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| September 6, 2005 | Tuesday | Shaban 01, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Indian approves construction of alternative route to Leh in IHK- NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (APP) Indian government on Tuesday approved construction of an alternative route to Leh district in Held Kashmir through Manali in Himachal Pradesh. Announcing the decision after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the new all-weather 292-km road via Darchu, Padam and Nimu will be built in nine years at a total cost of Rs 13.55 billion. For making this route motorable throughout the year, the CCS approved the construction of an 8.8 km-long tunnel under the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh at a cost of Rs 9.43 billion. Approach roads leading to it will be double lane from both sides and will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.8 billion, Mukherjee told reporters here. Though the Borders Roads under the Army has already constructed a motorable road to link Manali with Leh, the route gets shut down in winter due to heavy snowfall on the Rohtang pass. The stretch of the road via Darchu in Keylong district of Himachal Pradesh and Padam, the capital of Zanskar region, and Nimu on the outskirts of Leh would be laid at a cost of Rs 2.86 billion, the Minister added.(Posted @ 22:55 PST)
India, Bangladesh agree on tri-nation gas pipeline project NEW DEKHI, Sept 6 (APP): India and Bangladesh have in principle agreed on a one-billion dollar tri-nation gas pipeline project that would allow New Delhi to bring natural gas from Myanmar. "It looks as if we have resolved outstanding issues, clearing way for signing of a memorandum of understanding," Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who returned from Dhaka early today, told the newsmen here. Under the project, India will build a 290-kilometer pipeline through Bangladesh to connect offshore gas fields in Myanmar to West Bengal. Aiyar said the initial agreement came at a meeting with Bangladesh's Energy Adviser Mahmudur Rahman yesterday. "Specific proposals have been drafted which competent authorities from both sides will vet before a MoU on the pipeline is signed", he said adding, the approvals should come very soon.(Posted @ 22:30 PST)
Blast rocks Nawabshah NAWABSHAH, Sept 6 (APP): A high intensity blast rocked the city on Tuesday, however no loss of life or property was reported. The blast occurred near main branch of National Bank of Pakistan at 8:00 p.m. that shook the entire area. The sound of the blast was heard several kilometers away. Police rushed to the blast site. A police contingent headed by Taluka Police Officer (TPO) surrounded the area. However no clue of blast was found even after a thorough search. The blast caused minor damage to window panes and false ceiling of the bank.(Posted @ 22:20 PST)
Russian fighter jet falls off carrier, sinks in Atlantic MOSCOW, Sept 6 (AFP) - Russia's navy said Tuesday that a navy fighter jet sank in the North Atlantic after overshooting the deck of an aircraft carrier, although the pilot was able to eject safely. The Sukhoi 33 jet sank in around 1,100 metres (3,600 feet) of water on Monday after a restraining cable intended to stop the plane overshooting the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier snapped as it came in to land, a spokesman at navy headquarters in Moscow said. The pilot managed to eject from the plane however and "was fished out in five minutes," the spokesman told AFP.(Posted @ 21:45 PST)
Cricket-New Zealand beat India by six wickets HARARE, Sept 6 (Reuters) - New Zealand beat India by six wickets in the final of a one-day international triangular series at Harare Sports Club on Tuesday. Scores: India 276 all out (Virender Sehwag 75, Mohammad Kaif 93 not out; Jacob Oram four for 58). New Zealand 278 for four in 48.1 overs (Stephen Fleming 61, Nathan Astle 115 not out).(Posted @ 21:36 PST)
Annan says he is ready to help resolve conflict in Nepal UNITED NATIONS, Sept 6 (APP) -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan Tuesday expressed his readiness to help the peace efforts in violence-ravaged Nepal. Urging an "inclusive" dialogue to resolve the Maoist problem in the Himalayan kingdom, Annan said in a statement that he had taken note of the appeal addressed to him by a large number of non-governmental and civil society representatives in Nepal requesting his good offices to help find a peaceful solution to the conflict.(Posted @ 20:55 PST)
Saudi storms militant hideout after deadly clashes RIYADH, Sept 6 (AFP) - Saudi security forces stormed a hideout of suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Dammam Tuesday after three days of intense clashes that have killed five suspects and two policemen, a security source said. "Security forces have stormed the building (where the militants were holed up) and are now purging the location" , the source told AFP. Witnesses saw ambulances and civil defence vehicles entering the scene of the gunbattle in Al-Hamra district. The final toll of the clashes was not immediately known. Shooting died down after security forces pounded and raided the building. At one point, the thud of explosions could be heard at the rate of one per minute across the city, residents said. A security source earlier told AFP that three armed men were killed Monday besides two killed on Sunday. Two policemen have also been killed(Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Pakistan sends 9,500 more troops to border ahead of Afghan vote ISLAMABAD, Sept 6 (AFP) - Pakistan has sent 9,500 extra troops to its border to beef up security ahead of this month's parliamentary elections in violence-plagued Afghanistan, a spokesman said Tuesday.Major General Shaukat Sultan said 5,000 soldiers would be deployed in the tribal areas of North West Frontier Province and 4,500 would reinforce border in Baluchistan .He said about 80,000 Pakistani forces were now deployed along the mountainous border to curb the movement of militants trying to disrupt Afghan elections. Forty to 50 mobile check posts have also been set up. Pakistan has additionally deployed a quick reaction force with gunship helicopters in the tribal areas while ground-based quick reaction forces have been sent to the southwestern city of Quetta and the border town of Chaman He said the deployments were made after consultations between Pakistani, Afghan and US military top brass last month in Rawalpindi.(Posted @ 18:45 PST)
Policeman killed, 16 injured in Quetta clash Quetta ,Balochistan, Sept 6 (AFP) - A policeman was killed and 16 other people were injured here Tuesday in a clash over the arrest of a tribal elder , police said. The supporters of Wadood Raeesani blocked a main road in Quetta then threw two hand grenades and fired when police tried to disperse them. As a result, one policeman was killed by the grenade explosion, while 11 policemen and five passers-by were injured by shrapnel and bullets. Raeesani had been under house arrest for the past two days and was shifted to prison late Monday under a public order law which angered his supporters. His supporters claimed that their leader had been arrested because authorities feared that he might influence elections for the post of Nazim (local mayor), which are due to be held later this month.(Posted @ 18:40 PST)
ADB President appreciates Pakistan's economic performance ISLAMABAD, Sep 6 (APP): President of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Haruhiko Kuroda Tuesday said Pakistan has achieved significant progress in poverty reduction and assured bank's support to Pakistan in achieving the objective. Addressing a joint Press Conference with Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Salman Shah he reaffirmed ADB's long-term partnership to support Pakistan's economic growth with an increase in assistance of $3.7 billion over the next three years, which is nearly 50 per cent higher compared to the past four years. A large portion of this assistance is earmarked for Infrastructure development in water,power, transport, and urban development sectors , he added. In addition, ADB is planning assistance in a number of innovative areas, including support for the Karachi mega-city project, and rural modernization project to enhance livelihood opportunities, he said.(Posted @ 18:30 PST)
German expedition summits Spatnik peak ISLAMABAD, Sep 6 (APP): A German expedition has reached the summit of 7,027-metre high Spatnik mountain peak in the Karakoram Range, says a report available here Tuesday. The German expedition comprised seven members and was led by Kern Bernard Hermann. Two expeditions have made it to the top of Spatnik peak this season.(Posted @ 18:18 PST)
550 more illegal houses demolished in Islamabad I-11 sector ISLAMABAD, Sep 6 (APP): The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has demolished 550 more illegal structures raised by Afghan refugees in its ongoing campaign against encroachers in I-11 sector of the federal capital, a CDA official said Tuesday. More than 13,000 Afghan refugees have so far left the sector and the others still there are being asked to move away at the earliest, he added.Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration and United Nations refugee agency UNHCR are jointly handling the campaign. Those refugees who are leaving the place voluntarily are being given financial aid and logistic support to return to Afghanistan.The Federal Interior Ministry has set September 15 deadline for the Afghan refugees living in I-11 sector to vacate the illegal structures and return to their country.(Posted @ 18:15 PST)
Blair talks politics in China as firms do deals BEIJING, Sept 6 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair held wide-ranging talks with Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday, the second day of a visit to China, and presided over banking and airliner deals. Blair met Wen for five hours on Monday because Britain currently holds the rotating presidency of the 25-member bloc, but on Tuesday the focus switched to bilateral issues.(Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Casualties in Iraq, Sept 6 BAGHDAD, Sept 6 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb in Khalidiya killed four Iraqi soldiers and wounded five, police said. Three civilians, including one woman, died in subsequent clashes with unknown gunmen in the same area. An Iraqi army officer was shot dead by an unknown gunman while returning home from work late Monday in Dhuluiya, 40 km (25 miles) north of Baghdad, and Iraq's North Oil Company said an oil pipeline west of Samarra which carried crude from Baiji to Baghdad was set on fire, also late Monday. Police arrested two insurgents who had kidnapped an Interior Ministry engineer near Baquba. Police chased the kidnappers and after a brief fire-fight released the engineer and detained the insurgents.The U.S. military bombed two small bridges near Karabila, used to move foreign fighters and equipment across the Euphrates river into central Iraq.The U.S. military said it killed two foreign fighters and detained three others in a raid on a house near Karabila. One soldier was wounded. The house was then destroyed by an air strike. In Tikrit, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy , setting a contractor vehicle on fire and wounding one contractor, the U.S. military said.(Posted @ 16:44 PST)
Pakistan denies assurance to India on spy ISLAMABAD, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Pakistan denied an Indian media report that it had assured New Delhi that it would not execute an Indian convicted 14 years ago of spying and of carrying out a series of bomb attacks. "We have not given any such assurance," Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Naeem Khan said, contradicting a report in the Indian daily.(Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Three policemen killed in Dagestan attack MAKHACHKALA, Russia, Sept 6 (AFP) - Three police officers were shot dead overnight by gunmen at a checkpoint on a road leading to Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan province, a spokesman said Tuesday. They were shot by passengers in a car they wanted to stop on a road . Separately, two explosions were reported in Ingushetia, another republic bordering Chechnya, but there were no injuries, Interfax news agency quoted local police as saying. (Posted @ 16:11 PST)
Twenty-one dead or missing, 45 injured as typhoon hits Japan KAGOSHIMA, Japan, Sept 6 (AFP) - A powerful typhoon cut across Japan Tuesday, leaving at least 21 dead or missing and injuring 45, as 100,000 people were ordered to flee their homes, officials and media reports said. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called off campaign stops in the main southern island of Kyushu before Sunday's election. The public broadcaster NHK said at least 45 people were injured and more than 500 flights to and from southern Japan were cancelled (Posted @ 16:10 PST)
All but 17 Indian prisoners in Sindh jails to return home Karachi, Sept. 06 (PPI): Out of 388 Indian prisoners held at different jails of Sindh province, 371 would be released next week, Inspector General Prisons Sindh Brigadier Ayaz Mughni told PPI on Tuesday. He said Indian prisoners would leave jails on Sept. 10 to travel to Wagah near Lahore, where they would cross Indo-Pak border on Sept 12. These 371 Indian prisoners have completed their terms," Mughni said adding that they were mainly fishermen. The remaining 17 were undergoing trial . India and Pakistan agreed last month to release all civilians, whose identities have been established and who have completed their prison terms .(Posted @ 16:09 PST)
Pak fishermen arrested MUMBAI, Sept 06 PPI) Indian border security force have arrested 14 Pakistani fishermen and seized their two boats in Gujerat state’s Sir creek area. (Posted @ 15:52 PST)
Jones out of Ashes decider LONDON, Sept 6 (APP/AFP) - England fast bowler Simon Jones was ruled out Tuesday of the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval starting Thursday after failing a fitness test at Lord's. (Posted @ 15:41 PST)
Two soldiers killed in mine blast in Turkey DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 6 (Reuters) Two Turkish soldiers were killed and two others injured on Tuesday when a landmine laid by Kurdish guerrillas exploded, security sources said. (Posted @ 14:23 PST)
Theatre fire kills 32 in Egypt BENI SUEF, Egypt, Sept 6 (Reuters) A candle fell over and set fire to a crowded theatre in the Egyptian town of Beni Suef on Monday night, killing 32 people, Egypt's official news agency MENA said on Tuesday. (Posted @ 14:22 PST)
Journalist Hasan Abdi dead KARACHI, Sept 6: Senior journalist Hasan Abdi died here this morning due to cardiac arrest. He was 76. He leaves behind a widow, a son and two daughters. Hasan Abdi started his journalistic career at Lahore and later shifted to Karachi. He remained associated with various newspapers and other publications, and was finally associated with daily Dawn. He was author of several Urdu books and also wrote short stories for children. (Posted @ 14:10 PST)
U.S., Afghan troops kill 12 rebels: U.S. military KABUL, Sept 6 (Reuters) U.S. and Afghan government forces killed 12 insurgents and captured nine in a operation in the south aimed at stopping militants from disrupting the Sept. 18 general election, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.(Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Thousands march in Manila as impeachment rejected MANILA, Sept 6 (Reuters) Thousands of people marched towards the Philippine Congress building in Manila on Tuesday to protest against lawmakers' rejection of an impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Hundreds of riot police were blocking the route to Congress with buses and barbed wire.(Posted @ 11:45 PST)
US soldier killed by roadside bomb in northern Iraq BAGHDAD, Sept 6 (APP/AFP) A US soldier was killed Monday when his military vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the restive northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, a US military spokeswoman said on Tuesday. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Two Japanese F-15 fighter jets collide, no injuries TOKYO, Sept 6 (APP/AFP) Two Japanese Air Force F-15 fighter jets collided above the Sea of Japan during a training exercise Tuesday but no one was injured, an official said. (Posted @ 10:23 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 41.26 points: KARACHI, September 06: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 7807.80, down 41.26 points from Monday’s close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:30 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, September 06: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.05 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:30 PST)
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