|
|
Top Stories
India decides to roll out
red carpet for Kofi Annan
What is India News Service,
Thursday, 21 April 2005, 1700 hrs IST
India, which in the past had rebuffed UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan's attempts to visit the country, will
welcome him finally when he arrives here on a two-day official visit April
26.
Annan had drawn New Delhi's displeasure due to his perceived interest in playing
the mediator's role in the Kashmir dispute. Though Annan had said that the UN
resolutions on Kashmir were no more relevant, India continued to be wary of his
intentions.
In fact, it had even rejected a suggestion by the UN for him to visit the
tsunami-hit areas of Tamil Nadu after the Feb 1 tragedy, though he was in the
region visiting the areas devastated in neighbouring Sri Lanka.
This will be Annan's third visit to India. The earlier trips were in April 1997
and March 2001. His term ends in December 2006.
The UN Information Centre here said during the visit Annan would meet President
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, chairperson
of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), External Affairs Minister K.
Natwar Singh and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani.
Phukan
report to be tabled in House:
The government today assured Parliament
that the Phukan Commission report on the Tehelka expose would be tabled in the
current session of Parliament, even as the Lok Sabha witnessed uproarious scenes
as the Opposition demanded the government to table the CVC report on Kargil arms
purchases.
None
will be spared: Pranab: `No clean chit was given to anyone in the first
affidavit,'' the defence minister said.
Reopen
some cases: Nanavati: Retired
Supreme Court judge G.T. Nanavati, who probed the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, has
asked the government to reopen cases against a \93few politicians\94 saying
investigation against them was not \93properly carried out\94.
NDA
govt was warned of SA gun firm: Even
as Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee sought more details about charges that a
South African firm, Denel, paid Rs 20 crore to a British company to obtain
confidential documents about purchase of self-propelled guns by India, it has
emerged that the BJP-led NDA Government was questioned two years ago about how
rules were being circumvented to unduly favour this firm.
Hurriyat
leaders to board third peace bus: Though Pakistan did not allow the
elected representatives of Jammu & Kashmir to board the bus to Muzzafarabad
on April 7, decks have been cleared for the Hurriyat leaders to come to
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Well-placed sources said that a Hurriyat
delegation led by Mirwaiz Omer Farooq would be on board the third bus to
Muzzafarabad. The second bus will run tomorrow.
India
committed to peace with Pak, says PM: Even as
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has observed that India looks forward to Pakistan
implementing its assurances in letter and spirit so that the peace process
between the two neighbours is not hindered by violence and terror, the
Sino-Indian strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity
transcends bilateral issues.
Cabinet
hikes paddy MSP: The Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs today announced prices for kharif crops for 2005-06, which
includes Rs 10 hike in minimum support price for paddy and no increase in the
case of cotton.
|
Cabinet
decides to abolish CAT: The government today
decided to amend the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, to provide for
abolition of the Central Administrative Tribunal and State Administrative
Tribunals.
States
Schools turn into
marriage palaces:
The fate of government schools falling in the
periphery of the district is becoming imminent with each passing day as teachers
deputed in such areas are getting themselves transferred in relatively easily
accessible areas.
17
killed in train accident: At least seventeen people were killed and 80
injured when the Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express collided with a stationary
goods train near here about 30 kms from Vadodara district early on Thursday
morning, railway superintendent of police Noel Parmar said.
New
Pope's Kerala connection: While the world cheers Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger elected as the next Pope to lead 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, a priest
in Kerala remembers the man as a friend who helped build a church in Alappuzha.
Avalanche
expected in Himalayan region:
Urging the Prime Minister to put the disaster management machinery on high
alert in the Himalayan region to avoid damage, the Federation of International
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have expressed apprehensions of a disaster
in the region owing to melting of snow.
Neighbours
Urdu
Press continues to fixate on Kashmir: Reactions in the Urdu press in
Pakistan on the joint statement issued during Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf's visit are fairly along predictable lines and reflect the ideological
positions of the newspapers and their editors/ owners. Jasarat, an organ of the
Jamaat Islami, gives "credit" to "India's successful policy and
defence of its stance so much so that without displaying the slightest
flexibility India has managed to push Pakistan away from its principled stand on
Kashmir
|
|
Musharraf
rules out inspection by IAEA:
President Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday that he would never
allow foreign inspectors into the country to examine Pakistan's nuclear
facilities.
View from abroad
EU
objects to Sami's inclusion in team, calls off talks:
The European
Parliament on Wednesday cancelled talks with a delegation of the Pakistani
senate's foreign affairs committee in protest at the inclusion of a member of a
faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam.
Overall
India decided to welcome Annan:
His
offer to negotiate in the Kashmir dispute had provoked Delhi's displeasure.
Riot cases may be reopened: A Supreme Court judge has asked the
government to reopen cases against some politicians who allegedly instigated the
1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Musharraf refused foreign inspectors: The Pakistan president said he
would never allow foreign inspectors to examine his country's nuclear sites.
|
|
![]()
| |
