‘Panic on all sides’ in golden jubilee year of formation

By Raja Asghar Islamabad, Aug.10: Pakistan marks its golden jubilee this week with its frayed democratic institutions under pressure from ethnic and religious violence, economic strains and a profound disenchantment with the ruling elite.   “Clearly there is panic on all sides,” political commentator Nasim Zehra wrote in a recent article. “The government knows it is…

DUTCH EXPLAIN ACTION

THE HAGUE, July 22.— The Dutch Government, in a statement handed to Dr Pelt, acting General Secretary of the United Nations, explaining why “police measures” had been taken in Indonesia, said that the Indonesians had violated the truce, it was disclosed today. The Note said: “The Republic’s unwillingness or inability to implement the Linggadjati agreement,…

MR. JINNAH FETED ON ARRIVAL IN KARACHI

CROWDS BREAK POLICE CORDONS AT AIRPORT _______________ TRIUMPHANT DRIVE THROUGH CITY _______________ LEAGUE FLAG UNFURLED AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE FROM OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENT Karachi, Aug 7. —More than 50,000 people, who in their enthusiasm broke several rings of police cordons, thronged Mauripur airport this evening to welcome the Governor-General designate of Pakistan,  Mr. Jinnah. They came…

Walesa Chooses a Prime Minister  

Warsaw (Reuters) – President Lech Walesa of Poland will ask Bronislaw Geremek, a former Solidarity adviser and a leader of the Democratic Union party, to form a government, a presidential spokesman said Friday.   “The president thinks Professor Geremek should start political consultations aimed at forming a government,” the spokesman, Andrzej Drzycimski, said by telephone…

Germany Now Stresses Cooperation On Cheaper European Fighter Plane 

BONN (Reuters) Germany, in a subtle conciliatory shift, said Monday it was striving to develop a cheaper version of the European Fighter Aircraft in agreement with its partners in the project: Italy, Britain and Spain.  Bonn stunned its partners in July when it dropped out of the multi-billion dollar project’s production phase and said it…

Liberian Assailed Over Nuns’ Deaths 

MONROVIA, Liberia (Reuters) – Liberia’s Roman Catholic primate said at a requiem Mass on Monday for five American nuns that he held the rebel leader Charles Taylor responsible for their deaths.  The missionaries from the Illinois-based Adorers of the Blood of Christ order disappeared about two weeks ago. Archbishop Michael Francis and other church officials,…

On West Bank, Olive Branches and High Hopes 

RAMALLAH, Israeli-Occupied West Bank – Palestinians poured into the streets after their chief delegate’s speech at the Madrid peace talks on Thursday, decorating Israeli army jeeps with olive branches as smiling soldiers looked on.  “We let the world hear our cause,” Nasser Ibrahim, a Palestinian who works in Israel, said after hearing a broadcast of…

American Is Killed by Car Bomb In Turkey 

ANKARA-Car bombs killed an American serviceman and seriously injured an Egyptian diplomat here Monday in attacks directed at the Middle East peace conference.  A group calling itself Turkish Islamic Jihad took responsibility and said the attacks were to protest the US-sponsored Middle East peace conference that opens in Madrid Wednesday, the Anatolian News Agency reported. …

Japanese says Indian bureaucracy very “inflexible” 

24 July 1997 Reuters News English  (c) 1997 Reuters Limited  NEW DELHI, July 24 (Reuters) – Japan is keen on expanding investment in India but finds its bureaucracy extremely inflexible, a senior Japanese official said on Thursday.  Nobuaki Tanaka, deputy director-general in Japan’s Foreign Ministry, said India accounts for a minuscule 0.25 percent of Japan’s…

INDIA WILL ASK IMF FOR MORE FUNDS – MINISTER

13 April 1992 Reuters News English (c) 1992 Reuters Limited  TOKYO, Reuters – India intends to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for more contingency funds, although foreign reserves are at a very comfortable level, Finance Minister Manmohan Singh said.  Singh, who has spearheaded a series of sweeping reforms that have turned India’s socialist economic…

JAPAN APPROVES $87 MILLION SPENDING PLAN 

29 August 1992 Los Angeles Daily News Valley  The Japanese government Friday approved an $87 billion spending package – the nation’s largest since World War II – in a bid to jolt the dormant economy back to life.  During a late-evening meeting, government ministers rubber-stamped the growth-boosting package totaling 10.7 trillion yen.  The massive package was in line…

The awesome explosion of Asia’s airwaves As viewers tune in to the cornucopia, some governments worry about foreign encroachment 

29 December 1992 The Globe and Mail All material copyright Thomson Canada Limited or its licensors. All rights reserved. Tokyo SATELLITE and cable television is approaching the status of rice as staple in the Asian diet but some governments feel threatened by foreign encroachment on their airwaves.  Viewers across Asia are tuning in to a cornucopia…

Japan’s economy sinks deeper into mire

14 September 1993 Reuters News English (c) 1993 Reuters Limited  TOKYO, Sept 14 (Reuter) – Japan’s sickly economy has been contracting as its stubborn trade surplus balloons, government figures showed on Tuesday.  Gross national product (GNP) shrank 0.5 percent in the April/June quarter from the previous quarter after adjustment for inflation, the government’s Economic Planning…

India relives midnight “tryst with destiny”

14 August 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited  NEW DELHI, Aug 15 (Reuters) – India’s leaders gathered in their parliament’s majestic Central Hall on Thursday night to relive their nation’s “tryst with destiny” a half-century ago.  The vast domed chamber, its thick warm air stirred ineffectually by ancient fans, was packed with lawmakers…

Britain’s Labour accused of Kashmir freedom agenda 

16 October 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited  NEW DELHI, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth’s tour of India slid deeper into controversy on Thursday with sources close to the Indian government charging that Britain’s ruling Labour Party had a “hidden agenda” to create an independent Kashmir region.  Even as British officials scrambled…