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US pressure on Pak not yielding results: Vajpayee
New Delhi, Sept 26 (ANI): Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has said that US pressure on Pakistan to end support for militants doesn't seem to be working. While speaking to reporters here on Thursday, Vajpayee also said that the country would be "bold and vigilant" to prevent militant attacks, like the one on a temple in Gujarat late on Tuesday that claimed at least 29 lives. Meanwhile, police had to resort to water cannon to disperse thousands of BJP activists shouting anti-Pakistan slogans during a protest against the temple massacre. The activists tried to force their way to the Pakistan High Commission but were blocked by riot police. "Our patience is running out. One after another, terrorist incidents are taking place. The United States should declare it (Pakistan) a terrorist state so that these incidents can end," Vijay Kumar Malhotra, a senior BJP leader, told the crowd. Earlier, 100 activists of the Muslim All India Shia Sunni Front also staged a protest at a short distance from the Commission. BJP's charge against Sonia, other Opposition parties
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New Delhi, Sept. 26 (ANI): The BJP has accused Sonia Gandhi and leaders of Left and other Opposition parties of encouraging the terrorists by their selective condemnation of violence. They also demanded that the option of a limited strike in the Pak-occupied Kashmir to destroy the terrorist camps there must be exercised. Addressing party activists here on Thursday, V K Malhotra, MP and parlimentary party spokesman, alleged that the speeches by Sonia Gandhi, leaders of the Samajwadi Party and the Left parties during Gujarat violence gave a fillip to the designs of the terrorists and resulted in the attack at the Akshardham Temple. According to him, the Opposition parties are only worried about the communal backlash. Delhi BJP president Madan Lal Khurana said it was high time the country tackled Pak-sponsored terrorism effectively and also supported the demand for the destruction of camps of the militants in PoK. The activists were later proceeding to the Pakistan High Commission but when they tried to break the police cordon near Chanakyapuri polce staion, water cannons were used to disperse them. (ANI) Mumbai worst hit by Bharat bandh
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to top Mumbai, Sept 26 (ANI): The shutdown call by hardline Hindu organisations on Thursday was marked by sporadic incidents across several parts of the country. But there were no signs of major Hindu-Muslim clashes. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Shiv Sena had called for a countrywide shutdown in protest against the massacre of 28 civilians in a temple in Gujarat on Tuesday. In the country's financial capital Mumbai, the strike hit public transport making it impossible for many people to get to work. VHP activists stopped trains at several stations to enforce the strike. A large number of passengers were stranded at the railway station, bus stands and airport. However, airlines operated normally and officials said airlines operated more bus links to the city. "As far as Air India security is concerned, we have been on high alert. In fact even while coming to Air India building there were more checks today than there were three days ago," said Jitendra Bhargava, Public Relations Officer of Air India. "Now if you look at the passengers who are coming to the airport, - Yes, there is a slight delay in the dispersal of the passengers at the airport because of the absence of taxis. But people who had relatives coming, the vehicles are moving on the road, the dispersal of people is taking place. But the arriving of flights, we have not made any changes," he added. In Bhubaneswar and Patna, the activists marched down the streets and damaged vehicles to enforce the shutdown. In Patna, police arrested protesters who turned violent. "Due to the temple attack VHP and other such organisations had called their shutdown. So these activists holding batons were taking one of their own (demonstration) and we were escorting them. But then all of a sudden they began attacking a few vehicles, hitting them with their batons and forcibly closed down shops after which we arrested them," a policeman said. In Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, there were reports of sporadic violence. Activists burned effigies representing "terrorism" in Bhopal as most of shops and business establishments remained closed. In schools and offices, the attendance was thin. The BJP national leadership decided against supporting the strike call issued by hardline Hindu nationalist groups, who come from the same ideological family. India blamed Pakistan for the temple assault and said it was carried out by attackers apparently bent on avenging Muslim deaths in religious riots in Gujarat in February and March. Pakistan, which condemned the temple attack, has dismissed the charges as ridiculous. The nuclear-armed countries, involved in a nine-month-old military standoff, nearly came to war a few months ago. India accuses Pakistan of arming, training and sending Muslim militants across the frontier to fight New Delhi's rule in Kashmir where a bloody revolt has raged since late 1989. Pakistan denies the charge and says it only offers moral and diplomatic support to the separatists.(ANI)
Campaigning begins for third phase of J-K elections Go to top Pamore (J-K), Sept 26 (ANI): Congress Party launched its campaign for the third round of the elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad addressed a public gathering of more than 200 people in Pampore town of Pulwama district which goes to polls on October 1. Azad lashed out at the state's ruling National Conference party saying it had failed to bring peace in the state. "Though India has achieved independence but Jammu and Kashmir is yet to achieve its independence from the National Conference Party. Peace cannot return to the valley until this National Conference is driven out of power," said Azad. Twenty-seven constituencies in Pulwama, Kathua and Udhampur districts go to polls in the third round of the four phased elections in the state. The last round is on October 8. The first two rounds saw a voter turnout of 47 and 42 percent respectively. However, the state assembly elections have been marred with violence in which more than 530 people died since the elections were announced on August 2. India, however, hopes that a high voter turnout, in spite of the violence, will bolster New Delhi's claim over the Himalayan kingdom where more than 35,000 people have died in a decade of rebellion.(ANI) Commonwealth action plan to reduce global poverty Go to top London, Sept 26 (ANI): Finance Ministers from 52 Commonwealth countries, meeting in London, have drawn up an action plan to help deliver "The Monterrey Consensus" - the blueprint for encouraging economic growth and reducing global poverty, which emanated from the United Nations Conference in Monterrey, Mexico, last March and was endorsed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August. Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, who chaired the meeting, declared that the "call to action" meant that "the era of resolution is to be moved forward to an era of implementation". "What we are talking about," he explained, "is a new development compact, which will allow all countries across the Commonwealth, as well as across the world, to have a fair share of the benefits of global prosperity." The importance to the Commonwealth lies in the fact that 665 million of its citizens live on less than a dollar a day, thus making it home for more than half the world's poorest people. The seven countries most affected by HIV/AIDS are in the Commonwealth, and in some Commonwealth countries less than 35 per cent of children complete primary school. The Action Plan sets out separate commitments for governments of developing countries and advanced and high income countries. Developing countries are committed to devising and implementing poverty reduction strategies and promoting stability and liberalisation. They are to reform and strengthen processes for public expenditure and finacial management to ensure that expenditure is effectively directed at key priorities; and to develop policy frameworks that encourage domestic and foreign private sector investment. Advanced countries will open their markets to exports from developing countries, and enhance their official development assistance (ODA) in support of effective national development and poverty reduction strategies. In particular, donor countries are committed to progressing towards the United Nations ODA target of 0.7 per cent of GNP, and focusing aid "where it will do most good, in support of countries with the greatest level of poverty, and which are building sound governance, policies and institutions, and implementing credible strategies for development and poverty reduction". The plan emphasises that by forging consensus across its diverse membership, Commonwealth countries can have more impact in global fora than by acting separately. Thus, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donors are to be urged to provide simplified and streamlined support for financial management in developing countries. As the London meeting precedes the annual meetings of both the IMF and the World Bank, there will be an early opportunity for Commonwealth ministers to make their point. Chancellor Brown said the United Kingdom would press for a further stage of debt relief amounting to one billion dollars and would contribute towards the cost. But debt relief and increased aid would not be enough to meet agreed goals, and it was his belief that consideration should be given to setting up a new international financing facility to meet the demands of the future. (ANI)
16 die as Quetta train derails
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to top Islamabad, Sept 26 (ANI): At least sixteen people were killed and many more injured as Quetta Express derailed near Sibi in Balochistan. According to details, the train was going from Rawalpindi to Quetta and the accident occurred when the train was crossing a bridge.(ANI)
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