India,
Pakistan exchange nuclear installations note
New
Delhi: India and Pakistan today exchanged the lists
of nuclear installations and facilities on both sides of
the border for the 14th consecutive year. The exchange is
being done for the past 14 years under an agreement signed
by the countries in 1991. Exchanged through diplomatic channels,
the lists are covered by the Agreement on the Prohibition
of attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between
the two countries signed on December 31, 1988 and which
came into force on January 27, 1991. According to the agreement,
the two countries need to keep each other informed of the
nuclear installations and facilities on January one of every
calendar year. The system started on January 1, 1992.
Japan,
four others are UNSC non-permanent members (Go
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United
Nations: Japan, Argentina, Denmark, Greece and Tanzania
on Saturday replaced Pakistan, Angola, Chile, Germany and
Spain as the five new non-permanent members in the 15-member
United Nations Security Council (UNSC). All five nations
will serve a two-year-term. The UNSC has five permanent
members -- the United States, Britain, Russia, France and
China -- and ten non-permanent members, five of whom retire
each year. The General Assembly elects the non-permanent
members on regional basis. Algeria, Benin, Brazil, Philippines
and Romania, which began their term on Jan 1, 2004, will
continue to serve on the Council and finish their current
term on December 31 this year. The Council now comprises
the United States, Britain, Russia, France and China (permanent
members), Algeria, Benin, Brazil, Philippines and Romania
(due to retire on December 31 this year), Japan, Argentina,
Denmark, Greece and Tanzania (whose term ends December 31
next year).
Heavy
rains, snow claim 10 Pakistani lives (Go
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Islamabad:
At least 10 people were killed today, six of them from
the same family, as heavy rains continues to lash several
areas of Pakistan. Officials said that with rains lashing
the country for the past three days, the situation was abnormal
from a meteorological point of view. According to The News,
a couple and their four children died when their house collapsed
due to non-stop rain in Nawan Shaher near Abbottabad. Several
houses were damaged due to heavy rain in some other places
of North West Frontier Province but details of casualties
were not immediately available. The Meteorological Office
has recorded 90 millimeters of rain in Peshawar since Thursday.
Several mud-houses also collapsed in Kachagarhi Afghan refugee
camp on the outskirts of Peshawar but no loss of life was
reported, officials said. Rain and snow in southwestern
Baluchistan province left four people dead, officials said.
Three people were killed in remote Panjgor town when the
wall of a house caved in, while a man was electrocuted in
Dalbandin near the Afghan border, they said.
Black
Day against Musharraf's dual post (Go
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Islamabad:
Opposition parties in Pakistan on Saturday observed
a 'Black Day' to protest against President Pervez Musharraf's
decision to stay on as the country's Chief of Army Staff
beyond the stipulated date of December 31, 2004. Earlier,
MMA general secretary Maulana Fazlur Rehman declared that
Musharraf's announcement to continue as army chief was unconstitutional.
He also said that he had had talks with Prime Minister Shaukat
Aziz two days ago for a compromise deal on Musharraf's uniform
issue. "General Musharraf has not enhanced his dignity by
breaking his pledge. His every word was full of suspicion
and lacked confidence," claimed Rahman. "Under the 17th
amendment, he has already grabbed more powers but he has
the mind of a dictator."
Benazir,
Zardari to visit Saudi Arabia to meet the Sharifs (Go
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Karachi:
Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto and her husband
Asif Ali Zardari will fly to Saudi Arabia, where they will
probably meet Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders Nawaz
Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. The Sharifs have been living
in exile in Jeddah since December 2000. Zardari, who arrived
in Dubai on Thursday after having served eight years in
prison, will undergo a medical check up before heading for
Saudi Arabia with his family. Meanwhile, Maulana Fazlur
Rehman, the secretary general of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
(MMA), is likely to visit Dubai in the next week to meet
Bhutto to discuss the political situation in Pakistan after
the announcement by President General Pervez Musahrraf to
keep both civilian and military offices, sources told the
Daily Times. The sources also said that Fazl would discuss
closer cooperation between the MMA and the Alliance for
Restoration of Democracy of which Bhutto's PPP is a part.
They added that Fazl would emphasise that the ARD should
not keep MMA's rejection of the 17th amendment a condition
for cooperation between the two alliances.
