After nearly two years of tender submissions and bidding, the ministry for development of northeastern region-DoNER has tied up with Indian Airlines to have dedicated air services across the region, a central minister said Wednesday.
At the 57th plenary meeting of the Northeast Council Wednesday DoNER minister Mani Shankar Aiyar Said: “The ministry has had talks with Indian Airlines to have dedicated air services across the northeast, which will greatly boost accessibility in the region.”
On the issue of increasing interest in investment in the region, the minister said that after Thailand they would now concentrate on Vietnam. “Last time we had a summit in Thailand to showcase the potential of the northeast and encourage investment in it, which got a great response.
This time we’ll hold a similar summit in Vietnam,” Aiyar said. - IANS
Pakistan officially admits Kasab is a Pakistani citizen
After weeks of denials, Pakistan Wednesday finally owned up to the lone survivor of Mumbai attacks Ajmal Amir Kasab but, given the heinous nature of the crime, refused to provide him the legal aid he has sought.
“We have received information from the competent authority that he’s a Pakistani,” foreign office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq told IANS.
However, the spokesman said that Pakistan will not provide any legal aid to him. “He has done a heinous crime and cannot be provided any sort of help,” Sadiq maintained.
Information Minister Sherry Rehman also confirmed that Kasab is a Pakistani national.
She said this in a text message sent to several journalists, after which the foreign office spokesman also confirmed the report.
However, both refused to give more details.
The confusion began in the evening when a television channel quoted National Security Advisor Mahmud Durrani as saying that Kasab is a Pakistani. However, his spokesman was quick to deny his statement but Rehman then sent her message to journalists.
Later, Rehman told GEO TV that Pakistan will make public any reports after the investigations into the Mumbai carnage. “We don’t want to hide anything and want a transparent probe into the incident,” she added. - IANS
Sri Lanka outlaws LTTE with immediate effect
The Sri Lankan government Wednesday banned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), terming it a terrorist organisation.
“The LTTE is banned from today,” Agriculture Development Minister Maithiripala Sirisena, who is also general secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), told reporters at a special media briefing.
He said the LTTE from now on will face all the consequences as a terrorist organisation.
The government’s decision came a week after the ground troops advancing from various directions dealt a body blow to the rebels by capturing the rebels’ politico-administrative hub Kilinochchi, 350 km north of here.
Sirisena said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also minister of defence, had submitted a memorandum to the cabinet earlier in the day proscribing the LTTE as a terrorist organisation under the emergency laws. “The cabinet has unanimously approved it,” he added.
Rajapaksa on Dec 22 threatened to outlaw the LTTE as a terrorist group if it did not allow Tamils living in its control to move to government-held areas at the dawn of 2009.
Political analysts say that the banning the LTTE is largely a formal move as those who have links with the LTTE are already being prosecuted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and other laws.
The LTTE has already been listed as a terrorist organisation in various countries, including India, Britain and the US as well as the EU.
The LTTE was first banned in Sri Lanka in 1983 with the introduction of the emergency regulation and it was automatically revoked when the emergency regulation was withdrawn in 1987.
The ban was re-imposed Jan 25, 1998, after the LTTE attack on the historic Buddhist tooth-relic temple - Dalada Maligawa - in the central hill district of Kandy.
The ban was revoked in September 2002 after the signing of the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire agreement to facilitate peace talks between the then Sri Lankan government and the LTTE.
The Rajapaksa administration, which was already on a full-fledged war with the rebels, unilaterally pulled out from the Norwegian-brokered truce Jan 16 last year.
The LTTE has been fighting against the Sri Lankan state to carve out a separate state for Tamils in the northern and eastern parts of the island for a quarter century.
Thousands have died in escalating fighting since late 2005. - IANS
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At the 57th plenary meeting of the Northeast Council Wednesday DoNER minister Mani Shankar Aiyar Said: “The ministry has had talks with Indian Airlines to have dedicated air services across the northeast, which will greatly boost accessibility in the region.”
On the issue of increasing interest in investment in the region, the minister said that after Thailand they would now concentrate on Vietnam. “Last time we had a summit in Thailand to showcase the potential of the northeast and encourage investment in it, which got a great response.
This time we’ll hold a similar summit in Vietnam,” Aiyar said. - IANS
Pakistan officially admits Kasab is a Pakistani citizen
After weeks of denials, Pakistan Wednesday finally owned up to the lone survivor of Mumbai attacks Ajmal Amir Kasab but, given the heinous nature of the crime, refused to provide him the legal aid he has sought.
“We have received information from the competent authority that he’s a Pakistani,” foreign office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq told IANS.
However, the spokesman said that Pakistan will not provide any legal aid to him. “He has done a heinous crime and cannot be provided any sort of help,” Sadiq maintained.
Information Minister Sherry Rehman also confirmed that Kasab is a Pakistani national.
She said this in a text message sent to several journalists, after which the foreign office spokesman also confirmed the report.
However, both refused to give more details.
The confusion began in the evening when a television channel quoted National Security Advisor Mahmud Durrani as saying that Kasab is a Pakistani. However, his spokesman was quick to deny his statement but Rehman then sent her message to journalists.
Later, Rehman told GEO TV that Pakistan will make public any reports after the investigations into the Mumbai carnage. “We don’t want to hide anything and want a transparent probe into the incident,” she added. - IANS
Sri Lanka outlaws LTTE with immediate effect
The Sri Lankan government Wednesday banned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), terming it a terrorist organisation.
“The LTTE is banned from today,” Agriculture Development Minister Maithiripala Sirisena, who is also general secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), told reporters at a special media briefing.
He said the LTTE from now on will face all the consequences as a terrorist organisation.
The government’s decision came a week after the ground troops advancing from various directions dealt a body blow to the rebels by capturing the rebels’ politico-administrative hub Kilinochchi, 350 km north of here.
Sirisena said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also minister of defence, had submitted a memorandum to the cabinet earlier in the day proscribing the LTTE as a terrorist organisation under the emergency laws. “The cabinet has unanimously approved it,” he added.
Rajapaksa on Dec 22 threatened to outlaw the LTTE as a terrorist group if it did not allow Tamils living in its control to move to government-held areas at the dawn of 2009.
Political analysts say that the banning the LTTE is largely a formal move as those who have links with the LTTE are already being prosecuted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and other laws.
The LTTE has already been listed as a terrorist organisation in various countries, including India, Britain and the US as well as the EU.
The LTTE was first banned in Sri Lanka in 1983 with the introduction of the emergency regulation and it was automatically revoked when the emergency regulation was withdrawn in 1987.
The ban was re-imposed Jan 25, 1998, after the LTTE attack on the historic Buddhist tooth-relic temple - Dalada Maligawa - in the central hill district of Kandy.
The ban was revoked in September 2002 after the signing of the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire agreement to facilitate peace talks between the then Sri Lankan government and the LTTE.
The Rajapaksa administration, which was already on a full-fledged war with the rebels, unilaterally pulled out from the Norwegian-brokered truce Jan 16 last year.
The LTTE has been fighting against the Sri Lankan state to carve out a separate state for Tamils in the northern and eastern parts of the island for a quarter century.
Thousands have died in escalating fighting since late 2005. - IANS
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