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Saturday, January 31, 2004
Muslim Web sites play dual role - CNET
"Analysts say the sites, used by al-Qaida backers to spread their message, are unlikely sources of exact information on where or how Osama bin Laden's network might strike next--though an experienced eye may spot the more probable comments ... Gary Bunt, a University of Wales lecturer who runs a site on Islam, virtuallyislamic.com, said Islamists had proven much more tech-savvy than their governments."
Pakistan and India likely Nato partners - Hi Pakistan
"Pakistan and India are expected to be roped in as future Nato partners, the US ambassador to the western military alliance was quoted on Friday as telling an Indian newspaper. The Asian Age quoted Nicholas Burns as saying in Brussels that the two South Asian countries together with Russia were identified as potential partners though not yet as potential members of Nato."
Pakistan Ousts Nuclear Scientist From Post - New York Times
"The Pakistani government on Saturday removed Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, from his post as a special adviser to the country's prime minister. The step, and other measures, suggested that the government was laying the groundwork for exposing wrongdoing by Dr. Khan, a man revered as a national hero in Pakistan."
Why Can't We Be Friends? - Inc.
"Entrepreneurs who socialize with employees and create a loose, unstructured work environment often find themselves unable to sever links with unproductive employees or make hard-nosed decisions about the business. The problem is especially acute for start-ups, since these companies tend to be 'far less formal, often behaving more like families.' The basic problem confronting entrepreneurs: 'Act too chummy and you risk losing employees' respect. But behave too formally and you sacrifice the team spirit and bonhomie on which small companies thrive.' " (Corante)
Kashmir: Towards peace? - Economist
"After nearly 60 years of bitter dispute between India and Pakistan over the sovereignty of Kashmir, and 14 years of bloody insurgency in the Indian-administered part of the territory, no one expects a swift resolution. But at least, says Amitabh Mattoo, an Indian expert on the region, 'for the first time in years you can see light at the end of the tunnel.' Two sets of talks—between India and Pakistan, and between the Indian government and moderate Kashmiri separatists—offer negotiation a chance, however slim, of succeeding where violence has failed."
'Pakistan was not Iqbal's idea' - Times of India
"Contrary to common perception, pre-independence India's legendary poet Mohammad Iqbal was not the originator of the idea of Pakistan, if a new book is to be believed. The Idea of Pakistan and Iqbal - A Disclaimer is quoting literary evidences to prove that the poet-philosopher did not spearhead the Pakistan demand. Iqbal, the book says, was merely in favour of a Muslim-majority state within the Indian federation."
Friday, January 30, 2004
Pakistan's Nuclear Responsibility - New York Times
"Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, has a history of strong declarations, followed by weak and contradictory actions. Washington can not settle for a repetition of this pattern in the Pakistani investigation into whether its nuclear scientists passed bomb technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya. All the links in this reckless supply chain — commercial, military or political — must be uncovered and severed."
Rediff on Abdul Qadeer Khan's extravagant lifestyle, Khan spent $1 million on daughters' weddings.
Bollywood scripts a reconciliation - Financial Times
"Relations between India and Pakistan thawed several extra degrees this week when Reema Khan, a leading Pakistani dancer and actress, surfaced in Bollywood to sign up Indian artists for films in Pakistan ... Pakistanis may love the work of stars such as Shah Rukh Kahn and Amitabh Bachchan but some films are less welcome. Two of India's biggest recent box office hits have been the jingoistic films Gadhar and Line of Control, which glorify New Delhi's military success in the three wars fought with Pakistan. Some Indian actors are now publicly distancing themselves from such films."
Row over Morocco's 'commercial' Eid - BBC
"There have been complaints in newspapers and from politicians, that the Eid festival has become too commercialised. There are many billboard adverts with pictures of the perfect sheep. The adverts read: 'Buy a fridge and you could win a sheep, or take a loan and you can be in our sheep tombola' ... Often those who buy a sheep do not have anywhere to keep it, before it is slaughtered. Many families keep the animals waiting to be sacrificed on the balcony or in their bathrooms."
Morocco is clearly ahead of Pakistan in the evolution of their civil society. In Pakistan, most animals are kept on public property with complete disregard of a citizen's right for a clean environment. I looked up the GDP per capita rankings and Morocco comes in a few notches above us at 137 versus Pakistan at 170.
Pakistan investigates BCCI role in sale of nuclear knowhow - FT
"The Pakistani government is examining records of the failed BCCI in its investigation into the role Pakistani scientists may have played in selling nuclear knowhow to Iran, North Korea and Libya ... BCCI's role in financing Pakistan's own nuclear efforts has long been the subject of scrutiny. In 1992, a report into BCCI from a US Congressional sub-committee headed by Senator John Kerry said 'there is good reason to conclude that BCCI did finance Pakistan's nuclear programme'. Though it said the issue deserved further investigation, there was little public follow-through."
Why the White House is pushing Cyprus solution - Christian Science Monitor
"A Mediterranean island smaller than Connecticut might seem an unlikely candidate for White House attention when other matters - like Iraq - dominate the agenda. But the Bush administration's efforts to refurbish its diplomatic standing, to mend estranged relations with European allies, and even to navigate the increasingly dangerous political minefield in Iraq, are all echoed in stepped-up US pressure for resolution of what is called 'the Cyprus problem.' "
Explosive Secrets From Pakistan - Los Angeles Times
"Military rules say they weren't aware that such sales were going on until just a few weeks ago, when Libya and Iran began spilling the beans. They're shocked. But that seems a bit of a stretch. After all, the weapons or the knowledge to make them would sell for billions of dollars, an amount that would have surely raised eyebrows in Islamabad, where corruption by politicians, money skimming and Swiss bank accounts are routinely investigated and published — often as a result of leaks by Pakistani intelligence."
The headscarf reaches new heights - The Age
"When she chalks up to cheat gravity in the climbing events in next month's Asian Extreme Games, Etti Hendrawati knows she'll be turning heads. But unlike most of her peers, the 28-year-old Indonesian climber will stand out for the amount of clothes she's wearing rather than the lack of them. In a sport dominated by skimpy tops and second-skin short shorts, Hendrawati and a growing band of Indonesian Muslim women climbers compete in loose long pants with the ends of their hijabs, or headscarves, tucked out of the way inside generous tops."
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Losing battle to rescue child soldiers - Asia Times
"India does it. So do Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines, East Timor and several Central Asian states. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has labeled the practice one of the most morally reprehensible acts of systematic abuse worldwide, and even took the extraordinary step of publicly naming the culprits last year. Yet at least 100,000 Asian children as young as eight are still being coerced to fight for government armies and armed rebel movements."
Journalist shot dead in Pakistan - BBC
"Police in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province say a journalist has been killed, allegedly by a local councillor.Police have registered a case against the town's head councillor, Javed Khan, who they allege killed Mr Tanoli. Mr Khan is said to have been enraged at the journalist for publishing news hostile to him."
Top Pakistani actress to star in Bollywood film - Reuters
"One of Pakistan's most popular actresses is to star in an Indian film as the two nuclear-armed countries inch closer together after years of tension which led them to three wars. 'There has been a lot of opposition in India and Pakistan, but no one can stop us because we are doing this for peace,' said 'Meera', popular for her versatile roles and dances. 'This is my first step and I hope other actresses follow,' she told Reuters."
History varies with the teller - Hindustan Times
"Founded by people who believed they were breaking free of musty old European traditions, America has always had an awkward relationship with history. Henry Ford, the wealthy, powerful, American, made most famous for creating the modern automobile industry, would live to regret something he once said about history in a magazine interview: 'History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's dam is the history we make today.' "
Why the Gulf looks to America - IHT
"A nuclear Iran would disrupt the balance of power on the Gulf peninsula while posing a serious challenge to the security of the region's natural resources. One possible response to this threat would be for Saudi Arabia to develop its own weapons of mass destruction. But this is a Pandora's box no Gulf state wants to open. Instead, the emphasis has been on getting American security guarantees. The leaders of the Gulf region want American troops to stay. Where is Europe in this picture? Not present."
My God Is Your God - New York Times
"Sunday is one of the most important holidays in Islam: Id al-Adha, the feast celebrating Abraham's faith and willingness to sacrifice his son to God. It would also be a good occasion for the American news media to dispense with Allah and commit themselves to God ... Of course, there are distinctions to be made between religions, which the press shouldn't shy away from. But there is no need to augment these differences artificially, especially at the cost of an accurate understanding of the origins of the Abrahamic faiths."
Blood problem for Bangladesh festival - BBC
"The streets of Dhaka are ready to run red with blood. It can only mean one thing - Eid ul Adha, Islam's annual festival of sacrifice is here. But Sadiq Hossain, the mayor of the Bangladeshi capital, wants this year to be different. Mr Hossain is urging those who can to carry out the sacrifice in public parks. But he knows that in this crowded city most animals will be slaughtered in the street, leaving the stench of blood hanging in the air for days."
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Israelis, Hindus to discuss terror - Mercury News
"Last March, when Lisa Cohen heard about a terrorist attack in Kashmir, India, she immediately thought about suicide bombings in Israel. So the Menlo Park resident, who is Jewish, went to Fremont and joined a street-corner rally organized by Hindu nationalists to raise awareness about the violence. 'We're both democracies,' she said this week. 'We're both faced with the daily threat of radical Islamic terror.' "
Too many cooks in Pakistan kitchen? - BBC
"Pakistan intend to leave no stone unturned as they seek the perfect formula ahead of their long-awaited series against India in March and April. They will employ no less than three bowling coaches in the shape of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Aqib Javed."
The Most Hated Company In Tech - Business Week
"According to Business Week, SCO Group’s audacious move to ensnare the entire Linux community in a legal battle over intellectual property has made it the 'most hated company in the tech world, surpassing, at least temporarily, Microsoft.' SCO Group has already tussled with IBM in a $3 billion lawsuit, and now it has hinted that it will sue a prominent Linux user such as Google. In addition, the company has 'infuriated dozens of businesses and thousands of volunteer programmers.' Linux founder Linus Torvalds is none too pleased either: 'They're a cornered rat, and I think they have rabies to boot.' " (Corante)
US draws a line on Pakistan's nuclear program - Asia Times
"The United States's patience could finally be running out with Pakistan and its nuclear program, even though Islamabad is scrambling to reassure Washington that any proliferation in the past was an aberration on the part of rogue individuals."
India sniffs a windfall - Asia Times
"While the spreading avian flu has hit poultry exports from China, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia particularly hard, India's poultry products, which turned uncompetitive a few years back, stand to gain from the misfortune of these countries ... country's farmers believe that the scare has offered them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to break into the markets so recently dominated by Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and even smaller countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia."
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare - Fortune
"Global warming may be bad news for future generations, but let's face it, most of us spend as little time worrying about it as we did about al Qaeda before 9/11. Like the terrorists, though, the seemingly remote climate risk may hit home sooner and harder than we ever imagined. In fact, the prospect has become so real that the Pentagon's strategic planners are grappling with it."
Radio station rapped for Muslim terror jibe - Reuters
"A Canadian radio station has been rapped for suggesting Muslims only travel to Mecca to build up 'frequent flyer miles' to mount another September 11 style attack. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council said the item on Calgary's CJAY-FM had been 'singularly unacceptable' and ordered the station to make a public apology."
Friedman: Arab anger thrives where jobs are scarce - IHT
"In short, it is impossible for us to talk about winning the war of ideas in the Arab-Muslim world without talking about the most basic thing that gives people dignity and hope: a job ... Just read the numbers and weep: Of the 90 million Arabs who are between 15 and 24 years old, 14 million are unemployed, many of them among the 15 million to 20 million Muslims now living in Europe."
Thailand: 'Religious conflict' worries premier - Asia Times
"The Thai government has warned against a Muslim-Buddhist "religious conflict" after assassins killed two Buddhist monks and a novice in southern Thailand, while the army canceled sending Israeli-trained Thai troops to Iraq because they might anger Iraqis. 'Don't take what happened as a religious conflict, otherwise we could become a tool of the [Muslim] separatists,' warned Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra."
Vajpayee's election gamble - BBC
"The polls are due by October but are now expected to be brought forward to April or May following the cabinet's decision to seek the dissolution of parliament on 6 February. Perhaps the biggest incentive for early elections is India's booming economy. With foreign exchange reserves of more than $100bn, a rising stock market index and an economic growth rate around 8%, the Vajpayee government wants to tap in on what's being described as the 'feel good' factor."
Journalist in Pakistan charged with sedition - Asia Times
"After authorities denied holding freelance journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi for weeks, Pakistan police at the weekend formally charged him with sedition, conspiracy and impersonation, senior police officials have told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The maximum penalty for the charges is life imprisonment."
Mix with Human Virus Is Bird Flu's Biggest Threat - Reuters
"There is no evidence the bird flu that has struck from Pakistan to Japan and killed eight people has passed directly between humans. Scientists fear if it does, this could increase its ability to mutate, possibly leading to a new virus that could spread as rapidly as human influenza, yet carry the surface proteins of an avian virus against which people have no immunity or antibodies."
Monday, January 26, 2004
Pakistan Said to Investigate Nuclear Scientist's Real Estate Holdings - NY Times
"A leading Pakistani newspaper, The News, reported that investigators had discovered that millions of dollars were deposited in the bank accounts in Dubai of two senior Pakistani nuclear scientists as nuclear hardware arrived in Iran. The newspaper also said a senior scientist had been found to have tens of millions of dollars' worth of financial and real estate holdings in Pakistan and overseas, primarily in Dubai. The senior scientist also paid a Pakistani newspaper editor in Islamabad to run a publicity campaign, publish books and organize seminars praising the scientist."
India rises as strategic US ally - Christian Science Monitor
"Just five years after US-imposed sanctions turned India and Pakistan into virtual pariah states for their nuclear-weapons tests in 1998, India has emerged as America's 'strategic partner' in South Asia. Far more than its alliance with Pakistan to hunt down Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants, America's new relationship with India is a broad security, political, technological, and economic arrangement on par with America's relationship with Europe or NATO. The US is even talking about sharing roles in joint space missions."
Pakistan polishes its tarnished nuclear image - Asia Times
"The story of nuclear leaks from Kahuta, the site of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Pakistan's main nuclear weapons laboratory, to Iran, Libya and North Korea has forced Pakistan to investigate some of its key scientists to prove to the world that it's a responsible country, not involved in proliferation, at least not at the state level."
Teacher 'insulted Muslim pupil' - BBC
"A teacher forced a Muslim pupil to remove a headscarf and then said her religion was a 'big joke', a court has been told. Hazel Dick, 43, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, scratched the 15-year-old girl's chin with a pin holding the scarf in place as she removed the garment. The teacher denies a charge of religiously aggravated common assault."
Engineering Google Results to Make a Point - New York Times
"Time was - say, two months ago - when typing the phrase 'miserable failure' into the Google search box produced an unexpected result: the White House's official biography of President George W. Bush. But now the president has a fight on his hands for the top ranking - from former President Jimmy Carter, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and the author-filmmaker Michael Moore. The unlikely electoral battle is being waged through 'Google bombing,' or manipulating the Web's search engines to produce, in this case, political commentary."
The current results for 'miserable failure.' George W has reclaimed the top spot.
Pakistan detects bird flu strains - BBC
"Pakistani officials say a strain of bird flu has been found in chickens in the southern port of Karachi. The government has recommended a cull of poultry in the area. The influenza has been identified as H-7 and H-9, strains which are said to be less dangerous than H-5N1, which is afflicting South-East Asia. An agriculture ministry official said there was no evidence that the strains found in Pakistan had spread to humans."
U.S. Executives Brainstorm on Job Outsourcing - Washington Post
"More than 150 corporate executives, many paying $1,400 a head, listened intently for tips on how to move jobs overseas effectively. Outside, on a frigid Manhattan sidewalk, a group of fewer than 20 spirited demonstrators protested the 'offshore outsourcing' conference that opened Wednesday ... One speaker unexpectedly decided to bar the press from his presentation. His topic: Is offshore outsourcing unpatriotic?"
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Welcome, Unless You're a Muslim - CATO Institute
"Thanks to the new US-VISIT (Visa and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology) program, foreign visitors will now be welcomed to the United States by being fingerprinted and photographed. To start, US-VISIT exempts visitors from 28 countries. This is a gaping loophole that you can literally fly an airplane through." The author argues that Britain, France and Germany are on the exempt list, even though they all have sizable Muslim populations.
'The Trouble With Islam': Reform From Within - New York Times
" 'The Trouble With Islam' is a memorable entrance. It isn't the most learned or scholarly treatise on the history or theology of Islam; its dabbling in geopolitics is haphazard and a little naive; its rhetorical hyperbole can sometimes seem a mite attention-seeking -- like that final 'Jesus Christ!' in the madrasa. But its spirit is undeniable, and long, long overdue. Reading it feels like a revelation. Manji, a Canadian journalist and television personality, does what so many of us have longed to see done: assail fundamentalist Islam itself for tolerating such evil in its midst. And from within."
A prominent Muslim scholar critiques the book, Jamal Badawi critiques 'The Trouble With Islam'. And here comes a pakistani report from the Daily Times, Muslim questions following letter, not spirit, of Islam.
The book at Amazon, The Trouble with Islam : A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith.
Psst. Wanna real Rolex? - Economist
"Chinese consumers are discovering the delights of buying the real thing ... A few kilometres east of the luxury hotel in the city centre where the Omega shop is located, hawkers in Beijing's famous Silk Alley display trays crammed with fake watches. A man's Speedmaster Broad Arrow, a type that costs more than 100,000 yuan ($12,000) at the new Omega shop, goes for less than $80 in fake form. Yet Kevin Rollenhagen, the head of Omega's operations, says he does not believe Chinese are natural consumers of fake products 'if they can afford the real thing.' "
Paris Celebrates France's Ties to China - New York Times
"The Eiffel Tower turned red to celebrate the Chinese New Year on Saturday, but it might just as well be blushing at the country's ardent embrace of all things Chinese on the eve of the Chinese president's arrival here ... As part of the country's 'Year of China' promotion, officials closed Paris' grand avenue, the Champs-Élysées, on Saturday afternoon for a huge parade dominated by a dancing dragon — the first time the avenue has been taken over by an intrinsically non-French event since German troops marched down it during World War II."
Nuclear 'supermarket' revealed - Chicago Tribune
"The scale of the black-market operation--described by one expert as an 'international supermarket' for nuclear parts--exceeds anything seen before, and it was undetected by Western intelligence agencies until recent months, the officials said. The same operation also is believed to have aided Iran, they said."
America losing world's trust - Sydney Herald
"The blunt conclusion by David Kay, the chief US arms inspector in Iraq, that Saddam Hussein 'got rid' of his unconventional weapons long before the Iraq invasion last year underscores what has become clear to intelligence experts in recent months: President George Bush moved against a country that posed a smaller risk than North Korea, Libya and Iran, or even one of America's allies, Pakistan."
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Pakistan TV: A New Look at the News - New York Times
"Along with live debates between Indians and Pakistanis, Geo has offered live news coverage unprecedented for Pakistan. It provides a wide variety of political viewpoints, and explores cultural and religious questions rarely discussed publicly here. For the first time, analysts say, television in Pakistan is reflecting this predominantly Muslim country's diverse society and offering an independent source of news."
Nuclear Inquiry Heightens Divisions Within Pakistan - New York Times
"Over the next several days, Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, is expected to impugn members of a revered group central to Pakistan's national pride — the nuclear scientists who built the atomic bombs that deter its neighbor and rival India. Taking such a step is expected to be among the most treacherous tasks General Musharraf has faced since reversing Pakistan's support for the Taliban in September 2001 and becoming an American ally in the campaign against terrorism."
Guardian reports Musharraf attacking Western scientiests on proliferation, Pakistan attacks traffic in 'nuclear secrets.'
Musharraf invites Microsoft to invest in Pakistan - Daily Times
"President Musharraf in a meeting with Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, invited him to take benefit of the conducive investment climate in the country and invest in Pakistan. He said Pakistan is fast becoming one of the hubs of IT and provided highly qualified professional manpower. He informed him of the initiatives taken by the government in the IT sector and the progress on e-commerce and e-governance."
Earlier posts on Microsoft and Pakistan: Bill Gates Calls Musharraf, Microsoft plans $7bn investment.
Pakistan poised for treason trial - BBC
"A court in Pakistan has formally charged a prominent opposition politician, Javed Hashmi, on five counts including treason and inciting mutiny. He was arrested last year, after he distributed a letter, allegedly written by army officers, which was critical of President Musharraf and his policies. If found guilty, Mr Hashmi could be sentenced to life imprisonment."
In the name of Islam - Economist
"We concluded that conflict between Islam and the West was by no means impossible. But the writer of our survey was not convinced that it was inevitable. Another possibility was that the anger and disillusionment that seemed to be sweeping through the world of Islam in the 1990s might turn in a more benign direction. Was it not similar to the disillusionment that began to sweep through Christendom in the 16th century, which led via the Reformation to the development of modern democracy?"
Trip Home From Europe Becomes Kafkaesque Ordeal - New York Times
"German woman married to a Brooklyn schoolteacher had been told that she had all her papers in order when she took a quick trip to show off her infant daughter to her parents in Germany. But her return home in late December turned surreal and terrifying when Homeland Security officials at Kennedy Airport rejected her travel documents, confiscated her passport, then detained her and the 3-month-old overnight in a room with shackled drug suspects. They let her go only after ordering her to leave the country no later than tomorrow."
Microsoft lightens up on teen's Web site - Reuters
"Microsoft has indicated it may have overreacted to the Web site of Canadian teenager Mike Rowe who added the word 'soft' to his name and registered the address mikerowesoft.com. In November, Microsoft's Canadian lawyers demanded that Rowe, 17, change the name of his Internet site, claiming copyright infringement. They said they would pay Rowe, who lives in Victoria, British Columbia, $10 for his trouble. Rowe is demanding $10,000 from Microsoft to change the site's name."
Friday, January 23, 2004
Lady killers - Jewish World Review
"Women are beginning to sign on for jihad in significant numbers, and radical Islamists are deciding that while women may not show their faces in public, they may explode their bodies in order to kill ... Americans have difficulty understanding how people can be driven to such lunacy. Liberals are inclined to blame poverty for most of the hatred and violence in the world. During the Cold War, when communist movements were gaining ground in the Third World, liberals reflexively blamed poverty. They underestimated the power of ideas."
Pakistan wants Wasim Akram 'to draw a line' - Thats Cricket
"Pakistan suspect Wasim Akram of moulding Indian youngster Irfan Pathan into a potent left-arm speedster and are now worried that the former captain may let out other 'trade secrets' as well to their arch rivals ahead of their historic tour in March. The Pakistan cricket establishment wants the legendary all-rounder 'to draw a line' on working with Indian players."
Visa program may aid foreign companies - CNET
"U.S. companies aren't the only ones taking advantage of statutes designed to allow U.S. employers to hire foreign workers—Indian companies are too. The annual cap of the H-1B program fell from 195,000 to 65,000 as of Oct. 1, 2003. But another change was the elimination of rules that required companies with a large proportion of H-1B workers to do such things as attest that they sought U.S. workers before applying for another H-1B visa."
Pakistan actress wows Bollywood - BBC
"The Indian press has crowned her the Aishwarya Rai of Pakistan - after Bollywood's most successful female star. A household name in Pakistan after having acted in nearly 200 films, Reema is visiting the western Indian city of Bombay ... Asked about fellow Pakistani actresses who failed to make it big in Bollywood, Reema suggests they may not have been good enough all-rounders. While some were good actresses, they couldn't dance, while others who could sway to the tunes were not fine enough performers. But she is confident she will make it."
Court defends Pakistan scientists - BBC
"Pakistani scientists held in a probe of nuclear technology transfers must not be handed to foreign jurisdictions, a Lahore court has told the government. The High Court in Rawalpindi was ruling in response to four habeas corpus petitions filed by families of the scientists and officials. Relatives fear the detainees may be handed to the US or other countries."
Why Saddam's arrest did matter - Asia Times
"There is a body of considered opinion that says the ignominious extraction of Saddam Hussein from a reconditioned septic tank near his home village south of Tikrit mattered little and that things in Iraq will only get worse - at any rate, for the Americans ... Six weeks, hundreds of attacks, and dozens of casualties later, I would still beg to differ. The Saddam arrest could very well prove a turning point - for the worse only if collective US foreign and intelligence services' memory utterly fails."
Prosecutors: Cult Leader Used Group for Sex - Fox News
"A cult leader, Malachi York, used his organization to supply him with girls for sex, prosecutors said Thursday at his molestation trial, while the defense told jurors that the claims were concocted by former sect members angry at being ousted. Prosecutors allege he arranged for girls from his Muslim commune in New York to be sent to his neo-Egyptian compound in rural central Georgia in order to molest them. Over the years, York has incorporated Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Egyptian mysticism and space aliens into his quasi-religious teachings."
More on the cult, Nuwaubians. The group was called Ansaru Allah and Malachi York bore the name Isa Muhammad.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Kashmir's Promise Of Peace - Washington Post
"India and Pakistan have gone from hurling war cries at each other to taking small but steady steps toward a peace agreement on Kashmir and their other conflicts. Shrewdness on the Indian side and desperation in Pakistan have come together to produce a potential Nobel Peace Prize for two uncommon leaders."
Big Players To Bid For Pakistan's Two Cellular Licenses - Yahoo News
"Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (S12.SG), Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), Kuwait's MTC and U.S.-based MCI Inc. (MCIAV), are among 33 companies that have shown an interest in bidding for Pakistan's cellular licenses. Other interested companies include Deutsche Telekom A.G. (DT), Telekom Malaysia Bhd (4863.KU), Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (C.EMT), Norway's Telenor Mobile Communications, Turkey's TurkCell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (TKC), and Pakistan's Telecard Ltd. (TELE.KA) and Engro Chemical Pakistan Ltd. (ENGRO.KA)."
"Whether you call them delusions of grandeur or visionary thinking, China's biggest city has plans that are nothing if not bold. Since the early 1990s Shanghai has been driven by a desire to reclaim its pre-communist era status as a regional financial capital and a cosmopolitan haven for international capitalists eager to penetrate the Chinese market ... In the next few years, changes in Shanghai—whose GDP, according to the official figures, grew last year by a sizzling 11.8%—could be similarly dramatic."
The new Afghan Constitution: Will it respect women's rights? - CNN
"The charter, which embraces democracy, human rights and equality for women, holds the promise of taking this hobbled nation out of the Dark Ages toward modernity. Indeed, the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, called it 'one of the most enlightened constitutions in the Islamic world.' Yet the old Enlightenment required the separation of church and state. And the new Afghan Constitution, in contrast, mixes democracy and religion, proclaiming an Islamic Republic of Afghanistan."
All at sea in the Indian Ocean - Asia Times
"The Indian Ocean forms two large indentations in the southern coast of Asia around the Indian sub-continent - the Arabian Sea on India's west and the Bay of Bengal on the east, both of critical strategic and geopolitical importance. The Indian Ocean supports the movement of jihadi terrorism from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Asia-Pacific region, and it carries global oil supplies to the rest of Asia. In fact, India sits astride two 'choke points' for global oil supplies - the Straits of Hormuz to its west, and the Straits of Malacca to its east."
Why wasn't Gen Baig on Zia's plane? - Rediff
"Intelligence experts are questioning General Mirza Aslam Baig, the father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan and a host of other scientists over their role in selling nuclear weapons technology to Libya, North Korea and Iran. But Gen Baig merits attention for another equally important reason. He was the senior army officer who elected to travel on an escort plane rather than on the president's C-130 aircraft that crashed a few minutes after taking off from Bahawalpur."
Cost of obesity in the US put at $75bn a year - Financial Times
"The US spent $75bn on obesity-related illnesses last year and half of that amount was financed by taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid, according to a US study to be published on Friday. Total state-level expenditure estimates in 2003 ranged from $87m in Wyoming to $7.7bn in California. A third of US adults are obese, the highest rate in the world, and obesity rates among American children have risen by 50 per cent in the past decade."
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Here's News for Cowboys: Bandanna Can Be Religious - New York Times
"Mr. Ferry explained that the wording afforded the state the ability to broadly interpret what constitutes a religious symbol and prevent the possible subversion of the law. That's where the bandanna came in ... When one deputy asked about beards, Mr. Ferry said that even they might be a no-no, Reuters reported. 'As soon as it becomes a religious sign, it would fall under this law,' Mr. Ferry was quoted as saying."
Microsoft to invest $7b in IT sector - Hi Pakistan
"The global IT giant Microsoft on Tuesday announced to invest around seven billion dollars in Pakistan’s information technology sector to build a strong IT economy that will compete at global level ... The Microsoft vice president said that they have also joined hands with the Ministry of Education in 'Partners in Learning' programme that would offer critical resources for student access, teachers’ training and skill development in the field of IT."
The burqa stripped bare - The Age
"Seventeen years ago, my sister became a Muslim. She had been a rock-climbing feminist, born into a family of agnostic bohemians ... Part of the contemporary attractiveness of Islam is that it is one of the few alternatives left to someone who wants to identify with an ideology that presents a serious challenge to the West ... it is simply not true that Islam fails to treat women as sex objects. In fact, women are so sexualised within Islamic society that it is assumed that any private encounter between a woman and a man will be sexual."
A partnership of unequals - Asia Times
"India-United States military ties, relatively a new phenomenon, have advanced rapidly since September 11, 2001. Unlike the US-Pakistan relationship, which dates back to the 1950s, India's military connection with the US is new and, hence, in a nascent stage ... The perceptions and expectations of top US and Indian military leaders are, in fact, divergent on several key issues, in particular the approach to security in Asia and the Indian Ocean region."
Another one on a similar theme, Delhi takes what it can.
Gandhi dynasty thrives in India's election campaign - Reuters
"Here in Indira Gandhi's former constituency of Rae Bareli in the bellwether state of Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka, were mobbed during pre-election campaigning this week. Villagers crowded around desperate to touch them. 'We are hoping, we are praying either of the children will contest the election,' said Pintoo Gupta, who runs a handloom business. 'This is their land, the land of their forefathers, we are indebted to the family.' "Related post:
- Priyanka Gandhi: A matrix untold - Asia Times
The Bubble of American Supremacy - Townhall
"If we reelect Bush in 2004 we endorse the Bush doctrine and we will have to live with the consequences. We shall be regarded with widespread hostility and terrorists will be able to count on many sympathizers around the world. We are liable to be trapped in a vicious circle of violence, as we already are in Iraq. But if we reject him we can write off the Bush doctrine as a temporary aberration and resume our rightful place in the world as a powerful but peace-loving nation."
Is diaspora proud of India? - Hindustan Times
"How much do Indians here appreciate and feel happy about any praise of or achievement by India? How much are they affected by any tragedy or grief the country experiences. I wondered about this when I found that there were hardly 20 people watching LoC (Kargil) at a cinema hall in Harrow, London. The film has failed to attract the media attention or audiences. Could its failure for a mass appeal be then interpreted as a lack of emotion for India and the suffering of the people there?"
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Minorities Tell of Religious Persecution - IPS
"Religious minorities form roughly four percent of the population, according to official figures. Christians are the largest and most visible minority. The U.S. State Department highlighted attacks on Pakistani churches in its latest annual report on religious freedom worldwide. It released the document last month. While violence grabs headlines, neglect and expropriation of religious sites appear to flourish largely unchecked."
Gay screen kiss makes history in predominantly Muslim Indonesia - SF Chronicle
"Their lips met for less than a second, but it was enough to make history. Until the release of "Arisan," movie audiences in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, had never seen two local men kissing on screen ... The kiss scene has triggered nervous giggles and shouts among cinemagoers, but it hasn't provoked outrage in Indonesia, where most people tolerate -- if not wholly accept -- homosexuality."
An ancient model for China's new power - IHT
"Asia is being reshaped by two fundamental trends - a new security environment that resembles the ancient Chinese tributary system, and the rise of China's soft power ... Eisuke Sakakibara, a professor at Keio University and a former Japanese deputy finance minister, spoke recently in Kuala Lumpur of the re-emergence of China as a great power after a lull of 150 years. China seems to be recreating its imperial security system and environment once again, but in a more benign and discreet way."
Arming Asia: Russia's $5 billion forte - Asia Times
"As Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov visits India from January 19-21 to finalize the US$1.5 billion sale of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, Russia's arms exporters are feeling increasingly confident in the Asian market for armaments - and with good reason. In 2003, Russia recorded a highly successful year of arms trade, with the bulk of armament shipments going to Asia. Last year, Russia's arms exports exceeded an unprecedented $5 billion, as compared with $4.8 billion in 2002."
Pakistan denies Israel invitation - BBC
"Pakistani has postponed hosting a United Nations meeting which would have been attended by an Israeli minister. The meeting, planned for March, would have been the first visit to Pakistan by an Israeli minister. The minister, Israel Katz, says he was invited to Islamabad by the United Nations delegation. Pakistan has no diplomatic ties with Israel and a foreign ministry spokesman insisted it has not issued an invitation to Mr Katz."
America Must Re-discover India - Rediff
"In my previous column I had argued that certain South Asian studies programs in the US may be undermining India and had suggested that many Indian scholars and writers catering to English language readers need to rethink their positions on India. Today's two-part column looks at how certain South Asian Studies discourses could also be detrimental to US strategic interests."
ARY to launch in US with Indo-Pak cricket series - Indian Television
"ARY Digital Network, which is joint telecast rights holder with Taj (separate territories) is launching its DTH services in the US on the Dish Network with this super high octane series. Dish expects to rake it in and has no qualms about playing up to the overarching "pop patriotism" that the Indian and Pakistani communities display in the West. ARY has not held back from using war like metaphors in the way it has branded the series, terming it the LoC (Lions of Cricket and not Line of Control mercifully) series."
Monday, January 19, 2004
A Muslim calls for reform, and she's a lesbian - San Francisco Chronicle
"It's not hard to see why people react strongly to Irshad Manji. At 35, she's become a ubiquitous fixture on Canadian television, the smartest, hippest, most eloquent lesbian feminist Muslim you could ever hope to meet ... She berates 'sclerotic contemporary Islam' for turning its back on human rights, stifling freedom of thought and expression, oppressing women, encouraging slavery and fomenting anti-Semitism. She accuses the religion of standing silent in the face of terror and derides her fellow Muslims for becoming 'brain-dead' and 'automatons.' "
Prayer Amid the Office Machines - New York Times
"In the bustle and clamor of a Manhattan workday, thousands of New Yorkers take time out from their jobs to pray with one another, often in unlikely places ... At a global law firm in the General Motors Building, Jewish men from around the neighborhood gather just before sunset every Monday through Thursday in the 28th-floor office of one of the firm's partners ... At Cuisine of Pakistan, a fast-food restaurant on Ninth Avenue, taxi drivers, merchants and at least one uniformed traffic officer gather every day at lunchtime in the narrow space between the rear booths."
Smoky States: Smoking Rates Vary Widely - WebMD
"Cigarette smoking rates vary widely across the U.S., from a low of less than 10% in the U.S. Virgin Islands to a high of almost 33% in Kentucky. Overall, a new CDC report shows that an average of about one in four American adults is a smoker, but more than half of them tried to quit in the last year."
Interesting statistics on smokers in the US.
Poor Asian Nations Eye Western Outsourcing - Washington Post
"At a summit of Asian ministers, officials from less developed nations in Asia (Mongolia, anyone?) angled for a share of the overseas IT outsourcing business that has spurred economic growth in countries like India. In the twelve-month period ending March 2004, India is expected to generate $13 billion in revenue from IT outsourcing. Not surprisingly given the success of its prosperous neighbor, exotic locales like Nepal and Bangladesh see no reason why they also can not participate in the IT boom." (Corante)
New links to India may lift airline - IHT
"Shares of Pakistan International Airlines may extend a 2003 rally as the company pays its first dividend in seven years, buys more aircraft and resumes flights to neighboring India ... Pakistan International shares have doubled in the past 12 months, outpacing a 60 percent gain in the Karachi Stock Exchange index."
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Low-caste Indians seek support - Nzoom
"Although India abolished untouchability after independence from British colonial rule in 1947, millions of Dalits are still treated as 'unclean' in many parts of the country.The discrimination is particularly deep in India's villages where Dalits cannot live with, pray in the same temple as or even drink the same water as higher caste Hindus. Marrying outside their community can even mean death at the hands of upper caste Hindus."
Iraqi dinar reaches post-war high - BBC
"The value of the Iraqi dinar has reached post-war highs, amid a wave of new confidence in the Iraqi economy ... One US dollar bought around 1,000 dinars in Baghdad on Wednesday, compared with more than 2,000 at the time of Saddam Hussein's overthrow. During the war, the dinar topped 3,500 to the dollar."
Daily Times on how the Pakistanis are rushing to get into the game: Speculators pounce on Iraqi dinar in hope of gains.
Afghan Town Languishes as No Aid Comes - Los Angeles Times
"Gandomak is in a region where foreign staffers fear to tread. The village has a proud history but no school, clinic or roads. In 1997, a Danish charity built a well, and last year another organization distributed some chickens and planted some trees. The village doctor has one kind of medicine to dispense regardless of the patient's ailment. Kholam Sayed, 55, said that since the international community had given up, he had little choice but to grow opium poppies."
Pakistan turns to India for software industry growth - Hindustan Times
"Taking advantage of a thaw in tense relations, Pakistan has approached India for help in developing its software sector, Nasscom said on Sunday. Representatives of Pakistani software companies will visit India next month and an Indian delegation will tour Pakistan later in the year to pursue possible cooperation, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said."
Afghanistan hopes for 1st ATM - Finance24
"Over the next few weeks Afghanistan's banking sector will move from comprising just six rundown specialist banks to one where several international commercial operations compete for business - with perhaps even an ATM machine around the corner. The National Bank of Pakistan is the only foreign bank operating in the country, but competition is building with First Micro Finance Bank, majority-owned by the Agha Khan Fund for Economic Development, and British-based Standard Chartered preparing to open soon."
Hundred off last ball of allotted overs - Rediff
"There are not many instances in One-Day International cricket history of a batsman reaching his hundred off the last ball of the allotted overs. Ravi Shastri was the only Indian in this exclusive club to perform this feat before Laxman. Pakistan's Yousuf Youhana is the only batsman to have done so twice. Youhana infact hit a six off the last ball of 50th over to bring up hundred on both the occasions."
PIA Flight escapes baby birth on board - Pakistani Newspaper
"Dream for an American born child replaced with British born for a young Pakistani female flying by Pakistan International Airlines flight PK 711. Before the flight could make approach for landing at Heathrow Airport the lady complained of labor, and she was taken to back of the plane and was laid on the walkway by 4 efficient flight stewardesses. The plane then went for emergency landing without loosing time."
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Revealed: how Pakistan fuels nuclear arms race - Guardian
"Dramatic evidence from Iran and now Libya reveals a clandestine and sophisticated network stretching from North Korea, Malaysia and China to Russia, Germany and Dubai. Yet one country more than any other stands accused of easing this proliferation. In the network of illegal radioactive trade, all roads point to Pakistan. More precisely, they lead to the Khan Research Laboratories in Kahuta in north Pakistan."
India, Pakistan and Peace Without Borders - New York Times
"For the sake of both India and Pakistan, as well as the wider region, Kashmir could be reunified as a semi-autonomous, neutral province ... Plans for South Asian integration are already under way. As a neutral space within that union, Kashmir could host the capital for its administrative machinery. The city could adopt the name Shantinagar — Hindi for 'peace town.' It could be a borderless solution to an endless argument over borders."
Here's Google on Anand Giridharadas, the author of the above piece.
Do India and Pakistan want peace? - Janes
Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan have agreed, under US pressure, to hold peace talks next month, two years after coming close to war, but have little idea of how or where to begin. a bargain has been struck. Vajpayee demanded that all Pakistani involvement in violence, hostility and terrorism in Kashmir end before India would sit down for negotiations. Musharraf agreed, but set his own condition: the Indians must agree to discuss Kashmir, something that the Indian government has rejected for decades. Vajpayee agreed. Both sides voiced 'cautious optimism.' "
Pakistan lawmaker's plane diverted - CNN
"A domestic airliner carrying a high-profile opposition lawmaker was diverted from the capital ahead of key Parliamentary address by Pakistan's president, officials said. Passenger Tehmina Daulatana, a member of the National Assembly for the opposition Pakistan Muslim League, alleged that the flight was diverted to prevent her from attending the address by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to a joint session of Parliament. 'What kind of general is he who is scared of a woman?' she said."
Pakistan to buy mission buildings abroad - Daily Times
"The government of Pakistan has decided to buy the buildings in various countries where its foreign missions are working in rented premises. Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri informed the Senate on Friday that the government has directed its missions abroad to start negotiations to buy the rented buildings in which they are working or buy new buildings so that the national exchequer is spared the continuous expense of paying rent."
A resurgent Pakistan is loosening her purse strings.
Pastor fasts to help friend - Mercury News
"A Fremont pastor and two Muslim women are on day 14 of a fast today on behalf of a respected businessman in Fremont's 'Little Kabul' district who wires money to thousands of families in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Rev. Bruce Green of Centerville Presbyterian Church has not eaten any food since Jan. 4, hoping to make a statement about his friend, Qader Qudus, 45, who was arrested in August on federal charges of money laundering and heroin trafficking."
Pakistan none the wiser? - BBC
"Despite dropping the one-day series 4-1, it seems Pakistan leave New Zealand feeling reasonably satisfied. Coach Javed Miandad, a renowned perfectionist, insists the tour has been a job well done after his side's 1-0 win in the preceding Test series."
Friday, January 16, 2004
Pakistan's Beirut - Asia Times
"Just as Lebanon's capital Beirut was under the thumb of an unbridled reign of crime, terrorism, sectarian and religious fundamentalism in the 1980s, Pakistan's port city of Karachi has hit headlines for all the wrong reasons during the decade of the 1990s. Going by the sobriquet of "The Untouchable City", Karachi has regressed from bad to worse to worst in terms of law and order, social harmony and dangerous externalities."
Buoyant India aims to become global power - Chicago Tribune
"Thanks to an expanding economy and Pakistan peace initiatives, a nation that once had modest dreams now has a big goal: To be on par with U.S. The advertisements are everywhere, on television, in newspapers and in magazines. 'India Shining,' the slogan proclaims, over pictures of happy-faced people talking on their cell phones, going shopping and reading newspapers trumpeting the latest good news about the booming economy."
Palestinians create IT incubator to boost technology sector - Daily Star
"In spite of a hard-hit economy, paralyzed by the ongoing Israeli occupation of the territories, Palestinians are investing $3.2 million to create the first technology incubator in the West Bank and Gaza ... Based in Ramallah, the West Bank city that houses virtually three-quarters of all Palestinian IT firms, the incubator will offer operational expertise and services to help Palestinian entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful businesses."
Remember Arafat's alleged investments in a Israeli venture fund? Check out the earlier post on the topic.
Musharraf to shift residence to Islamabad - The Hindu
"After surviving three assassination attempts, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, has decided to shift to the sprawling, well guarded President's House in Islamabad from his present Army House residence in Rawalpindi."
Rough justice in Pakistan - Asia Times
"Khawar Mehdi Rizvi is a Pakistani journalist. For almost a month he has been languishing - and most probably being tortured - in a Pakistani jail or safehouse somewhere in Pakistan. Nobody knows where he is. The co-director of the Federal Investigation Agency - which deals with white-collar crimes and passport and visa matters - has told Karachi's High Court that he has no idea about Khawar Mehdi's fate ... Khawar Mehdi was first detained, along with two French journalists."
US nuke deal with India has strings attached - Sify
"The United States would be willing to open a new chapter in military partnership with nuclear-capable India provided New Delhi signed a formal export control regime with Washington, visiting Congressman Mark Kirk said Friday. The Congressman from Illinois state said the partnership would reach the level of Washington's ties with Israel but India must take 'a specific step', which was not 'politically difficult.' "
Thursday, January 15, 2004
On the Nuclear Edge - New Yorker
"In the past few weeks, news reports have revealed troubling information about the possible export of Pakistani nuclear technology to countries such as Iran and Libya, and about the role played in the transfers by Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is known as the father of the Pakistani bomb. There have long been questions about Dr. Khan, who has, whenever possible, avoided the public eye. In this piece from 1993, Seymour M. Hersh takes a prescient look at Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation, and at Dr. Khan."
Recovering Karachi - Daily Times
"Let Karachi and Islamabad be our twin capitals to give undivided attention backed with sufficient resources to speed up Karachi’s recovery. Karachi, says the world, has gone to the dogs. Mention Karachi in international business circles and they take cover. Western cricket teams refuse to play there. Travel advisories on Pakistan put a red circle around the city. The anaemic successor to the bankrupt Swissair is now the only Western airline serving the first airport established in the sub-continent."
Another one on Karachi in the same daily. This one looks at the recent blast near Avari Towers in the city: Shattering the myth of security in Karachi.
Business deal lands minister in trouble - Daily Times
"The alleged abduction of Punjab Sports Minister Sardar Naeemullah Khan Shahani by Mehsud tribesmen in Miranshah, North Wazirstan, is apparently the outcome of a monetary dispute. Sources said Minister Shahani bought and sold cars as a business on the side. He would buy vehicles from Miranshah, register them in Dera Ismail Khan and sell them. Punjab Governor Lt Gen (r) Khalid Maqbool dispelled the impression that Mr Shahani dealt in non-custom-paid vehicles."
Pak-American arrested for making hoax terror calls - Economic Times
"A Pakistani American has been arrested for sending 100 officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on a wild goose chase with alleged phone calls of a terrorist plot to blow up Chicago landmarks. FBI officials claimed that Rauf Noor Mohammed, an American naturalised citizen from Pakistan , made several telephone calls and led the FBI to believe that several of his relatives were al-Qaeda and jehadi terrorists."
Victors and villains in India's advertising - Asia Times
"Riding an economy cantering at over 6 percent, insiders in India's US$2.5 billion advertising industry are predicting a growth rate of 15 to 18 percent, while others conservatively peg prospects at 10 to 12 percent ... The Indian advertising industry enjoyed some glory in 2003. It hosted the much-hyped AdAsia conference in Jaipur as well snagging 29 finalist nominations in the print and outdoor categories at the Cannes advertising awards."
Call for big push to wipe out polio - Financial Times
"Health officials yesterday called for $150m to finance a 'now or never' final push to eradicate polio worldwide by the end of this year. At a ceremony in Geneva, the six remaining polio-endemic countries promised to immunise 250m children in a series of mass campaigns aimed at relegating polio to the history books ... Since the campaign was launched in 1988, polio cases have fallen by 99 per cent from 350,000 to 700 last year. Only six countries - Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Niger and Afghanistan - are still polio-endemic, compared with more than 125 in 1988."
Musharraf helps threatened woman - BBC
"Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has vowed to protect a woman who faces being murdered by members of her own tribe in an honour killing. General Musharraf has told the authorities in the province of Sindh to protect Shaista Almani, 22, after she married a man from a different tribe."
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Making Dreams to Order - Reuters
"The Japanese company that came up with the hit 'BowLingual' device that translates dogs' barks into human words has now come up with a dream product - literally. Takara Co Ltd says its Yumemi Kobo, or 'dream workshop,' gadget gives stressed out people a chance to go on a holiday or find their ideal partner - at least in their dreams."
Sun Microsystems keen to invest in Pakistan's IT sector - PakTribune
"The delegation led by Philip Roy, regional sales manager of the company in Gulf countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, said they were visiting Pakistan due to the personal interest evinced by the founder of Sun Microsystems, Scott Mcnealy in Pakistan as being as an ideal place for investment by his company. The delegation showed keen interest in coming to invest in Pakistan’s IT sector, especially the e-government programme, in the backdrop of a booming economy and easily-available skilled workforce in Pakistan."
How to Safeguard Data in Dangerous World - CIO
"Raytheon Aircraft is no different than most companies today. But unlike some companies, one false move on an outsourcing deal could cost the airplane manufacturer tens of millions of dollars, jeopardize its ability to sell to the U.S. government or even land its executives in jail. That's because Raytheon and its subsidiaries are subject to export regulations that restrict what information can be viewed by foreign IT workers."
Muslim Groups' IRS Files Sought - Washington Post
"The Senate Finance Committee has asked the Internal Revenue Service to turn over confidential tax and financial records, including donor lists, on dozens of Muslim charities and foundations as part of a widening congressional investigation into alleged ties between tax-exempt organizations and terrorist groups, according to documents and officials. The request marks a rare and unusually broad use of the Finance Committee's power to obtain private financial records held by the government."
Old foes learn the language of détente - Financial Times
"There was plenty in the 153-word statement issued by India and Pakistan to inflame hardliners in either country. India's key concession was the following sentence: 'The two leaders are confident that the resumption of the composite dialogue will lead to peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, to the satisfaction of both sides' ... Pakistan's key - and deal-making - sentence was: 'President Musharraf reassured Prime Minister Vajpayee that he will not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism in any manner.' "
Feminists Pave the Way for Women to be Raped - Mens News Daily
"Feminists, who are just one arm in the multiculturalist, socialist left establishment, are quite loud in talking about women’s rights in the Middle East. Indeed, they are justified in complaining about the poor treatment of women in the Middle East ... But feminists are exploiting Western compassion. It is time to pull the pants off of these beasts: they never were and never will be in favor of women or women’s rights. Their recent response to gang rapes in Australia reveals them for what they are."
China Poses Trade Worry as It Gains in Technology - New York Times
"To high-technology companies, China has been a land of seemingly pure promise in recent years. But as China moves to expand its own technology industries, the government has taken unusual steps that are leading to new trade tensions with the United States. These measures include efforts to develop Chinese software standards for wireless computers, the introduction of exclusive technology formats for future generations of cellphones and DVD players - even tax policies that favor computer chips made in China and sold in the Chinese market."
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Cop pleads guilty to having oral sex with wife's sister - Straits Times
"A police corporal yesterday pleaded guilty to having oral sex with the younger sister of his then-fiancee. The girl was four months shy of her 16th birthday when she performed oral sex on her future brother-in-law in the bedroom of his flat in October 2001 ... The court heard that the elder sister had asked the accused to give both her and her younger sister religious lessons in 1998. She got engaged to him two years later."
The incident has prompted the government to examine law prohibiting oral sex. BBC reports: Singapore reviews oral sex law.
Planners eye new markets for Pakistan - Asia Times
"Pakistan's exports during the next six months appear well poised to exceed the US$12 billion mark, mainly because of newly-found markets in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates (mainly Dubai), and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries, including India, the European Union and a few other countries. Pakistan's export markets are now gradually expanding and it now seems that gone are the days when entire dependence was on the United States, Japan, Europe and a few East Asian countries."
Woman sings on Afghan TV - Aljazeera
"Afghan public television has broadcast images of a woman singing for the first time in a decade. On Monday evening the national station showed images of Salma, a star in Afghanistan during the 1970s and 80s, singing one of her most popular hits, a romantic ballad. She appeared on the screen dressed in a sober red and white blouse with a simple veil over her hair."
The Perils of Pakistan - Heritage Foundation
"Pakistan may be the most important country Americans don't know is important. U.S. national security hinges more on our relationship with Islamabad than with just about any other nation today."
Human development report calls for changes in the economy - OCHA IRIN
"Years of high-deficit spending have taken their toll on the Pakistani economy and pushed it to a point where reversing the damage caused is going to be very difficult, according to the author of the latest human development report for South Asia ... After a 30-year period starting in 1960 when Pakistan's growth was high for a low-income country, "such growth as has occurred, has been associated with very inadequate performance in terms of human development indicators," the report said."
China will be troublemaker in 20 years - Hindustan Times
"Former US senator Larry Pressler on Tuesday said Washington should be wary of China because it would become 'a troublemaker' in 20 years. 'China is militaristic, expansionist. They want hegemony on their borders,' Pressler, author of the Pressler Amendment that prohibited sale of US arms to Pakistan, said in an interaction with reporters in Kolkata."
McDonald's: A route to world peace? - JoongAng Daily
" 'No two countries that have a McDonald's have fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald's.' That might sound like a silly joke. Even Thomas Friedman, an acclaimed columnist for the New York Times, couldn't believe it when the idea first occurred to him. But surprisingly, the assumption appears to almost always holds true."
Monday, January 12, 2004
Opening in South Asia - Washington Post
"India and Pakistan's vision of prosperity is desperately needed in the Middle East ... India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf met last week and, in Musharraf's words, made history ... The backdrop to last week's events involves not just two people but two major shifts in the global landscape: the rising costs of terrorism and the benefits of globalization."
Fareed Zakaria on the blooming atmosphere of peace in the sub-continent.
PTV awards show plagued by problems - Daily Times
"PTV management awarded the best newscaster award for 2002 to a newscaster who did not appear in major PTV news bulletins in the year for which she was declared the best. Similarly, the best news camera coverage award was for coverage of the prime minster’s activities, but management apparently failed to consider that there was no prime minister in the country for 11 months of the year 2002."
U.S. May Widen Technology Contacts With India - New York Times
"President Bush announced plans on Monday to expand high-technology cooperation with India significantly, and possibly to ease export restrictions, but only after India strengthens controls to keep sensitive materials in the proper hands ... In the long run, American officials envision working closely to ensure the safety of nuclear reactors, selling certain sophisticated tools that are currently blocked, even working with Indian officials to build a commercial satellite."
UK flies the flag for entrepreneurship - Small Busines Center
"Total entrepreneurial activity rose to 6.4% of the UK population, from 5.4% in 2002, and, once again, two ethnic groups emerge as being particularly active, both in terms of starting up and running businesses and in terms of supporting businesses through informal investment: individuals who are black or whose ethnic origin is the Indian sub-continent (including Pakistan, Bangladesh and India)."
"In most cases, connecting kitchen appliances to the Internet is still a dumb idea--that is, until you hear Diane Valachovic talk about it. She's the vice president and chief operating officer of a Cleveland-based startup called TMIO, which stands for Tonight's Menu Intelligent Ovens. You guessed it: TMIO has designed an oven that is connected to the Internet. Laugh if you like. But the joke may be on you. The oven can be controlled remotely by a wireless PDA and runs a version of Microsoft's .Net software."
'London should clear up Kashmir mess' - Times of India
"Describing the Kashmir imbroglio as a 'legacy' of the erstwhile British empire, a parliamentarian here has said that London is duty bound to resolve it to maintain regional and world peace ... The first priority of the British Government is 'to move towards the position where the people affected by the conflict can have the say themselves and tell us what they want,' he added."
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Karachi: A generous city that always betrayed - Media Monitors Network
"The root cause of today’s frequent violence, frustrations and angriness among the people of Karachi is the lack of basic facilities in this mega city. The city is expanding without any planning and direction. Mismanagement, administrative injustices, shortage of water & electricity, pollution, open rubbish depositories and lack of public transport are the basic reasons which have changed the attitude of the Karachi residents. And these are the problems which have been cashed by the political gurus for their own vested interest."
Vajpayee: Pakistan has fallen in love with this man - Hindustan Times
"Pervez Musharraf's new strategic vision is all about peace with India. And Pakistan's private TV channels are his new allies, telling a deeply suspicious country that in Atal Bihari Vajpayee they have their best chance yet ... The respect Vajpayee has come to command here goes back to Lahore and Agra. In Agra, he came across, thanks to Musharraf's account of the talks, as someone who wanted peace, but found hawkish colleagues standing in the way."
Stalking rapist jailed for life - BBC
"A Bangladeshi restaurant worker has been jailed for life at Cardiff Crown Court after being found guilty of stalking and raping a woman just yards from her front door ... After the verdict, the court heard Nanu was jailed for 18 months in 2001 for a sex attack on a 12-year-old girl. He admitted the offence - but changed his name when he was released from prison and failed to sign the sex offender's register."
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Offshore labor drove firm to brink - Mercury News
Silicon Valley start-ups thinking about embracing the overseas IT outsourcing trend should reconsider, says this piece. For example, Santa Clara-based Ishoni Networks lined up $68 million in VC financing, created a subsidiary in Bangalore, India and found out later that Indian executives and engineers were in cahoots to bankrupt the company and pilfer any intellectual property.
Thanks to Corante for the above summary.
IIT Incubator hatches a basket of new ideas - Times of India
"The Indian Institute of Technology has traditionally offered three popular career paths to its students: A post-graduate degree in the US , a business management degree at an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) or a job as trainee engineer. Now IIT, Powai, has added a fourth choice, that of entrepreneurship, to the list, with its Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) ... The experiment was declared successful with 13 information technology (IT) companies being incubated so far."
What kissing James Bond means to India - Asia Times
"Invoking feelings of pride for the entire sub-continent, India's top actress, Aishwarya Rai, has been approached to play the "Bond girl" opposite Pierce Brosnan. In the interviews that have followed the announcement, Rai has been asked the same question time and time again - will she kiss James Bond, as most Bond girls do, quite willingly? Rai has been circumspect, knowing the Indian media all too well. Even an unsuspecting remark could be a headline: 'Rai will kiss Brosnan', or 'Rai prepared to bond with Bond', or 'Rai will go all the way'."
Teenaged girl to undergo sex-change surgery - The News
"Shazia, a 14-year-old girl residing in Malir, will soon turn male after an operation to be conducted at the National Institute of Child Health. Shazia’s parents, who were treating her as a girl until now, are happy at the development. Talking to this correspondent, renowned child specialist Dr SM Afaq said that one in 20,000 children comes across such a situation. 'As per rough estimates, bout 15,000 people in Pakistan are neuter,' he said."
Market Insight: Markets Shine Even More Abroad - New York Times
"The United States stock market had a bang-up year in 2003, but performance overseas was even better. International stock funds, which can invest everywhere but here, posted an average return of 39.8 percent last year, in dollar terms, according to Morningstar Inc. Including dividends, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index recorded a return of 28.7 percent. Some of the international outperformance was attributable to the slide in the value of the dollar."
Pakistan jails French journalists - BBC
"A court in Pakistan has sentenced two French journalists to six months in prison for violating visa regulations ... The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says such harsh sentences against foreign journalists are rare in Pakistan. He says security officials there are alleging the two French journalists were trying to portray some local armed tribesmen as Taleban during their stay in Quetta in December, but the allegation was not raised in court."
History beckons over Kashmir - BBC
"More than 30 years ago I witnessed the handshake between another Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan in Simla. The two leaders not only agreed to hand over the prisoners and territory captured during the Bangladesh war - there was also a so-called secret, but in fact widely known, agreement that they would recognise the line of control dividing Kashmir as the international border. In other words, end the Kashmir dispute."
Friday, January 09, 2004
India rolls out red carpet for its diaspora - Asia Times
"It began last year as a gargantuan task to bring the Indian Diaspora back together, to bring the Great Indian Family back home to Mother India. The second annual Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) under way on Friday is an attempt - and more than symbolic - to bring the 20 million-strong Great Indian family spread across the globe back to their native land, physically, emotionally - and financially."
Bangladesh bans Islam sect books - BBC
"Bangladesh has banned publications by the minority Ahmadiyya movement amid demands from Islamic hardliners that it be declared non-Muslim ... The Ahmadiyyas, who number 100,000 in Bangladesh, do not believe Mohammed was necessarily the last prophet. A home ministry statement said the ban 'was imposed in view of objectionable materials in such publications that hurt or might hurt the sentiments of the majority Muslim population of Bangladesh'."
Pakistan fears free trade but senses opportunity - Hindustan Times
"While businessmen in Pakistan are excited by the prospect of increased regional trade after the implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in 2006, many fear Pakistan's high-cost economy will be swamped by powerhouse India ... According to captains of trade and industry, Pakistan is likely to benefit only in the long run while in the short term, high power tariffs that affect competitiveness will actually hurt the Pakistani economy."
Shoaib in news, again for wrong reasons - The Hindu
"Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled Pakistan to a memorable win in the just conluded Test series against New Zealand, is in the news, and again, for the wrong reasons. Shoaib left his team-mates and management embarrassed when after being ruled out of the second one-day international due to a groin injury, he appeared on the front page of a New Zealand daily 'The Southland Times' jet-skiing at a resort, Lake Wakatipu."
Ray of light for US illegal immigrants - BBC
"For many of America's illegal immigrants, new proposals have provided a ray of light that they might live and work in the country without fear of deportation. President George W Bush's latest proposal is that all undocumented or illegal immigrants will be given a temporary work permit, initially for three years, but then renewable ... Of the estimated eight to 12 million illegal immigrants, around two million are from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh."
Variations in Asian cancer risk - BBC
"The risk of breast cancer varies greatly among South Asian women in the UK depending on their specific ethnic subgroup, researchers have found. They found Muslim women from India and Pakistan have twice the risk of Gujarati Hindu women."
Thursday, January 08, 2004
Pakistan's debt to Indian Muslims - Asia Times
"The Muslim situation in India has always been affected by the level of the long running hostility between India and Pakistan ... A convention of Muslim leaders from across the country, meeting in Delhi last September, declared that they regard Kashmir as an indivisible part of India. About 150 Muslims drawn from universities, mosques, government and industry signed a consensus statement affirming their support for Kashmir remaining with India."
SAFTA - A Trojan Horse! - Pakistan Times
"In the area of external trade, there is little chance that Pakistan can increase merchandise exports by finding a market in India, which produces similar goods that compete for the same price and quality segments in the international export market. But Pakistan’s imports, minus POL and edible oil, are made up of industrial raw materials, engineering consumer goods and agricultural produce of which there is a surplus in India, whose manufacturers will enjoy advantages of price and logistic proximity to position quickly for capture of a significant share of the Pakistani import market."
Birth defects - World Magazine
"In India, where cars stop for sacred cows but abortion or infanticide of little girls is rampant, the problem is very visible on streets where young men without women prowl. Skewed birth statistics tell the story ... Most Indians desire sons for both theological and economic reasons. Only sons can perform the funeral rites that purportedly help give souls safe passage to good rebirths. Only a son can snag a dowry from the family of a bride that must provide cash or cattle to have him take the daughter off its hands."
Asian forex reserves at $1.9 tln, up 33 pct in 2003 - Forbes
"Asian foreign exchange reserves rose by a third in 2003 to a record $1.9 trillion, according to figures from the region's central banks. While most attention has been focused on the growth in reserves held by Japan and China, India's reserves increased by over 40 percent in the year. In December, India became the sixth Asian economy to hold over $100 billion in reserves."
Pakistan with $12bn reserves and 29% growth ranks 12th on the list.
Human For Sale - How much are you worth?
"Have you been thinking about putting yourself up for sale lately? Ever wonder how much money you could get on the open human market? HumanForSale.com will attempt to place a value on your life using a variety of criteria in 4 basic facets of life(physical, mental, lifestyle, personality). This is obviously a very subjective matter and is not intended and does not claim to be scientifically accurate. The more honestly you answer the questions, the more realistic the dollar value returned will be."
How Japan's Second-Hand Cars Make Their Way to Third World - WSJ
"In Japan, quirks of the market -- and the consumer -- have created a glut of saleable used cars. Strict and expensive vehicle inspections in Japan discourage people from holding on to cars as they age. Moreover, there is a strong cultural aversion among the Japanese to buying almost anything second-hand.The result: Ships filled with low-priced cars -- everything from sports cars to high-mileage vehicles, damaged cars and patched up wrecks -- leave Japanese ports for emerging markets."
Thanks to Syed Ali for the referral.
Israeli Government Snubs Microsoft - PC World
"Microsoft is continuing efforts to sell software upgrades to the Israeli government, despite the government's recent decision to stop buying Microsoft applications in protest over the Redmond, Washington, company's sales policies ... The government is unhappy with Microsoft's refusal to sell individual programs at a reasonable price, Cohen says. 'Office includes software that we don't use, and if you buy individually it costs much more than as a package,' she says."
Another government gives Microsoft the cold shoulder. China, Japan and South Korea earlier annouced an initiative to spend billions on the development and use of Linux: East Asia plans Windows rival. No wonder Mr Gates is looking for an ally in the Pakistani premier. Remember the earlier post on Gates 'sales call' to Musharraf.
NRA's List of Enemies Includes Britney - MSN Entertainment
"What do Britney Spears, the United Methodist Church and Hallmark Cards have in common? They're among the hundreds of celebrities, organizations and companies on the National Rifle Association's roster of entities that it considers hostile to gun-ownership rights ... Many consider being included on the blacklist a badge of honor, and some have even complained about being left off. Dustin Hoffman's name was added after he wrote to NRA President saying that 'as a supporter of comprehensive gun safety measures, I was deeply disappointed when I discovered that my name was not on this list.' "
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Government As Infotech Incubator - Financial Express
"The government has set up 39 software parks. In these, IT firms get the infrastructure and services they require at one go. About 3,500 firms operating from these parks export Rs 37,000 crore worth of IT products and services - about 80 per cent of IT exports ... Our regulations require that, each time we go abroad, we have particulars of our laptop stamped on our travel documents. A while ago, one of the icons of the industry was held up as he did not have the requisite forms. Passengers in the queue behind him had to intervene."
Sense of Mortality Gave Push to India-Pakistan Talks - New York Times
"The need for speed apparently came largely from the specter of mortality for both Mr. Vajpayee and General Musharraf. Mr. Vajpayee, 79, is of sound mind but aging body, and Pakistanis have far less trust in his deputy prime minister, Lal Krishna Advani, who is seen as more of a hardliner. And General Musharraf says he will take off his army uniform at the end of this year, thus perhaps lessening his ability to deliver the military's support in any deal. More serious is the likelihood of more attempts on his life."
Catering to demand, foreign automakers add power and space - IHT
"Ford Motor's advertising pitch in India for its Ikon Flair passenger car promises buyers more space than a hatchback, such as Suzuki Motor's Alto, for the same monthly payment ... Most of the sedans were priced between 425,000 rupees and 750,000 rupees such as General Motors' Opel Corsa, Ford's Ikon and Tata Motors' Indigo. That is more than double the price of Maruti's 800-cc minicar, priced at 186,596 rupees."
I felt cheated after reading the above piece. Car prices are at least twice more expensive in Pakistan (see for yourself on the following website). Despite such an obvious discreprency, the local car-makers have been making tall claims through front-page newspaper ads that car-prices in Pakistan are the cheapest in the region. Bloody liars!!!
Musharraf, Vajpayee offer best chance for peace - Reuters
"There has perhaps never been a better chance for nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan to make peace, but the task ahead is massive and much hinges on the survival of the leaders who sealed a landmark deal this week. When Atal Behari Vajpayee met Pervez Musharraf for first time in more than two years on Monday, the two men seemed to have found a new respect for each other, and vowed to start formal talks next month ... In a telephone conversation on Tuesday to seal their agreement, the two men implicitly recognised they each need the other to survive."
End of the road for smugglers? - BBC
"Pakistani industrialists say an unsympathetic government, which is under pressure from lending agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, has not helped. 'Our power tariffs are the highest in the region, interest rates are high and we have the most stubborn and non-productive labour,' says business leader Pervez Hanif, a former chairman of the Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry. 'It will be impossible to stay competitive in the region.' "
Pak approves $100 mn to reform madrassas - Sify
"Pakistan on Wednesday approved a 100-million-dollar programme to reform some 8,000 religious schools, or madrassas, by introducing subjects taught at normal schools across the country, a minister said ... Under the madrassas programme, formal subjects including English, mathematics, social studies and general science would be introduced from primary to secondary levels, while English, economics, Pakistani studies and computer science would be introduced at high school level."
B'wood teams up with London producer for Indo-Pak film - Hindustan Times
"This is Bollywood's contribution towards improving Indo-Pak relations through collaboration in film. Mahesh Bhatt has teamed up with London-based film producer Sevy Ali of Asian Pictures International to produce a Bollywood film starring Pakistani actress Meera ... It is said that Imran Khan too might be keen on a Bollywood role. Liz Hurley has already been signed for a film with Om Puri. So 2004 might see a reverse flow of UK moving towards Bollywood to complement the trend of Bollywood queen such as Aishwarya Rai looking to Hollywood."
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Vajpayee to be gifted sherwanis - Hi Pakistan
"Fashion designer Amir Adnan has been assigned to prepare the sherwanis for Mr Vajpayee on the recommendation of the minister-in-waiting for the Indian prime minister, Shaukat Aziz ... Mr Adnan said he was told by the Indian prime minister to make an embroidered sherwani like the one worn by the late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto during his visit to India in the 1970s."
Pakistani doctor wins Ukrainian hearts - BBC
"Pakistan remains an exotic faraway land to most Ukrainians - but in one village, it has suddenly come much closer to home. Though foreigners are still a relative novelty outside Ukraine's big cities, a Pakistani man has swept to victory in council elections in the village of Mala Lepetykha, 300 miles south of the capital Kiev. Gohar Ali Shah beat the incumbent, a village native, by three votes to one, Ukraine's Novyy Kanal TV said."
Indian journalists wowed by Musharraf - Daily Times
"The journalists representing the Indian media in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation left impressed by President Pervez Musharraf’s prolonged press conference on Tuesday. 'He killed all the press conferences that we have attended before. This one was simply great,' commented Seema Mustafa, the political editor of Asian Age when this correspondent asked her what she thought of President Musharraf’s press conference."
Gujarat village wants a road, too, to Pakistan - Indian Express
"The search for peace is set to open many doors on the Indo-Pak border, but unfortunately for villages of Banaskantha, none of these roads leads to them. The 50 kilometres which separate Suigam villagers from their relatives in Sindh, Pakistan, remain unbridgeable for most. Being extremely poor, these villagers can neither afford flights nor the Samjhauta Express. But if there was a road, as proposed in Rajasthan and Punjab, they say they would have walked across, or just gone on a cart."
PAKISTAN: Trial run of PU radio station - Asia Pacific Media Network
"Test transmissions were heard in the city from new radio station FM 104.6, a frequency allocated to the Punjab University's mass communication department ... The first-ever radio station established in any educational institution in the province will broadcast its academic and infotainment programmes for two hours daily for practical training of the students. Its transmission can be heard from a radius of 12 to 15 kilometres."
Indians in Deal With Pakistanis for Peace Talks - New York Times
"Two years after nearly going to war, India and Pakistan announced Tuesday that they had agreed to restart formal peace talks in February, an extraordinary turn in relations between two countries — and now nuclear powers — that have been at odds for more than half a century ... In the six simple paragraphs released Tuesday, the two leaders managed to stitch a mutual satisfaction that had eluded them for years."
With Friends Like These - Los Angeles Times
"Pakistan and Saudi Arabia profess to be cooperating in the war on terror, yet they have done a lot more than Libya to spread terrorism and weapons of mass murder around the world. And, unlike Moammar Kadafi, they have no reason to fear a visit from the 3rd Infantry Division if they don't mend their ways. After all, the United States doesn't invade its "friends," right? But with friends like these…."
Tehran aims for satellite launch - BBC
"Iran's defence minister has vowed that the country will launch a satellite of its own within 18 months ... Iran has developed its own submarine and long-range ballistic missile ... He said universities and the defence industry were co-operating on the satellite - but gave no details as to what type of satellite was planned."
Monday, January 05, 2004
Britney Spears Is Free for Whatever Future May Hold - NY Times
"Confirming reports that her marriage to a childhood friend early Saturday morning in Las Vegas might not last forever, a spokesman for the Clark County District Court in Nevada said yesterday that Ms. Spears had filed a request for an annulment that morning. The request was made on the grounds that 'plaintiff Spears lacked understanding of her actions to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage.' "
Madame Spears avoids the divorcee label. Nolo on how does an annulment differ from a divorce?.
India's tea industry moves into Pakistan - Asia Times
"India's tea industry is facing troubled times - surplus production, falling exports and declining global prices. Pakistan has the highest per capita consumption of tea at 750 grams; it imports huge quantities of tea that India can offer at cheaper prices. If a free trade area comes into being, a substantial part of the Pakistani market is expected to be diverted to India because of price competitiveness, easy transportation and the popularity of Indian tea."
Indian stocks most attractive: WSJ - Rediff
"Indian stocks have maintained their allure and are expected to be more profitable than other stock markets in the region, according to a media report. Foreign funds invested more than $7 billion in Indian stocks in 2003, the highest amount since the country allowed foreign portfolio investments 10 years ago, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, adding that the investments paid off handsomely."
Kashmiris urged not to pin hopes on summit meetings - Reuters
"A top Kashmiri separatist leader urged people of the troubled region on Monday not to pin hopes for peace on talks between Indian and Pakistani leaders as five rebels were killed in fresh violence in the disputed state ... In Kashmir, scores of demonstrators demanded that the people of the region be involved in the peace process and be allowed to decide if they want to join India or Pakistan."
India and Pakistan: Back to Playing Cricket - Economist
"Mr Vajpayee’s peace overture in April 2003, while bold, was seen as having only modest chances. But both he and Mr Musharraf are coming to the end of their careers and are looking to their place in history. Mr Vajpayee is under pressure to step down later this year, while the Pakistani president (who seized power in a coup in 1999) has promised to step down as army chief at the end of this year—though he will remain president until 2007, assuming he can survive repeated attempts to assassinate him."
Sunday, January 04, 2004
Pakistan coffeeshop names beverages after South Asian leaders - Channel News Asia
"A coffee shop in the Pakistani capital, venue of the ongoing SAARC summit, has invited India's Prime Minister to visit and enjoy a cup of coffee named in his honour. With interesting blends named after key South Asian leaders, it is literally 'coffee diplomacy' at its best ... Customers have been enjoying the smooth taste of the old and poetical blend of coffee also called 'Vajpayee's cup of coffee' for over a year now. Further down the menu, you will find another interesting name - 'Musharraf's Guesspresso'."
The Bush-Hater's Handbook - Nation Books
"The Bush-Hater's Handbook is a godsend to those looking for a concise, mordantly entertaining overview of the Bush record, or for those wanting to arm themselves against conservatives with facts and figures as we head into the presidential election year. It is also the perfect gift for that certain, special Bush-hater--or for a Bush-lover who could still be rescued from the realms of outer darkness."
The book at Amazon, The Bush - Haters Handbook: A Guide to the Most Appalling Presidency of the Past 100 Years.
South Asia Home to Many Conflicts - Guardian
"The thaw in relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan is bringing a sense of relief to South Asia, but regional leaders at the South Asian summit in Islamabad on Sunday were still grappling with conflicts as bitter and bloody as anywhere in the world. The peace process in Sri Lanka's long-running civil war is sputtering, rebels in Nepal control one-third of the country, and even the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan recently ordered its army into action for the first time in 138 years, fighting Indian rebels using its territory."
Pakistan's Homecoming: South Asia, not West Asia - Times of India
"In 1972, after the Bangladesh war, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto publicly vowed to turn his back on India and seek Pakistan 's fortune among the Islamic countries to the West. He convened a spectacular Islamic summit at Lahore ... In many ways the upcoming SAARC summit is a sort of homecoming for Pakistan : It has more in common with the rest of the subcontinent than West Asia and its future economic growth and political and social advancement depend increasingly on peaceful interaction with other SAARC nations."
Pakistan: The two-nation theory - Indian Express
"People had come out of the closet, otherwise also known as embassy parties, he said, and begun to throw 'charity balls', the prime purpose of which was to have fun .... Seriously, though, he explained that the way to get around it all in the fashion shows, was to have a 'Pakistani section, with ghararas and shararas and tablas playing in the background', and then a 'Western section' which featured the real stuff. The people believed they were finally becoming a part of the real world."
When God goes to war - Guardian
"Religion is the creation of human beings, who are biologically programmed for aggression. We dream of peace but slaughter our own kind, and from the very start our faith systems have reflected this tragic dualism. In the earliest religions, most gods were militant, including Yahweh, worshipped by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Humans were able to enjoy security only by fighting other groups, so they assumed there was also perpetual warfare in the divine world, in which the gods opposed the forces of disorder."
Saturday, January 03, 2004
From Rogue Nuclear Programs, Web of Trails Leads to Pakistan - NY Times
"Pakistani leaders who denied for years that scientists at the country's secret A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories were peddling advanced nuclear technology must have been averting their eyes from a most conspicuous piece of evidence: the laboratory's own sales brochure, quietly circulated to aspiring nuclear weapons states and a network of nuclear middlemen around the world. The cover bears an official-looking seal that says 'Government of Pakistan' and a photograph of the father of the Pakistani bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan."
Iqbal’s story continues to be an inspiration for many - Navhind Times
"Born for Freedom, a play inspired by the life of a Pakistani boy, Iqbal Masih, who waged a battle against child bondage in the carpet industry has completed 250 performances in Israel. Iqbal Masih’s desperately poor parents loaned $ 16 from a local carpet maker in 1986 to get his elder brother married. As a 'bond' to ensure repayment of the loan, the carpet market received Iqbal as a slave in his factory. After working under inhuman conditions, Iqbal managed to escape his employer."
Plugging Nuclear Leaks - New York Times
"Now that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has opened Libya's previously secret nuclear facilities, the world is learning just how much of the machinery for making bomb fuel he had been able to assemble without international detection. Over a period of many years, Libya tapped into an international underground market for specialized steel tubes and uranium enrichment centrifuges that has been scandalously easy to gain entry to and shockingly difficult to close down."
New York Times reports further on the topic: If the Bomb Is So Easy to Make, Why Don't More Nations Have It?.
Bactrian gold: A treasure hunt - Economist
"Bactrian gold was last seen in 1989 when President Muhammad Najibullah showed it to foreign diplomats to prove it had not been taken by the retreating Russians. Then it vanished ... When the Taliban—self-styled Muslim students—took Kabul in 1996, their first port of call was Najibullah's hiding-place. There the former communist leader was beaten senseless and castrated, before being dragged behind a pick-up around the old royal palace and then hanged. Whatever he knew of the gold died with him."
The loser's guide to getting lucky - BBC
"Why do some people get all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve? A psychologist says he has discovered the answer ... Here are Professor Wiseman's four top tips for becoming lucky: Listen to your gut instincts - they are normally right; Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine; Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well; Visualise yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call. Luck is very often a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Thanks to fudgeit for discovering it.
Friday, January 02, 2004
Indian spirituality: The swamis - Economist
"Everybody agrees that India is a very spiritual place. Is that all good? ... If India is so spiritually rich, and spirituality transcends the details of individual faith, why has the country been so prone to religious strife? The swamis, of course, point out that the political exploitation of religious prejudices is none of their doing. But could they not do more to stop it? ... It is hard, however, for Hindu sages to condemn hindutva ideas, and hence hard to disentangle the 'spiritual' from the religious."
Revisiting Pakistan - Enigma of Change :: Part Two - Media Monitors Network
"General Musharaf is a committed secularist with no relationship to the Islamic ideology of Pakistan. America and India believe that Muslims are 'terrorists.' Musharaf appears to be a facilitator for the American and Indian political agenda to manipulate the self-tailored power house."
Karachi dreams - Hindustan Times
"Unlike Lahore and maybe Delhi, Karachi and its people see hope. Dismissing Lahore as a city which has an ‘army mindset’, Karachi showcases itself as a business city interested in ‘getting on with life’ rather than remaining glued to conventional positions. And here lies the qualitative difference: Lahore puts Kashmir before peace, while Karachi is willing to shelve Kashmir for peace."
Whither South Asia? - Media Monitors Network
"South Asia has the most complementary economy for any region in the world, it has been historically so and has continued with the advent of modern machinery and equipment. Historically South Asia has exported both ideas and material. This is one of the few regions in the world that can, both as individual nations and as a community of nations, feed and clothe itself and still have surpluses leftover for export. This third world region is self-sufficient in medicine, we export doctors and engineers, even teachers and professors, etc. to the developed world."
"What if the assassination plot had succeeded? There is no doubt that Pakistan would have plunged into crisis. The army high command would have had to decide whether to elevate its deputy chief of the army staff, General Mohammed Yusuf, to chief of the army staff and president, in effect seizing power; or to retreat to the barracks, leaving the elected prime minister and parliament to appoint a new army chief and elect a new president as enjoined by the constitution. The current position, a hybrid of military and democratic rule, owes much to the canny manoeuvring of the general over the last five years and would be most unlikely to survive him."
South Asia 'agrees to free trade' - BBC
"Foreign ministers at the South Asian summit in Islamabad have agreed on the framework for a regional free trade zone, a senior Indian official says. Tariffs should start to come down for the seven nations in the group by the beginning of 2006 ... Business analysts say the nations need to reduce tariffs from 25-30% to between nought and 5% over five to 10 years."
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Happy 2 0 0 4 .............!!!
pakistani perspective resolutions for the new year:
1) More effective archiving and search.
2) Broader scope, possibly multiple categories.
3) .... What do the readers want? Feel free to leave comments.
We wish you all a happy and prosperous new year.
Musharraf's fall, Osama's capture in 2004: NYT - Sify
"A leading American columnist has predicted that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will be double-crossed and may be the first of many world leaders to fall in the New Year. Writing his last column for 2003 in The New York Times, columnist William Safire warns that Pakistan Islamist-centric military will be behind Musharraf's eviction. He also has predicted that Saudi terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden will be captured in Yemen."
The original article in the Times: Office Pool.
Arab Economics: Improving? - Economist
When war in Iraq loomed, the country's Arab neighbours predicted dire economic consequences for themselves. Egypt's government said it expected the country to lose $2 billion-3 billion, with tourists flocking elsewhere and fat contracts with Iraq abandoned. Jordan and Syria dreaded a cut-off of cheap Iraqi oil. Bahrain and Dubai feared a flight of investors. Regional shippers bemoaned hefty increases in their insurance bills. In fact, Arab countries have done quite nicely, thank you."
India Roars With 10-year Returns Above Asian Tigers - Financial Express
"While Pakistan has topped the five year annualised returns chart among Asian emerging markets showing 18.52 per cent gains, India is placed at the third spot with five-year annualised returns of 15.66 per cent. This is as against 6.72 per cent annualised returns in emerging market Asia index during the period. China has returned a negative 3.49 per cent while the Korean index has yielded a lower 14.45 per cent returns during the five-year period."
Pakistan Gives Musharraf Confidence Vote as President - NY Times
"Gen. Pervez Musharraf won a vote of confidence on Thursday from Pakistan's electoral college, allowing him legally to remain president into 2007. The vote completes General Musharraf's transformation from a military dictator who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999 to a constitutionally legitimate president."
Wealth in Asia: Consuming passions - Economist
"Bangalore, known as the hub of India's information-technology industry, also claims to be the capital of its pub culture. The two boasts, of course, are linked. The explosion of the IT business and its offshoots has helped produce a new breed of young professionals with money in their pockets and their own ideas on how to spend it. Imported malt whisky at 500 rupees ($11) a shot—about what an agricultural labourer earns in a week—is one option."
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