New Delhi: The Seventh Pay Commission award becomes boon for central government employees, is not going to be implemented before the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP).

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday ruled that only Pervez Musharraf should be tried for treason for subverting the Constitution in 2007, one day after the former president went to court to seek permission to go abroad for medical treatment. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa set aside a special court’s order calling for re-investigation of the high treason case against Musharraf. High treason is punishable with death if proved. Musharraf has pleaded non-guilty. The SC accepted former chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar’s appeal to exclude him from the investigation into the treason case launched against Musharraf in 2013 for imposing emergency in 2007, when he was president.

Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar. Reuters file photo

United Nations, April 2

Clinging to its pro-Pakistan stance, China has asserted that JeM chief and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar does not qualify to be nailed as a “terrorist” to face UN sanctions as his case “did not meet” the Security Council’s requirements.

“Any listing would have to meet the requirements” for blacklisting, Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi told reporters yesterday in response to questions over China’s decision to place a ‘technical hold’ on designating Azhar in the UN Sanctions Committee.

“It is the responsibility of all members of the council to make sure that these requirements are followed,” he said, but gave no further details.

Liu’s comments came on a day when China, one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation Council, assumed the rotating presidency of the UNSC for April.

India has reacted strongly to China’s blocking of its bid at the UN to ban the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief, saying that the sanctions committee was taking a “selective approach” in tackling terrorism.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Friday defended China’s decision, saying that it acts on such issues based on facts and rules in an “objective and just manner”.

“We always deal with the listing issue (banning militant groups and their leaders) under the UN Security Council committee established under resolution 1267 based on facts and relevant rules of procedures in an objective and just manner.

“The Chinese side has always been in communication with relevant parties on the listing issue,” he said, hinting that China is also in touch with India on the issue.

India yesterday said it is disappointed that a “technical hold” has been put on its application to include Azhar in the UN sanctions list, terming the move “incomprehensible” that this is despite the JeM being listed in the UN Security Council Committee as far back as 2001 for its known terror activities and links to al-Qaeda.

This is not the first time China has blocked India’s bid to get Pakistan-based militant groups and leaders proscribed by the UN.

The UN had banned the JeM in 2001 but India’s efforts for a ban on Azhar after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack also did not fructify as China, which has veto powers, did not allow the ban apparently at the behest of Pakistan again.

Last July, China had similarly halted India’s move in the UN to take action against Pakistan for its release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, saying that its stand was “based on facts and in the spirit of objectiveness and fairness”, with Beijing again claiming at the time that it was in touch with New Delhi. — PTI

Activists carry placards of the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Maulana Masood Azhar, during a protest against the attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot, in Mumbai on January 4, 2016. — AFP

Beijing, April 1

China on Friday defended its decision to once again block India’s bid at the UN to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief and mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack Masood Azhar, saying that it acts on such issues based on facts and rules in an “objective and just manner”.

Asked about China’s reported last minute move putting a technical hold on India’s submission, which Indian officials say was armed with strong evidence of the JeM’s terror activities and its role in the Pathankot attack, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said here that China “supports UN playing a central and coordinating role in international cooperation against terrorism”.

“We always deal with the listing issue (banning militant groups and their leaders) under the UN Security Council Committee established under resolution 1267 based on facts and relevant rules of procedures in an objective and just manner,” he said.

“The Chinese side has always been in communication with relevant parties on the listing issue,” he said, hinting that China is also in touch with India on the issue.

This is not the first time China has blocked India’s bid to get Pakistan-based militant groups and leaders proscribed by the UN.

The UN had banned the JeM in 2001 but India’s efforts for a ban on Azhar after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack also did not fructify as China, one of the five permanent members of the UN group with veto powers, didn’t allow the ban apparently at the behest of Pakistan again.

Last July, China had similarly halted India’s move in the UN to take action against Pakistan for its release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, saying that its stand was “based on facts and in the spirit of objectiveness and fairness” with Beijing again claiming at the time that it was in touch with New Delhi.

Stating that China is opposed to all forms of terrorism, Hong said “China has also taken active part in international counter-terrorism corporation”.

To another question about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington yesterday that the world community should “drop the notion that terrorism is someone else’s problem and that ‘his’ terrorist is not ‘my’ terrorist,” Hong said “China opposes double standards on the issue of terrorism”.

“We believe that all parties should enhance communication in a bid to forge counter-terrorism synergy to work together with entire international community, including India, to jointly fight against the threat of terrorism and safeguard peace and stability of the region and beyond,” he said. — PTI

Bhubaneswar has topped the list of first 20 cities that will be developed as Smart Cities, followed by Pune and Jaipur. Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday unveiled the list of first 20 cities.

He said that the smart cities will demonstrate how integrated planning  and smart technologies can deliver better quality of life.

There were 97 cities in the Smart City Challenge, of which 20 winners were selected.

Naidu congratulated 11 States and the Union Territory of Delhi who have made it to the top 20 smart cities list. He added a total investment of Rs 50,802 cr has been proposed in the selected smart cities and towns during the five year period.

The smart cities were chosen based on a challenge that required cities to come up with integrated plans, proposals, so that there is maximum analysis and planning.

Below are the top 20 smart cities winners

1.Bhubaneswar (Odisha)
2. Pune (Maharashtra)
3. Jaipur (Rajasthan)
4. Surat (Gujarat)
5. Kochi (kerala)
6. Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
7. Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh)
8.Visakhapatnam (AndhraPreadesh)
9. Solapur (Maharashtra)
10 Davanagere (Karnataka)
11. Indore ( Madhya Pradesh)
12. NDMC (Delhi)
13. Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu)
14. Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh)
15. Belagavi (Karnataka)
16. Udaipur (Rajasthan)
17. Guwahati (Assam)
18. Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
19. Ludhiana (Punjab)
20. Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)

Seoul, March 23

North Korea threatened a “miserable end” for South Korea’s president and her American allies today, in its latest colourfully worded attack.

Pyongyang declared it would wage a “retaliatory battle of justice” against Park Geun-Hye, with its artillery units standing ready to turn her office into a “sea of flames and ashes”.

“What the DPRK warns is not hot air. It will be clearly proved by the miserable end the US and the Park group will meet while going reckless,” said the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), using the formal name for North Korea.

The latest volley comes as Seoul and ally Washington stage their annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military drills, which this year are the largest ever, in the wake of a recent North Korean nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.

The massive drills — which include air strike exercises targeting key facilities in the North — are a “thrice-cursed provocation” against Pyongyang’s leadership, the CPRK said, according to the KCNA news agency.

In recent weeks, Pyongyang has maintained a daily barrage of nuclear strike threats against both Seoul and Washington over the drills it sees as a provocative rehearsal for invasion.

Tensions have been running high since the North carried out an atomic test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch that was widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test.

The UN Security Council responded by slapping its toughest-ever sanctions on the North for violating UN sanctions that ban the isolated state from conducting any ballistic missile test.

In an apparent show of anger, the North has launched a series of short-range and medium-range missiles into the sea off its east coast since last week.

Cross-border ties are at their lowest in years, with the conservative Park maintaining her hardline stance towards the impoverished but nuclear-armed North.

She warned last week Pyongyang was moving on a path of “self-destruction” as leader Kim Jong-Un ordered a nuclear warhead test, in a move that further raised tension. — AFP