ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday directed the country's anti-corruption watchdog to reopen graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari and 8,000 others that were quashed under the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance, a move likely to further weaken his hold on the presidency.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Javed Iqbal directed the National Accountability of Bureau to implement its verdict to reopen cases that were quashed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance, promulgated by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007. The bench also directed the bureau to protect all records related to NRO cases.
The bench also expressed its dissatisfaction at a report submitted by NAB on the reopening of cases. NAB was directed by the judges to submit a report regarding the appointment of prosecutors for these cases.
Justice Iqbal remarked that whatever was decided by the apex court "must be implemented in letter and spirit". He said all institutions are bound to implement the apex court's orders under constitutional provisions.
Noting that certain media reports had claimed that efforts were being made to tamper with the records of NRO-related cases, damage evidence and replace certain records. He directed authorities to protect these records.
Obey our law or face consequences: China to Google
BEIJING: Hardening its stance, China on Friday said that world's leading search engine Google must obey its rules or "face the consequences" giving no indication whether it was ready to reach a compromise in the dispute over hacking.
It said the US internet company was welcome to stay and expand its business in China but at the same time it will have to face the consequence if it insists on doing things that violates China's laws and regulations.
"It is irresponsible and unfriendly if Google insists in doing something that goes against China's laws and regulations, and it will have to bear the consequence for doing so," said Li Yizhong, Chinese Minister of Industry and Information technology.
"Whether to withdraw from China or continue to stay is up to them," Yizhong told a press conference called to give details of China's talks with the company.
The Chinese top internet regulator's comments came a day after Google asserted that it was firm in its stance not to allow censorship of its web content in China.
"We are currently reviewing our business operations in China as we no longer feel comfortable censoring our search results in that country," Nicole Wong, Vice President of Google had said to an US Congressional committee.
"If Google decides to stay in China, we welcome and it will help boost the development of the country's Internet industry," Yizhong said.
Suicide blasts in Lahore kill 45
Lahore:Suicide bombers targeting the Pakistani military killed at least 45 people in Lahore on Friday, officials said, in a challenge to government assertions that crackdowns have weakened Taliban insurgents.
The dead in the attack, the bloodiest this year, in a military neighbourhood of the city near the border with India included nine soldiers, military officials said. Almost 100 were wounded.
Pakistani authorities have said security crackdowns have weakened al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants fighting to topple the U.S.-backed government.
But the Taliban have renewed pressure on unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari, who faces calls from opponents to hand over his strongest powers to the prime minister.
If that does not happen, Pakistan could face new political turmoil while being pressed to defeat the Taliban.
There have been five blasts this week alone, including a car bomb suicide attack on a police intelligence building in Lahore on Monday that killed 13 people, and a shooting and bombing at a U.S.-based aid agency that killed 6 in the northwest.
Aside from facing a stubborn insurgency at home, Pakistan is also under heavy American pressure to open a new front and go after Afghan Taliban militants in border sanctuaries, a move that would tax its stretched military.
While Taliban bases have been smashed in government offensives in militant strongholds such as South Waziristan, fighters have a history of melting away to rugged areas which are hard for the military to penetrate.
The militant network is not substantially or reasonably damaged and they are still capable of striking, said analyst Khadim Hussain.
Soldiers cordoned off the site of Friday's blasts and were not allowing anyone to approach a photographer said. Troops were deployed on the rooftops of houses. An army helicopter was flying over the area.
Rescue workers with stretchers rushed towards the blast site.
Police official Mohammad Shafiq told reporters the heads of both attackers had been found. Suicide bombers often strap explosives to their bodies and the blasts take off their heads.
Pakistani markets have mostly shrugged off violence, which has spread from militant strongholds in the northwest near the Afghan border to major cities. But Friday's blast had an impact on trading, dealers said.
The market entered the negative zone only because of the bomb blasts in Lahore and it is likely that investors will be more cautious now, ahead of the weekend, due to security fears, said Sajid Bhanji, a dealer at brokers' Arif Habib Ltd.
However, the main KSE index later recovered and was trading 1.4 percent higher.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi condemned the blasts in a statement, vowing terrorism will never be allowed to succeed in its nefarious designs.
Business News
Sensex ends flat, at 7-week high
Mumbai: Stock markets turned edgy on Friday with the benchmark Sensex closing with a marginal 1.34-point drop after a volatile session, as an impressive industrial growth coupled with high inflation rate fuelled fear of imminent hike in lending rates.
Despite the decline, the market managed to scale its highest level since January 20 as stocks rallied in early trade on expectations of good industrial production figures.
In the intra-day trade, it rose to as high as 17,244.54 a new 52-week peak, but pared some of the gains on profit booking in blue-chips like HDFC Bank, Infosys, HUL and L&T.
The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty index closed 0.07 per cent or four points higher at 5,137 points.
"The good IIP figure failed to boost market sentiment and pulled it down from intra-day high level. There is very low volume which is not supporting the gains at higher end," Unicon Financial Intermediaries CEO G Nagpal said.
This is the third straight week of gain posted by the key index. The market traded in a narrow range but managed to move 172.13 points up this week.
India's factory production grew 16.7 per cent in January on robust manufacturing activity, lending optimism of a faster economic recovery, which analysts said would prompt the central bank to adopt monetary tightening.
5 IIM-C students get offer of more than Rs 1 cr
Kolkata: Five students of the Indian Institute Management, Calcutta, (IIM-C) have received international offers of above Rs 1 crore each.
Declining to divulge the highest international offer, that is believed to be as high as Rs 1.6 crore, IIM-C head placement Prafulla Agnihotri today said that "five international offers above Rs one crore were received."
Agnihotri said the highest domestic offer was Rs 75 lakh, which was higher by Rs 15 lakh than last year's and the average domestic package was higher at Rs 15.32 lakh from Rs 12.70 lakh in 2008-09.
Finance and consulting ruled the roost with placement being secured by 36 per cent of the total students, he said.
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Nomura, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Royal Bank of Scotland, Temasek Holdings, Accenture, Oliver Wyman, McKinsey & Co, A.T Kearney, ITC, Godrej, Johnson & Johnson were the recruiting companies.
He said that the placement process would be reviewed from next summer to accommodate a larger number of students.
"With increase in number of students from the next batch to 462 from 278, we have to take a relook at the placement process to cope with the increased pressure," he said.
Govt aims at GST rollout by April 2011
The Centre said it will persuade states to reach a consensus on the Goods and Services Tax so that it can be implemented from April 1 next year.
"It shall be the endeavour of the Government of India to persuade the state governments and the empowered committee of state finance ministers to reach a consensus so that the GST can be introduced with effect from April 1, 2011," Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
He said the implications of the goods and services tax, which will replace most of the indirect taxes at the central and the state level, can be assessed only after the basic design is finalised.
A joint working group comprising officers of the central government, state governments and the Empowered Committee of States Finance Ministers has been constituted to prepare the draft of the constitutional amendments, central GST legislation, model state GST legislation and related rules.
GST implementation has been deferred from its earlier date of April 1, 2010.
Empowered Committee of state finance ministers (EC) has prepared and released the first discussion paper on the Goods and Services Tax in India in November 2009.
Sports News
India finish disappointing eighth in hockey World Cup
NEW DELHI: India's disastrous hockey World Cup campaign ended with a 2-4 defeat against Argentina as the hosts finished a lowly eighth in the mega-event on Friday.
Argentina, meanwhile, registered their second seventh place finish in the tournament since 1994 when they defeated Korea on penalty strokes.
The Argentines started their campaign in World Cup with three straight defeats but bounced back strongly with three consecutive wins, including Friday's victory.
The eighth place finish can be seen as a marked improvement for the Indians who were 11th in the last edition of the tournament in Monchengladbach, Germany.
India could dig out only one victory against Pakistan in their first encounter and lost four and drew one out of the six matches they played in the tournament.
Incidentally, it was against the same opponents that India lost 2-3 in the ninth-12th classification match in Monchengladbach.
For Argentina Martin Lucas Villa (43rd minute, 45th) scored two goals, while Tomas Innocente Argento (28th) and Facundo Callioni (46th) scored one each in the seventh-eighth place classification match.
The Indians reduced the margin through Sandeep Singh (42nd) and Shivendra Singh (49th) at the floodlit Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
With this win, the Argentines have also extended their win-loss record against India in the World Cup. In the eight matches played between the two sides, Argentina have won five, lost two and one game ended in no result.
India started the match on an aggressive note but lacked finishing touches inside the Argentine Dee.
The Indians controlled the game for most part of the opening half and had the greater share of ball possession. They opted for long balls but the forwards were not up to the mark to transform them into goals.
India persistent pressure resulted in two penalty corners in the first half but on both the occasions ace drag-flicker Sandeep could not find the back of the Argentine net.
In contrast Argentina's attack on the Indian goal was far and few, mostly on counter attacks.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh failed to make any impression yet again and was seen engaging in an altercation with the disappointed spectators. He even showed his middle finger to the crowd, out of frustration.
Gurwinder Singh Chandi got a fantastic opportunity to give his side lead in the 17th minute but his shot from a Arjun Halappa pass went slightly wide of the Argentine goal.
Inspite of the persistent pressure, it was Argentina who scored first against the run of the mill in the 28th minute.
All the hard work from the Indians in the first half changed in the blink of an eye when Argento scored to go into the breather with a 1-0 lead.
The script was similar after the change of ends as the home team kept on the pressure on the Argentine defence with constant raids.
The Indians finally got the sought-after equaliser in the 42nd minute through a penalty stroke from Sandeep after the on-field umpires decision was upheld by video umpire.
Poor defence and unforced errors in the mid-field marred India's day yet again as the home team conceded three soft goals with a span of four minutes to the disappointment of the cheering crowd.
Lucas Villa scored two goals within two minutes - first from their first short corner and then a field goal to draw curtains on the home team's shoddy campaign in the tournament.
As if that was not enough, Callioni made it 4-1 two minutes later through a field goal to sum up yet another disappointing day for Indian hockey.
Three minutes later, Singh pulled one back for the hosts from a counter-attack to raise some hopes of a late fight back but that was not to be.
Legacy of IPL II victory will spur our title quest: Gilchrist
Deccan Chargers skipper and former Australian star Adam Gilchrist insists his team has much to live up to after rising from the bottom in the Indian Premier League’s first season to be the champions in the second.
“We've got a great bond that is a legacy of last year's victory. It's certainly something that will be an asset for us,” 'The Age' quoted Gilchrist, as having told the Deccan Chronicle.
The 38-year-old further said the he is looking forward to utilizing the young talents recruited for this season in the form of West Indian all-rounder Kemar Roach and Australian batsman Mitchell Marsh.
“We are very excited about the new players. I am looking forward to playing positive and entertaining cricket again,” Gilchrist said.
“We've made up for the loss of Fidel Edwards with the inclusion of Kemar Roach - he was very impressive during West Indies'' series in Australia. Then there is young Mitchell Marsh, an exciting talent, a hard-hitting batsman and a good bowler,” he added.
A significant handicap to Deccan Chargers will be the decision to change its home ground in Hyderabad due to separatist violence in the region, although Gilchrist is unperturbed.
No comments:
Post a Comment