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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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PML-N blames PPP for ‘not being interested’ in Musharraf’s trial

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep. 9 (ANI): PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal has said that the PPP backed out of its promise on trying former President Pervez Musharraf.

The Dawn quoted Iqbal as saying that the PPP had agreed to prosecute Musharraf in the past but now it seemed that the PPP is not interested bringing the former dictator to book.

Rejecting claims that the PML-N was taking a soft stance on the issue, Iqbal said PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif on Monday renewed his demand for Musharraf’s trial under Article-6 of the Constitution.

Responding to a question on Saudi Arabia’s role in Musharraf’s prosecution, Iqbal said: “It is better not to involve Saudi Arabia in this issue.” (ANI)

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Sharifs soften stance against Musharraf trial under Saudi pressure

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep 7 (ANI): The Sharif brothers and top leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are believed to have softened their demand for the trial of former President Pervez Musharraf owing to international pressure by his guarantors, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Well-placed party sources said that the PML-N central leadership would take the party hierarchy into confidence about the pressure for softening their anti-Musharraf stance and to chalk out the party’s new plan of action to prepare it for next elections at party’s scheduled CEC meeting in Murree on Monday.

Sources attach great importance to Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia in next few days where apart from performing Umrah he is expected to meet the Saudi high-ups in the backdrop of Musharraf’s recent visit to the Kingdom and his meeting with the King Abdullah.

The Nation quoted sources as saying that Saudi authorities have already conveyed to the Sharifs to take soft stance on Musharraf’s trial as the Kingdom regards him needy for help and cooperation as they were while out of power.

The meeting, sources further said, would discuss and evolve a comprehensive strategy to hold party’s elections but after pushing it through an intense process of restructuring and reorganization at grass root level in all parts of the country.

The CEC meeting would decide about the election timeframe either by the end of this year or early next year.

The meeting would also take host of political issues for consideration including PML-N, PPP relations, law and order situation in Balochistan, fate of Local Bodies and implementation of Charter of Democracy by the PPP-led coalition government, they added. (ANI)

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Phoenix pastor who prays for Obama’s death faces flak

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep. 1 (ANI): Protestors have started voicing their opposition outside the congregation of a Phoenix-based pastor, who tells his parishioners that he prays for President Obama’s death.

Phoenix-based Pastor Steven Anderson attracted widespread attention after he delivered a sermon titled, “Why I Hate Barack Obama,” and encouraged his parishioners to join him in praying for the president’s death.

“I hope that God strikes Barack Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy and I hope it happens today,” Fox News quoted him, as saying.

He called his message “spiritual warfare” and said he does not condone killing.

However, some protesters gathered around his church on Sunday, calling Anderson’s words “incomprehensible.”

According to the report, Anderson has also received some death threats.

Anderson’s provocative message stems from Obama’s abortion-rights stance.

In his controversial sermon, delivered at his Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe before Obama arrived for a speech in Phoenix earlier in the month, the pastor had said he wants the president to “melt like a snail” with salt on it.

“I’m gonna pray that he dies and goes to hell when I go to bed tonight. That’s what I’m gonna pray,” he told his congregation.

The last time fierce opposition to Obama’s abortion position drew widespread attention was when Obama delivered the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, the report said.

The Anderson sermon was also in news after it was reported that one man carrying an assault rifle outside the Phoenix arena where Obama spoke was a member of Anderson’s church, the report added. (ANI)

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Reserve Bank engaged in keeping inflation low

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug. 31 (ANI): Reserve Bank of India’s Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty on Monday said the bank is faced with the challenging task of keeping inflation in check, when food price inflation has already reached around 10 percent.

“The food price inflation is already around 10 percent. Our key challenge is how to keep the inflationary pressure low,” he said while speaking at an event of the Institute of Banking.

He dwelt on a range of issues from drought to interest rates to government borrowings, and said the country would continue to grow at 6 percent-plus.

However, he pointed out that if the “drought affects the agriculture growth, it will partly affect the growth number”.

Commenting on interest rates, he ruled out any further cuts and said the central bank could even reverse its expansionary stance if the drought-induced inflationary prices go out of control.

“I don’t think today anybody is expecting interest rates to come down further,” he said.

Admitting the huge government borrowing to have exerted some pressure on interest rates, which have “already gone up a little-bit,” he said he expects interest rates to be stable as of now. (ANI)

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Was Nawaz Sharif against conducting nuclear tests in 1998?

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, Aug.30 (ANI): Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan has said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not in favour of conducting nuclear tests in 1998, but was ‘outlawed’ by his cabinet and forced to accept its decision regarding going ahead with the tests.

In an interview with a private television channel, Khan claimed that some ministers of Sharif’s cabinet also supported his views of not conducting the nuclear tests at that time.

He said that ministers like Mushahid Hussain, Nisar Ali Khan, Sartaj Aziz and Abida Hussain, during a cabinet meeting, had opposed the nuke tests which were held on May 28, 1998.

“Mushahid changed his mind and did not support the nuclear tests of May 28, 1998 during a cabinet meeting held to consider the issue,” The Daily Times quoted Khan, as saying.

Khan said the present opposition leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan would confirm his claims, as he is fully aware of the incident.

However, both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) have rejected Khan’s claims.

PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain termed former Foreign Minister’s statements as a ‘joke, saying both he and Mushahid Hussain, as the Information Minister, had supported the nuclear tests.

PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal also denied Khan’s claims that Nawaz Sharif was opposed to conducting nuclear tests.

“Gohar’s statement regarding the PML-N chief’s stance on nuclear tests was contrary to fact. The statement has no relevance, as every one knew that Nawaz, the Prime Minister at the time, had decided to conduct the nuclear tests in 1998,” Iqbal said.

Meanwhile, former Federal Minister Abida Hussain said she had suggested the government to not to conduct nuclear tests in a huff merely to give a response to India.

Hussain said it was the then Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan who had pressurized Nawaz Sharif for conducting the tests immediately. (ANI)

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Ted Kennedy played a role in creating Bangladesh

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug.28 (ANI): Former US Senator Ted Kennedy had many foreign-policy achievements to his credit, and one of them was his role in helping to create the new state of Bangladesh in 1971.

In 1971, the Pakistan Government, with the support of the Nixon administration, sent troops into what was then called East Pakistan, in order to contain a secessionist movement. This created a massive refugee crisis as millions streamed across the border to India.

Although the situation got little coverage in the United States, Kennedy, who had a lifelong interest in refugee issues and was eyeing a run against Nixon, traveled to inspect the situation:

On his return, he issued a scathing report to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Refugees. The report, “Crisis in South Asia,” spoke of “one of the most appalling tides of human misery in modern times.”

“Nothing is more clear, or more easily documented, than the systematic campaign of terror-and its genocidal consequences-launched by the Pakistani army on the night of March 25th,” he wrote.

“All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad. America’s heavy support of Islamabad is nothing short of complicity in the human and political tragedy of East Bengal.”

The Nixon administration maintained its stance. But Kennedy’s focus on the mass killings came as everyday Americans began to share in the outrage.

For instance, Beatle George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh, the first benefit event of its kind, was staged to further highlight the plight of Bangladeshi refugees.

Besieged, the U.S. Congress pushed through a bill to ban arms sales to Pakistan.

Kennedy received a hero’s welcome in Dhaka in 1972, just after Bangladesh gained independence.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recalled Kennedy’s role, saying, “The people of Bangladesh will remember his contribution forever.” (ANI)

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Swaraj alludes to Raje’s possible expulsion from the BJP

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Shimla, Aug.21 (ANI): Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, on Friday indirectly hinted that former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje could be removed from the party on grounds of indiscipline.

Without directly confirming plans to remove Raje, Swaraj alluded at a press conference held here that: “The BJP has removed the party’s state level leadership in those states where it performed poorly in the (state and general) elections.”

In this context, she also gave the examples of B.C Khanduri who was replaced as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand by Ramesh Pokhriyal, Om Mathur who was replaced by Arun Chaturvedi as the BJP’s Rajasthan unit president and Krishnapal Gurjar coming in place of Atam Prakash Manchanda as president of the BJP’s Haryana unit.

Raje is expected in the national capital New Delhi today, and is likely to meet Leader of Opposition and senior BJP leader L.K.Advani at his residence on Saturday.

It maybe recalled that last week when she was asked by the party to step down as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan State Assembly, Raje had in a show of strength sent more than 60 MLAs and MPs to the national capital to convince the BJP”s central leadership that she enjoyed the full support of the state unit, and therefore, there were no grounds for her removal as Leader of Opposition.

Swaraj also justified the expulsion of Jaswant Singh from the party, saying it was necessary to restore and maintain the party’s ideological stance.

She told reporters here on the last day of the three-day ‘Chintan Baithak’ of the BJP that Jaswant Singh, as a political leader with over three decades of experience, had deliberately sought to denigrate India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel and his achievements and had showered wholesome praise on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Founder of Pakistan in his latest book “Jinnah India Partition Independence”.

“It was very difficult, but necessary to expel Jaswant Singh. It was a very tough decision to remove a colleague of last thirty years,” she said.

Countering Jaswant Singh’s statement of Thursday evening that Patel was the country’s first Home Minister to ban the BJP’s parent organization – the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) shortly after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in January 1948, Swaraj said: “It was (Jawaharlal) Nehru’s intention to ban the RSS, and not Patel’s.”

Recalling a letter that Patel had written to Nehru, Swaraj said that Patel wrote: “I have been following the investigations, and there is no iota of evidence against the RSS.”

She also emphasized that coalition politics in India was here to stay to fight the “hegemony” of the Congress party.

Historically, she said that Shyama Prasad Moorkerjee, was the first person to initiate coalition politics in the country with the formation of the Jana Sangh in the 1950s. The aim then was to counter the Congress, and that tradition continues, she said.

She confirmed that three-day Chintan Baithak had thoroughly discussed the pro’s and con’s of coalition politics. (ANI)

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Blair no more a favourite to become EU president

July 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 12 (ANI): Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s chances of becoming the new president of European Union have receded after he lost support among continental leaders.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was originally Blair’s key backer, is said to have “changed his mind”.

The new favourite is Spain’s charismatic socialist former prime minister Felipe Gonzales, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

European leaders are just beginning the complex horse-trading that will end in the appointment of a EU president and “high representative” – effectively the union’s foreign minister – once the Lisbon Treaty has been finally fully ratified.

That could come in October when Ireland stages its second referendum on the treaty following a “No” vote last year. Pundits expect a “Yes” vote this time round which would allow the treaty to pass into law among the EU’s 27 member states.

Blair, currently a Middle East peace envoy, remains 10 Downing Street’s choice.

A Foreign Office source told The Sunday Telegraph: “The new job is perfectly suited to a big personality like Tony Blair.”

Sarkozy is thought to have altered his stance – partly because of Blair’s perceived “failure” to achieve any change in the Middle East.

He has now switched support to Gonzales, 67, who has claimed that Europe has been “adrift for 20 years” and has become a mere follower of the United States.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose support Blair would need, never has been keen on Tony getting the job.

Sources claim there is little chance of a Briton being appointed as high representative either. (ANI)

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Russia has violated UK airspace 18 times in two years

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 10 (ANI): Russian military aircraft violated British airspace without permission 18 times over the last two years, and now Members of Parliament are urging the Gordon Brown Government to take on a “more robust” stance, the Daily Telegraph reports.

RAF fighters were scrambled to intercept the Russian Bear bombers.

The Commons Defence Committee said the actions were “not the actions of a friendly nation”.

While the flights did not pose a direct threat to the security of Britain or NATO, the committee said they could endanger civil aircraft flying in the same area and risked causing serious accidents.

“The Government should take a more robust approach in making clear to Russia that its continued secret incursions by military aircraft into international airspace near to the UK is not acceptable behaviour,” said the committee in its report.

The committee said that such flights took place on 10 separate days in 2007, although they have since dropped off, with flights on just two days so far this year.

Overall the committee said that Britain should adopt a “practical and hard-headed approach” in its dealings with Russia. (ANI)

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Media tends to paint doomsday-like scenario when addressing environmental issues

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 9 (ANI): A new study has determined that the media tends to paint a doomsday-like scenario when addressing environmental issues.

This study, undertaken by researchers from the University of the Basque Country (UBC), analyses the role played by the media in creating and spreading a stance regarding the protection of the environment, sustainable development and natural heritage.

It proposes and performs an analysis of the dialectic strategies used by the daily press to treat environmental information.

The research team studied the information published in connection with the environmental summit held in Bali in 2007.

Apart from this analysis, the researchers complemented this information with a survey carried out in Urdaibai, the Basque Country.

According to Jose Ignacio Lorente, a lecturer at the UBC, the conclusions of this study suggest that “the media make an active contribution to tackling the complexity of the sustainability crisis of the current model of development, by confining their interpretation to environmental problems, but also fail to consider the social, economic and cultural aspects of a production system based on growth and the massive exploitation of natural resources”.

The results of the study indicate that the news agenda that the media developed regarding the Summit in Bali focused on scientific evidence of the global dimensions of climate change, the fact that its potentially devastating effects could be immediate and its anthropogenic nature.

However, according to the researchers, this agenda “avoided addressing the real reasons behind the political argument in detail, by means of a narrative strategy in which dramatising conflicts, threats and delays regarding CO2 quotas prevailed,” becoming the top priority for the Bali Summit.

However, Lorente added, “the emphasis the media placed on scientific evidence regarding the human nature of the causes for climate change was not linked to citizens’ sphere of activity, despite fact that their everyday decisions and behaviour – transport, energy saving, recycling – account for 20 percent of the problem”.

According to the research by the UBC, alarmist and catastrophist news focusing on the risk of natural disasters and the urgency of political and economic action “places the emphasis on the heroic efforts of abstract and distant individuals whose motives are not always clear”.

This approach, they said, appears to lack references to or be based on citizen’s everyday life. (ANI)

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Real Madrid rules out bid for Liverpool’s Alonso

July 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 8 (ANI): Spanish football club Real Madrid seems to have lost interest in Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

The Spanish giants, who have spent around 180-million-pounds this summer, claim they cannot afford the midfielder.

Real wanted Alonso to provide the chances for their new strike trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Karim Benzema.

But general director Jorge Valdano said: “Alonso is a priority if he fits into our budget and this doesn’t seem the case.

“Liverpool have taken up a difficult stance over Alonso. I don’t like to talk about the private details of negotiations. We are studying many alternatives,” The Sun quoted Valdano, as saying further. (ANI)

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Influential Pak minister suppressing Lahore attack probe

July 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, July 2 (ANI): Pakistan’s National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Sports is being pressurized by some influential leaders to the stop the criminal proceedings against security officials who have been accused of negligence and are charged with dereliction of duty during the brazen terror attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore, it has been revealed.

According to sources, a sitting minister has asked the committee to ‘go-slow’ in the case.

“A sitting PPP federal minister is influencing the sports committee to have a soft stance against the security officials who were involved in providing poor and weak security cover to the visiting Sri Lankan team,” The Dawn quoted a top Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official, as saying.

“There was complete security lapse shown by the Punjab security officials and there were lapses in the top level security on March 3rd,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Advisor on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik has been summoned by the committee to appear before it and explain the steps taken against the officials for security lapses during the attack.

The Home Secretary, Inspector General of Police Punjab, and other top officials have also been asked to be present during the hearing slated for July 14th.

It may be noted that the PML-N members of the NA committee, and the PPP legislators had recommended criminal proceedings against all those officials who have been found guilty. (ANI)

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US initiates historic shift in Afghan counter-narcotics policy

July 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 1 (ANI): The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) today hailed the monumental move by the US to stop the failed policy of poppy crop eradication in Afghanistan.

It also called on the US, UK and the international community to back its “Poppy for Medicine” proposal in the war-torn country.

On Saturday, the US announced that it would withdraw its support for efforts to eradicate opium cultivation in Afghanistan.

Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said that eradication “didn’t reduce the amount of money the Taliban got by one dollar.”

Shortly after the Taliban fell in 2001, the US-led international community in Afghanistan adopted eradication as part of their counter-narcotics policy in an attempt to curtail the opium crisis.

Since then, eradication policies have been inefficient and counter-productive in winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

“Eradication provides the Taliban insurgency with an even more valuable currency than money, and that is loyalty,” said Emmanuel Reinert, Executive Director of ICOS.

“Farmers have turned against the US and ISAF military when their livelihoods were destroyed; with the US stopping its own eradication policies, the West has a real opportunity to turn the situation around and build trust with the Afghan people.”

“This move by the US represents a ‘historic shift’ in its counter-narcotics policy, yet it won’t go far enough to alleviate the opium crisis in Afghanistan,” said Reinert.

“In addition to ending poppy eradication programs, our Poppy for Medicine proposal is a crucial step to successfully cutting off Taliban supplies and provide sustainable and viable livelihoods to Afghan farmers.”

After the US announcement, the UK government spoke out against the new stance by the US and vowed to continue its own eradication efforts.

“I would urge the UK and the entire international community to eliminate poppy crop eradication from their counter-narcotics policy in Afghanistan, and to support a truly viable alternative based on scientific study, namely, Poppy for Medicine,” said Raymond Kendall, Former Secretary-General of Interpol and a Member of the ICOS Advisory Board.

The Council called on the US to implement its proposed Poppy for Medicine programme to license the growing of the poppy crop in Afghanistan for localised, tightly controlled production of morphine, currently unavailable to 80 percent of the world’s population.

Since 2005, ICOS has conducted intense research on its Poppy for Medicine initiative. The European Parliament endorsed the proposal in October 2007, yet was rejected on several occasions by the Bush Administration since005.

“The Poppy for Medicine programme, if implemented, would function as a counter-insurgency initiative which would end Taliban funding through drugs trafficking and drive a wedge between insurgents and poppy farmers.

Changing Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics policy is a first bid to win back the hearts and minds of Afghanistan´s 2.4 million farmers currently dependent on illegal poppy cultivation,” he added.(ANI)

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Clinton urged Obama for two days to toughen stance on Iran

July 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 1 (ANI): US officials have said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged President Barack Obama for two days to toughen his language on Iran before he did so, and then was surprised when he condemned Iran’s crackdown on demonstrators last week.

At his June 23 news conference, Obama said he was “appalled and outraged” by Iranian behaviour and strongly condemned the violence against anti-government demonstrators.

Up until then, Obama and other administration officials had taken a softer line, expressing “deep concern” about the situation and calling on Iran to respect the dignity of its own people, The Washington Times reports.

Behind the scenes, the officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing internal deliberations, said Clinton had been advocating the stronger US response, but the president resisted.

When he finally took her advice, the aides said, he did so without informing her first.

This was the first known example of awkwardness between the two former rivals for the Democratic nomination for president since they made up following Obama’s election. (ANI)

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Jacko’s mother to look after his children

June 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 29 (ANI): Michael Jackson’s children are going to stay with their grandmother Katherine Jackson as reports have come that the legend’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe will not fight for their custody if she is allowed more access to them.

The Jackson family who was ready to fight “tooth and nail” with the horse breeder has also softened its stance and agreed to her desire of being allowed to visit the kids more often.

A friend of Rowe has said that she is keen to avoid any situation that will further sadden the children after the loss of their father, by trying not to exercise her legal right against the Jacksons in order to settle them at her horse ranch in Palmdale, 65 miles from Los Angeles, the Daily Express reports.

Rowe’s lawyer asked over the weekend that the Jackson family “be able to say goodbye to their loved one in peace”.

Presently, the three youngsters stay at the Jackson family’s compound in Encino, north-west of Los Angeles with their 79-year-old grand-mother Katherine.

Rowe, a former nurse, got married to the icon in 1996 and parted ways three years later with a huge financial settlement.

She gave birth to Prince Michael, 12 and Paris Katherine, 11, while a surrogate mother conceived Prince Michael II, 7, also known as “Blanket”. (ANI)

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McCullum may play for New South Wales in Champions League Twenty20 tourney

May 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, May 26 (ANI): New South Wales Cricket are poised to offer Otago 250,000 American dollars for Brendon McCullum’s services in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament after losing David Warner to the Delhi Daredevils.

In a merry-go-round of international stars, Warner is likely to feature for Delhi and McCullum could play for NSW in the tournament, which was expanded from eight to 12 teams at the weekend, and will be played in India from October 8 to 23, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

“There is no doubt having Brendon McCullum in your team increases your chances of a win, that is an undeniable fact,” Cricket NSW chief executive David Gilbert said.

“It’s about ensuring we have got all the bases covered. [Making Otago an offer] is certainly something we will consider. It is a cost-neutral exercise,” he added.

Otago have not ruled out the possibility of taking the cash in exchange for their highest-profile player.

“Given the fact he has played for them in the last 12 months, I think it could happen,” Otago chief executive Ross Dykes said.

“You can’t ignore figures like that. But on the other hand, you have loyalty reasons for which you wouldn’t want to do it. Brendon would have to be involved in these discussions,” he added.

The Champions League includes the best domestic Twenty20 sides from around the world. The initial plan was to feature eight teams – two each from India, Australia and South Africa, with one from Pakistan and England.

But after Pakistan refused to clear its players to travel to India – a stance taken after the fallout of the Mumbai bombings – organisers have revised the tournament.

Now there is a third Indian team (Delhi) to join the IPL’s finalists Deccan and Bangalore, and additional teams from Sri Lanka (Wayamba), the West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago), Otago and the two finalists from England’s domestic tournament to be decided on August 25.

NSW and Victoria had already qualified, along with South Africa’s Cape Cobras and Eagles. (ANI)

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Ronaldo says he will stay on at Man U

May 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 22 (ANI): Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he is planning to stay on at Manchester United next season after telling a Spanish television station that he does not care about what happens at Real Madrid this summer.

The Sun quoted Ronaldo as saying: “At the moment I’m only thinking about the [Champions League] final, independently of what will happen to me or my team-mates next season. I’m sure Perez would create an incredible team at Madrid but, at the moment, I’m at United and I don’t care about what happens there. I only care about what will happen next season at Manchester United.”

But despite Real’s clear desire to sign Ronaldo, United chief executive David Gill insisted earlier this week that the Premier League champions had not altered their stance.

“He is not for sale. He is a great player and he is part of our club. We made it clear last year. He is on a long-term contract with us and I can assure you that [the issue of his future] has ever come up,” Gill said. (ANI)

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Nepal Vice President urges parties to focus on statute drafting process

May 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kathmandu, May 18 (ANI): Nepal Vice-President Parmananda Jha on Monday accused the political parties of neglecting the Constitution-drafting process and engaging themselves in power-seeking game.

Talking to reporters, Jha said the political parties should focus on the Constitution-drafting process and not on the government making and toppling games.

He mentioned that a majority government should be formed as the parties have failed to constitute a national unity government.

Objecting to the caretaker Prime Minister Prachanda’s accusation that President Ram Baran Yadav has been guided by foreign powers in the entire development since the onset of the army chief row, he said that one should not forget ground reality before making any accusations.

He said the President Yadav in his capacity as the preserver of the Constitution had ordered Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Rookmangud Katawal to resume his office.

“His move has not violated civilian supremacy,” Kantipur quoted him as saying.

He, however, remarked that both the Prime Minister and the President had committed mistake regarding General Katawal retirement issue. The problem had aroused, as the interim Constitution does not clearly indicate the role of President as a ceremonial one.

Meanwhile, Maoist leaders decided to stand on its stance regarding President Yadav’s move.

Issuing a press statement after the party’s secretariat committee meeting this morning, they appealed other political parties to build consensus on the issue.

The statement further said that the party is agitating on what it terms as holding civilian supremacy and would like other parties to come and forge consensus on the issue.

Maoists also threatened to continue disrupting Constitution Assembly proceedings if such consensus is not built. (ANI)

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EC describes Maoists as ‘biggest’ threat to polls

May 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 14 (ANI): The Election Commission has described Maoists as the biggest threat to the recently concluded elections.

“Our biggest challenge was security especially in Maoist belts because out of our 8,38,000 polling booths, 1,38,000 booths fall under Maoist belts,” said S.Y. Qureshi, Election Commissioner.

On being asked to comment on the Election Commission’s advice to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Varun Gandhi incident, Qureshi said that they only advised a political party making all things clear.

“This perception is wrong that we exceeded our power and advised someone. You must remember that we did not give advise to anyone walking on the road. We gave advise to a political party, who was the co-respondent in the case. They said that the statement made by Varun was wrong. We condemn it and we distance from him. We wrote in the order that we know our limitations. We also don’t have the judicial right to disqualify any candidate, but we can always give advise to a responsible political party,” added Qureshi.

When asked about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s allegation that he was working at the ‘behest of the Congress’, he strongly condemned the allegation.

Earlier, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president had alleged that Qureshi was proximate to a ‘senior leader of the Samajwadi Party’ and ‘is an old friend of the Congress’ and accused him of acting on the basis of bogus complaints made by Opposition parties.

“People keep raising their fingers at the Election Commission. Political leaders tend to get emotional during campaigning, but such actions are inappropriate. I have no idea about who said what. But all these are inappropriate. We must condemn all this. I deny it and I condemn it,” he added.

On the controversy revolving the recommendation made by N. Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) seeking the removal of his colleague, Navin Chawla, Qureshi said that the former CEC never consulted him.

“(Gopalaswami never consulted me. The matter was between him and the President. The President’s stance was that the CEC has the power to recommend. That’s why, he didn’t deem it necessary to consult us neither did he do it,” added Qureshi. (ANI)

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