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.28 (ANI): A concept note circulated during the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Chintan Baithak held in Simla last week has called on members of the party to work unitedly to set their house in order within three months.

Here is what the note says, according to a private television channel.

The first section is called “Proposal”. It analyses what has been ailing the party and the major problem pointed out was the party’s keenness in being on election mode, at the cost of developing the organization.

The second section refers specifically at Elections 2009 and points out that leaders of the party were keen on advancing their own goals at the cost of the party. It goes on to say that to maintain good relations with the media, key party issues were freely discussed with them, and that BJP had become ‘infected’ with ‘corporate culture’.

The third section is called “forward planning” and has suggestions of how to rejuvinate the party. It says more youngsters need to be attracted to the party and most interestingly points out that the party is not coordinated with the RSS anymore.

Section four lists other factors. For the party’s degeneration, without mincing words, the note says that there is a need for greater discipline at the Central level and infighting among leaders must end.

The final section is called “Resolution” and suggests that everyone in the party must work together, and form a three-month agenda to turn the party around. (ANI)

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Resolution of Kashmir only possible on equal terms: Sharif

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Aug.28 (ANI): Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that resolution of Kashmir issue is imperative for peace in the region adding that all outstanding issues with India should be resolved on equal terms.

During a meeting with Pakistan held Kashmir President Raja Muhammad Zulqernain, Sharif said Islamabad wants to resolve all issues with India amicably, including Kashmir.

“The issue should be resolved on equal terms rather than one side dominating the other,” The Dawn quoted Sharif, as saying.

“It is need of hour to start process of dialogue with India as it is high time that tensions between the two countries must be solved for the sake of millions of Kashmiris living on both sides of the border,” he added.

Zulqernain told Sharif that people on both sides of the Line of the Control wanted a solution for the long pending issue according to their wishes and aspirations. (ANI)

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Bariatric surgery can eliminate diabetes symptoms

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 28 (ANI): Weight-loss surgery can help eliminate the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in nearly 80 percent patients, an international study has found.

The research team led by Professor Henry Buchwald of the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, observed almost 135,000 patients for the study.

The findings concluded that 78 per cent patients had a “complete resolution” of diabetes for up to two years post-surgery, while 87 either saw resolution or noted an improvement in their condition, reports Timesonline.

Type 2 diabetes is common to obese people and occurs when the body stops producing or using insulin, the hormone that maintains the sugar level in blood.

Losing weight can help the body to efficiently use available insulin, and thus prevent kidney failure, nerve damage and eye problems.

The weight-loss surgery, medically known as the bariatric surgery, or the gastric-band operation, fits a band around the upper part of the stomach, restricting the amount people can eat before feeling full. Though the operation can benefit diabetes patients, it is advised only for the very obese, who’ve failed to lose weight otherwise.

But charity Diabetes UK is a little sceptical about the findings of the research.

Zoë Harrison, care adviser for the charity, said: “Although the data shows good results from bariatric surgery, it must be remembered that any surgery carries serious risks.

“Bariatric surgery should be considered only as a last resort. It can lead to dramatic weight loss, which in turn may result in a reduction in people taking their type 2 diabetes medication, and even in some people needing no medication at all. This does not mean type 2 diabetes has been cured.

“These people will still need to eat a healthy, balanced diet and be physically active to manage their diabetes.” (ANI)

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Bariatric surgery can eliminate diabetes symptoms

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 28 (ANI): Weight-loss surgery can help eliminate the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in nearly 80 percent patients, an international study has found.

The research team led by Professor Henry Buchwald of the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, observed almost 135,000 patients for the study.

Type 2 diabetes is common to obese people and occurs when the body stops producing or using insulin, the hormone that maintains the sugar level in blood.

Losing weight can help the body to efficiently use available insulin, and thus prevent kidney failure, nerve damage and eye problems.

But charity Diabetes UK is a little sceptical about the findings of the research.

Zoë Harrison, care adviser for the charity, said: “Although the data shows good results from bariatric surgery, it must be remembered that any surgery carries serious risks.

“These people will still need to eat a healthy, balanced diet and be physically active to manage their diabetes.” (ANI)

Musharraf’s trial, NRO should not be interlinked: Gilani

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Aug.25 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and the trial of former president General Pervez Musharraf under the Article Six of the Constitution are two separate issues and should not be interlinked.

“These are two separate issues,” Gilani said when asked whether the NRO was preventing the government from initiating a high treason case against Musharraf.

Interacting with media persons at Chaudhry Nisar Ali’s residence, Gilani said Pakistan wanted to maintain good relations with all its neighbours including India, The Daily Times reports.

Gilani said his government wanted ‘forward movement’ in the composite dialogue process with India for the resolution of all outstanding issues, but without compromising Pakistan’s sovereignty, dignity and honour.

Gilani said the PPP led government is in constant touch with the PML-N over all important issues concerning the nation including relations with India.

Referring to his meeting with Dr.Manmohan Singh in Sharm-El-Sheikh on the sidelines of the NAM summit, Gilani said he had contacted PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and taken him into confidence before the meeting.

When asked about the differences between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) over the trial Musharraf, he said both parties have their own manifestos and programmes and were working according to it. (ANI)

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No personal grudge against Musharraf but trial a ‘must’: Sharif

August 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Aug. 22 (ANI): Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had no personal grudge against former President General Pervez Musharraf, but that it was a unanimous call of the country to try the former general under Article 6 for disregarding the Constitution.

Interacting with media persons at Punjab House here, Sharif said Musharraf’s trial is ‘must’ to ensure supremacy of law.

“It is a golden opportunity to block the path of military interventions and if the government does not move against the dictator, it would be a great disappointment for the nation,” Sharif said.

He said with the Supreme Court declaring Musharraf’s November 3, 2007 acts as ‘illegal’ and ‘extrajudicial’, the Government had no option but to try the former military ruler.

Sharif also threatened that the PML-N would come out of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms if the PPP government fails to revoke the 17th Constitutional Amendment as soon as possible.

He also regretted the delay in implementation of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) in true letter and spirit.

Earlier, in a meeting with his close associates and party workers, Sharif expressed disappointment at Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s decision not to try Musharraf for high treason.

Referring to Gilani’s statement in the National Assembly where he asked the opposition to come up with a unanimous resolution for Musharraf’s trial, Sharif said he never expected this from Gilani.

“I was not expecting this kind of statement from Gilani. He broke my heart,” The News quoted Sharif, as saying.

He said Gilani’s statement suggests that he supports Musharraf’s illegal acts.

During the meeting, Sharif also clarified that he was never approached by any foreign diplomat asking him to ‘forgive’ Musharraf.

Responding to a question, Sharif said British diplomat Mark Lyall Grant had never discussed any deal with him before the resignation of Musharraf.

“Grant never asked anything more and informed him that he is going to the United Nations as the new British envoy,” he said. (ANI)

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Bariatric surgery can eliminate diabetes symptoms

Musharraf’s trial, NRO should not be interlinked: Gilani

No personal grudge against Musharraf but trial a ‘must’: Sharif

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