Nepal plane crash kills all 22 on board

All the 22 people including the passengers and crew members on board a small passenger plane that crashed in a mountainous area in eastern Nepal were killed, police said Thursday after a rescue team reached the site.

The Twin Otter plane carrying three crew and 19 passengers including one American smashed into a mountainside shortly after taking off from a small airstrip 140 kilometres (90 miles) east of Kathmandu on Wednesday afternoon.

We have recovered 20 bodies. We are still searching for the other two, but we can be sure there are no survivors, police spokesman Bigyan Raj Sharma told the reporters. The aircraft has broken up completely and is scattered over 200 metres (yards) of dense forest.It is not yet known what caused the Tara Air plane to crash.

Sharma said the bodies of the victims would be flown by helicopter to Kathmandu later Thursday. The United States embassy in Kathmandu confirmed that one was an American citizen and said it was in contact with the man’s family. The other passengers were initially thought to have been Nepalese, but media reports suggested they may have been Bhutanese pilgrims who claimed to be locals to qualify for a cheaper air fare. This could not immediately be confirmed, but Sharma said identity documents from Bhutan had been found at the crash site. Khotang, the remote district in eastern Nepal where the plane took off, is not a major tourist destination, but it is home to two sites of religious significance, a Hindu temple and a Buddhist monastery.

Air travel is popular in Nepal, which has only a very limited road network. Many communities, particularly in the mountains and hills, are accessible only on foot or by air.Aviation accidents are relatively common, particularly during the summer monsoon, when visibility is usually at its worst. Last month, a helicopter crashed near Mount Everest during a mission to rescue two stranded climbers, killing the pilot and an engineer. In August, a plane headed for the Everest region crashed in bad weather killing all 14 people on board, including four Americans, a Japanese and a British national.

An investigation blamed the crash on a power failure. It said the plane’s generator failed and the pilot did not follow the proper procedures to conserve the remaining battery power.Tara Air is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines, a privately owned domestic airline founded in 1998 which runs a service to many remote destinations across Nepal.Yeti’s last major accident was in 2008 when a passenger plane crashed on landing at Lukla airport, the gateway to Mount Everest, killing all 19 people on board, most of them German tourists.

Women Football team to leave for BD tomorrow

Pakistan team will leave Karachi tomorrow for participating in the SAF Womens Football Championship to be held in Bangladesh.

Sana Mahmood will lead the national team in the championship which will be held from December 12 in Bangladesh.

Besides Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Afghanistan are taking part in the championship.Captain Sana Mahmood said that though womens football is a new event for Pakistan the players would do their utmost to display good performance in the tournament.

Gilani seeks evidence of Osama’s presence from US

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday categorically stated that neither Mulla Omar nor Osama Bin Laden are in Pakistan and if any one has any credible and verifiable information it should be shared with us.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she believed Osama bin Laden was still in Pakistan, in a television interview between high-level talks in Islamabad.

Talking to a delegation of All Pakistan News Agencies Council led by Mohsin Beig here at the Prime Minister Secretariat, he said, the role of news agencies is very significant in disseminating information and influencing the public opinion.

He directed the Ministry of Information to develop close liaison with the All Pakistan News Agencies Council in order to strengthen the professional linkages.

He asked the news agencies representatives to discuss their proposals with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to work out details of government assistance.

Replying to a question regarding the issue of fake degrees, the Prime Minister said that to every wrong, there is a remedy. He stated that whenever a seat is declared vacant, the Election Commission would hold elections within the prescribed time schedule.

Clarifying confusion in media reports about Afghan Transit Trade, the prime minister said that a broad based understanding was reached at to initiate discussions for possible agreement. An agreement can only be signed after ratification by the Cabinet, he said.

The prime minister said that according to the Rules of Business, an Advisor can advise the prime minister but cannot take decisions on his behalf.

About coverage of Pakistan”s participation in the US Nuclear Summit, the prime minister said that it was for the first time that the world accepted Pakistan”s nuclear status.

The prime minister further said that he had told the Indian Prime Minister in Bhutan that the present government enjoys broad based support of all political parties, institutions and stakeholders, therefore, it is in a much better position to negotiate outstanding issues with India.

He said that Kashmir is a core issue between India and Pakistan and we have raised Kashmir issue at every level and meetings with the foreign delegations.

Pak-India for joint efforts toward trust building

ISLAMABAD: Top Indian and Pakistani diplomats pledged Thursday to strive for sustained dialogue to get the nations” fragile relations back on track and deny militants space to derail the reconciliation process.

Indian foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao, and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir held one-on-one talks and met with their teams to craft the agenda for a meeting of their ministers on July 15.

“Pakistan and India should work towards restoring confidence and building trust with a view to making it possible to have a comprehensive, sustained and meaningful dialogue,” Bashir told a joint news conference with Rao.

“After this engagement, I feel much more optimistic about a good outcome at the ministerial level and good prospects for the two countries in terms of our relationship,” he said.

Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said India had raised concerns about terrorism and said the countries had to work together to deny militants the opportunity to sabotage their dialogue.

“We should jointly work together towards our goal of resolution of outstanding issues and also to dealing with the dangers, with the threat, with the evils of terrorism,” she said.

“We must deny terrorist elements any opportunity to derail the process of improvement of relations between our two countries.

“We owe it to our people to chart a way forward, to narrow differences and ensure collaborative engagement.”

Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers S.M. Krishna and Shah Mehmood Qureshi are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on July 15 — the third major contact in six months between countries that have fought three wars in 60 years.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have started a tentative reconciliation process since relations crashed to a new low after Mumbai attacks that left 166 people dead in November 2008.

India and the United States blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a militant group based in Pakistan and linked to the Pakistani spy service.

New Delhi suspended a four-year peace process and demanded that Islamabad bring to justice the perpetrators of what is considered India”s September 11.

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has charged seven suspects in connection with the Mumbai attacks, including alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and alleged LeT operative Zarar Shah, but Pakistan has said it needs more evidence.

The Indian and Pakistani prime ministers met in April on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bhutan, which set in motion a process to revive suspended contacts at various levels of government.

Thursday”s meeting was the first meeting in Islamabad between the foreign secretaries since May 2008.

Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram is due to arrive in Islamabad for a meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation on Thursday. He is expected to meet Pakistan”s Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

Indo- Pak FSs in key Islamabad talks

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to rebuild detached Indo-Pak series of dialogue following Mumbai attacks in 2009, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived here Wednesday for holding the Foreign Secretary level talks between Pakistan and India starting here today (Thursday), Geo news reported.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has invited his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna to Islamabad as part of a process of reconciliation between two countries that have fought three wars in the past 60 years.

Relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals crashed to a new low after 10 Islamist gunmen went on the rampage in Mumbai, leaving 166 people dead after 60 hours of bloodshed in November 2008.

India and the United States blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a militant group based in Pakistan and linked to the Pakistani spy service.

New Delhi suspended a four-year peace process and demanded that Islamabad bring to justice the perpetrators of what is considered India”s September 11.

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has charged seven suspects in connection with the Mumbai attacks, including alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and alleged LeT operative Zarar Shah, but Pakistan has said it needs more evidence.

Rao said India would stress the need for “credible action” from Pakistan over evidence that had been provided to Islamabad on the Mumbai attacks.

“We have underlined the need for Pakistan to take this evidence seriously, to take it on board and to take substantive action in response to what we have conveyed to them,” she told reporters this week.

“Obviously, this issue will form a part of our discussions with the Pakistan government during the forthcoming visit.”

US determination to promote regional stability at a critical juncture of the war in Afghanistan, with Pakistan”s own fight against the Taliban seen as critical, has accompanied a recent thaw in relations between the Asian rivals.

The Indian and Pakistani prime ministers met in April on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bhutan, which set in motion a process to revive suspended contacts at different levels of government.

Pakistan”s foreign ministry said issues such as peace, security and confidence building would be up for discussion Thursday.

“Pakistan looks forward for a sustained, meaningful and uninterrupted engagement with India to discuss and resolve all outstanding issues,” spokesman Abdul Basit told media.

The Krishna-Qureshi talks on July 15 will be the third major contact between the two countries in six months.

India”s Home Minister P. Chidambaram is also due to arrive in Islamabad for a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting Thursday. He is expected to meet Pakistan”s Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

An editorial in Indian newspaper Mail Today looked forward to ministerial level contacts in the coming weeks.

“Chidambaram”s visit is itself a build up to the visit of External Affairs S.M Krishna later in July.

“A positive outcome of the home minister”s visit could set the stage for a successful visit by S.M. Krishna which could lead to a fully-fledged resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue process.”

But other analysts warned that the best outcome of Thursday”s talks would merely be more talks and not a resumption of the peace process.

“I don”t expect much from these talks unless India is prepared to talk about issues other than terrorism,” Pakistani analyst Hasan Askari told media.

“Therefore the talks may not produce anything significant which means resumption of comprehensive talks between India and Pakistan,” he added.

Indo-Pak FSs talks today

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to rebuild detached Indo-Pak series of dialogue following Mumbai attacks in 2009, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived here Wednesday for holding the Foreign Secretary level talks between Pakistan and India starting here today (Thursday), Geo news reported.

Foreing Secretary Salman Bashir will lead Pakistan’s delegation while his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao will head her country’s delegation at the talks.

During the talks the two sides will prepare the agenda for the Foreign Ministers talks being held on 15th of next month.

The Secretary level talks between the two countries are the follow up of the meeting held between Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at Thimphu, Bhutan in April this year on the sidelines of SAARC summit.

Terrorism, bridging trust deficit, water, Kashmir and other important issues will be discussed during talks to include them in the final agenda for the foreign minister level talks.

Three brothers die in Lahore firing incident

LAHORE: At least three people of the same family were killed in a firing incident in Lahore area of Daroghawala, Geo News reported Wednesday.

According to police sources, the deceased were brothers.

According to police sources, a property dispute has been rife between uncle and his nephew for three years in Daroghawala, an area near Manawan of Lahore, adding all the brothers—Zulfiqar, Allah Ditta and Muhammed Saeed—were riding a car back home today, when six motorcyclists ambushed them, killing the brothers on the spot.

According to police sources, the accused of the firing incident include Asghar, Faqeer Muhammed and Muhammed Hussain.

Indian Foreign Secretary arrives

ISLAMABAD: Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived here Wednesday to lead Indian side to meet her counterpart Salman Bashir on Thursday to prepare the agenda for the foreign ministers talks being held here on July 15.

The secretary level talks between the two countries are the follow up of the important meeting held between the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimphu, Bhutan in April this year on the sidelines of Saarc summit.

Terrorism, bridging trust deficit, water, Kashmir and other important issues will be discussed to include them in the final agenda for the foreign minister level talks being held here on July 15.

The foreign secretary level talks will be prep work for the July 15 visit of foreign minister S. M. Krishna to Pakistan.

The Indian side has many things in mind to bridge “trust deficit” and these proposals will be put forward to the Pakistan side to include in final agenda for FM meetings.

Although, India and Pakistan”s first secretary level talks since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks ended in acrimony in New Delhi in February this without finalising any thing for future.

Secretary level talks can start new era of dialogue

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Secretary level talks between Pakistan and India, scheduled for June 24 here can pave the way for revival of stalled dialogue process between the two countries if both the countries will show seriousness and commitment for revival of talks.

Although terrorism will certainly be high on top of the agenda, but both the countries want to include all the subjects of their concern so that their leadership could not lose political support at their home country.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will arrive here tomorrow to lead Indian side to meet her counterpart Salman Bashir on June 24 to prepare the agenda for the foreign ministers talks being held here on July 15.

The secretary level talks between the two countries are the follow up of the important meeting held between the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimphu, Bhutan in April this year on the side lines of SAARC summit.

Trust deficit between India and Pakistan will also be an important subject that will be included in the agenda for the talks between the foreign ministers.

Although India is not calling this foreign secretary meeting a “composite dialogue” but Pakistan has no problem to change the name and satisfied that India has accepted Pakistan”s offer to start “dialogue” process.

The foreign secretary level talks will be prep work for the July 15 visit of foreign minister S M Krishna to Pakistan.

The Indian side has many things in mind to bridge “trust deficit” and these proposals will be put forward to the Pakistan side to include in final agenda for FM meetings.

Trial for the seven Mumbai accused which is pending in the Pakistani courts will be an important issue, which will be highlight by Indian side along with the terrorism issue.

Although both the countries have joint anti-terror mechanism but both the countries are not satisfied on the working of this mechanism.

As Indian side will like to include terrorism, while Pakistan will include the Indian interference in Balochistan and the long standing Kashmir issue along with water dispute for the agenda for the foreign minister talks.

Although, India and Pakistan”s first secretary level talks since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks ended in acrimony in New Delhi in February this without finalising any thing for future.

Agenda for Pak-India talks to be finalized with Nirupama: FO

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Secretary level talks between Pakistan and India, scheduled for June 24 here can pave the way for revival of stalled dialogue process between the two countries if both the countries will show seriousness and commitment for revival of talks.

Although terrorism will certainly be high on top of the agenda, but both the countries want to include all the subjects of their concern so that their leadership could not lose political support at their home country. Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will arrive here tomorrow to lead Indian side to meet her counterpart Salman Bashir on June 24 to prepare the agenda for the Foreign Ministers talks being held here on July 15.

The secretary level talks between the two countries are the follow up of the important meeting held between the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in Thimphu, Bhutan in April this year on the side lines of SAARC summit.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while talking to newsmen in Thimphu, said the meeting between two prime ministers has changed the climate in the region, therefore, the India government showed its readiness to send its Foreign Secretary to Pakistan to prepare the agenda for the Foreign Ministers meeting being held here next month.
Trust deficit between India and Pakistan will also be an important subject that will be included in the agenda for the talks between the Foreign Ministers.

Although India is not calling this foreign secretary meeting a “composite dialogue” but Pakistan has not problem to change the name and satisfied that India has accepted Pakistan’s offer to start “dialogue” process.

The foreign secretary level talks will be prep work for the July 15 visit of foreign minister S. M. Krishna to Pakistan.

The Indian side has many things in mind to bridge “trust deficit” and these proposals will be put forward to the Pakistan side to include in final agenda for FM meetings.

Trial for the seven Mumbai accused which is pending in the Pakistani courts will be an important issue, which will be highlight by Indian side along with the terrorism issue.
Although both the countries have joint anti-terror mechanism but both the countries are not satisfied on the working of this mechanism.

As Indian side will like to include terrorism, while Pakistan will include the Indian interference in Baluchistan and the long standing Kashmir issue along with water dispute for the agenda for the foreign minister talks.

Although, India and Pakistan’s first secretary level talks since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks ended in acrimony in New Delhi in February this without finalising any thing for future.

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