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Previous Week's Files: Wednesday Dec 25 Tuesday Dec 24 Monday Dec 23 Sunday Dec 22 Back to Today's Headlines India, US Sign Pact to Stall Third Party Extradition NEW DELHI: An agreement was signed between India and the United States on Thursday, which stipulated that neither country will extradite each other's nationals to any international tribunal without the consent of the other country. The agreement, inked by foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal and US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill, designated that both the nations will knowingly not facilitate, consent to or cooperate with efforts by any third party or country for the extradition, surrender or transfer of each other's nationals to any international tribunal. This can be considered only if the two sides are otherwise obligated to do so by an international agreement to which they are parties. "India and the US share the strongest possible commitment to bring to justice those who commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide", Blackwill told reporters at Hyderabad House shortly after the accord was signed. "However, we are concerned about the International Criminal Court treaty with respect to the adequacy of checks and balances, the impact of the treaty on national sovereignty and the potential for conflict with the UN Charter", he added. Blackwill also said that the new accord was "emblematic of the strides that continue to be made in transforming US-India relations. Both Governments look forward to working in close cooperation on such significant issues". Terrorists Kill Three of Family in J-K (Go To Top) SRINAGAR: Three members of a family were killed in a terrorist attack on Wednesday night in Gopalpura village in Badgam district, nearly 35 km from here. Police said the attackers belonged to the terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and that they killed the family head and his two sons when the latter refused to offer shelter for them overnight. No arrests have been made.
."We don't know what happened. At 6.30 pm. (local time) yesterday there was a lot of noise in that area. We didn't come out of the house. I came to know in the morning. Those who were killed were Mohammad Shafi Wani, Zoor Ahmed Wani and Jahengir Wani. We don't know who killed them as it was late last night and there was no electricity and we were too scared to come out of our houses," Fayaz Ahmed Shah, a local resident, said. India Collapses at the Hands of Oram (Go To Top) SYDNEY: New Zealand defeated India by three wickets in the first of the seven one-day internationals at Eden Park, Auckland, on Thursday. The hosts needed just 109 runs to win after India was bowled out in the 33rd over at 108. It was their lowest total against New Zealand, beating the 112 for nine in Melbourne 22 years ago, and its seventh lowest of all time.(Details) BJP Members Evicted from Karnataka Assembly (Go To Top) BANGALORE: Legislators belonging to the BJP in the Karnatka Assembly were physically evicted on Thursday after they constantly blocked House proceedings over Nagappa's kidnapping and death. This was the second consecutive day when the MLAs interrupted House proceedings. Earlier during the day they were suspended by the Speaker. But as soon as the House reassembled, these legislators started shouting slogans, forcing the Speaker to ask the marshals to physically lift them and take them out. The MLAs raised slogans like "Congress hatao" as several of them were physically removed from the House. The Speaker said he was ordering the suspension of the members till December 31, when the session is slated to end, as their behaviour was "disorderly". Earlier, the BJP members had blocked House proceedings on December 24 demanding the resignation of the chief minister, State home minister Mallikarjun Kharge and minister for agro-processing Raju Gowda. They also demanded a CBI probe into the killing. Kelkar Report to Be Presented on Friday (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: The submission of the first Vijay Kelkar report on indirect taxation has been put off by a day due to finance minister Jaswant Singh's illness. This will now be presented tomorrow (Friday) along with the report on direct taxes. Kelkar task force on tax reforms, which has already submitted two consultation papers, is expected to water down some of its recommendations in the final report, particularly on personal income tax pertaining to incentives for housing loans in the face of widespread criticism from within the BJP. Kelkar is the economic adviser to the finance ministry. Cannabis Worth Rs 11 m Seized from a Kullu Operator (Go To Top) KULLU (Himachal Pradesh): Cannabis worth Rs 11 million have been seized from the rented house of a professional smuggler in Kullu valley. Police caught hold of the consignment weighing 107.5 kilograms, packed in cloth bags, on Wednesday following a raid on the house. The accused used to despatch the contraband to foreign smugglers by running a travel agency as a front cover. He has been arrested. "The investigation that we have made till now indicates that this particular accused is being financed by some international agencies. We are sure of certain Nepali people who are connected with the gang," said Virendra Kumar, a senior district official. This is the biggest drug seizure ever in the State. Kumar added that the police had launched a big campaign to check drug peddling in the valley and recovered 384.5 kilograms of cannabis this year and took into custody 160 people, including 40 foreign nationals, 34 of them Nepalese. Cultivation of cannabis, locally known as charas, has become rampant in Himachal Pradesh, a major tourist destination. Known as the 'Valley of Gods', Kullu is fast turning into a 'Valley of Cannabis'. Lured by a chain of drug traffickers, small local farmers and villagers are growing cannabis to earn a fast buck. They say that a deteriorating economy coupled with the loss of forest wealth forced them to look for other alternatives and cannabis showed an easy path to make quick money. China to Provide $ 118 m for Pak Deep Sea Port (Go To Top) BEIJING: China and Pakistan signed an agreement here on Thursday under which the Exim Bank of China will provide $ 118 m to Pakistan for the construction of Gwadar Deep Sea Port, according to the News. The chairman of the Exim Bank, Yang Zilin, signed the agreement and the Pakistani side was represented by the ambassador to China, Riaz Muhammad Khan. Official sources told newsmen that the total financial package to be provided by China for the gigantic Gwadar project is $ 198 m, which includes a grant of $ 49 m, and $ 31 m interest-free credit. N Korea 'Moving' Fuel Rods into N-reactor (Go To Top) SEOUL: North Korea has begun moving fresh fuel rods into a mothballed nuclear reactor at the centre of a diplomatic stand-off with the US, raising concerns it was preparing to restart facilities which experts say could produce nuclear weapons within months, Yonhap news agency said on Thursday. The Communist nation began moving fuel rods into the 5-megawatt reactor at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, 80 kilometres north of its Capital, Pyongyang, the agency quoted an unidentified South Korean Government official as saying. The official did not say whether North Korea has actually begun loading fuel into the Soviet-designed reactor. But the move was apparently intended to increase pressure on the US. Meanwhile, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung accused North Korea on Thursday of 'aggravating' a nuclear crisis as the foreign ministry confirmed that Pyongyang had begun moving the fuel rods into a reactor. Kim, chairing an urgent national security meeting, condemned the North's steps to reactivate a nuclear programme. "Despite the international community's efforts for a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue, North Korea moved to restart frozen nuclear facilities, further aggravating the situation," Kim was quoted as telling officials at the meeting. Three Terrorists Detained for Pak Church Attack (Go To Top) ISLAMABAD: Three terrorists, suspected to be involved in the attack on a church in central Pakistan on Christmas day were detained by the police on Thursday. According to the police, the three suspects belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammad and had received armed training at a Jaish centre in Pakistan. However, the police declined to give their names and added that the detainees were being questioned. Three girls were killed and 14 people were wounded when two masked men threw an explosive device at a church service in a remote village 20 km from Daska in central Pakistan. PM Launches Three Major Rail Projects (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday launched through satellite link three major railway projects under the Rashtriya Rail Vikas Yojana in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. After inaugurating the three projects from his official residence, Vajpayee said that the Rs 15,000-crore project would go a long way in modernising and expanding railway network in the country. Under the time-bound programme to be completed in the next five years, these projects have been taken up for construction of Munger rail-cum-road bridge on river Ganga in Bihar, doubling of 151 km Gooty-Pullampetta line on Mumbai-Chennai route and gauge conversion project of the 305-km Gandhidham-Palanpur rail in Gujarat. MiG-21 Crashes in Badgam (Go To Top) SRINAGAR: A MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed in Lalgaom village of Badgam district near Srinagar airport at about 2.25 pm on Thursday, damaging a house. The fate of the pilot or the co-pilot and casualty, if any, on the ground was not immediately known, official sources said. Meanwhile, senior officials have rushed to the accident site. -ANI |
