India News

Lanka Victory Over LTTE India Behind It: Book

2009-08-26T04:49:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Even as it publicly refused to give Sri Lanka any offensive weapons for the war against LTTE, India had a “hidden hand” in the successof the island nation’s campaign over the terrorist outfit, says a new book.
Although in the initial days he was advised to seek a negotiated settlement with the Tamil Tigers, New Delhi saw merit in Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s argument that the LTTE was only biding its time to regroup and rearm itself and that war was inevitable sooner than later, says ‘Sri Lanka, From War to Peace’, by journalist Nitin Gokhale.
Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor with NDTV, Gokhale covered the 33-month Eelam War in Sri Lanka.
The Mi-17s that India ‘quietly gifted’ to Lanka were in addition to a Sukanya class offshore patrol vessel also gifted by the Indian Coast Guard to the Sri Lankan Navy in 2002. The choppers played a major role in several daring missions launched by the Sri Lankan Air Force to rescue the army’s deep penetration units and injured soldiers from deep inside LTTE-held territory, the book says.
“Hampered by domestic compulsion, New Delhi could not go beyond such meagre and clandestine transfer of military hardware. Publicly all India was willing to acknowledge was the supply of low-flying detection “Indra” radars to the Sri Lankan Air Force since this equipment was considered a defensive apparatus,” the author says.
Gokhale quotes senior Sri Lankan army officers saying that thanks to the Mi-17s, the soldiers operating behind enemy lines functioned with a greater degree of confidence since they knew these choppers were always at hand to come to their rescue whenever necessary. This surely was the key factor in our Special Forces delivering spectacular results.
Not wanting to annoy its Tamil Nadu allies like the DMK unnecessarily, New Delhi had a ‘politically most important message’ conveyed to Colombo to try and conclude the war against the LTTE (called Eelam War IV) before the summer of 2009 when India was expected to hold the general elections, Gokhale says.
“The Rajapakse regime was nothing if not shrewd”. Aware of dynamics that determined India’s Lankan policies, it was also conscious of India’s anxiety in losing strategic space in Sri Lanka. The Rajapakse brothers were pragmatic enough to realize that Lanka needed India’s support in war against the LTTE, total support from China and Pakistan notwithstanding”.
Colombo could ignore India but only upto a point, the author says.
So Mahinda Rajapakse hit upon an idea of an informal exchange mechanism between New Delhi and Colombo. He nominated both his brothers – Basil (MP and Presidential advisor) and Gotabaya, the Defence Secretary along with his own secretary Lalith Weeratunga.
India too reciprocated immediately. The Indian team comprised National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh.
Colombo may have been ambivalent about meeting Indian requests to end the operations before the general elections but the Sri Lankan leadership once again gratefully acknowledged the Indian Navy’s contribution in locating and destroying at least 10 ‘floating warehouses’ owned by the LTTE that were used by the Tigers to store arms, ammunition and even armoured personnel carriers.
Well-coordinated operations by the two navies between 2006 and 2009 actually broke the backbone of the Sea Tigers, Gokhale says.
Also, under an agreement between the two countries, the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard frequently sent out ships to patrol the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar. Presence of warships and Indian patrol vessels acted as firm deterrence against the Sea Tigers, the book says.
The book also notes the transformation of the Sri Lankan Air Force and Navy into lethal forces that played vital roles in victory over the LTTE. “The Sri Lankan Air Force had indeed come a long way from its inglorious days in the 1990s when it lost three aircraft to the LTTE’s ground fire in the assault on Jaffna”.
“What is not so well known is that the Sri Lankan Air Force jets almost killed Prabhakaran in one of the air raids on his hideout in Puththukudirippu. But as luck would have it, Prabhakaran had left the base minutes before the bombs rained on the target,” the book says.
Gokhale also says that if the Indians quietly helped the Sri Lankan Navy transform itself, the Lankan Air Force got a big boost from the Chinese and the Pakistanis. Pakistani personnel helped the Lankans in training and maintenance while the Chinese supplied them with vital equipment at a critical time. The Chinese gifted four F7 GS fighter planes which are the most sophisticated jets in Sri Lanka’s arsenal today with in-built air interception radar and carry four heat seeking missiles, he says.
After a successful campaign against the LTTE, President Rajapakse’s biggest challenge would be to win the peace by sparking reconciliation between its majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil ethnic populations, healing a rift that looks unbridgeable, Gokhale says. Rajapakse will have to restore to their homes and livelihoods some 300,000 Tamils in the North who fled the fighting only to be housed in camps.
“President Rajapakse and his team must avoid triumphalism to spoil the enormous goodwill that they have earned by winning the war. They must ensure that the death of one Prabhakaran does not lead to birth of another. Therein lies Mahinda Rajapakse’s test,” the book says.

Sudheendra Kulkarni Resigned From BJP Over Jaswant Sing Metter

2009-08-23T04:48:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Reeling under internal bickerings and controversy surrounding Jaswant Singh’s expulsion, the BJP on Sunday suffered furtherembarrassment when Sudheendra Kulkarni, who was a close aide of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, decided to quit the party over ‘ideological differences’.
He, however, maintained that his decision had nothing to do with the expulsion of Jaswant Singh over his book “Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence”.
“I decided to end my association with the BJP several weeks back. My decision has nothing to do with the unfortunate incident of Jaswant Singh-ji,” Kulkarni told Times Now.
He said he would continue to be a well-wisher of the party and added: “I have the highest regard for Advani-ji and Atal Bihari Vajpayee-ji, whom I have worked with for 13 years.”
Kulkarni, who began his political activism as a Communist, worked in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during Vajpayee’s time and served as his speech writer, media adviser and political aide.
“From now on I will be totally independent. I will work with like-minded members of other parties…,” Kulkarni told the news channel.
BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that his dissociation from the BJP or its leaders is not going to have any effect on the party. “Kulkarni is not a member of BJP or an office-bearer of the party,” he said.
After BJP’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, Kulkarni had been critical of the party’s election campaign strategy and management as also Varun Gandhi’s hate speech. He had incurred the wrath of the RSS when he wrote about Sangh Parivar “interference” in BJP’s functioning.

BJP Slamed By Jaswant Singh Over Book Banned In Gujrat

2009-08-20T23:58:00.001+06:00

INDIA, NEW DELHI: Criticizing a ban imposed on his book by Gujarat government, expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh on Thursday said it amounted to “banning thinking” and likened the step to the one taken against noted author Salman Rushdie for his controversial work ‘Satanic Verses’.
“I am greatly saddened by it,” Singh told reporters on the Gujarat government’s decision to ban his book “Jinnah–India, Partition, Independence”.
“The day we start banning books, we are banning thinking,” said Singh, who was expelled by BJP for the book in which he has praised the Pakistan founder M A Jinnah.
He said the step taken by Gujarat government was “another example of (action taken against) Salman Rushdie and Satanic Verses” which was banned for its controversial contents on Islam.
Asked to comment on BJP’s contention that he had been expelled for his uncharitable comments in the book against Sardar Patel and that his views on Jinnah were different from those of LK Advani, he said, “Let me understand why (I was expelled). Nobody has told me”.
On his continuance as MP from Darjeeling, he said he got a telephonic call from his constituency that the people there wanted him to continue as their representative in Lok Sabha.
Gujarat government last night banned Jaswant’s book on Jinnah alleging it was an attempt to defame the image of the country’s first Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel by “questioning his patriotic spirit”.
“Jaswant Singh’s book questions role of Sardar Patel during the partition of India as well as his patriotic spirit. This is an attempt to tarnish the image of Patel who is considered the architect of modern united India,” a statement issued by the state government said.
“It is a bid to defame Patel by distorting historical facts,” it charged. “So, the state government has decided to ban the book with immediate effect for wider public interest,” it said.
“As per the ban, there cannot be sale, distribution or publication of the book in the state,” it said.

Trichy Anna University Results

2009-08-20T18:57:00.000+06:00

Trichy Anna University Results, Trichy Anna University has announced their 4th Semester BE/B.Tech Results 2009. Trichy Anna University VIth Semester BE/B.Tech results is also declared along with the notification for M.Pharmacy Entrance Examination. Please check the results from the links given below.
To check Anna University Trichy 4th Sem BE BTech Results: Click Here

Jaswant Singh’s Comments On Qaid e Azam, RSS Disgarees

2009-08-17T16:46:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – the ideological fountainhead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -on Monday said it did notagree with the views of senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh on his eulogy of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan.
Eulogising the founder of Pakistan in his book “Jinnah – India, Participation, Independence”, Jaswant Singh has said Jinnah was “demonised” by India while it was actually India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s belief in a centralised polity that led to partition.
“I have not read the book, but whatever reports have come in the media regarding the contents of the book … we do not agree with it,” RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said.
Asked if he would want the BJP leadership to take action against Jaswant Singh, Ram Madhav said: “It would be premature to make any comment on this issue as I have not read the book and Jaswant Singh has also categorically said in an interview that these are his personal views.”
Speaking to a TV channel, Jaswant Singh, a former external affairs minister, said: “Nehru believed in a highly centralised polity. That’s what he wanted India to be. Jinnah wanted a federal polity. That even Gandhi accepted. Nehru didn’t. Consistently, he stood in the way of a federal India until 1947 when it became a partitioned India.”
Jaswant Singh strongly contested the popular Indian view that Jinnah was the villain of the 1947 partition or the man principally responsible for it. Asked if he thought this view was wrong, Jaswant Singh said: “It is. It is not borne out of the facts… we need to correct it.”
“I think we have misunderstood him because we needed to create a demon… We needed a demon because in the 20th century the most telling event in the subcontinent was the partition of the country,” he said.

All Accused Of Buddha Jayanti Park Gangrape Found Guilty

2009-08-17T16:45:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Delhi court on Monday held all four accused guilty in the sensational Buddha Jayanti park gangrape case.
Two accused were held guilty of rape, while the remaining ones were held guilty of robbery.
Harpreet Singh, Satyender Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Manish Kumar, belonging to cavalier guards of the elite PBG, were booked under various provisions of the IPC, dealing with gang rape, abduction and attempt to commit robbery.
The victim, 17, a student of a Delhi University college, had gone with her boyfriend Ashish to the park near Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 6, 2003, and was allegedly raped by Harpreet and Satyender while the other two accused Kuldeep and Manish kept guard, the prosecution said.
The prosecution had examined 25 witnesses, including the victim and her friend Ashish.

Water Crises May Harmful For Indian’s Economics Boom

2009-08-14T10:38:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Rocketing domestic use and farm irrigation have seriously damaged India’s groundwater supply, and drinking water may become scarce, according to a study released on Wednesday.
The study of three states in northwest India, including the capital New Delhi, found that water was being extracted at an unsustainable rate as the region undergoes rapid economic development.
Water shortages are a growing concern in the country, with this year’s monsoon so far delivering only a fraction of the rainfall needed by farmers to save their crops.
Satellite and land data between 2002 and 2008 showed that the groundwater level was being depleted by about four centimetres a year, said the report by three US scientists and published in Nature magazine.
The extraction in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana was the equivalent to 109 cubic kilometres (26 cubic miles) of groundwater — far more than government estimates.
“The consequences for the 114 million residents of the region may include a reduction of agriculture output and shortages of potable (drinking) water, leading to extensive economic stresses,” the study’s authors said.
They said population growth, irrigation and development had put pressure on water supplies across India, where groundwater management is poor, and added that shortages could trigger social conflict.
In the short-term, the government this week warned that 80 percent of the country was threatened by drought due to the weak monsoon.
India’s hundreds of million farmers rely on the annual rains to soak the rock-hard earth and turn it into fertile soil.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh moved to quash fears of hunger, saying that grain stores were adequate after two years of good harvests.
The study was conducted by Matthew Rodell of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Isabella Velicogna and James Famiglietti of the University of California.

Swine Flu Shuffle India With 12 Deaths In Pune Toll Increases To 19

2009-08-13T22:34:00.000+06:00

INDIA, PUNE: An eleven-month-old boy and a 75-year-old woman died in Pune, taking the toll in Pune, severely hit by the virus, to 12 and across thecountry to 19.
The boy, Rutwik Kamle was admitted first to a private hospital and then shifted to government-run Sassoon Hospital last evening in a serious condition, official sources said. He died early on Thursday morning.
Bharti Goyal, who was suffering from the viral infection, died in KEM Hospital here, they said.
With this, the number of flu deaths here has risen to 12 and across the country to 19. Besides the Pune deaths, one person each has succumbed to the virus in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Nashik, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram and two in Mumbai.
Ten people last night tested positive for swine flu in Gujarat, taking the total number of those afflicted by the disease countrywide to 1,203.
While Pune remained the worst-hit area by the disease with 61 new cases being reported from the city, Gujarat’s 10 new cases took the number of those infected to 27 in the state.
“All test results that were pending have come and according to them, 10 more people, including three women, have tested positive for swine flu,” Gujarat principal secretary health Ravi Saxena said.
The figures include five from Ahmedabad, four from Surat and one from Navsari, Saxena said. In Navsari, a 14-year-old boy has been infected by the virus. According to the available data, a total of 125 fresh cases have been reported, taking the total number of those afflicted to 1,203.
Besides the western region, flu cases were reported from Mumbai (24), Kolkata (3), Bangalore (10), Shillong (1), Goa (1), Delhi (8) and Hyderabad (3).
In Shillong, the 17-year-old male patient had travelled to the UK.
In Bangalore, all of the 10 cases had contracted the virus in the country and had no foreign travel history. Goa also reported one indigenous case. All the eight patients in Delhi and three in Hyderabad had acquired the infection in India.

Three US and Two FBI Officers Are Give Testimony In 26/11 Trail

2009-08-12T13:10:00.001+06:00

MUMBAI: Three US nationals are expected to give their testimony in the 26/11 terror attack case through videoconferencing while two FBI officersare likely to appear in person before the special court here on Wednesday.
“Two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers are also likely to appear in person to tender evidence,” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.
The services of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have been requisitioned to provide infrastructure to enable the court to hold videoconferencing for deposition of the US nationals in the Mumbai attack case, Nikam said.
The identities of the witnesses have been kept secret for security reasons, the prosecutor said.
At least four screens would be put up in the court which is housed in the high security central prison area located at Arthur Road in central Mumbai.
The witnesses would throw light on how the ten terrorists including the lone surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab were in touch with their handlers in Pakistan through mobile phones, Nikam said.
Two FBI officials are also expected to appear in person for deposition as witnesses, the prosecutor said.
This is for the first time that witnesses from abroad are deposing in a terror attack case, Nikam said.
After the 26/11 terror attacks, in which 166 persons including six Americans were killed, FBI had also conducted a probe and collected clinching evidence which would be placed before the trial court here.
FBI sleuths would tell the court how the Mumbai terror attacks were planned and executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba and its commanders.
They would also throw light on from where the Global Positioning System was activated and how during the terror attacks the terrorists were in constant touch with their handlers in Pakistan, Nikam said.
The case of the prosecution is that some terrorists had sought instructions from wanted accused based in Pakistan through voice over internet protocol (VOIP) in New Jersey, USA.
The Mumbai police had sought the services of FBI on this aspect.

Dryness Of Soil Decrease Then Previous Years: Pranab

2009-08-12T01:48:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: A quarter of India’s districts are facing the threat of drought and sowing of crops are 20 percent lower than the previous year,finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday.
India is heavily dependent on the June to September monsoon rains for farm output, to help rural income and to drive economic growth. After the driest June in 83 years, the annual rains have been more than a quarter below below normal this season.
“Monsoon situation is still erratic,” Mukherjee told reporters. “One hundred and sixty one districts have been declared drought-prone. So far as sowing is concerned, 20 percent would be down,” he said.
India has 604 districts. The rain deficit since June 1 worsened to 28 percent at the weekend, raising fears that the season may turn out to be as bad as 2004 when summer crop output fell 12 percent after a drought. The rains are vital for sugarcane, oilseeds and other crops.
Mukherjee said the government was ready to manage a drought and a contingency plan was also in place. “Of course, always there is a contingency plan,” the minister said. “There is no point of pressing the panic button because you will go and start chanting drought, drought, drought and it will have an adverse impact,” he said.
Among measures the government could take to mitigate the situation are to raise imports and curtail exports. It has already stepped up efforts to buy more sugar and has banned wheat exports and restricted rice shipments.
“Fortunately, Punjab and Haryana have extensively used the ground water. Bihar and certain other states, there are shortfalls,” Mukherjee said.
Asked whether the shorfall in rains would affect India’s growth, he said he expected the economy to expand more than 6 percent in 2009/10, as predicted by the central bank. Asia’s third largest economy expanded 6.7 percent in the last fiscal year, sharply lower than the 9 percent or more it grew in the previous three years, as the global economic crisis took a toll. Mukherjee was also confident that direct tax receipts for the 2009/10 fiscal year would be surpassed.

Swine Flue Gradually Rocked India Death Toll Rises To 10

2009-08-11T21:44:00.002+06:00

NEW DELHI: A seven-year-old girl in Vadodara in Gujarat and a 63-year-old woman in Maharashtra died of the swine flu virus on Tuesday Swine flu test afternoon.
The deceased identified as Sayeeda Dorjeewala from Mumbra, in neighbouring Thane district, was admitted in Noor hospital in Mumbai on August 6.
She had tested positive for H1N1 and was also suffering from some other complications, according to the Disaster Management Cell of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
Famida Panwala, 53, was the first casualty of swine flu in Mumbai. With Sayeeda’s death the number of fatalities in Maharashtra has risen to seven.
A seven-year-old girl also succumbed to swine flu in the government-run Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad (SSG) Hospital in Vadodara today, hospital authorities said.
With this, two persons have died due to swine flu in Gujarat.
“Seven-year-old Arya Borde, who was admitted to the SSG hospital on last Wednesday died today afternoon,” the hospital’s medical superintendent Atul Saxena said.
“She (Arya) was admitted in a critical condition. Her samples were sent to the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi where it turned out to be positive,” he said.
Principal Secretary, Health, Ravi Saxena said,” Arya was administered Tamiflu after being admitted to SSG hospital. There was no history of foreign contact.”
“She was on ventilator support since August 7. She had no viral pneumonitis patch until August 9. The results of H1N1 was confirmed on August 8. She became critical today morning and passed away at around 12.30 hours,” Saxena said.
The first death in Gujarat due to H1N1 virus was of 43-year-old Praveen Patel, an NRI based in Atlanta, US, in the civil hospital on Sunday.
Shruti Gawde (13), who died at the Sassoon Hospital in Pune had become the eight victim of the deadly virus early on Tuesday.

Indian Student Beaten In OZ With Baseboll Bat

2009-08-10T20:48:00.001+06:00

INDORE: A youth from Indore has now become the latest victim of racial attack in Australia.The victim, identified as Mohit Mangal, a resident of Old Palasia locality here, was attacked by four Australian youths around 1.30 am (IST) yesterday night while he was on his way to a shopping mall in Sydney.
Mohit, who works as a mall supervisor, was attacked from behind with a beer bottle on his head and beaten up with a baseball bat on his waist and leg by the four youths, sources said.
Confirming the incident, Mohit’s father Anil Mangal, who runs an automobile business here, said the condition of Mohit was out of danger.
“My son had no enmity with anyone there and the incident, it appears, might be a continuation of ongoing racial attacks on Indian students in Australia’, Anil said.
Mohit had gone to Australia about two years back to pursue his study in BE. This was the fourth incident of racial attack on Indian students in Australia after Union External Affairs Minister S M Krishna’s visit to that country.

Swine Flu’s Next Victims Pune Doctor and Chennai Boy

2009-08-10T13:46:00.000+06:00

PUNE/CHENNAI: A 35-year-old ayurvedic doctor and a four-year-old boy died of swine flu in Pune and Chennai on Monday morning, taking the toll dueSwine flu virus test Children along with their parents wait outside a hospital to get tested for H1N1 virus in Pune. (PTI)to the dreaded viral infection in the country to six.The medic, Babasahib Mane, died in the Sasoon Hospital in Pune becoming the third person in the worst-hit Maharashtra city to succumb to swine flu, a senior health official said.
Mane was ailing for sometime and blood had been found in his sputum in the last couple of days, he said.
In Chennai, a four-year-old boy, who was admitted to a private hospital with kidney and liver-related complications and had tested positive for swine flu, died on Monday, health officials said. The boy had also been suffering from asthma. This is the first case of flu death in the city.
“The boy was in a very critical condition. He had been suffering from asthma and he had been taken from one hospital to another for various complications. Ultimately he landed up in this hospital for a kidney-related problem…and they found the boy testing positive (for swine flu),” Tamil Nadu Health Secretary V K Subburaj said.
The boy, who was on a ventilator, died following “multiple organ failure,” S Ilango, Director of Public Health, said.
With the two deaths on Monday, the swine flu toll in the country has climbed to six.

More H1N1 Victims Admitted In Pune Hospital

2009-08-07T22:51:00.001+06:00

PUNE: A 35-year-old man was admitted to the Sassoon hospital on Thursday night after his blood samples tested positive for H1N1 virus. The man, who reportedly had a history of rheumatic heart disease, was shifted there from a private hospital in Hadapsar area and was put on ventilator, Dr R R Pardeshi, Civic Medical Officer, said. He is reportedly in critical condition but stable.
The patient was seen in civic Naidu Hospital where this throat swabs were taken for H1N1 testing and then taken back to Nobel Hospital in an ambulance. After his blood samples tested positive for swine flu at National Institute of Virology (NIV) yesterday, he was immediately taken to the isolation ward of Sassoon General Hospital, Pardeshi said.
Dr Pardeshi said the patient had no information on “contributory history” of infection, meaning there was no known positive contact responsible for transmission.
In another case, a doctor attached to a private hospital here was admitted to the Sassoon general hospital here this morning after he tested positive for swine flu, hospital officials said on Friday.
The doctor who worked with Inlaks hospital in camp area had been kept in ICU in a quarantined ward, according to the civic medical officer.
India recorded its first fatality on Monday, when 14-year-old Rida Shaikh succumbed to swine flu in Pune. The family has blamed two private hospitals in the city for her death due to gross negligence and has filed criminals complaints against doctors of the two hospitals.

Uttar Pradesh Cong Penal Meeting On Quite Tame Affair

2009-08-07T16:53:00.000+06:00

LUCKNOW: Going by all the publicity blitz and hype, UPCC Coordination Committee’s meeting on Thursday turned out to be quite a tame affair.Contrary to the expectations of partymen that special invitee Rahul Gandhi would be unfurling the blueprint of the much mentioned Mission 2012 , the three-hour jamboree proved to be nothing but a mix of staid rhetorics about “revamping the organisationa l structure and need for concerted launch against the communal and fissiparous forces”.
The star of the show — Rahul Gandhi — mostly played the part of a good listener. The young MP, insiders said, spoke sparingly. But he did spring a few surprises like meeting the MLAs on one to one basis rather than calling them en block. MLAs reportedly sputtered and faltered like school children facing the Gandhi scion who earnestly demanded to know the burning issues facing their constituency.
After deliberations and exchange of thoughts, two major resolutions were passed by the committee.

Indian Students Are Going to Be Safe in Australia: Krishna

2009-08-06T17:46:00.001+06:00

Sydney: India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, the first senior minister to visit Australia since the recent spurt in attacks on Indian students, said here today that he was satisfied with the steps taken by authorities here to ensure the safety of the students.Indians are “by and large most welcome in Australia”, Krishna observed, according to an online media.
Krishna met New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees about violence and difficulties faced by Indian students. Later he said he was happy with what he has heard from the premier.
“Indians by and large are most welcome in Australia,” media quoted him as saying.
Krishna says he does not believe that Australia is a racist nation, adding that he was satisfied with the reassurance he received and will return to India with the premier’s message.
“Indian students are going to be safe in Australia,” he said.
At least 19 Indian students have been brutally attacked in Melbourne and Sydney, with the first attack in the recent spurt taking place on May 9.
Besides the attacks, an education and migration scam has been exposed and a college, where many students are Indian, has shut down, putting a question mark on their future.
Krishna is expected to meet Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith on Friday.

3 Sentenced to Death for 2003 Mumbai Blasts

2009-08-06T01:45:00.000+06:00

NEW DELHI: Six years after the twin blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar, which left 53 people dead, a special POTA Court in Mumbai has sentenced three convicted persons – Mohammed Hanif Sayed, his wife Fahimida and Ashrat Shafique Ansari – to death.Earlier, POTA Judge M R Puranik had convicted Ashrat Ashrat Ansari (32), Hanif Sayed Anees (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43).
They had been convicted under various Sections of the IPC for conspiracy, murder and attempt to murder, Sections of the POTA, the Explosive Substances Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
On August 25, 2003, two bombs left in taxis exploded in south Mumbai – the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar in the busy Kalbadevi area, killing 52 people and wounding more than a hundred others.
The attacks were carried out to “avenge” the deaths of Muslims during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Bill Of Judges’ Assets Table in Parliament Today

2009-08-05T23:57:00.001+06:00

New Delhi: Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily will on Monday introduce in Parliament a bill making it mandatory for high court and Supreme Court judges to disclose their assets to the President every year.
Named ‘The Judges (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Act, 2009’, the bill would however keep the judges’ disclosures confidential under normal circumstances and would be out of the ambit of the RTI Act. They can be accessed and made public only in special circumstances, like in case of any probe into judicial misconduct or impropriety against a judge.
A senior Law Ministry official, however, said that the proposed law envisages disclosure of assets by judges to their respective chief justices.
The high court judges would disclose their assets to their respective chief justices, while the apex court judges would give annually the details of their assets to the Chief Justice of India, who, in turn would forward it to the President along with the details of their own assets.
After its introduction in Parliament, the bill is likely to be referred to a Parliamentary panel for detailed examination.
The process of enacting the law to ensure greater transparency about the judges’ assets was set in motion after a query posed to the Supreme Court registry seeking disclosure of the assets of the apex court judges.
The query had been posed under India’s new transparency law, the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
As the apex court registry refused to divulge the information, the registry’s decision was challenged before the Central Information Commission, which ruled on January 6, 2009 in favour of the applicant.
The apex court subsequently went in appeal before the Delhi High Court challenging the CIC ruling. The lawsuit is still pending at the high court.
But amid the mounting criticism of the judiciary’s reluctance to disclose the judges’ assets, Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan has agreed to ask judges to disclose their assets in case the government wants it and make a law for it.
With the judiciary shedding its reluctance on this matter, the government finally decided to enact the law for the purpose.

UN Literacy Award Won By Rural Indian Women Produced Newpaper

2009-08-05T23:56:00.001+06:00

UNITED NATIONS: A newspaper produced entirely by women in rural India is among the four winners of this year’s Literacy Prizes awarded by theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
Khabar Lahariya, the fortnightly newspaper distributed to more than 20,000 readers in Uttar Pradesh, is entirely created and marketed by newly literate “low caste” women who are training as journalists in Chitrakoot and Banda districts.
The King Sejong Literacy Prize was given to this fortnightly paper, started by Nirantar — a centre for gender and education based in New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
In 1989, the Unesco’s King Sejong Literacy Prize was instituted by South Korea. It is named after Sejong the Great of the 14th century who created the Korean alphabet Hangul and is remembered for his contribution to education in the areas of science, technology and literature. Each winner is awarded $20,000.
Nirantar has developed a method of training women as journalists, which involves developing their literacy skills as well as honing their reporting abilities. This includes talking to public figures, gathering information and sharpening their editing skills.
The coverage of Khabar Lahriya includes politics, crime, social issues and entertainment for their readership that spans 400 villages in both districts of India’s most populous state.
The publication began in May 2002 in Chitrakoot and a second edition was launched in the adjoining Banda district in October 2006, according to the NGO’s website. It is written in the local dialect Bundeli for its Bundelkhandi readership.
The other prizes given by Unesco in recognition of innovative programmes designed to teach women, adolescents and other marginalised populations how to read and write, went to programmes in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso and the Philippines.
The Pashai Language Development Project in Afghanistan provides literacy, livelihood, public health and nutrition education to about 1,000 ethnic minority Pashai men and women annually.
An honourable mention also went to a programme in Bhutan for its holistic approach to literacy and its success in reaching remote areas, with an emphasis on literacy as an integral part of the country’s “Gross National Happiness” as well as its focus on adults and out-of-school youth, particularly women and girls.
The theme for this year’s awards was “Literacy and Empowerment” and the laureates were proclaimed by Unesco Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura on the recommendation of an international jury.
The award ceremony will be held at Unesco Headquarters in Paris Sep 8 to coincide with International Literacy Day.

Sentencing Postponed on 2003 Mumbai Bombers

2009-08-04T17:47:00.001+06:00

MUMBAI: An Indian judge on Tuesday adjourned sentencing on three people found guilty of planting bombs that killed 52 people in Mumbai in 2003, as the prosecutor pushed for the death penalty.Judge M.R. Puranik, sitting at a special anti-terror court in the city, deferred judgement on Haneef Sayyed, his wife Fahmeeda and Ashrat Ansari until Thursday after hearing arguments from their lawyers.
All three were convicted of a string of charges last week, including murder and attempted murder, after two bombs exploded at the Gateway of India monument and the Zaveri Bazaar jewellery quarter on August 25, 2003.

Hafiz Saeed Trial Acid Test for Pakistan: Krishna

2009-08-04T17:22:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s real test that it is acting against India-specific terror will come when it acts “decisively” against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna has said.
In an interview with Times of India, Krishna indicated that foreign secretaries’ talks would be “futile” if Pakistan did not create a “favourable” atmosphere.
The sentiment is a marked departure by India from the Indo-Pak joint statement that said foreign secretaries would meet “as often as necessary”.
“Unless they address our concerns on terror and as the PM put it, create a favourable atmosphere for talks, talks will be futile. For any talks you have to build a favourable atmosphere, trust needs to be built up.”
“In its absence, regardless of how many times the PMs or foreign ministers meet or foreign secretaries meet, it will have no impact. Pakistan should address our terror concerns, move decisively against those people named by India, and then tackle them accordingly. This will be the first indication to the government of India that they are moving decisively to tackle terror,” the minister said.
Asking Pakistan to “come clean”, Krishna said, “We have provided, according to our judgment and assessment, enough evidence to punish anybody for terror-related activities. We know for a fact that Hafiz Saeed is the mastermind of Mumbai attacks. We also know that UN Security Council has passed a resolution where Hafiz Saeed has been named a terrorist.” Equating the al-Qaida and LeT, Krishna said he saw a pattern in their targeting of India.
“The al-Qaida and LeT are all different names but they work in tandem for the same purpose ? to destabilise India and divert our attention from the path of development. I’m afraid the whole exercise of these terror activities from Pakistan is to divert us from our progress,” he said.
“We should put them on notice,” the foreign minister added. “We want Pakistan to bring the same kind of seriousness that they are employing against the Taliban in Swat to the terrorists against India.”

Lok Sabha Postponed Ambani Case Over Gas Allocation Issue

2009-08-03T17:21:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Government’s statement over the dispute between the Ambani brothers over gas allocation to the Dadri power project led to an uproar by Samajwadi Party members in the Lok Sabha leading to its adjournment for two hours.
The SP members stormed the well dissatisfied over the government’s response to their demand for gas allocation to Anil Ambani-promoted Dadri power plant in Uttar Pradesh from the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL’s D-6 gas field in the Krishna- Godavari basin.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora’s assertion that the government has “nothing to do with the private dispute of two industrialists” and that Ambani’s Dadri project, for which gas has been sought, was “neither installed nor functional”, led to protests from SP members.
As Deora read out his statement, Congress members from Andhra Pradesh were on their feet seeking to know about gas allocation to their state.
Efforts by Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal to pacify them did not succeed, leading to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee telling them that Deora’s statement concerned only the issues raised by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Govt Amending In Armed Forces Special Powers Act: Chidambaram

2009-08-02T15:39:00.000+06:00

NEW DELHI: The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is being amended and the government is looking at limiting the application of the legislation to some areas, Home Minister P Chidambaram said here Saturday.
Chidambaram said that the Centre would have to take a decision on restricting the application of the controversial Act in some areas. The Act is currently enforced in Jammu and Kashmir and some parts of the Northeast.
“The AFSPA amendments are getting ready,” he told reporters at a monthly press briefing here.
Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have been demanding repeal of AFSPA contending that they give unfettered powers to armed forces, whom they accuse of high-handedness.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also demanded withdrawal of the Act from the state and there have been deliberations with the armed forces over the issue.
“At the moment, we are looking at the amendments to the AFSPA. I cannot disclose the nature of the amendments because that has to go through the Cabinet process.
“We are also looking at limiting the application of the AFSPA to some areas,” Chidambaram said in response to a question over withdrawal of the Act from Jammu and Kashmir.
“That (limiting the application) is the goal over a period of time. In consultation with the state government, we will have to take a look at that,” he said.
On the issue of withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from some of the districts in Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Minister said the ministry was looking at possible amendments to the Act “to limit its application”.
“We promised to revisit the subject after the elections.
At the moment we are looking at the amendments to AFSPA. I cannot disclose the initial amendments because it has to go through the cabinet process,” Chidambaram said.
He said, “We are also looking at limiting the application of AFSPA in some areas. But that will evolved over a period of time”.

16 Walk Free For Kandhmal Riots

2009-08-02T15:38:00.001+06:00

BHUBANESWAR: A fast-track court in Kandhmal has acquitted 16 persons accused in the ethno-communal riots that swept the southern Orissa districtlast year, killing over 40, rendering thousands homeless and damaging over 100 churches.
The fast-track court (II), set up exclusively to deal with the riot cases, on Friday exonerated 16 persons of Gocchapada area on grounds of lack of evidence. The charges against the 16 ranged from murder, setting a police station on fire, possession of arms and unlawful assembly, official sources said. Those acquitted hail from different villages in Gochapada area, which witnessed an attack on the local police station in September, 2008.

Chawla Murder Case, Cops Arrested 4 Accused

2009-07-31T04:24:00.000+06:00

New Delhi: Delhi Police on Thursday arrested four youths in connection with the sensational case of kidnapping and murder of Class XI student Ribu Chawla.
The arrested were identified as Rishi, Mani, Rocky and Gaurav. All the accused are aged between 19 and 21 years. The accused are said to be friends of Ribu and residents of the same locality in Vikaspuri as Ribu.
Police has also recovered the Wagon R car, which was used for the kidnapping.
Police have recovered the mobile phone of the victim used by the kidnappers to make the ransom calls and the car used in the crime.
Investigators had yesterday said that they suspect that those involved in the kidnapping might be known to the family and they killed Ribu as they feared being identified and caught.
Ribu Chawla (16), student of K R Mangalam School, was Tuesday kidnapped from near his school in Vikaspuri.
The kidnappers had approached the family asking for a ransom of Rs 20 lakh. However, within hours his body was found in an isolated spot in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area with his throat slit.

RNRL Plea For Final Hearing Refected By Supreme Court

2009-07-31T02:22:00.000+06:00

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to take up a gas dispute between Reliance Industries and RNRL for final hearing on September 1, rejecting the prayer of Anil Group company for expeditious proceedings.
A Bench headed Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said it will decide on the date of final hearing on September 1 when it will consider various petitions related to the dispute.
The RNRL prayer came up for mentioning and the company’s counsel Mukul Rohtagi requested that final hearing be taken up on September 1 as the entire Bombay High Court record was before the apex court and nothing was left to be filed.
“All parties are here,” he said, referring to Mukesh Ambani-led RIL, the government and gas users.
RIL counsel Harish Salve, however, questioned the need for early final hearing, saying “what public interest would this serve?”
The court enquired whether the petitioner wanted interim arrangement on the September 1 or the final order, Rohtagi said that RNRL was not looking for interim arrangement.
At this point Salve requested the court that there should be complete silence from all parties as people are going to the media.
Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran said the government also wanted early resolution of the dispute.
The court said it will try to give an early date but the first week of September is not possible.
Seeking early resolution to the gas supply dispute involving Mukesh Ambani led RIL and Oil Ministry, Anil Ambani yesterday said that his group firm RNRL would approach the Supreme Court for final hearing on September one.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on September 1 cross-appeals by both Ambani group firms, as also a petition by the Petroleum Ministry against a Bombay High Court order that asked RIL to supply gas to RNRL at USD 2.34 per mmBtu against the officially prescribed USD 4.2 per mmBtu.

Manmohan Singh Breaks New Path In Indo-Pak Relations

2009-07-30T11:25:00.002+06:00

The worst fears of some of us have now been confirmed. Pakistani society, politicians and media has always been talking about the involvement of Indian intelligence agency RAW in fomenting trouble inside Pakistan . First it was in Sindh, particularly in Karachi . Now people say there is no doubt about Indian involvement in Balochistan and some say that RAW is also supporting Baitullah Mehsud in NWFP. Questions are being raised on unusually high number of Consulate offices opened by India in Afghanistan . The involvement of CIA and Mossad is also not ruled out. There is a speculation that Baitullah Mehsud could not have survived for so long since the US drone attacks began if it was not for the support of one or more of foreign intelligence agencies and/or military help.
Asif Ali Zardari has now openly admitted that the Talibans are creation of Pakistan . The terror that Pakistan exported has now come back to it. Until it was limited to NWFP it was not seen as a major problem. But now that it has the potential of taking over Islamabad , Rawalpindi and Lahore even the military and intelligence which were not too keen on taking on the home grown terrorists have been forced, partly because of US pressure but primarily due to threat it poses to them, reluctantly but decisively to come around to confront them. When Zardari makes a bold statement he obviously has the approval of military and intelligence.
The terrorist groups in Af-Pak region whether al-Qaeda, Taliban or Lashkar-e-Toiba were propped up by the US and Pakistani governments. They received arms & ammunition, money and training from military professionals. The association of terrorist groups with Pakistani government during the military regime was so close that some former military officials are part of terrorist set ups and terrorists have infiltrated the Pakistani establishment. One reason why the governments, whether Punjab or Federal, in Pakistan is reluctant to take action against Hafiz Saeed, the LeT founder, is that he can become a cause of much embarrassment for the establishment there if he decides to open his mouth.
But the question is after the present Pakistani establishment has made up its mind to confront the terrorist groups and US has relentlessly pursued the terrorists even going to the extent of launching attacks inside the sovereign territory of Pakistan, how are the terrorists holding fort? One would assume that the lot which was trained to fight the Russians would be old enough to be combatants now. So, even if there is supply of money from Saudi Arabia or somewhere or plenty of drug trafficking money is available, and there are youth from central Asia, southern Punjab (Pakistani) and from all around the world ready to be trained as jehadis who is providing them the training in use of modern methods of warfare? Is CIA playing a double game? Peace in the area would make the justification of US military presence in the region untenable. And it is no secret that US wants to be involved not only in the Af-Pak region but also in Kashmir . We’re not talking about George Bush. We’re talking about Barack Obama. Even before Obama’a victory results became public he had already announced his intention of appointing a Kashmir aide. Why on earth is an uninitiated US President interested more in Kashmir than his own country?
But what would be disturbing for most educated self-righteous middle class Indians, who have always seen India as a peaceful country and Pakistan as source of all trouble, is the revelation that India could have a role in instigating violence inside Pakistan . The joint bilateral statement issued from Sharm-el-Sheikh has reference to Pakistan having information on threats to Balochistan. Pakistan sees it as diplomatic victory. The response in India is that of shock, especially from the hawks. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has displayed rare courage and insight in saying that he is willing to discuss any issue with Pakistan . He has also encouraged Pakistan to take action against perpetrators of November 26, 2008, incident in Mumbai without linking it to resumption of composite dialogue. As a leader of the senior (in terms of experience with democracy) and bigger nation only he could have been expected to be magnanimous. And he has lived up to his role. He has breached the parochial approach which constrains progress on India-Pakistan official relations.
Manmohan Singh has merely acknowledged something which is common knowledge in Pakistan . But Pakistan will have to provide concrete proof of RAW’s involvement in Balochistan or elsewhere in Pakistan just like India has done in the case of Mumbai incident. But this is only a trivial matter. It is an open secret that ISI and RAW have been working at cross purposes.
What Manmohan Singh has achieved as a statesman is that he has set out to define a new paradigm in which India-Pakistan relations will be discussed. For the first time in the history of the two nations he has laid the grounds for India and Pakistan to work together to solve the common problems, including that of terrorism. The US has already given an indication of this by asking India to provide help to Pakistan . And why not? If India can develop close ties with Afghanistan and provide financial help to it and Pakistan can derive help from the US , India and Pakistan , if they can shed their historical baggage, can cooperate as friendly neighbours. Pakistan , where receiving US aid is a government policy now, can enjoy a more democratic relationship with India . Can we conceive of RAW and ISI working together, like both of them have a working relationship with CIA, to root out terrorism from the region? Pakistan , being the smaller and more insecure of the two nations, would warn up to India only if it feels comfortable. The long adversarial relationship between the two has dried up all the trust. Manmohan Singh has certainly made Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan feel that they can do business with India .

CBI Clear To Omar Abdullah Over Sex Scandle Case

2009-07-30T06:24:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: A day after Omar Abdullah resigned as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir following a sensational allegation of his involvement inthe 2006 sex scandal, pandemonium broke out once again in the state assembly on Wednesday with members of the opposition PDP demanding a judicial probe into Omar’s involvement into the scandal.
Just moments after the Speaker tabled CBI’s report which clears Omar’s name, members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) along with the chief Mehbooba Mufti alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was covering up for Omar Abdullah. Tearing the CBI’s letter that denies his involvement in the scandal and throwing it across the floor, Mufti created scenes of ruckus in the assembly, as she said, “CBI is covering up, we want a judicial probe.”
Earlier today, Speaker Akbar Lone said he had received a communication from the CBI to this effect. “Yes, I have received a letter from CBI director (Ashwani Kumar) stating that neither the chief minister nor Farooq Abdullah were involved in the sex scandal,” he said.
“…It is clarified that nine chargesheets have been filed in connection with RC(S)2006/SCR/III in competent courts against 17 persons. The name of Omar Abdullah does neither figure nor that of Farooq Abdullah in the list of accused persons chargesheeted in the case,” Lone quoted the CBI communication as saying.
The National Conference (NC) has moved a privilege motion against senior PDP leader Muzaffar Beig after he on Tuesday made the sensational allegation that the J&K chief minister was involved in the Srinagar sex scandal.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah resigned on Tuesday following the allegation and pressed for its acceptance if there is any basis in the charge.
Stunned by the allegation levelled by former deputy chief minister and PDP leader Beig, an angry and emotional Omar immediately announced his decision to resign till he was cleared of the “blemish” and shortly afterwards drove to the Raj Bhawan and tendered his resignation to Governor N N Vohra.
Meanwhile, members of PDP and NC clashed outside the J&K assembly after ruckus erupted today. Security forces were rushed in to take stock of the situation and control the agitating members.

Manmohan Singh to Clarify on Pak-India Joint Statement Today

2009-07-29T17:19:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will on Wednesday defend the joint statement with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani agreeing to de-link the issue of terrorism from future composite dialogue.
The joint statement issued after the two leader met in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt on July 16 also had a reference to Balochistan, where Pakistan accuses India of fomenting an insurgency. New Delhi denies the charge.
Although, the Indian PM sees it as part of the efforts to improve ties with Pakistan but the opposition has been gunning for him, calling the joint statement as a ‘sell out’ to Islamabad.
Opposition parties including the BJP and Left saw the statement as a departure from New Delhi’s stand that a resumption of dialogue could only take place if Pakistan acted against the militants it believed were behind last year’s Mumbai attacks.
Singh appeared at a new conference shortly afterwards, ruling out resumption of talks with Pakistan until the Mumbai attackers were brought to justice. But critics said the damage had been done.
The BJP slammed the government both inside and outside Parliament, with its leader L K Advani saying the government had “capitulated” and conceded too much and led a walkout of his party in the Lok Sabha.
“The Prime Minister must answer why he agreed to a joint statement that disrupts a national consensus that dialogue cannot resume against Pakistan unless strong measures against militants are taken,” Sushma Swaraj, BJP’s leader in Lok Sabha said.
The CPI(M) said there was “new confusion” now after action on terror was de-linked from dialogue, while the CPI supported the government saying there was no shift in India’s policy and that resumption of talks was important.
Ahead of the debate in Parliament, the Congress has closed ranks behind him on the approach to Pakistan.
“There is no issue at all. The party is firmly behind the prime minister,” Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also clarified that there was “no dilution” in India’s position.
But analysts said many members of party saw his policy on Pakistan as risky in a country where distrust of its nuclear-armed neighbour runs deep and any concession is viewed with suspicion.
“Privately there is enormous pressure from within the party on Manmohan Singh for signing that joint statement, but they will stick together as resuming peace talks with Pakistan is very much on the cards,” said Amulya Ganguli, a political analyst.
Both countries have broken off a four-year-long formal peace process after the attacks on Mumbai, which India blamed Pakistan-based militants were behind the attacks.
Islamabad denies state agencies had any role in the Mumbai attacks that killed 175 people and says it will prosecute those accused of involvement in the attacks.
But Pakistan wants India to return to peace talks without conditions such as action against Mumbai attack planners and militant groups.
The United States also wants the two sides to return to a dialogue so that Pakistan can concentrate on fighting the Taliban and al Qaida militants on its western borders.
Reflecting its continuing concerns over New Delhi, Pakistan said India’s launch of its first nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying ballistic missiles was “detrimental to regional peace and stability.

Bail Plea Of Shopian Case Of 2 Policemen will be Heard Today

2009-07-28T23:54:00.001+06:00

Srinagar: The bail applications of Jammu and Kashmir police officers Javed Iqbal Mattoo and Rohit Baskotra, arrested in connection with the sensational Shopian murder case, will come up for hearing on Monday at a court in Shopian.
The pleas of the two officers were moved yesterday before the Sessions Court by senior Supreme Court lawyer Asim Mehrotra who flew into Srinagar to argue the case on behalf of Mattoo and Baskotra.
The Public Prosecutor had sought three days time to reply to the bail pleas. However, it was countered by Mehrotra saying that the state had “illegally” arrested his clients and that too without any evidence.
Mehrotra also cited the apex court’s direction for the expeditious hearing of the bail pleas in the Shopian case relating to the rape and murder of two women.
The Supreme Court on Friday had taken exception to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court’s order to arrest four police officers, including Mattoo and Baskotra, in the case and overturned some key directions of the court in this regard.
A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam asked searching questions about the High Court’s order of July 15 directing the arrest of the officers and subjecting them to naraco-analysis tests and DNA profiling.

Young Journalist Threatened and Attacked In Australia

2009-07-28T13:53:00.000+06:00

MELBOURNE: A young Indian journalist was threatened and attacked after she went underground to reveal migration and education scams in Australia that try to defraud international students, including those from India.
The woman, working as a reporter with ABC TV, was threatened during the making of the programme ‘Four Corners’ and was attacked over the weekend.
In an article on its website, ABC said the reporter went to two different migration agents posing as a customer wanting to pass an English Language Test without having the skills and told them that she was willing to buy a fake work certificate.
She was able to do both if she paid between $3,000 and $5,000.
The attack assumes significance in the wake of a series of racially-motivated attacks on Indian students in Australian cities.
The report said it was not clear whether the migration agents or the colleges identified in the ‘Four Corners’ programme were behind either the threats or the attack.
“The programme, to be aired tonight (local time), will reveal several cases where international students, especially those from India, have lost thousands of dollars,” the article said.
ABC quoted Pushpinder Kaur, mother of Prabmeet Singh who spent over $40,000 on a flying course, as saying that that the family was now broke and her son still has no pilot’s licence.
“It is a fraud. We were shown so many rosy pictures about the school and it is not what it is really, it was just a scam. I think the government should be more alert in these type of matters because it is the career of the children which is at stake,” she said.
Many other Indian students have told the TV channel that the aviation college Aerospace Aviation has failed to deliver its promised 200 hours of flying time over 52 weeks.
However, Aerospace Aviation’s spokeswoman Sue Davis defended the training and questioned the level of commitment and dedication among the particular students.
Karl Konrad, an education and migration agent based in Sydney, said he has been aware of a black market in dodgy documents for years.
“I had many students come to my offices and say, ‘oh I can buy letters for USD 3,000 at particular restaurants’,” he said.
“They didn’t name the restaurants, but I was getting many of these type of stories. [So] we sent that information to the Immigration department and they in turn thanked us for the information and said they would pass it on to Trades Recognition Australia. Nothing ever became of that,” he said.

Indian Court Finds 3 Guilty in 2003 Mumbai Bombing

2009-07-27T17:36:00.001+06:00

MUMBAI: An Indian court on Monday found two Muslim men and a woman guilty in twin bombings that killed 52 people and wounded 100 in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai, six years ago.Two taxis carrying explosives blew up within minutes of each other Aug. 25, 2003, at the Gateway of India, a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront, and at a busy shopping complex.
Ashrat Shafiq Mohammed Ansari, Syed Mohammed Haneef Abdul Rahim and his wife Fahmeeda Syed Mohammed Haneef were arrested under anti-terrorism law shortly after the attacks.
The charges against the three included murder, conspiracy to kill and damaging public property. They had pleaded not guilty.
Judge M.R. Puranic said all three were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned, Pakistan-based militant group. The three denied involvement with the group.
The judge said the three would be sentenced in early August.
Ujjwal Nikam, the public prosecutor, said he will seek the death penalty for them.
Three others had been arrested in connection with the attacks but were released without any charges being filed.

Territorial Army Joined By Twin Martyr Kargil Heroes

2009-07-26T21:49:00.001+06:00

DRASS (JK): Back then he was in awe of his brother and Kargil martyr Captain Vikram Batra. Ten years on banker Vishal Batra has decided to join the Territorial Army as a tribute to his twin sibling.
Twenty four-year-old Vikram had laid down his life while recapturing the strategic 5140-point in the Tiger hill stretch from the Pakistani troops during the Kargil war in 1999.
“I want to enter the armed forces through Territorial Army (TA). This would be my way of paying tribute to my brother,” Vishal, who works with the ICICI, said on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Kargil Operation Vijay.
“Vikram completed his mission successfully before laying down his life. I miss him. But I am proud of him. He has made the family proud,” said Vishal who had appeared twice in exams for the armed forces but could not qualify.
Pakistani forces had taken positions in bunkers at a height of 17,000 feet on Peak 5140, the highest point on the Tololing Ridge and one of the most arduous and crucial in the Drass region.
Lt Batra and Capt Sanjeev Jamwal were ordered to recapture the peak on the night of June 19, 1999, about five weeks after the Kargil war began, said Commanding officer 13 Jammu and Kashmir rifles Col Gurpreet Singh after paying tributes at the war memorial here today.
According to Col Singh, the operation was too dangerous to be carried out during the day. Aware of the enemy’s vantage point, Lt Batra — who was later promoted to captain on the battlefield — decided to attack the enemy from the rear.
In the morning of June 20, 1999 Vikram and his troops captured 5140-point, which finally lead to the decisive fall of Tiger Hill and to India’s eventual victory.
“Vikram and his men assaulted the enemy,” Col Singh said adding that the camp was routed and many Pakistani soldiers killed.
All his men made it alive but Vikram, who led a brilliant operation in one of India’s toughest campaigns in mountain warfare, “died in a sniper shot”, he said.
During the war he became the face of the young Indian soldier who fought ferociously and died fearlessly. His code name was Sher Shah.
Vikram, who hailed from Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, was awarded Param Vir Chakra (PVC).

Manmohan’s Initiative On Pakistan Endorsed By Sonia

2009-07-26T21:37:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding the voices of dissent within the party, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has endorsed Prime Minister ManmohanSingh’s initiative on Pakistan and has conveyed this to senior leaders and ministers, party sources said here on Saturday.
The joint statement of the prime minister with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt last week was discussed at the Congress’ core committee meeting here Friday night.
According to the sources, Gandhi told the party leaders that the Congress should stand united on Manmohan Singh’s initiative and that she endorsed it. The prime minister, meanwhile, assured that the government would have all the answers on the India-Pakistan statement.
Several senior ministers, including former external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, are said to be upset over the joint statement seeking to delink terrorism from the composite dialogue between the two countries.
“Some ministers are particularly unhappy over the inclusion of Balochistan in the joint statement,” said a source. But party leaders have refused to go on record in view of the sensitivity of the issue.
The meeting was held at the prime minister’s residence and was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, among others.

Manmohan Singh to Launch Indigenous Nuclear Submarine

2009-07-26T13:14:00.001+06:00

New Delhi:Marking a quantum leap in India’s shipbuilding capabilities, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch the country’s first indigenously designed and built nuclear-powered attack submarine in Visakhapatnam. The submarine will be commissioned in the Indian Navy as INS Arihant, which translates as ‘destroyer of enemies,’ after extensive outfitting and sea trial.

No Indian Hand In Blochastan Situation: Home Minister

2009-07-26T11:35:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Aiming to stem the controversy over the inclusion of Balochistan in the India-Pakistan joint statement, home minister P Chidambaram has asserted that New Delhi has “nothing to do with Pakistan’s internal affairs”.
“We have nothing to do with Pakistan’s internal problems, why should we get involved?” Chidamabaram said in a TV interview.
He was replying to a question on the contentious move by India to allow a mention of “threats to Balochistan” in the joint statement which was issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt July 16.
Although Pakistan has been accusing India of fomenting trouble in its resource-rich southwest province for decades, this is the first time Balochistan has found mention in a joint statement between the two countries.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some experts have slammed the government for “conceding” to Pakistan on the Balochistan issue and have contended that its mention in the joint statement is tantamount to giving credibility to Pakistan’s allegations.
Manmohan Singh has, however, defended the move saying the joint statement was merely taking cognizance of what Pakistan said at the Egypt talks and stressed that India was ready to discuss the issue as it has nothing to hide.
At a meeting with senior party leaders here Friday evening, Congress president Sonia Gandhi backed the prime minister on the issue.
A recent Pakistani media report claimed that Islamabad had given to New Delhi a “dossier” about India’s involvement in Balochistan during talks at Sharm-el-Sheikh. Official sources here have vehemently denied the sharing of any such dossier.
“Our hands are clean. We have nothing to hide,” the sources said.
If Pakistan wants to bring up its “internal issue” in bilateral talks and internationalise Balochistan, India does not have any issue with it, the sources added.

Lalu raps Bihar CM over stripping of woman in Patna

2009-07-25T02:01:00.000+06:00

New Delhi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad today attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the alleged stripping of a girl in Patna saying “this exposes the claim of changing Bihar”.
“What happened is very bad. Draupadi has been stripped and the Chief Minister says he will probe the matter. What probe is required? The incident happened in a crowded area,” Prasad told reporters outside Parliament.
“What probe is being carried out? There should have been action. He should have acted,” Prasad said.
He added such incidents had taken place in the past as well.
“People have taken law into their hands in the state… Is this how Bihar is changing?” Prasad wondered.
A 22-year-old woman was allegedly stripped by a group of people in Patna yesterday.
The woman, a resident of Jasidih in Jharkhand, was allegedly engaged in flesh trade and had picked up a quarrel with one Rakesh, a suspected pimp, over sharing of money, police said.
She then took Rakesh’s mobile demanding more money.
Rakesh started shouting that she had stolen his mobile phone after which a group of people beat up the woman and allegedly tore her clothes.

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize Received By Bill Gates in India

2009-07-23T19:45:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Bill Gates, the founder of software giant Microsoft, is in India to receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on behalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that has been activelyworking here in the field of health and development, especially HIV/AIDS.
Gates will also meet Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad here on Friday.
According to officials at the foundation, he has a tightly packed schedule but the main focus of Gates’ visit is accepting the prize on behalf of the foundation.
“The foundation has been working actively on a range of issues, including HIV/AIDS. During his visit, therefore, he will highlight the key milestones of the foundation,” an official said.
In 2003, the foundation launched Avahan, a 10-year initiative to support India’s efforts to reduce the spread of HIV. To achieve this the foundation has been working with vulnerable communities like sex workers, drug injectors, and men having sex with men, among others, in six states of the country.

Former President APJ kalam Recieved Apology From Continental

2009-07-23T16:44:00.000+06:00

NEW DELHI: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam is “yet” to receive the apology from America’s Continental Airlines for breaching the protocol norms by frisking him at Delhi’s international airport.
“I have not yet received it,” said Kalam when asked about the apology sent by the airline.
On Wednesday, Continental Airlines had apologised to Kalam following a political uproar in the country over the frisking of the former President at Delhi’s international airport before he was to board a Newark-bound flight on April 21.
Asked whether he had felt insulted when he was subjected to the security check, Kalam, who is in Kochi, declined to comment, saying the issue has been discussed in Parliament.
When contacted, the airline today said it had sent the apology letter to Kalam’s Delhi office as directed by his official staff and since the former President was travelling, his staff may not have been able to communicate to him about the letter.
“We are waiting for him to return to Delhi so that we can apologise to the former president in person,” Aparna Srivastava, public relations officer of the airline, said.
“It is true that such a thing (frisking) has taken place,” Kalam told reporters in Kochi.
The former President said, “The issue has been discussed in both Houses of Parliament. It is before Parliament now. How can I comment?”
To a question if he was hurt by the incident, he quipped, “I am smiling.”

‘Go Ahead And Hang Me’: Ajmal Kasab

2009-07-22T23:25:00.002+06:00

MUMBAI: The sole surviving gunman of last year’s Mumbai attacks told the judge in his trial Wednesday that he was prepared to be put to death after making a dramatic confession of his role in the operation.In an exchange in open court, Judge M.L. Tahaliyani asked the defendant, Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab: “Do you want the world to punish you or God?”
“Please go ahead and hang me,” Kasab replied, “if that’s the punishment.”
His statement came as the court considered whether to accept Kasab’s sudden decision Monday to confess, in lengthy detail, to being one of the 10 militant gunmen who took part in the November attacks, which left 166 people dead and more than 300 injured.
His confession took the judge, prosecution and even his own lawyer by surprise. He had initially pleaded not guilty to 86 charges, including one of waging war against India.
If convicted, he faces a possible death sentence.
In his admission, Kasab told the court he had orders to take hostages at the city’s main railway station, where he and an accomplice opened fire and threw grenades, killing 52 and injuring more than 100 others.
The rail station assault was the bloodiest episode of the 60-hour reign of terror against multiple targets in south Mumbai.

Maoists Threaten to kill Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi

2009-07-22T23:14:00.001+06:00

RANCHI: India’s Maoist guerrillas on Tuesday threatened to kill Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ruling Congress party president Sonia Gandhi in what analysts said was the most aggressive threat yet from an increasingly lethal and widespread insurgency.The warning comes a month after the government listed the Communist Party of India (Maoists) as a terrorist group, and the prime minister declared them India’s largest internal security threat.
The Maoists targeted Singh and Gandhi, and invoked the memory of the 1991 assassination of her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in a suicide blast blamed on Sri Lanka’s now-defeated Tamil Tiger rebels.
“Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have dared to ban the Maoists, little realising that they would meet the fate of Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed by the LTTE (Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam),” a Maoist statement released in Hindi says.
India blamed the LTTE for killing Gandhi as revenge after a 1987-1990 Indian peacekeeping mission to Sri Lanka turned sour.
The statement, issued in the eastern state of Jharkand, also gave local Congress leaders a week to resign or “be taught a lesson”. Jharkand police and Congress officials said they were taking the threat seriously, while Singh’s office had no comment.
Sri Lanka crushed the LTTE in May after a 25-year war, in which the separatists had proved themselves ruthlessly efficient at killing politicians, police and other government officials to inspire fear, a tactic analysts say the Maoists have adopted.
“It is the boldest statement ever issued by them,” said Colonel R. Hariharan, a Chennai-based security analyst who led military intelligence during India’s peacekeeping mission to Sri Lanka.
“They are trying to assert themselves and becoming bolder and bolder and trying to get more visibility,” he said.
Hariharan said the Maoists used to get logistical support and explosives training from the LTTE.
The Maoists have increasingly spread out of their rural eastern strongholds and are active in nearly a third of the country’s 630 districts, up from a presence in less than a tenth of them in 2001, government and independent data shows.
They carry out hit-and-run attacks on police and extort money from businesses. In the mining state of Chhattisgarh, officials say they extort up to $60 million a year.
Earlier this month, Maoists ambushed and killed at least 29 police officers on patrol in the jungles, and counterinsurgency experts say police officers tackling the Maoists lack the proper training and equipment to be effective.

26/11 Trial Be Ended, Judge Will Decide Today

2009-07-21T23:56:00.001+06:00

Mumbai: A day after Pakistani gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab made a full confessional statement about his role in the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai, judge Tahaliyani will decide on Tuesday if sentence can now be pronounced or the trial should continue.
At noon on Monday, Pakistani gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab started making a full confessional statement about his role in the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai.
In an admission that was unexpected and lasted four and a half hours, Kasab gave minute details of how the attack was planned with the connivance of dozens of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives in Pakistan and how he and his partner Abu Ismail went on the rampage at CST station and neighbouring Cama Hospital. He named LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi as the mastermind of the plot who personally saw off the group at Karachi port.
The 21-year-old terrorist — the sole survivor among the 10 who arrived by sea from Pakistan — revealed that the gunmen had to sit tight in a house at Karachi for over 45 days after they had finished their training (TOI had reported on how the terror strike was earlier planned to coincide with the Ramzan period). They were given strict instructions not to even step out of the house or disobey any orders given by their LeT trainers. Kasab said that it was the same house that had been shown in a news report by Geo TV.
He also washed his hands of the killing of ATS chief Hemant Karkare, additional commissioner Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, saying it was his partner Abu Ismail who was responsible. He blamed another team member, Abu Shoaib for the murder of M V Kuber’s navigator Amar Singh Solanki between Porbander and Mumbai.
He placed a question mark over policeman Tukaram Ombale’s death at Marine Drive by saying that his own AK-47 had already been snatched from him by the policemen who pounced on him. “I did not get a chance to fire. I heard a lot of firing. The next thing I knew I was in the hospital,” Kasab said.
Another interesting revelation that Kasab made was that one of his LeT trainers called Abu Jundal was an Indian national and had taught the gunmen to speak Hindi. “Woh Hindustani hain,” he said.
Kasab’s confession will now be transcribed and a copy of it will be sent to his cell at Arthur Road Jail. He will be expected to read it and sign every page saying that he agrees with what is written. Only after that will judge Tahaliyani consider whether to agree to his plea to “end the trial and punish him”.
The admission of guilt came nearly eight months after Kasab was arrested as the lone surviving member of a group of ten terrorists who killed 166 people and injured over 300 in a terror attack that lasted nearly three days.
Police on Monday said Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab’s confession more or less matched with what had been stated in the chargesheet but, at the same time, pointed out some important differences.
Joint commissioner of police Rakesh Maria said: ‘‘Kasab mentioned a new name, that of Jundal. He named him as the person who had taught him Hindi in Muzzaffarabad, PoK, and said Jundal is of Indian origin.”
‘‘If you go through Kasab’s confession, it corroborates what we had told the court,’’ said additional commissioner of police Deven Bharti.
However, police said Kasab skipped or contradicted some key points in his earlier confession. He earlier confessed that his partner, Abu Ismail, kept the taxi driver engaged in talks while he placed the bomb under the driver’s seat. The bomb later went off at Kandivli.

Kasab Confesses in Court

2009-07-21T16:06:00.001+06:00

MUMBAI: A lone surviving Mumbai attack gunman pleads guilty on Monday, admitting his part in the atrocity for the first time, Indian media reports said.Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 21, told a special prison court — where he had originally pleaded not guilty — that he wanted to confess, before narrating how the attack were carried out.
“I want to confess my crime,” he told the court. “Yes, I did it.”
Kasab’s lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, was unaware that his client was going to take such action.Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters that Kasab had “stood up and informed the court that he was willing to confess.”
A total of 166 people died and more than 300 others were wounded when 10 heavily armed gunman attacked sites across south Mumbai, including luxury hotels, the city’s main railway station, a restaurant and a Jewish centre.

Hillary Clinton Meets Manmohan Singh

2009-07-20T16:04:00.000+06:00

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is understood to have discussed terrorism and Pakistan, besides ways to enhance bilateral relations. Ms. Clinton, who is on a five-day visit to India, met Dr. Singh at his office in 7 Race Course Road here. She was accompanied by US Ambassador-designate Timothy Roemer among others. The US Secretary of State will also meet External Affairs Minister S M Krishna during which the two sides are expected to look at ways to take the strategic ties to a new level. A few pacts, including the End User Verification agreement in defence field, under which the US would be able to supply sensitive military equipment, are expected to be signed after the discussions.

Ajmal Kasab Confesses to Mumbai attacks: Indian TV

2009-07-20T15:51:00.002+06:00

MUMBAI: The lone gunmen captured alive after the Mumbai carnage, Ajmal Kasab, on Monday confessed to having been involved in the attacks, an Indian television reported.Kasab made the confession before the trial court in Mumbai.
He named Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi as well as Abu Ismail as the mastermind and operational chief of the terror strike, report said.
He narrated his journey from Karachi till his arrest in Mumbai, including how they traveled in a small boat. Kasab confessed that he came in the boat along with nine other terrorists, the television reported.
The trial has been underway at the special court in Arthur Road Jail of Mumbai.

India to Launch First Indigenous N-sub Trials on July 26

2009-07-20T12:26:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Marking its entry into an elite club, India will launch its first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine at Vishakapatnam seaport for trial on July 26.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch the submarine at the Vishakapatnam port in the presence of top Defence and Navy officials, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy told reporters here today.
Code-named Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), India has been quite secretive about its nuclear submarine project.
To be christened INS Arihant (destroyer of enemies), the nuclear submarine is among the five in the class already approved by the government to create a strong nuclear submarine fleet.
The sea trial of the 7,000-tonne submarine will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal off Vishakapatnam, where the vessel was constructed.
Once inducted, India will join the high league comprising US, Russia, France and China, which have capabilities to develop nuclear submarines.

US To Support India-Pakistan Negotiations

2009-07-19T15:24:00.000+06:00

MUMBAI: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Saturday said there had to be “justice” for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, even as she noted that India’s contribution towards the fight against extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan would be “very helpful”.
“I believe that there has to be justice. There has to be a full vetting, thorough analysis of what happened, who was behind it – just as it would be with any terrorist attack,” Clinton said in an interview.
Clinton who is on a five-day visit to India, arrived in Mumbai Friday night. After a day -and-a-half of appointments in India’s commercial capital, the highest ranking official of the Barack Obama administration to have visited this country will reach New Delhi Sunday.
Clinton said that there had been an “evolving attitude” in Pakistan in the last six months, with both the government and society understanding the dangers of fighting terror groups. She said the Pakistan Army’s efforts against terror groups in Swat and other parts of the country were “sincere, effective and committed”.
“We are very clear that we think it is imperative that Pakistan go after all the terrorists groups because for no other reason than that any one of them is actually a threat to Pakistan,” she pointed out.
Further, she added that terror groups now were aiding each other. “Therefore, no terrorist group can be left alone or forgotten. Every one of them should be the target of intense law enforcement and justice efforts,” Clinton said.
She said that “bringing the understanding which India has to the table in dealing with the problems in Afghanistan and the extremist threat in Pakistan would be very helpful”.
“Everything that we can do to protect India from terrorism (we will do) and India can help in our fight against extremism in Afghanistan and what Pakistan is now doing will be very welcome and important,” she contended.
Noting that India was not just a regional, but a global player, Clinton said, “India has a tremendous opportunity to work to resolve problems regionally and work with other nations, including the US, on global challenges that we face. How India decides to do that is upto India.”
She dismissed US involvement in bring together India and Pakistan to the table on the Kashmir issue. “The decision has to be between India and Pakistan and of course taking into account the feelings of the people of Kashmir… Our role is not to be involved other than support the process that India and Pakistan may decide to enter into”.
On the India-US civil nuclear deal, Clinton said that she was “committed to (its) full implementation”. But, she said that she wanted to engage with Indian leaders on global non-proliferation efforts.
On a lighter note, she admitted that she was “attracted to India”. Pointing out that both she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, had made multiple trips to this country, she said: “There is something about the dynamism of the people, the dedication to democracy, the commitment to doing better all the time, (that) is inspiring”.
“And I can’t really express it. The feeling in my heart that makes me very happy to be here. It’s a place that I feel very comfortable with,” Clinton said, adding that she loves Indian food.

Indian PM Manmohan Singh, Pakistan assures cooperation on terror war

2009-07-18T02:07:00.000+06:00

NEW DELHI: Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh Friday said Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has assured that there is complete unanimity of views in Pakistan against the war on terror.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Singh said secretary level talks will be undertaken between the two countries.
He said that ‘meaningful dialogue’ with Pakistan will depend on Islamabad fulfilling its promise of acting against the perpetrators of the 26/11 terror strikes.
He made this statement amid uproar by the Opposition BJP blaming the Government of capitulated to Pakistan on the terrorism issue and agreeing to return to talks delinking the issue of talks with composite dialogue.
However, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not satisfied with prime minister’s assurance and staged a walkout from the Parliament.
“You have delinked terrorism and the composite dialogue. Why have you taken seven months to decide on this?” queried BJP leader LK Advani before leading his party members out of the lower house of parliament.
Earlier on Friday, BJP termed as ’sheer betrayal’ and ‘U-turn’ India agreeing with Pakistan that terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and said it was done under international pressure.
“This step by India has come as a shock. It is sheer betrayal and U-turn by the government. They are buckling under international pressure,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told PTI.
He said Pakistan has shown “no signs” of controlling terrorist activity against India from its soil. This was clear from the continued terrorist activity in Kashmir and on the Indo-Pak border.

India Set to Launch Nuclear-Powered Submarine

2009-07-17T21:52:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Fifty-four years after the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus took to the ocean depths, smashing all submerged speed and distance records thereafter, India’s long hunt for its own N-sub has finally entered the last lap.Sources say India’s first nuclear-powered submarine, built under the top-secret ATV (advanced technology vessel) project, will be ‘launched’ for ‘preliminary trials’ at the shipbuilding centre at Visakhapatnam naval dockyard around 10 days from now.
In fact, if things go as planned, it will be PM Manmohan Singh’s wife Gursharan Kaur who will break the ‘auspicious’ coconut against the ATV hull on July 26 to mark India’s entry into the exclusive club of US, Russia, China, France and UK, which design and operate nuclear submarines.
Extensive sea trials will, of course, have to follow after the first of the three approved ATVs, designed to carry a miniature 80MW pressurized water reactor (PWR) and its containment vessel in the hull, is put in the water by flooding the dry dock at the naval dockyard.
“It will take a minimum of two years before the first 6,000-tonne ATV can become fully operational,” said an official. Nevertheless, it will constitute a big step towards India’s endeavour to build a ‘credible nuclear weapon triad’ — the capability to fire nukes from air, land and sea.
India does have fighters like Mirage-2000 jury-rigged to deliver tactical nukes as well as nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missiles. But airbases and missile launch infrastructure can conceivably be taken out with a crippling first-strike by an enemy. This is where the triad’s third leg comes in, especially for a country like India which has a declared no-first-use nuclear doctrine.
A nuclear submarine, whose reactor usually needs to be refuelled only after a decade or more, provides a difficult-to-detect-and-target platform for launching punishing retaliatory nuclear strikes.
Even US and Russia have ensured that two-thirds of the strategic warheads they eventually retain, under arms reduction agreements, will be in the shape of SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles).
Interestingly enough, India’s first ATV is to be named INS Arihant (destroyer of enemies).
Incidentally, defence minister A K Antony earlier this year declared the ATV project was in the “final stages now”. This was indeed a rare admission because even existence of the project, first conceived during Indira Gandhi’s reign as PM in 1970 but which really got going only in the mid-1980s, has been officially denied in the past.
With a massive Rs 30,000-crore funding, it still remains largely a ‘black’ project even 11 years after India came out of the nuclear closet with the Pokhran-II tests in 1998.
But while a formidable weapon, a nuclear-powered submarine by itself does not give strategic deterrence. For that, ATV needs to be armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic or cruise missiles.So, DRDO has been concurrently working on the equally hush-hush Sagarika project since the
mid-1990s, under which the 700km range K-15 missile has been tested from submersible pontoon launchers till now. The next challenge is to test-fire the K-15 missile from the ATV.
Moreover, with US, Russia and China fielding over 5,000km range SLBMs, Indian scientists are also working on an SLBM variant of the 3,500km Agni-III missile. For a country which had build only two diesel-electric German-origin HDW submarines at Mazagon Docks in 1992-94, constructing a nuclear submarine was never going to be easy.
Building a SSBN or a “boomer”, after all, is an incredibly complex process, with marine, nuclear and missile technologies all being integrated into a holistic whole. ATV’s meandering saga has extended from Vishakapatnam dockyard, where the basic submarine hull and structure have been fabricated, to the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam, where the PWRs have been built and tested, apart from several other secretive facilities chipping in with their expertise.
Designing the miniature nuclear reactor, fuelled by highly enriched uranium, was obviously one of the main hurdles, with initial designs by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre failing to work. Then, the nuclear technical expertise of Russia and some others was sought to overcome the technical roadblocks. Now, with the ATV launch finally happening, the defence establishment is keeping its fingers crossed. The eventual aim is to field three SSBNs well before the next decade ends.

Tata Motors to Deliver First Nano on Friday

2009-07-17T13:14:00.000+06:00

MUMBAI : Tata Motors Ltd, India’s largest vehicles maker, said on Thursday it would deliver the Nano, the world’s cheapest car, to its first customer on Friday.Chairman Ratan Tata had showcased the Nano at an auto show in New Delhi in January last year, but consumer bookings began only in April this year after the project was delayed due to land disputes at its planned site in the eastern state of West Bengal.
The plant for producing the Nano was shifted to a new site in Gujarat on the west coast, but the first batch of Nanos would come from its car plant in Pantnagar in northern India.
Tata has assured price protection for the first 100,000 customers, for whom the cars will beavailable for 100,000 rupees ($2,053), excluding taxes.

Clinton to Arrive in India Today

2009-07-17T09:51:00.001+06:00

Mumbai: Former first lady of the USA and incumbent US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will arrive in India today. She will arrive in Mumbai late Friday. Hillary Clinton will spend the night at the Taj Hotel and then continue with her official engagements from tomorrow. She will also visit Thailand. This will be Hillary’s first visit to India as the US Secretary of State.Hillary Clinton will meet a delegation of Indian businessmen and industrialists tomorrow. She will also visit the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Centre in Mumbai. Ms Clinton will pay tributes to the martyrs of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. She will also hold discussions with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.

Terror Threat Puts Mumbai on High ALERT

2009-07-15T17:25:00.001+06:00

MUMBAI: A heavy downpour soaked Mumbai on Tuesday, but security forces in the city kept their powder dry after a fresh terror alert which, sources said, represented the most serious threat to the city in two years.The Intelligence Bureau, in its alert, warned that at least seven places in Maharashtra—including a reputed bank in Mumbai and an important railway junction in Navi Mumbai—could be attacked. The alert, dated July 8, also contains photographs of the seven ‘targets’.
Home minister P Chidambaram had warned that Pakistan-based terrorists could launch another sea-borne attack despite the bad weather and choppy seas. While the minister did not give details, sources in the central intelligence agencies described the threat as specific and the most serious in two years. A massive coastal patrol was launched following that alert.
The July 8 alert, officials said, was issued after a terror suspect was detained in Jammu and Kashmir and the police recovered photographs of targets in Maharashtra from him. The colour pictures were sent to security agencies in Maharashtra by e-mail. “The photographs are genuine. They include the picture of a reputed bank near the Bombay high court, two railway stations in Mumbai and a railway station in Navi Mumbai,’’ an official said, adding that the Navi Mumbai station was not properly covered “security-wise’’. Over seven million people travel by the Mumbai local trains every day.
The fresh alert, officials said, also mentioned four dates on which the terrorists planned to carry out the strikes. TOI has a list of the dates (one passed last week) and details of the targets.
But the alert did not specify the number of terrorists planning to enter Maharashtra and did not provide any information about possible local involvement.
This is the second alert in two weeks by central intelligence agencies. The first was issued on June 24—it said a 26/11-like terror strike could be repeated again via the sea route by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The alert put all the security agencies in Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra on high alert and prompted a review of security. It said Indian associates of the LeT were preparing for the attack with the help of their Pak-based mentors.
“The LeT has been singled out as having planned an attack in the second alert too,’’ said an officer. He added that some of the photographs of the “targets’’ were downloaded from websites.
Blasts had rocked seven Mumbai local trains three years ago, killing 188 people. Police officials had then said it was the handiwork of the LeT that had taken the help of 13 members of the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India

Downpour Continue to Lash Mumbai

2009-07-15T13:23:00.000+06:00

Mumbai: Heavy rains continued to lash the Mumbai for the third day on Wednesday.However, there was no water logging and road and rail traffic was not disrupted. Flights were delayed by a few minutes due to poor visibility at the airport.
Rainfall recorded in the last 22 hours since 8.30 am yesterday was 240.1 mm, according to the weather office here.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea for the next 24 hours as the sea is rough to very rough with southwesterly to westerly waves, the Met office said.
The weather office has forecasted frequent spells of rain or thundershowers with heavy to very heavy rain in parts of the city and suburbs. Strong gusty winds are also likely.

India Want to Boost Nuclear Cooperation With France: PM Manmohan

2009-07-14T23:19:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: With nuclear cooperation with France set to intensify, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed hope that his visit to France would lead to building up the partnership in atomic energy.
Mr Singh in his departure statement was clear that India was looking forward to building a strong civilian nuclear partnership with France, which was the first country India signed an agreement with after casting off the nuclear apartheid status.
“We would like to build upon our partnership in the areas of trade and investment, high technology, space, nuclear energy, defence, education, culture, tourism and scientific research and development,’’ said Mr Singh in a departure statement. He left for a five-day tour that will first take him to France and then to Egypt for the 15th Non-Aligned Summit.

Manmohan Singh Reaches In Paris Today

2009-07-14T17:56:00.001+06:00

Paris: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Paris Monday night to attend the French National Day parade as chief guest, the first foreign leader to be accorded the honour.The honour reciprocates India’s gesture of inviting French President Nicolas Sarkozy as chief guest for its Republic Day parade in January this year, said French envoy to India Jerome Bonnanfont.
Sarkozy will be hosting a working lunch for Manmohan Singh Tuesday during which the two leaders will hold talks on a range of bilateral and global issues.
Manmohan Singh leaves after that for the Egyptian town of Sharm-el-Sheikh, where he will attend the 15th Non Aligned Movement (NAM) summit on Wednesday. He is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the summit.

No Talks Till Punishment to Mumbai Culprits: Minister SM Krishna

2009-07-14T12:55:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: Inidan External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has said that New Delhi will not resume dialogue with Pakistan till punishment to the perpetrators of Mumbai terror strikes.According to Indian media reports Indian minister said that “we expect Pakistan to come out with certain concrete measures which are visible so that people of India and the world at large could realise Pakistan is serious about punishing those culprits behind Mumbai attacks and then reassuring India that such incidents will not occur.”

India Plans Sea Trials of First Nuclear Submarine

2009-07-14T12:30:00.000+06:00

NEW DELHI: India is set to begin sea trials of its first nuclear-powered submarine later this month, joining an elite club that includes neighbouring giant China, defence ministry officials said Monday.
The Indian-developed submarine, which would provide the South Asian nation with an underwater ballistic missile launch capability, will begin trials in the Bay of Bengal, off the southern Indian city of Vishakapatnam.
“This will be the start of a series of strenuous trials which will continue for several months,” said one official who declined to be named.
The induction of the 7,000-ton vessel will put India alongside Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States in the club of nations with nuclear-powered submarines.
The Press Trust of India, quoting unnamed sources, reported the submarine will carry a ballistic missile system first tested in February 2008, but ministry officials declined to confirm or deny the report.
The submarine is the first in a planned fleet of five.
Domestic media last month quoted Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy chief of Russia’s federal service for military-technical cooperation, as saying Moscow had agreed to lease a 12,000-ton Akula class nuclear submarine to India.
India is also in the final stages of negotiations for a refurbished Russian aircraft carrier. The vessel, Admiral Gorshkov, is scheduled to be delivered for sea trials by 2012.
New Delhi has also signed contracts worth 2.4 billion euros (three billion dollars) with Armaris and European defence firm MBDA to acquire six Franco-Spanish Scorpene submarines.

36 cops, colonel killed in Indian rebels attacks

2009-07-13T08:18:00.000+06:00

Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh, 36 security personnel, including a Superintendent of Police, were killed when rebels ambushed policemen at three different places in a thickly forested pocket of Rajnandgaon district.According to police sources, the rebels killed two jawans in Madanwada area of Maanpur block, about 150 km from Rajnandgaon, in the wee hours today.“Twenty-six jawans, including the SP, in the convoy were killed in the attack,” a senior police official said. While most of the jawans including Choubey died on the spot, two jawans succumbed to their injuries at a hospital in late evening.After the landmine blasts, a massive search operation was launched in the area.Eight more jawans were killed when the rebels blew up vehicle carrying security personnel at about 8.30 pm near Sitagaon by detonating a powerful landmine blast, sources said.On the other hand, two Indian army soldiers, including a colonel, were killed in a powerful landmine explosion in Assam, officials said. A defence spokesperson said the army vehicle hit the landmine near the Balipara reserve forest area in Sonitpur district, about 210 km north of Assam's main city of Guwahati. "The impact of the landmine was severe with the vehicle blown up, killing the colonel and his driver on the spot," an army commander said. The remaining vehicles in the convoy were safe as they stopped the moment they saw one of the vehicle hit by the landmine. "The colonel was on his way to his base at Tenga in adjoining Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China, when the incident occurred," the army official said.

Indian Bootleg Liquor Death Toll Rises to 107

2009-07-10T16:22:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI: The death toll from a case of mass poisoning involving home-brewed alcohol in the western Indian state of Gujarat rose to 107 on Friday, police said. The number of deaths was up from the 86 reported as of Thursday.
Senior police officer Abhay Chudasama told AFP that 194 other people were being treated in hospital in the state’s largest city Ahmedabad after drinking the contaminated liquor at a party on Sunday. Selling or consuming alcohol is a criminal offence in Gujarat, India’s only dry state and the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.
Deaths from cheap alcohol are common in India and last year nearly 170 people died after drinking a same batch of toxic liquor in southern India.
The Press Trust of India reported that more than 800 bootleggers have been arrested in a recent crackdown on illegal brewers.

Bootleg Liquor 71 killed in India

2009-07-09T12:52:00.002+06:00

NEW DELHI :The death toll from a case of mass poisoning involving home-brewed alcohol in the western Indian state of Gujarat jumped to 71 on Thursday, police said.
The number of deaths rose from 25 on Wednesday. A police officer in the state’s largest city Ahmedabad told AFP that another five people were seriously ill in hospital after consuming the contaminated liquor at a party on Sunday.
The Press Trust of India reported six police officers in the city had been suspended and transferred for failing to crack down on illegal distilleries.
The state’s home minister on Wednesday announced an inquiry into the easy availability of bootleg liquor in the region. Selling and consuming alcohol is a criminal offence in Gujarat, India’s only dry state and the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.
Deaths from cheap alcohol are common in India and last year nearly 170 people died after drinking the same batch of toxic liquor in southern India.

Union Budget 2009-10 of Highlights

2009-07-07T06:09:00.000+06:00

NEW DELHI: Following are the highlights of Budget 2009-10.
* Govt plans to bring back economy to high growth of 9%
* GDP growth dipped to 6.7% in FY’09
* FM to make pre-budget talks with state FMs annual affair
* Fiscal deficit up from 2.7% to 6.8% of GDP
* Return to fiscal prudence at the earliest
* ‘Aam admi’ is focus of all programmes and schemes .
* IT exemption limit raised; Rs 15,000 for Sr.citizens
* Limit raised by Rs 10,000 for tax payers, including women
* 10% surcharge on personal income tax scrapped* Fringe Benefit Tax abolished
* No change in corporate tax
* Defence gets Rs 1,41,703 cr, up 34%
* Total fiscal stimulus in 2008-09 amounts to Rs 1,86,000 cr
* IIFCL to evolve mechanism for increased funding of infra
* IIFCL to re-finance commercial bank loans up to 60 per cent in critical projects through PPP to tune of Rs 1,00,000 cr
* Allocations for highways being stepped up by 23 per cent
* Funds for housing, amenities for urban poor up Rs 3,973 cr
* Funds for JN Urban Renewal Mission up 87% to Rs 12,887 cr
* Assistance for storm-water drainage project up by Rs 300 cr
* Farm credit target up at Rs 3,25,000 cr from Rs 2,87,000 cr
* Interest rates incentive to farmers to repay loans on time
* Additional Rs 1,000 crore for accelerated irrigation scheme
* Export Credit Guarantee scheme extended till March 2010 * 2% interest subvention (IS) scheme extended till March 2010
* IS scheme to cover 7 job-oriented sectors, including textile, handicrafts and handlooms.
* Commodity Transaction Tax abolished
* New pension system trust exempted from STT; DDT
* Minimum Alternate Tax hiked to 15% from 10%
* Tax holiday on petro sector extended to natural gas
* 100% tax deduction on political donation * Stimulus for print media for another six months * Fertiliser subsidy to be nutrient-based, not price
* Expert Grp to form viable pricing for imported petro goods
* Banks and insurance firms to remain in public sector
* Rs 100 cr one-time grant to expand banks in unbanked areas* Govt committed to provide Rs 100 a day as wages under NREGA
* Allocation of Rs 39,100 cr to be made for NREGA
* NREGA coverage increased to 4.74 crore households in FY’09
* Work National Food Security scheme has begun
* Allocation for Bharat Nirman being raised by 45 per cent
* Rs 2,000 cr rural housing fund under National Housing Bank
* Mission for female literacy with focus on minorities, SC/ST * 50% of all rural women to be brought into SHG programmes
* Full interest subsidy for students in select institutions
* Five lakh students to benefit
* Modernisation of national exployment exchanges
* Action for social security to unorganised sector workers
* New pension benefits for 12 lakh jawans and JCOs from July
* One lakh dwelling units for paramilitary forces personnel
* Unique Identification Card to citizens in 12-18 months
* Provision of Rs 120 crore for UIC project
* Rs 2,113 crore allocated for IITs and new IITs
* Rs 3472 cr for Commonwealth Games from Rs 2112 cr
* Customs, excise and service tax base rates unchanged
* For Indira Awas Yojana, allocation increased 63%
* IT returns to be made simpler
* 8 missions being launched under Plan on climate change
* Allocation for market development assistance scheme up 148%
* Allocation for Rural Health Mission raised by Rs 257 cr above interim budget
* Rs 500 cr for rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils
* Rs 1,000 cr for infrastructure in cyclone-hit area in WB
* Total expenditure crosses Rs 10 lakh cr for first time
* Share of direct taxes in revenue increased to 56% in FY’09

Gauhati University result

2009-07-05T13:12:00.001+06:00

Gauhati University result, Gauhati University has announced result of B. A., B. Sc., and B.Com. Examinations 2009. To view your result please visit Guwahati University official website.
On University website you can also see latest news announcement, notification, available courses, various departments, examination schedules, examination results, admission, entrance results.

India needs funds, policy for infrastructure

2009-07-03T16:51:00.001+06:00

NEW DELHI : India’s efforts to revamp its creaking infrastructure are constrained by shortage of long-term finance and policy initiatives are needed to speed up projects, the government said in a report on Thursday.
In an economy survey, ahead of an updated budget on Monday, the government said it was a “challenging task” to achieve $500 billion investment the Planning Commission estimated was needed over five years to 2012 to upgrade the country’s overburdened roads, airports and other facilities.
Foreign borrowings for infrastructure projects fell to $6.92 billion in the fiscal year ended in March from $10.2 billion a year before, the survey said.
Equity offerings by private-sector infrastructure companies slumped to 147.2 billion rupees ($3 billion) in 2008/09 from 870.3 billion rupees a year earlier, it said.
The infrastructure sector has come into focus following a slowdown in the economy, which grew 6.7 percent in 2008/09 in its weakest pace in six years and well below the 9 percent and more seen in the previous three years.
Even when a project achieved financial closure further delays were caused by disputes over land acquisition, raw materials and capital goods shortage, environmental issues and inadequate availability of skilled workers, the survey said.
“These problems have wide ramifications,” it said. “There is no option but to address them systematically as timely implementation of projects is critical for ensuring their financial viability,” it said.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which builds, maintains and manages highways, could receive bids only for 22 projects in 2008/09 as the bidders indulged in “cherry-picking” for want of funds, a NHAI official told Reuters in April.

India sets up regional base for anti-terror troops

2009-07-01T16:49:00.001+06:00

MUMBAI: India’s first regional unit for specialist anti-terror troops has opened in Mumbai, fulfilling a government pledge after criticisms of the slow response to last year’s attacks on the city.
The hub for some 250 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos, opened by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, is the first of four new centres across the country.
The others in Kolkata, eastern India, and the southern cities of Chennai and Hyderabad open on Wednesday.
Security officials say the new base — temporarily housed near Mumbai’s international airport until a permanent facility nearby is operational next year — will reduce incident response times drastically.
But security analysts said India still has a long way to go to improve its counter-terrorism capabilities, despite an increase in defence spending since last year.
Nicknamed the “Black Cats”, the NSG is modelled on the British Army’s elite Special Air Service (SAS) and the GSG-9, the specialist operations unit of the German police.
The Indian government recommended setting up regional units after the November 26-29 Mumbai attacks.

Jaguar, Land Rover enter Indian market

2009-06-29T16:48:00.000+06:00

MUMBAI: India’s Tata Motors on Sunday announced the entry of luxury British marques Jaguar and Land Rover into India, but insisted there were no plans to assemble them in the country for the time being.Six models — three each from Jaguar and Land Rover — will be sold from Monday in India, which is amongst the world’s fastest-growing global automobile markets.
“This launch ushers in a new breed of vehicles in India, which had been disconnected with consumers here for some years,” Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, told a news conference in Mumbai.
The Jaguar range includes the XF, XFR and XKR models while the Land Rover brands coming to India will be Rover Discovery 3, Range Rover Sport and the basic Range Rover.
All models will sell for between 6.3 million rupees (about 131,000 dollars) and 9.2 million rupees at a new purpose-built showroom in Mumbai.
“The Jaguar and Land Rover cars had been condemned in the downturn (but) they are terrific brands,” Tata said.
Senior Jaguar and Land Rover executives were reluctant to divulge how many cars they expected to sell in India, where the luxury car market already includes rivals like Italy’s Porsche, Germany’s BMW, Mercedes and Audi.
“India’s premium car market is small but with a huge potential,” said Land Rover Managing Director Phil Popham.
Tata Motors on Friday posted its first consolidated full-year net loss in eight years at 25 billion rupees (520 million dollars), partly blamed on a slump in sales at Jaguar Land Rover, which it bought from Ford last year.
Jaguar Land Rover global sales dropped nearly a third in the 10 months to the end of March to 167,000 vehicles from 246,000 the previous year.
That prompted the company to say it would not rule out further job losses and plant closures in Britain, where the cars are produced.
Jaguar Land Rover chief executive David Smith told reporters the British workforce were “realistic” about the possibility.
“If the market dictates, future jobs and plant shutdowns cannot be ruled out” if the economic situation deteriorates, he added.
Some 2,000 workers have lost their jobs in a tumultuous couple of years for both luxury brands, but Ratan Tata said there were no plans at present to switch production to India to reduce overheads.
“Whether we produce or assemble Jaguar or Land Rover in India will depend on the business case at that time,” he said. “I don’t think we have any plans for the present moment to do so.”