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US give $1.5 billion money for Pakistan

abc — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:54:55 +0000

With the US Senate voting to triple the non-military aid to Pakistan at $1.5 billion, India on Friday once again expressed concern over such funds being diverted by Islamabad to support hostile operations against it. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is in New York to participate in the opening session of United Nation General Assembly, said New Delhi was concerned as former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf had himself disclosed that US aid to fight terrorists were used to bolster defences against India. He was asked whether India was concerned over the latest US aid to Pakistan. Considering the statement that has been issued by the former president of Pakistan Musharraf himself where he has said that the aid provided to Pakistan by the United States have been used for directing its hostile operations against India.” he told reporters. It is that statement of President Musharraf that really bothers us,” he added. The US Senate has passed the Kerry-Luger Bill, which will give Pakistan billions of dollars in aid money for the next five years. The money is being given for developmental efforts within the country.

terror financing by Homeland Security of the US

abc — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:49:09 +0000

An Indian businessman accused of terror financing by Homeland Security of the US was on Friday booked by Enforcement Directorate for running an alleged hawala operation to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore. Jain’s residence was searched by sleuths of Enforcement Directorate during which they claimed to have recovered an unaccounted cash of Rs 60 lakh from his residence in Pitampura of North Delhi, official sources said. They said the searches were carried out on eight premises of Jain, who was accused of being a mastermind hawala dealer. His operations are believed to be spread over Nigeria, Italy, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Bolivia, Congo and Cooks Island among many other countries. Jain, booked under Foreign Exchange Management Act, was arrested by Dubai police along with his associate in 2007 as part of their crackdown on money launderers following inputs from Homeland Security and UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency that he was allegedly involved in laundering drug money for various terror groups. The sources also claimed that Jain along with his brothers Bimal and Satpal used to undertake hawala operations for underworld don and global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and even for Al-Qaida and further investigations are on. Besides the Rs 60 lakh, the ED also claimed to have found foreign currency worth a little over Rs three lakh, documents showing foreign bank accounts, unaccounted investment and hawala transactions worth several thousand crore of rupees. Papers showing transactions of several crores of rupees with different Pakistan and Afghanistan based persons and entities were also found and seized, the ED said. It was also alleged that Jain has been operating a worldwide network of money laundering for organised group of all ethnicities and a range of criminality including drug trafficking and fraud. The ED claimed that that Jain was working in tandem with a large number of other hawala operators based in Delhi and other places in India and abroad. It was also alleged that Jain was using certain companies and accounts in New York for depositing proceeds of crime (drug money) and transferring the funds so generated illegally to drug barons in locations such as Turkey. The ED has already identified about 40 front companies used by Jain for his money laundering activities with more companies suspected to have being set up by him, sources said. Jain, who also owns a copper mine in Congo, had moved to India six months ago. In his statement given to ED, Jain is alleged to have admitted to send telegraphic transactions for a large number of importers and exporters in India and abroad. Earlier in 2006, Italian authorities in collaboration with US Drug Enforcement Administration and SOCA had first come to know about Jain’s activities through a sting operation called “Operation Khyber Pass”.

For India Pakistan Match Younis Khan fit to Play

abc — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:04:17 +0000

Pakistan captain Younis Khan will be available for their Champions Trophy match against India despite a finger injury, the Pakistani board

said on Thursday.

Younis missed his country’s opening victory over the West Indies in midweek after suffering the injury in a warm-up match.

“Younis suffered a minor hairline fracture in his right-hand finger during Pakistan’s practice match against Sri Lanka. But he will play against India,” a spokesman said.

“He could have been available for the match against West Indies but team management decided not to take the risk so he could be fit for the game on Sept 26 at Centurion

India’s maiden Moon mission Chandrayaan-1 has found water on the lunar

abc — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:00:49 +0000

India’s maiden Moon mission Chandrayaan-1 has found water on the lunar surface before the project was aborted. Credit for this much-awaited discovery goes to NASAs Moon Minerology Mapper (M3), one of the payloads on board Chandrayaan. The Rs 386-crore craft was launched on October 22 last year and terminated on August 30 following a communication failure. One of the mission’s main goals was to sniff for water. “It’s very satisfying,” said Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, the project director of Chandrayaan-1 at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bangalore. “This was one of the main objectives of Chandrayaan-1, to find evidence of water on the Moon,” he told British newspaper The Times. The Moon mapper also made the unexpected discovery that water may still be forming on the surface of the Moon, according to scientists familiar with the mission. NASA will hold a press conference to brief about the new scientific findings later in the day. Earlier, neither ISRO nor NASA spoke about the discovery. A spokesman for Brown University had also declined comment, saying there was an embargo. “It will be a major announcement of a major discovery and is something great for Chandrayaan. It will mark a major leap for India’s space programme,” he had said. An ISRO official at Sriharikota has also confirmed that a major announcement was expected on Thursday. “I too have heard something to that effect. Nothing more,” he said. The finding could now trigger another round of Moon missions, and start serious hunt for life in outer space. India has not ruled out the possibility of a manned lunar flight.