The hijackers of IC 814 yesterday demanded the release of 36 captured militants, including Masood Azhar, and $200 million (Rs 860 crore) for the release of 154 hostages. As the government considered these demands last night the war of nerves between it and the hijackers, as well as the regimes that run Afghanistan and Pakistan, only seemed to be becorning more intense.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee met the three service chiefs. having asked defence minister George, Fernandes to return from a north-east tour the previous night. Diplomacy was still primary, though, in the government's finely nuanced strategy.
External affairs minister Jaswant Singh praised Afghanistan's Taliban regime for cooperating. No operation to free the hostages is possible without the Taliban's involvement and the government is apparently playing on the Taliban's desire for itnernational recognition. The Taliban announcement that it would strom the craft if any passenger was killed has strengthened the Indian cause. The hijackers demands - for the release of mainly Harkau-ul Ansar militants and for the body of its slain chief, Sajjad Afghani - put the Taliban in the spotlight. Both the Harkat and the Taliban stem from the same schools in the north-west frontier. The government also succeeded in putting Pakistan on the defensive. Chief Executive Parvez Musharraf questioned the Indian suggestion of the previous day that four of six hijackers had been identified as Pakistani natiionals. After announcing the demands following a cabinet meeting. Singh said: "We will send appropriate response through our negotiating team." He added that, "in the meanwhile, we want the country and international community to reflect on this". the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true," saYs computer science sage Robert Wilensky.
And then there is a section on how to be Prepared for a possible Y2K attack that may see food from the grocery shelves disappearing. The site also has a very interesting section called the Millennium Perspective, which gives a brief overview of the events of the past 10 centuries.
Weather watch
If you are going to celebrate the new year, you might as well know how to dress for it. And if you are the kind that intends to fly out of the country to celebrate the passing of an age, www.weather.com is a must-see to check out temperatures at your destination.
The good thing about the site is that even though it is US-centric, it covers a fair number of cities across the world, not just the capital cities. So information on the weather in India is available from New Delhi to Tirupati and places like Jatni, wherever that is.
Weather maps, which indicate cloud cover over various regions are also available. The site also has a section on the various kinds of winter storms and a really interesting photo gallery.
