Pakistan frees Indian prisoner after 23 years

LAHORE: An Indian national held in Pakistan for 23 years returned home Thursday in a sign of easing tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals who resumed peace talks last month.

Gopal Das, one of Pakistan’s longest-serving Indian prisoners, crossed the border and was received by relatives in Attari, a land transit route in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

President Asif Ali Zardari ordered the release late last month after an appeal from India’s Supreme Court.

Das — who told reporters he was 26 when he was arrested — was sentenced to life in prison in June 1987 and had been due for release by the end of this year.

Pakistan’s presidency did not say why he was convicted, but Das himself confirmed reports that he had been jailed for spying.

“Yes … I went to Pakistan on a spying mission and I was arrested for espionage,” said Das, who was clearly angered by what he saw as his abandonment by the Indian authorities.

“Indian intelligence never bothered to get me released from jail in Pakistan,” he said.

“I carry a grudge against the Indian leadership because it does not bother about Indian prisoners still rotting in Pakistan prisons for many years,” he added.

He made a point of thanking the president and prime minister of Pakistan for his early release.

Das’s release comes as India and Pakistan are making concerted efforts to put their troubled relationship back on track, after India broke off peace talks in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Last week, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani became the most senior Pakistani leader to visit India since 2001 when he watched the India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.

British Premier David Cameron during a trip to Islamabad this week urged the two countries to move closer, describing the sight of Gilani and Singh sitting together to watch the match as a “tremendous sign of hope for the future”.

Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India have fought three wars since the division of the subcontinent in 1947, and came to the brink of another conflict as recently as 2002. AGENCIES

New Zealand, Pakistan seek honour in adversity

WELLINGTON: With New Zealand cricket in turmoil on the field and Pakistan in tumult off it, there is plenty at stake for both sides when they launch a 11-match series with a Twenty20 game in Auckland Sunday.

Over the next seven weeks New Zealand and Pakistan will attempt to turn their fortunes around as they play three Twenty20s, two Tests and six one-dayers before heading to the subcontinent for the one-day World Cup.

Pakistan’s internal turmoil has forced them to field a spare-parts team with several of their stars left at home including alleged spot-fixers Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif.

To add to the pressure, they were skittled out for a meagre 91 by Auckland in their one-day warm up game and then saw the home side overhaul the target for the loss of only five wickets and with nearly seven overs to spare.

Six umpires To Assist The Elite Panel for World Cup

World cup 2011 is approaching and charm of cricket amongst the fans is at high level. ICC has decided that 6 umpires will assist in the world cup 2011 to make the umpiring panel of ICC comfortable. The six umpires choose by ICC are England’s Richard Kettleborough and Nigel Llong, India’s Amiesh Saheba and Shavir Tarapore, Australia’s Bruce Oxenford and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena.

According to media statement issued by ICC these are the talented and emerging umpires of the world and these umpires will assist ICC umpiring panel when they required them.

ICC’s elite panel of umpires consists of Simon Taufel , Asoka de Silva, Tony Hill, Marais Erasmus, Billy Bowden, Asad Rauf, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Billy Doctrove, Ian Gould, Daryl Harper and Rod Tucker.

Former India captain and umpire S Venkataraghavan, coach David Lloyd, David Richardson (ICC’s general manager of cricket) and match referee Ranjan Madugalle are the officials who decided about the penal of 6 umpires.

Umpires experience on the subcontinent pitches are also considered at the time of their selection. It was decided for the fairness of the game and to make umpires fresh. Too much load on few umpires ay affects they decision taking power and ICC is fully aware of the umpiring requirements.

India blocks Pervez Musharraf’s visit: reports

NEW DELHI: India has denied a visa to Pakistan’s ex-ruler Pervez Musharraf on grounds he was responsible for a conflict that nearly erupted into war between the neighbours, media reports said Wednesday.

The former president was invited to India by private organisations to attend seminars and meet the media.

An Indian home ministry official told AFP that Musharraf’s visa application had been denied, without elaborating on the reason, but he added that the foreign ministry could still overturn the decision.

“He wanted to visit several Indian cities and attend a few events but we have expressed our reservations on granting Musharraf a visa,” the official told AFP.

Musharraf stepped down in 2008 and now is attempting a political comeback.

The former Pakistani president, who was born in New Delhi before the subcontinent’s partition, fought against

Broadcast India Show 2010

The 20th edition of Broadcast India 2010 Exhibition is all set to take place on October 21 to 23 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. Organized by Saicom Trade Fairs & Exhibitions, the 2 day conference will showcase the latest and the best technological innovations in the industry and also host a platform for all there is to do with broadcast, film, audio, radio, IPTV, Mobile TV and their related fields.

In the previous editions of the exhibition the show has welcomed 26,000 visitors from India and its neighboring countries as well as from across the subcontinent, middle east, South Africa and South Asia.

Siddharth Meer, director of Saicom Trade Fairs & Exhibitions said “This year with the stereoscopic trend all over the world, everyone is basically moving into the 3D space of filmmaking. Majority of the exhibits that will be present for the event are focused on 3D stereoscopic filmmaking. Panasonic will be showing off their 3D camera, 3D monitors as well as Transvideo will showcase their setup for 3D filmmaking.

Player’s from Panasonic, Apple, Sony, ARRI, Wasp3D, Panther and many more from the world over who cater to the film, broadcast and the multimedia industry participate in the conference as exhibitors. Over 500 companies from all over the world will exhibit their state-of-the-art equipment and technology at this year’s Broadcast India show.

“The conference on the second day of the event will have people talking on stereoscopic filmmaking and their workflows,” says Siddharth.

Babri mosque verdict: India beefs up security

India braced Thursday for a court ruling on a bitter Hindu-Muslim dispute, which led to the razing of Babri mosque in 1992 and subsequent riots in which 2,000 people died.
Thousands of paramilitary police have been deployed around the north Indian town of Ayodhya home to the 16th century Babri mosque, which was demolished by Hindu extremists in 1992, and is claimed by both religious groups. The High Court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh will Thursday hand down its ruling on who owns the site, in a judgment which poses serious security concerns for a government preoccupied with hosting the Commonwealth Games, which open in New Delhi on Sunday. The destruction of the mosque sparked some of the worst communal violence in India since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, leaving 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The government has issued public appeals for calm ahead of the verdict, as well as placing advertisements in newspapers urging respect for the rule of law and mobilizing tens of thousands of security forces. Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said 190,000 security troopers would be on duty across Uttar Pradesh.
Security has been tightened in Ayodhya and 32 other sensitive locations across the country four of them in Uttar Pradesh, Indias most populous state. Security has also been stepped up in Indias financial hub Mumbai where religious tensions have spilled into violence in the past.
Hindus say the Babri mosque was built by the Moghul emperor Babur on the site of a temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu warrior god Ram.
The High Court judgment will turn on three key questions: whether the disputed spot was Rams birthplace, whether the mosque was built after the demolition of a temple and if the mosque had been built in accordance with the tenets of Islam.
Any ruling is likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court.Hindus want to build a Ram temple on the site with some predicting a ruling against them would be greeted with violence.
Since 1992, the site has been cordoned off and guarded by troops. India has avoided any major outbreak of Hindu-Muslim clashes since riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.

Babri Mosque’s decision expected today

AYODHYA: India braced for a court ruling Thursday on a bitter Hindu-Muslim dispute over a holy site that will test the secular country’s often tense religious relations.

Thousands of paramilitary police have been deployed around the north Indian town of Ayodhya — home to the 16th century Babri mosque, which was razed by Hindu extremists in 1992, and is claimed by both religious groups.

The High Court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh will rule on who owns the site in a judgment that poses a serious headache for the government as it gears up to host the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi from Sunday.

The destruction of the mosque sparked some of the worst communal violence in India since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, leaving 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead.

The government has issued public appeals for calm ahead of the verdict, as

Inquiry against Modi, Amin named interim chief IPL

MUMBAI: Indian cricket authorities suspended the head and driving force behind the money-spinning IPL tournament on Monday in a bid to stem an escalating crisis over corruption and match-fixing allegations.

Businessman Chirayu Amin, who runs a pharmaceutical business in the western city of Vadodara, has been named the interim chief of the IPL. He is one of the five vice-presidents of the BCCI and a member of the IPL”s governing council.

After a week of intense speculation that Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi faced the axe, the news came just hours after the final on Sunday night of a tournament he built into a multi-billion-dollar industry.

The BCCI, which owns the IPL, nevertheless accuses Modi of “alleged acts of individual misdemeanours” and is scrutinising his financial dealings in relation to the tournament, which began in 2008.

The seeds of his downfall were sown two weeks ago when he revealed the ownership details of a new franchise set to join the glitzy and globally popular IPL in 2011.

Writing on micro-blogging site Twitter, he embarrassed a high-profile member of the government, junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor, by leaking how Tharoor”s girlfriend had been given a free stake in the new team.

Under pressure from the opposition, which accused Tharoor of misusing his office to secure benefit for himself, the minister was forced to resign, embarrassing the Congress-led government.

Since then, the finance ministry has launched a wide-ranging tax probe into the IPL, the BCCI and its franchise owners — powerful business and Bollywood figures — and many blame Modi for bringing the tax man to their door.

The investigation has sparked a media frenzy, with daily leaks — though nothing has been proved so far — about Modi”s unpaid tax liabilities, general corruption in the game, kickbacks and even possible match-fixing.

Result rigging is a particularly dangerous slur on the subcontinent after investigators unearthed widespread illegal betting and corruption by Indian bookmakers and some leading players in 2000.

The 2010 version of the annual IPL tournament finished with a drama-filled final in front of 50,000 fans on Sunday who saw the Chennai Super Kings beat favourites Mumbai Indians in their home city.

Pakistan For Result-oriented Talks With India

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan News: Pakistan wants to resume peace talks with India but they should be wide-ranging and include all disputes between the nuclear-armed rivals, including the disputed region of Kashmir, a senior Pakistani official said Thursday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said Islamabad has not yet formally responded to New Delhi’s offer of resumed talks, but Pakistan looks forward to the foreign secretaries from the two countries meeting to discuss how an all-encompassing dialogue could be renewed.

India last week offered to resume high-level peace talks with Pakistan, a year after wide-ranging discussions were halted after the deadly siege on Mumbai in 2008, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

The United States has been pressuring both sides to resume talks. It hopes reduced tensions on the subcontinent would enable Islamabad to shift troops more India’s border and deploy more against Taliban militants on the Afghan border — a key to U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

India did not give details of the proposed talks, but has indicated that counterterrorism would be high on its agenda.

Basit reiterated Pakistan wants to focus on the so-called “composite dialogue” that existed before the Mumbai attacks, and include the issue of Kashmir’s sovereignty. The dialogue began in 2004 but failed to resolve the neighbors’ competing claims over the divided Himalayan region.

“This is what we hope,” Basit told reporters Thursday. “The whole purpose of any engagement between our two countries should be to resolve all disputes.”

He said a year’s worth of talking had been lost because India pulled out after the Mumbai attacks.

“When we engage with India again, engagement should be irreversible and should produce results,” Basit said. “One hopes that this time around India will not bac

---

Pakistan For Result-oriented Talks With India was first posted on February 11, 2010 at 5:57 pm.

430 Terrorists killed in Ladha and Sararogha

WANA, Pakistan: Security forces have killed 250 militants in Ladha and 180 militants in Sararogha operation, a spokesman said.

“The forces drive has been continued in Showal,” a military spokesman Brig. Farrukh told mediamen here. The military has recaptured the highways in South Waziristan region and also taken the control of land routes from Ladha to Makeen, he said. All mountain tops were retaken by the troops, the spokesman further said.

He said the military operation was underway in Ladha after reports of presence of 35 militant fighters in the area.

Earlier, Commander Sararogha Brig. Shafeeque informed the newsmen that 180 militants were killed in fighting during the Sararogha operation including Uzbek and Tehrik-e-Taliban terrorists.  A large quantity of arms and ammunition captured from the militants in Sararogha including 21 suicide jackets.

---

430 Terrorists killed in Ladha and Sararogha was first posted on November 17, 2009 at 5:14 pm.

Next Page »