Russia to build 12 nuclear reactors in India!Give in to IPL 3!
Bharat Mukti Morcha and Mulnivasi Bamcef have Launched Burn Budget Campaign countrywide!
Pranab hints at steps for fiscal consolidation!Pranab Mukherjee wants tax collection to be more humane!
HARIPUR in Bengal Coast SET Ready for Nuclear Disaster despite Mamata`s Human Political Posture of Change! As India, Russia to sign deals worth 10 billion dollars!
Indian Holocaust My Fathers Life and Time- Three Hundred EIGHT
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
Haripur nuclear power project gets environmental clearance - 13 Jan 2010
Left Front partner admits drawbacks in West Bengal land reforms - 11 Dec 2009
Say no to nuclear plant, Mahasweta tells tribals - 23 Nov 2009
AEC chief Kakodkar downplays terror threat - 17 Nov 2009
Centre gives its nod to nuclear power plant at Haripur
Express News Service Tags : Haripur nuclear power plant, kolkata Posted: Thursday , Jan 14, 2010 at 0217 hrs Kolkata: ...
www.indianexpress.com/...nuclear-power-plant/567152/ - United States - CachedTrinamool Minister opposes Haripur nuclear power plant
8 Dec 2009 ... The Haripur project faced resistance from a section of local people who protested against the project claiming that the nuclear power plant ...
blog.taragana.com/.../trinamool-minister-opposes-haripur-nuclear-power-plant-5850/ - Cached
A report from Haripur, site of the proposed nuclear power plant
Source : Naba Dutta, General Secretary - Nagarik Mancha
The news spread like wild-fire. The foremost reaction was that of disbelief. It was unbelievable that they would be dispossessed of their land, their ancestral homestead and their livelihood related to agriculture, sea fishing and sea fish processing. It was not just their property and livelihood but their way of life that they were going to lose. Most of the rooted, jeered at the very concept of, or discussion about compensation. Cutting across party lines there was a growing sense about the need to resist.
Click here to download the report [PDF] »
http://sanhati.com/news/44/Russia signs India nuclear dealBBC News - 8 minutes ago Russia is already building two reactors in India. It is competing with French and US firms for contracts to build nuclear power plants in Asia's ... Russia Aims To Boost India Ties On Nuclear Energy, Space, Defense RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Russia keen to help India in N-energy sector: Putin Press Trust of India India, Russia to sign Nuclear, Energy Pacts Wall Street Journal India, Canada expected to sign nuke deal in JuneHindustan Times - 8 hours ago "L&T operates in various infrastructure projects like capital equipments and nuclear power. Canada is interested to participate in the development of ... India's Production Surges; Russia Defense PactsTicker Magazine - - 2 hours ago Russia is looking to sign defense pact for Mig-29 fighter planes and looking to bid for more nuclear power plants in India. The secondary public offer of ... Resurrecting a Failed Industry Obama and Nuclear PowerCounterPunch - - 43 minutes ago And there may be good reason why the president is salivating over the prospect of building new nuclear power plants around the country. ... Research and Markets: Joint-Venture Partnerships Set to Boost India's Nuclear ... Business Wire (press release) Hillary gets certification power on Indo-US nuke deal Indian Express  Email this storyN-liability Bill trips on compensationTimes of India - - Mar 10, 2010 It has also opposed nuclear power plants at Haripur in West Bengal on the grounds that they are "unsafe", though this may be more to do with denying the ... Email this storyResearch and Markets: South Korean Nuclear Companies Target the Global Nuclear ...Earthtimes (press release) - 59 minutes ago This will make the South Korean companies the leading players in the global nuclear power construction market. The study discusses South Korean nuclear ... Now, nuclear liabilities bill under a cloudBusiness Standard - Mar 9, 2010 The nuclear liabilities Bill is considered essential to jump-start civil nuclear commerce. India has a largely indigenous nuclear power programme and ... Video: Rajya Sabha finally passes Women's reservation bill Instablogs TVPower equations set to change in Delhi Times of India Email this storyGive South access to civil nuclear technology: FranceThe Hindu - - Mar 8, 2010 Marking a departure from the stand taken by the US-UK alliance of restricting enrichment and reprocessing technologies to new entrants in nuclear power, ... Sarkozy endorses nuclear, promises French expertise to developing countries Creamer Media's Engineering News Tapping thoriumDaily News & Analysis - Mar 9, 2010 As a matter of fact, by seeking international collaboration to work on ways of tapping thorium to generate nuclear power, India could become a lead player ... At Paris meet, Pak seeks parity with India to be 'n-powered' Indian Express Pak seeks global help in nuke energy plan India Today Nuclear does not have the answers we need Sydney Morning Herald India will act decisively if another attack happens: ChidambaramEconomic Times - 4 hours ago "The two nations are nuclear powers, and war is not an option, so we must talk," the home minister said. "At other times, we must remain vigilant. ... Email this storyStay up to date on these results: |
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Russia signs India nuclear deal - 8 minutes ago Russia is already building two reactors in India. It is competing with French and US firms for contracts to build nuclear power plants in Asia's ...BBC News - 873 related articles »
Nuclear power in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The plant is expected to be in operation by 2017-18.
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TODAY - 12 March, 2010
Carrier, Haripur on tableCalcutta Telegraph - 17 hours ago The discussions will include India's recent offer to Russia to build a nuclear power plant in Haripur, Bengal. The two countries will sign defence deals ... TMC set to oppose Putin's nuke dreams Times Now.tv Russia to build 12 nuclear reactors in India Economic Times Fishermen and anti-n power plant seeks removal of ambiguityPress Trust of India - 27 minutes ago Kolkata, Mar 12 (PTI) A fishermen's body opposed to the proposed Haripur nuclear power plant in West Bengal's East Midnapore district today urged the Centre ... Deepak finger on trade union pulseCalcutta Telegraph - Mar 4, 2010 "He was arrested en route to Haripur, the site of the proposed nuclear reactor in East Midnapore. Deepak had for sometime been engaged in setting up ... Email this storyN-liability Bill trips on compensationTimes of India - - Mar 10, 2010 It has also opposed nuclear power plants at Haripur in West Bengal on the grounds that they are "unsafe", though this may be more to do with denying the ... AP police to quiz Maoist leader The Hindu - - Mar 4, 2010 Haripur in Purba Medinipur has been identified as one of the probable sites for a nuclear power plant where land acquisition is being opposed by the locals. ... Deepak's task: Fish in nuclear waters Calcutta Telegraph Email this storyChanged equations in Indian polityMerinews - Mar 10, 2010 ... right from how to tackle the Maoists, Russian Nuclear Power plant at Haripur, Price rise, populism in Railway budget, to cutting of subsidies of the ... Anatomy of the Gas Crisis of BangladeshEnergy Bangla - 7 hours ago A 1000MW coal-fired power plant needs one billion dollar, a 1500MW nuclear power plant requires 4 to 6 billion dollars, and one tcf of new gas will require ... Revealed: Kishanji's alias in NandigramTimes of India - Mar 5, 2010 ... plans were to "create trouble" in Haripur the proposed site of the nuclear power plant and to incite people against the land acquisition movement there. ... Stay up to date on these results: |
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Russia to build 12 nuclear reactors in India! With Nuclear Damage Compensation Liability to be Reduced, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy would have to be REPLICATED time and Again as No UNION CARBIDE would be Dragged in Court to Compensaset adequately. After Nandigram, Singur and Lalgarh; HARIPUR JUNPUT is bound to strike Screaming Headlines even after Maoist Infilteration INTERRUPRED with the arrest of Telegu Deepak. Haripur is the First Target in the Russian Nuclear Map in India!
Meanwhile, Bharat Mukti Morcha and Mulnivasi Bamcef have Launched Burn Budget Campaign countrywide!On the other hand,Brahmin Pranab hints at steps for fiscal consolidation in Virtual ABSENCE of any Fiscal Policy since the BRAHMIN Bania Raj took over from the British Imperialists to convert the Ambedkarite Republic in a Pure Hindu Rashtra as Taxation Load always had been loaded against the Aboriginal Indigenous Mulnivasi Masses and the Ruling Brahaminical calss had been DEFENDED and boosted in Chain of Deficit Budgets!Exculsion is the Key word of Economic Ethnic Cleansing while the Zionist Brahaminical Ruling Hegemony supported by Pet Media Toilet, Brahmin Economists, Intelligentsia and World Bank fed INTELLIGENTSIA, NGOs and Brahmin leaders of Political Parties term the ETHNIC Cleansing as INCLUSIVE Growth!
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday said steps have to be taken for fiscal consolidation, saying the country cannot continue to live on borrowed resources.
Just see the BUNDLE of Lies as the Common Man deprived of Purchasing Power, Civil and Human Right, Property and Knowledge, Information, Assets and Livelihod, Job and even CITIZENSHIP dies Predestined Death with Inherent Inequality and Injustice as Extra Constitutional, anti National, Immoral Imposters are endowed with Governance , Legsaltion, Execution, Internal Security, national Integrity and Defence as Indian Ruling Hegemony realigned strategically in US Israel lead with Auto operationalised Nuclear Deal!
'We have to take steps for fiscal consolidation. We cannot continue to live on borrowed resources,' the finance minister said in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on the 2010-11 budget.
India's fiscal deficit for the current fiscal is estimated to be 6.8 percent of the GDP (gross domestic product). The government has targeted to bring it down to 5.5 percent by 2010-11 fiscal.
India borrowed 65 per cent of its 2009/10 borrowing of Rs.4.51 trillion in the first half of the current fiscal.
Early this week, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia had said the government would raise over half of its record $100 billion (Rs.500,000 crore) planned borrowing for the next financial year. This, he said, would allow more space for private borrowing as growth picks up.
Asia's third largest economy is expected to grow over 8.5 per cent in 2010-11, accelerating to 9 per cent the year after.
'India can raise more funds in the first half depending on the economic circumstances,' Ahluwalia had said, without mentioning the exact borrowing figure.
Give in to IPL 3! Budget Session did not discuss Mamata`s Railway Budget with so much so Hyped Social Commitment. The audience was Absent during Live Telecast as Sachin created History to strike Double TON in Onday cricket against South Africa.It was Pride and Entertainment all Over Spilling and no body cared to listen to Didi.After complete Turnarowndon issues like Operation Green Hunt and women`s Bill which Diverted Pranab`s Economic Ethnic Cleansing, Didi defended her Budget Proposal more Pragmetically discussing Resource Mobilisation with COMMERCIALISATION under PPP. Excellent. No Body Protested Pranab in his Long Term Fiscal Strtegy and Foregn capital Sustenance Policy plans stated during the Budget Speech. The Opposition walked out on Indrect Tax part of Taxation only. Media described it Fiscal Discipline.
Pranab Mukherjee wants tax collection to be more humane!
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked Indian Revenue Service officials to consider tax payers as important stakeholders in nation building and to administer taxes with a humane approach.He asked the trainee officers to imbibe this approach in their daily working.Mukherjee said that direct taxes collection has increased by ten times during the past decade.He also pointed out that the share of direct taxes is now more than 55 per cent.He told the officials that it was due to increased tax buoyancy and collection efforts of revenue departments that the government was able to waive off the loans to farmers amounting to Rs 71,000 crores. Meanwhile,Stock markets turned edgy today with the benchmark Sensex closing with a marginal 1.34-point drop after a volatile session, as an impressive industrial growth coupled with high inflation rate fuelled fear of an imminent hike in lending rates.
India, Russia to sign deals worth 10 billion dollars!The two countries plan to set up a joint venture to produce GLONASS-enabled navigation equipment and sign a contract for construction of two reactors at Kudankulam nuclear power plant where Russia plans to commission the first reactor this year.
HARIPUR in Bengal Coast SET Ready for Nuclear Disaster despite Mamata`s Human Political Posture of Change!
India and Russia are expected to sign deals worth over ten billion dollars, including in defence and civilian nuclear sectors during the ongoing visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Several supplementary agreements relating to the Aircraft Carrier Gorshkov deal will also be signed as the two countries have resolved the price issue.
These agreements will be signed after the talks between Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Putin here on Friday evening.
Further cooperation in the high tech areas like hydro-carbons, space and production of telecom equipment is expected to be discussed.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said that the visit of Russian Prime Minister would further consolidate the strategic partnership between the two countries.
" We are aiming to take forward on bilateral cooperation in strategic sectors like hydrocarbons, civil nuclear energy, space and defence. The two sides would also be holding discussions on energizing trade and investment ties. Our expectation is that the visit will set the tone for the bilateral exchanges for the rest of the year," he added.
Prakash also said that both the countries shared concerns about Afghanistan and would like to see normalcy and reconstruction taking place there.
"Russia and India have common concern with regard to Afghanistan, AfPak and both agree on the need for strong international cooperation against terrorism and financing of terrorism, the need for sustained international effort to effectively combat production and trafficking of narcotics in the region. Both sides would also like to see rapid economic development in Afghanistan, rapid reconstruction in Afghanistan, return to normalcy in Afghanistan and we both agreed that there has to be concerted efforts on the part of international community," he added.
Russia wants to boost trade with India to 20 billion dollars by 2015 from the current eight billion dollars.
Russia will build at least 12 nuclear reactors for power stations in India, the head of its state nuclear corporation said on Friday, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited to India to reaffirm decades-old ties.
Russia is competing with French and American firms for lucrative contracts to build nuclear power plants for energy-hungry India, as Asia's third-largest economy needs to boost its supply to help sustain rapid economic growth.
"So far it is clear that it will be 12 (reactors). And this is not the final figure," Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian Atomic Agency, told reporters, adding that six reactors would be built between 2012 and 2017.
Putin pledged on Friday to boost banking and technology cooperation with India, seeking to bolster ties with a Cold War ally that has been shifting focus towards the United States.
Russia wants to boost trade with India to $20 billion by 2015 from the current $8 billion. Together with China and Brazil, Russia and India make up the so-called BRIC group of major emerging economies, whose global influence is rising.
The two nations also seek a greater role in stabilising the region because both share security interests emanating from Islamist militant violence and the war in Afghanistan.
"India is our strategic partner ... which is an evidence that our geopolitical interests almost fully coincide," Putin told a conference with businessmen in New Delhi.
Setting the tone for his one-day visit mainly aimed at keeping one of the world's biggest arms importers interested in Russian weapons, Putin offered state financial aid for the Indian telecoms unit of Russian conglomerate Sistema.
Sistema, controlled by billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov, is looking to deepen its investment in Sistema Shyam TeleServices, a joint venture with India's Shyam group.
"We are ready to contribute funds for your joint activity," Putin said in response to a question by a Shyam group official.
Yevtushenkov later said the Russian government would become a shareholder in Shyam.
Putin also vowed to remove hurdles in the banking sector that he said were hampering mutual trade, and signalled that the government was ready to encourage joint ventures and acquisitions in the sector.
U.S. INFLUENCE
India struck a landmark civilian nuclear deal with the United States in 2008, ending the isolation it had experienced since an atomic test in 1974 and giving it access to U.S. technology and fuel, while also opening up the global nuclear market to India.
As India begins to lean more on the United States, Moscow fears losing not only influence over New Delhi but the bulk of its $100 billion defence market as well.
Putin's visit is likely to produce deals worth more than $10 billion mainly in defence contracts, nuclear reactors and trade.
Putin sought to assure Indian businessmen that Russian nuclear reactors were safe. Russia has almost completed equipment delivery for two reactors at Kudankulam nuclear power station and is in talks to build two more reactors.
"Our reactors can sustain a crash of a medium-range passenger plane," Putin said, seeking to demonstrate that Russian plants could withstand even U.S. 9/11-style militant attacks.
Why are Maoist supporters still in Cabinet? Left asks PM
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat on Friday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to explain how Mamata Banerjee continues to be a Minister in his government when her party is "openly" supporting Maoists."I want to ask the Prime Minister that you say that Maoists are a threat to the country's internal security and those supporting these Maoists and are the ones intensifying the threat are in your Cabinet. What are you going to do?" he said addressing a rally here.
He said Home M
Minister P Chidambram has said wherever Maoists indulge in violence, the government will take action against them.
"But, in the Cabinet, Trinamool Congress leaders are ministers. All these ministers are from West Bengal and they all support Maoists. They have given this statement openly," he said.
More than 170 leftist leaders have been murdered in West Bengal since the Lok Sabha elections concluded, he claimed.
"On one hand Maoists are attacking, while on the other hand Trinamool Congress is colluding with Maoists and are inclined on perpetrating violence and attacks," he said.
He listed out several achievements of the West Bengal government including its announcement to provide 10 per cent reservation to Muslims in jobs in the state and alleged "a conspiracy was being hatched against such a government and a strong movement being carried forward (by left) in support of labourers, farmers and workers."
CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the presence of Trinamool Congress leaders in the Union Cabinet was a "contradiction" and dubbed the UPA government as "power hungry".
AgenciesFood prices will start falling in 2 months: Rangarajan
The spiralling food inflation, which has become the biggest concern of people in the country, would start declining in two months after the winter crops come into the market, C. Rangarajan, who heads the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, said here Friday.'The food inflation rate would be around 8.5 percent at March-end (end of current fiscal 2009-10). In another two month's time, food prices will start declining,' he said, addressing a conference organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce.
'The food inflation is expected to be around 6 percent in the second half of 2010-11,' Rangarajan said.
Asked whether forward trading is one of the causes behind the food inflation, he said there was 'no clear cut evidence' that futures trading was leading to food price rise.
'Though food inflation is by and large a supply-side problem, we need to contain aggregate demand though policy action,' he added.
He said that a high level of stock with the public distribution system (PDS) was also one of the reasons behind food inflation. At present, there are 25.65 million tonnes of rice and 16.28 million tonnes of wheat in the stock.
'We must release more food grain through PDS. We do not have adequate channels...We need to have additional channels to supplement PDS,' he said.
Asked how the government would spread out its borrowing programme in 2010-11, Rangarajan said he expected front loading would happen.
'With demand for credit usually higher in the second half, I think a major portion of the borrowing would happen in the first half of the year,' he said.
The government has a gross borrowing target of Rs.4.57 trillion in 2010-11 as against Rs.4.51 trillion in the current fiscal.
Jessop workers to get wage hike
The workers of the Jessop and Co will get an immediate wage hike as the management and workers' union have signed a long-term wage settlement agreement.The agreement was signed Thursday, a statement said here Friday.
'The agreement with three-year validity commences from March 1, 2010. Apart from the basic wages, Jessop workers are entitled to dearness allowance, house rent allowance, night shift allowance, site duty allowance, leave travel allowance, the agreement provides for nearly 10 percent increase in the gross amount,' it said.
Ruia Group acquired sick heavy engineering and infrastructure company, Jessop and Co, in 2003 and turned it into a profit-making business.
Centre initiates research on second generation bio-fuels
Union Government on Friday informed the Parliament that it has initiated to develop coordinated research work on second generation bio-fuels.In a reply to the Lok Sabha, Union New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah, said: "Efforts have also been initiated to develop coordinated Research and Development projects on second generation bio-fuels such as production of ethanol from agricultural wastes and residues and bio-diesel from algae."
He also said the National Policy on Bio-fuels is aimed at accelerated promotion and development of bio-fuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel.
The Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have been directed to sell five percent ethanol blended petrol in the entire country except Northeastern States, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
Bio-diesel is currently not being marketed commercially for blending with diesel as the bio-diesel industry is still at nascent stage of development.
Research and Development is also being pursued through different scientific agencies on feedstock development, conversion processes and production of ethanol mainly from sugarcane molasses and bio-diesel from Jatropha.
Abdullah urther informed that the amounts spent by various ministries and departments during the last three years from 2006-07 to 2008-09 is about Rs. 48.98 crore and Rs. 20.37 crore so far uring the current year.Passing women's bill realisation of Rajiv's vision: Sonia
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Friday said the passage of the women's reservation bill in parliament would be the realisation of her late husband and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's vision to politically empower women.Addressing a meeting of Congress office bearers and state party chiefs here, she said : 'Women reservation bill... when it comes to fruition, it would be the realisation of Rajiv Gandhi's vision to empower women politically.'
The meeting was organised to finalise programmes for the party's 125th anniversary celebrations.
The state unit chiefs passed a resolution lauding the leadership provided by Sonia Gandhi in getting the women's reservation bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, party sources said.
The bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha Tuesday, provides for 33 percent reservation for women in parliament and the state legislatures. It is yet to be passed by the Lok Sabha and no dates have been decided so far for discussing the bill in the lower house of parliament which will go for a near four-week recess next week.
Addressing the meeting, Gandhi laid stress on the 125th anniversary celebrations conveying the message of the party's 'abiding commitment to the empowerment of aam aadmi (common man)'.
She said the year-long commemoration will be launched 'by holding a special public function at Jallianwalla Bagh in Amritsar April 13, a date which symbolises the sacrifice and martyrdom of thousands of men and women and holds emotional and patriotic appeal for people.'
Listing the Right to Information Act, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Right to Education and women's reservation bill as among the significant achievements of the government, she said programmes to commemorate the party's 125th anniversary 'must not be simply routine'.
'The message must be properly articulated, drawing on the past, building on the present and projecting a vision for the future,' she said.
The Congress president said effective coordination was essential between state unit presidents, chief ministers, legislative party leaders and the general secretaries in charge of the states.
Citing the results of the 2009 general elections, she said these were an affirmation of the abiding faith of the people in the values and programmes of the Congress.
She said young people must be made aware of the history of the struggle for Independence. 'We need to reach out to them as they hold the key to the future.'
She said the AICC national preparatory committee has drawn up a list of historical landmarks in the freedom struggle, including those of the 'satyagrahas' of Mahatma Gandhi, and befitting activities should be held at venues associated with these events. 'No other party can claim to have a legacy as rich as ours,' she said.
Gandhi said the party was planning a series of national seminars, each of which is associated with freedom struggle. A list of significant Congress resolutions was being compiled and a primer was being prepared for party workers.
The Congress president said the party will also bring out a number of publications to mark its 125 years. She said four volumes of the history of the party were published during the Congress centenary and two more were being published to cover the years since 1964.
The year-long celebrations will culminate in a special session in December 2010 when the party will complete 125 years of its existence.
State presidents told the meeting about the programmes chalked out by them to commemorate the party's 125 years.
Women armed forces officers hail HC verdict
Women officers of the armed forces today hailed the landmark judgement by the Delhi High Court allowing them permanent commission saying they can now join and continue like their male counterparts in the defence forces. "This will definitely change things in the way (future) to come.This will go a long way in changing things and outlook of women in the army," Wing Commander Pushpanjali said. "It was very important for us and we feel great on this victory because it is not only for the future of lady officers who are there in the army, it is also for those who would be joining the army," an army lady officer said.
Showing gratefulness to the judiciary, another woman officer, Seema, said the judgement has restored their faith in the system. "First of all i am thankful to the judiciary.
It (judgement) has restored the faith in our system. I am feeling so great about being woman," she remarked.
Rekha Palli, the advocate who argued the case for the women officers, described the judgement as a major victory for her. "For me it''s a major victory because i could see nothing except gender bias in permanent commission not being granted to lady officers," she said.
Obama donates Nobel Peace Prize money
US President Barack Obama has donated the $1.4 million that came with winning the Nobel Peace Prize to charity, the White House said Thursday.Obama divided the money up among 10 charities, with Fisher House, a non-profit that provides housing for families of patients being treated at military and veteran hospital, receiving the most at $250,000.
The Haiti relief fund set up by former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will receive $200,000.
The rest of the money will go to the College Summit, Posse Foundation, United Negro College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, American Indian College Fund, AfriCare and the Central Asia Institute.
The Central Asia Institute promotes community based education and literacy in remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a special focus on girls.
The Nobel committee awarded Obama the prize in October, pointing to the change of tone in Washington but prompting critics to question the pick less than a year into his presidency.
`Princess Diana died as attempt to scare her went wrong'
Princess Diana died as an attempt to scare her to leave her lover Dodi Fayed went terribly wrong, a lawyer has said.Michael Mansfield, who represented Dodi's father Mohamed Al Fayed at the inquest in 2008 into Diana and Fayed's deaths, said Diana's killers had no intention of ending her life in a Paris underpass in August 1997, the Daily Express reported Friday.
He claimed that an attempt to scuttle her relationship with Dodi backfired.
An inquest jury had concluded Diana had been killed by the grossly negligent driving of chauffeur Henri Paul and pursuing vehicles.
'I don't believe anyone wanted to see her dead. I think there was a plan to sabotage the relationship and alter her life, to try to stop her activities. But this plan went very badly and ended with her death,' Barcelona-based newspaper El Periodico quoted Mansfield as saying.
Mansfield said the authorities opposed several aspects of Diana's private and public life.
'I believe the relationship between Diana and Dodi displeased the authorities. In spite of all the work Mohamed Al Fayed did for children and hospitals, he was persona non grata in Britain. Diana had given interviews attacking the Royal Family, but what most annoyed the authorities was that Diana became very actively involved in the campaign against land mines,' he said.
Literary festival to celebrate 'feel of spring'
Literature is the flavour of spring in the capital.Come Saturday, the open air amphitheatre of the India Habitat Centre will play host to a flurry of literary activity woven around the week long Spring Fever 2010 - a literary festival and a showcase of modern classics by Penguin-Books India.
The highlight of the festival will be an open air library which will remain open to browsers and buyers from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. till March 21. Books, including classic titles, will be sold at a discount to promote the culture of reading meaningful literature among GenNext.
While people can browse through the library during the day, the evenings will set a different mood with reading sessions and discussions.
A session on 'Mahabharata- Kal, Aaj Aur Kal' and how the epic plays out in our daily lives will be addressed by Gurcharan Das, Bibek Debroy, Namita Gokhale and Shashi Tharoor while 'Dilli Ka Shayarana Andaz', excerpts from Penguin-Yatra books and poetry of some of the capital's famous poets down the ages will be read by Ghazala Amin and Zakia Zaheer.
A sneak preview of forthcoming books will feature readings from 'One Amazing Thing' by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni; 'Beatrice and Virgil' by Yann Martel; 'Tiger Hills' by Sarita Mandanna and 'Jimmy, the Terrorist' by Omair Ahmad.
There will also be a separate section for children.
'The concept of the open air library is unique. Every reader is welcome to browse through Penguin India books in a relaxed environment and participate in the interactive sessions during the evenings. There will be music, dramatized readings and discussions. It will capture the fun feel of spring,' Hemali Sodhi, vice-president of marketing and corporate communications, told IANS.
'Last year, we hosted an open air library with our classics titles and the response was wonderful. This year, we've expanded the range of the library to include a varied and diverse range of Penguin India's publishing,' she said.
Manmohan Singh to get World Statesman award
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be presented the Appeal of Conscience Foundation 2010 World Statesman Award in September in New York.The announcement of the award was made by former Deputy Secretary of State,John Negroponte at a reception hosted at the residence of Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar here Thursday. Shankar said the Prime Minister has graciously accepted the award.
Past recipients of the prestigious award include British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2009), French President Nicolas Sarkozy (2008), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2007) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2006).
Founded by Rabbi Arthur Schneier in 1965, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation is an interfaith partnership of corporate and spiritual leaders from all faiths who come together to promote 'peace, tolerance and ethnic conflict resolution.' Delegations from the group meet with religious and government leaders across the world to promotie peace and democracy.
| Haripur nuclear power plant becomes bone of contention |
| Rajat Roy / Kolkata February 10, 2010, 0:38 IST |
| |
The people of Haripur, West Bengal, are angry. A nuclear power plant they don't want is being thrust on them and their land is being taken away to locate it. The ruling Left Front has for long sought a nuclear power plant for the state. The locals sought the help of the Trinamool Congress to stymie the state government. But now the Congress is also in the picture. It is being asked hard questions and it doesn't know what to do.
Though not much is known about the proposed power plant, Haripur is expected to have six nuclear reactors each of 1650 MW- a total installed capacity of 10,000 MW of electricity. It is located in the coastal area of Contai, East Midnapur district, roughly 170 km away from Kolkata. Its 80,000 strong population is engaged mostly in farming and fishing.
A minimum of 1000 acres of land will have to be acquired for the proposed plant in the first phase alone The Junput fishing harbor will fall in this zone. Naba Dutta, an activist and general secretary of Nagarik Mancha, claims that according to S K Jain, chairman, Site Selection Committee and chairman of National Power Corporation, an area of two square kilometers will be required to locate the plant and a buffer zone with a radius of 1.6 km would have to be created around it.
So, the actual requirement of the land will increase progressively. Since the density of population in the coastal East Midnapur is quite substantial, (870 per sq km) the number of people required to be relocated would be huge.
From the point of view of the people of Haripur, already anxious that the state government has not come forward with any facts about the proposed power plant, it is the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government which is also culpable in the decision to locate the plant that will gobble up agricultural land. And with an election next year, the Congress cannot afford to equivocate on the matter.
Accordingly, Pradip Bhattacharjee, a senior vice president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) has sent a report to Pranab Mukherjee pleading that the issue be handled with political delicacy to pacify the farmers of Haripur and to some extent, the farmers of South Bengal.
"Nothing should be done in a hurry there. The government needs to study the impact of the proposed displacement of the farmers and the fishermen of Haripur on them before taking any final decision," said Bhattacharjee.
Since villagers came to know the government has plans to acquire their land, they have started putting up road block, resisting entry of government officials in their villages.
Trinamool MP representing the constituency, Shubhendu Adhikari has already asserted that any attempt to set up a power plant there would be resisted with all the means at the command of the locals.
True to his words, last week when the state Congress sent a fact finding team to Haripur, the agitated villagers did not allow it to enter. Shailaja Das, a district Congress leader, who was a member of that team later admitted: "the villagers were so agitated that they were not ready to talk to us". Pradip Bhattacharjee said, "using loudspeaker our people addressed the villagers from outside the area. We told them that the decision was not taken by Congress alone. UPA government is a coalition with all sorts of political parties. We will convey the feeling of the villagers to Delhi."
Accordingly Bhattacharjee sent a report to Pranab Mukherjee. He felt that the Centre should also sent experts to study the possible impact of the nuclear reactors on the health of the local people.
Pranab Mukherjee was in Kolkata yesterday to discuss the strategy for the forthcoming municipal poll. He was apprised of the situation at Haripur by his party men.
The Congress is conscious that the 2011 Assembly election in west Bengal could unseat the three-decade hegemony of the Left Front in West Bengal. So it wants to do nothing to alienate any section of the voting populace. But at the same time, it cannot afford to let go of a facility Bengal has been seeking for 30 years.
It was in the 1960s that then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu first voiced the demand for a nuclear power plant in West Bengal. How the Congress will balance its politics with its commitment to nuclear energy remains to be seen.
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Suicide blasts in Pakistan's Lahore kill 45
Fri, Mar 12 06:58 PM
Enlarge Photo A woman weeps for her missing son at the site of a suicide bomb attack... Suicide bombers targeting the Pakistani military killed at least 45 people in Lahore on Friday, officials said, in a challenge to government assertions that crackdowns have weakened Taliban insurgents.
"Two suicide bombers attacked within the span of 15 to 20 seconds and they were on foot," provincial police chief Tariq Saleem Dogar told reporters.
Those killed in the attack, the bloodiest this year, in a military neighbourhood of the city near the border with India included nine soldiers, military officials said. Almost 100 people were wounded.
Pakistani authorities have said security crackdowns have weakened al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants fighting to topple the U.S.-backed government.
But the Taliban have renewed pressure on unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari, who faces calls from opponents to hand over his strongest powers to the prime minister.
If that does not happen, Pakistan could face new political turmoil while being pressed to defeat the Taliban.
There have been five blasts this week alone, including a car bomb suicide attack on a police intelligence building in Lahore on Monday that killed 13 people, and a shooting and bombing at a U.S.-based aid agency that killed 6 in the northwest.
STUBBORN INSURGENCY
Kamran Bokhari, South Asia director at the STRATFOR global intelligence firm, said the blasts were not as sophisticated as others. He expected a new Taliban push.
"This new wave was expected as they are under pressure to demonstrate that, despite the several hits they have taken, they continue to sustain operational capability," he said.
Apart from facing a stubborn insurgency at home, Pakistan is also under heavy American pressure to open a new front and go after Afghan Taliban militants in border sanctuaries, a move that would tax its stretched military.
While Taliban bases have been smashed in government offensives in militant strongholds such as South Waziristan, fighters have a history of melting away to rugged areas which are hard for the military to penetrate.
"The militant network is not substantially or reasonably damaged and they are still capable of striking," said analyst Khadim Hussain.
A Reuters photographer said soldiers cordoned off the site of Friday's blasts and were not allowing anyone to approach. Troops were deployed on rooftops and an army helicopter flew overhead.
Rescue workers with stretchers rushed towards the blast site.
Police official Mohammad Shafiq told reporters the heads of both attackers had been found. Suicide bombers often strap explosives to their bodies and the blasts take off their heads.
Pakistani markets have mostly shrugged off violence, which has spread from militant strongholds in the northwest near the Afghan border to major cities.
The market temporarily dipped after the Lahore attacks, before Pakistani stocks ended on a more than 18-month high on foreign buying on Friday, passing through the 10,000-point level.
The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index rose 146.29 points, or 1.48 percent, to end at 10,025.99.
(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony, Zeeshan Haider and Sahar Ahmed; Writing by by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel and Paul Tait)
Give in to IPL 3!
- Buzz Up
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Fri, Mar 12 10:48 AM
You know the feeling you get when you see that pastry, say 'The hell with it' to the world and your gym instructor and just dig in.
You know the feeling when you see that spankin' new phone and say "Ah, that goddamn LIC policy can wait for another quarter, surely". And proceed to empty your savings account.
You know the feeling when you're headbanging to some of the best hard rock there ever was. Steve's gallops. Iommi's riffs. Hetfield's screams. Bonham's pounding. And then, just as the last strains of Hallowed fade, a familiar riff starts to play. Oh yeaaaah, you say, your brain cells responding. You hum along only to realise in a second that it's Linkin Park! Ay! That's not metchul. But heck. You've started. Might as well listen. After all, you've always secretly loved it, you just never told your buddies in Opeth tees that.
You know the feeling.
Of going through a year of hearing how T20 is going to kill the game. Of desperately trying to find a "THAT'S cricket!" moment in every Test match you saw (rubbish, you only saw the online score). Of seeing everyone from commentators to satirists, retired players to armchair critics, saying it was all crass - all these film stars had no right getting into cricket. It was disgusting.
But you also secretly loved it. All of it.
You called Lalit Modi a capitalist who's turning cricket into a circus, you also shook your head at the ruthless genius of the man. You pumped your fist at Hashim Amla's brilliant rearguard effort at Kolkata, but you also licked your lips in anticipation of seeing Warney and Gilly and Dada and Jaya again on the field. You relish the thought of coming home to some action every night. On the cricket field, that is. You've already made your fantasy team. Or have been meaning to ("This time, I'll follow it for sure"). Heck, you've even planned to go to a theatre to watch a game or ten.
And as you see the replays, of Rohit Sharma stunning Mashrafe Mortaza for 26 in the last over, and that epic run-out fail, you realise you can't wait. For that disgusting thing you were supposed to have abhorred.
The IPL is sinful. Make no bones about it. Like the pastry. Like the phone. Like succumbing to the intro on "Numb". There's no point pretending. If we all really hated the IPL, we'd never talk about it.
Instead, there are satires. There are hashtags. Modi's every tweet is analysed, to search for that one chink. You don't hate the IPL. Oh no. You can't frikkin' wait for it.
For a few weeks, forget that this is a charade. Forget that the bubble might burst someday. Forget the ridiculous mandates on new teams. Instead, jump right it. Join the party. Applaud the sixes instead of moaning "Again?! Pitches like this will kill the game.". Enjoy that crazy new stroke instead of poring over the MCC Manual looking for a loophole. Don't groan over seeing Shah Rukh Khan making a fool of himself. Enjoy. Encourage. Like you egged your college band onstage even though they were violating you more than Nirvana ever did.
Sure, you can complain after it's over. Just like you curse alcohol after a bad hangover ("I'll never touch the vile stuff again!"). You know the Test evangelists (and I'm one) will have a lot to say and start the debate all over again.
But for now, just give in. Cheer. At the end of the day, the 'I' in IPL is what makes it unique. An SAPL or WIPL or USAPL wouldn't have had as much noise, colour or following. There wouldn't have been a YouTube tie up or 3D promises for the next event.
It's louder, brasher, more fearless and more extravagant than ever! It's more sinful.
Welcome to, and enjoy, the Indian Premier League, Season 3.
Editor's Note: Guest writer Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka Chuck puts big words onto PPTs for a living. He loves rock music and pretends to air drum in Mumbai public transport. He tries to make hilarity out of every goddamn thing that happens to him, and blogs here, and tweets here.
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Whither Haripur? - Nuclear energy option splits CPI(M) higher-ups
By Sankar Ray
On the issue of whether the nuclear option should be explored to meet power requirements in the future preferentially over coal-fired power generation, mandarins of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest Leftist party in India, are more adherents of Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost than Stalinist orthodoxy of "democratic centralism". Nonagenarian CPI(M) polit bureau member Jyoti Basu frequently claims that his party is the most democratic and disciplined of all political parties in India and once a decision is taken following inner-party debate, every party member works for implementing the decision.
The West Bengal chief minister and CPI(M) polit bureau member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is an unabashed proponent of nuclear option in creating additional power capacity. Speaking to The Hindu in mid-September, he said, "We just cannot avoid nuclear power". He argued that global warming forces us to look up to 'green power'. Coal-fired power, comprising 96 per cent of power generation in West Bengal is no green power, he felt. But interestingly, he interpreted his opinion as "technical rather than political," although he is far away from the realm of science and technology either academically or by practical experience.
The Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd includes Haripur, a coastal village of East Medinipur district, West Bengal, among the several new nuclear power plants. Bhattacharjee went ga-ga about it along with the commerce and industry minister Nirupam Sen, a CPI(M) central committee member and fully with the Chief Minister on wooing capitalists including MNCs for industrialization of the state. Which was why the CPI(M) state leadership stepped up campaign in favour of the proposed 3000 megawatt project. In the mid-1990s, there was a similar project proposed in the Sunderbans but the Left Front government had to drop it for strong protest from environmental scientists and South 24 Parganas district branch of the Paschimbanga Vijnan Mancha, state unit of CPI(M)-controlled All India People's Science Congress.
Prof Deb Kumar Bose, ex-chairman, West Bengal State Electricity Board, and formerly professor of economics, Indian Statistical Institute, did several econometric studies on nuclear power – published in Economic and Political Weekly – and warned against nuclear power option in the 1990s too. In the end months of 2006, when Dr Bose called on a top CPI(M) PB member to reiterate his opinion, he was told that Bhattacharjee got the matter through at the state party secretariat and hence Prof Bose, a CPI(M) member, should not write or speak about the nuclear power plant.
Prabir Purakayastha, a power technologist who worked for many years in BHEL and secretary, Delhi Science Forum, a constituent of AIPSC, dished out a profoundly different viewpoint and refuted those who are arguing for nuclear option. A Delhi state committee member of the party, Purakayastha wrote a 2670-word polemical piece - The Myth oOf Free Nuclear Energy in CPI(M)'s central organ Peoples Democracy in its 21 October 2007 issue . The notion that nuclear power will be cheaper than coal has "layers of lies built in", he said while admitting that "operating cost of a nuclear plant is lower than that of coal fired plants" . The cost of electricity includes capital cost too which is very high and consumers are to "pay for the capital cost of the plants also in the electricity charges , he pointed out . The cost of electricity using just the capital cost of the plant alone for imported reactors, he calculated, will be " Rs 3.65 per unit as against the cost per unit from coal including the fuel and all other operating costs of Rs 2.20-2.60, depending on their distance from the coal mines. If we take plants at pit heads, the cost committed by Reliance for the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project is only Rs 1.19. Even after using high cost imported coal, the cost of power from the Mundra Ultra Mega Power project is Rs 2.26′, he argued.
Purakayastha questioned the notion that the operating cost of a nuclear power unit is lower than the thermal counterpart. According to the NPCL exercise, the operating cost of Kaiga unt, taking into consideration, fuel, heavy water etc is Rs 1.48 a unit. But the DSF leader wrote, adding the cost of capital, "the cost of electricity becomes Rs 5.13! This is more than twice that from coal fired plants."
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat a few months back said at a meeting in West Bengal that nuclear power generation cost "is substantially higher than coal-based power", citing Purakayastha's data but subsequently, addressing a seminar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University he kept options for nuclear power generation open, as if to keep Bhattacharjee and West Bengal comrades in good humour. After all, West Bengal CPI(M) is the largest financial resource-base for AKG Bhavan, national headquarters of CPI(M).
However, till date opponents of nuclear power generation like Purakayastha have not been gagged. But the free-for-all space is wide open mocking the Stalinist pride of CPI(M) biggies from Basu to the CITU president M K Pandhe. Shyamal Chakraborty, a CC member, defended nuclear power saying, " After all, we cannot lag behind science". Unlike Purakayastha and like Bhattacharjee, he never had basic science subjects in his undergraduate or post-graduate classes but pretends to know science better than energy experts. Srideep Bhattacharjee, former secretary of Paschimbanga Vijnan Mancha, now a CPI(M) state committee member in a note to the state leaders strongly opposed the move towards nuclear plant, especially in the coastal zone.
Contradictions and self-contradictions (Karat's volte face) on nuclear option in future power generation plans among CPI(M) leaders weakens the rigidities of democratic centralism, one of the principal pillars of organization among 'Official Marxists". Even for the CPI(M) whose founding leaders like B T Ranadive and Promode Dasgupta asked comrades to remain unflinchingly loyal to what Stalin used to do and instruct.
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Ex-Maoists allege rape in camps by colleagues
Thu, Mar 11 11:10 AM
INSTANCES of rape and sexual torture in Naxalite camps are coming to the fore with more and more disillusioned members deserting the CPI ( Maoist).
The Maoists have also been jolted by the arrest of senior leaders in Orissa.
Two women extremists, who recently surrendered in Keonjhar, said they were repeatedly raped by male colleagues in jungle camps.
"After getting drunk, they would sexually assault me," Dipti Munda (name changed) said. She had joined the extremists at 16.
Anita Munda (name changed), 18, who surrendered last month also said she was subjected to sexual torture in the forests. Women members were reportedly forced to spend nights with men. "It was tough and disgusting," another former Maoist said. She hoped the government would help her live a better life.
Last year, at least 29 Maoists, including 12 women, gave up arms. They accused the leadership of deviating from the movement's core ideology of protecting and empowering Dalits. The women invariably alleged sexual abuse by male colleagues.
The leadership has taken to extortion and failed to check harassment of women, former Maoist Kamala Mandal said.
She surrendered on February 28 in Kandhamal along with two male colleagues.
In June last year, Maoist couple Ghasiram Majhi alias Akash ( 32) and his wife Jharana ( 31) surrendered in Raygada.
They said they wanted a normal life for their two- and- ahalf- year- old daughter. The couple was among the founding members of the Bansadhara division of CPI ( Maoist).
Some senior leaders have also surrendered. On Tuesday, Suresh Sundhi alias Hati â€" a close associate of top leader Sabyasachi Panda â€" surrendered.
He said he was disillusioned with the pursuit of "mindless violence". Sundhi (24) was the commander of the party's Similipal squad. He was wanted in several cases, including the 2008 Nayagarh attack that left more than a dozen policemen dead.
Police sources said Sundhi was involved in at least seven cases of violence. He had masterminded last year's Similipal tiger reserve attack.
Sundhi was upset with the exploitation of tribals, an issue raised by tribal Maoist couple Mamina and Mataram Munda, too. They had surrendered to the Keonjhar police about a week ago. They were allegedly involved in violence in the district's Daitari area.
The Mundas alleged that Maoist cadre misbehaved with tribal women during raids. Mamina also alleged harassment of women in Maoist camps.
On Tuesday, Naxalite leaders Salim Barla and Jablin Munda were arrested during a joint operation by the Orissa Police and the Central Reserve Police Force in Sundergarh. They were allegedly involved in the murder of CITU leader Thomas Munda in January.
These developments come in the wake of the arrest of Panda’s wife Subhashree alias Mili in Bhubaneswar on January 15. Her arrest was a major blow for the Naxalite propaganda machinery.
Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.
Wed, Mar 10 03:10 PM
More than a dozen people were injured in a stampede during the audition for reality TV show Indian Idol at Noida's Sector-62 on Tuesday.
This is the latest in a series of such events that took place in the past one week.
Last Thursday, 63 people, including 26 children and 37 women, were killed in a stampede at an ashram in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh . On Monday, one person died in Mumbai's Vakola area during a police recruitment drive.
On Tuesday, thousands of boys and girls had lined up outside Expo Mart in Sector-62, Noida, to audition for Indian Idol . When the gates opened, they made a mad rush for the entrance triggering the stampede.
The 60 bouncers and 15 policemen who were deployed at the spot could do little to contain the crowd.
Within minutes, candidates fell over each other. Around a dozen boys and girls were injured and were rushed to the Fortis Hospital in Sector-62. Most of them had fractured their limbs, injured their heads and were bruised.
The organisers were reportedly expecting around 2,000 aspirants but close to 40,000 turned up.
Sandeep Singh, one of the injured contestants from Agra, said: "Hundreds of boys and girls had started gathering in front of the venue since Monday evening. They were tired and everyone wanted to get into the auditorium first. When the gates opened, they made a dash for it."
He said there was such a huge crowd that it became difficult for the organisers to control it. "People started falling over each other and the situation went out of hand," he said.
Inspector Hari Mohan Singh claimed adequate police personnel had been deployed for the event. "The entry to the venue was initially opened for 100 candidates but a large number of candidates rushed in, resulting in the stampede. We had deployed adequate police personnel, including a sub-inspector, as demanded by the organisers. They had their own security as well," Singh said.
Additional forces were deployed at the venue after the incident. District magistrate Deepak Agarwal said the matter is being probed. "Action would be taken against the organisers if any laxity is found."
Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.
Fri, Mar 12 10:39 AM
The ISI continues to maintain links with Lashkar-e-Toiba, the terrorist outfit responsible for 26/11, and Islamabad is reluctant to take action against its leaders and its network, several eminent US scholars and experts of South Asia have categorically told US lawmakers.
Attending a special Congressional hearing yesterday on 'Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Growing ambition of Islamic Militancy in Pakistan', Congressmen unanimously expressed concern that despite best of the efforts by the Obama Administration, the ISI continues to maintain links with LeT and that Pakistan is not taking decisive action against the terrorist outfit.
"The LeT is a deadly serious group of fanatics. They are well financed, ambitious, and most disturbingly, both tolerated by, and connected to, the Pakistani military," said Gary L Ackerman, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia of the House Committee on International Relations.
And it is the same Pakistani military, to which the Obama Administration is selling advanced arms, he pointed out.
Testifying before the Congressional committee, Marvin G Weinbaum, from the Middle East Institute - a Washington-based think tank, said despite the government official ban of LeT, ISI continued to consider the organisation as an asset.
The ISI is believed to continue to share intelligence and provide protection to LeT, he said.
"It is a measure of the impunity with which LeT is allowed to operate in Pakistan that the authorities have been unwilling to contain LeT chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. His inflammatory remarks would be expected to land him among the hundreds of disappeared political activists in the country. Although he has been periodically arrested, his house detentions have been cosmetic," Weinbaum said.
Noting that LeT poses a threat to the US national security interests, Lisa Curtis from the Heritage Foundation said the appearance of LeT leader Hafiz Muhammed Saeed at a recent public rally casts grave doubts about Pakistan's commitment to reining in the group's activities.
Curtis said it has been a failure of US policy to not insist Pakistan shut down the LeT long ago. US officials have shied away from pressuring Pakistan on the LeT in the interest of garnering Pakistani cooperation against targets the US believed were more critical to immediate US objectives, that is al-Qaeda shortly after 9/11 and the Afghan Taliban more recently.
"To degrade the overall international terrorist threat emanating from Pakistan, the US must convince Islamabad to confront those groups it has supported against India," Curtis said.
The Mumbai attacks and subsequent Headley investigations reveal that the LeT has the international capabilities and ideological inclination to attack western targets whether they are located in South Asia or elsewhere.
Eminent Pakistani scholar Shuja Nawaz too conceded that the relationship between the ISI and LeT has stayed overtime.
Nawaz is currently the director, South Asia Center, The Atlantic Council of the United States. "The LeT's emerging role as a trans regional force that has broadened its aim to include India and perhaps even Afghanistan, by linking with the Students Islamic Movement of India or SIMI and the Harkat ul Jihad al Islami or HUJI of Bangladesh poses a serious threat to regional stability," Nawaz said.
"Another Mumbai-type attack involving the LeT might bring India and Pakistan into conflict, a prospect that should keep us awake at night. In Pakistan, both the civil and the military now appear to recognise the existential threat from home grown militancy.
"The army appears to have dislocated the Tehreek e Taliban of Pakistan. Yet, it faces a huge and, to my mind, greater threat in the hinterland, in the form of the LeT," he said.
Ashley J Tellis, senior associate at the prestigious Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told lawmakers that today LeT relies on the ISI primarily for safe haven and political protection for its leadership, intelligence on selected targets and threats, campaign guidance when necessary, and infiltration assistance, particularly in regard to long distance operations involving transits through third countries.
"Although the interrogation of David Headley has now established that there were clearly some shadowy ISI connections with the Bombay attacks, the management of the LeT detainees by the Pakistani state and the tortured progress of their trial demonstrates that, whatever the outcome of this charade, the ISI has simply no intention of eviscerating LeT (or any other anti-Indian jihadi groups) because of their perceived utility to Pakistan¿s national strategy vis-à -vis India," Tellis said.
"So long as the Pakistani Army and the security establishment more generally conclude that their private interests (and their conception of the national interest) are undermined by a permanent reconciliation between India and Pakistan, they will not rid themselves of the terrorist groups they have begotten and which serve their purposes - irrespective of what New Delhi or Kabul or Washington may desire," he said.
"This fact ought to be understood clearly by the Obama administration. Once it is, it may push the United States to either compel Pakistan to initiate action against LeT or hold Pakistan responsible for the actions of its proxies.
If these efforts do not bear fruit, the United States will have to contemplate unilateral actions (or cooperative actions with other allies) to neutralize the most dangerous of the terrorist groups now resident in Pakistan.
Doing so may be increasingly necessary not simply to prevent a future Indo-Pakistani crisis, but more importantly to protect the United States, its citizens, its interests, and its allies," Tellis said.
Fri, Mar 12 07:21 PM
The Opposition and the Government on Friday took swipes at each other over absence of Ministers and members in the Lok Sabha during the debate on Budget.
The Opposition sought to make an issue of absence of a cabinet minister in the Lok Sabha during the debate on General Budget 2010-11 alleging that it showed the Government's casual approach to Parliament.
As former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha raised the issue, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj joined him in pointing out the thin attendance in the treasury benches.
"A serious discussion on the Budget is on but there are hardly any members in the treasury benches. This shows how serious they are regarding the issue", Swaraj said amid cries of "shame, shame" from the opposition side.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy said Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal would be back in the House within a few minutes.
Bansal was soon back in the House and another Cabinet Minister Vayalar Ravi also rushed in.
Another BJP member also pointed to thin attendance in Treasury benches during the course of the debate.
But, soon the Government found an opportunity to hit back.
As Mangni Lal Mandal (JD-U) rose to speak, Narayanasamy entered the House and drew his attention to thin presence of BJP members when the House was discussing an "important issue".
However, Harin Pathak (BJP) was quick to react and told Narayanasamy that it was duty of the Government to listen to the Opposition. "Our presence does not matter. You have to listen to the Opposition," he said.
Fri, Mar 12 07:21 PM
The ruling BJP in Gujarat on Friday said it would explore legal options with regard to summoning of Chief Minister Narendra Modi by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team in connection with the 2002 riots.
"The BJP government and the chief minister (Modi) have always cooperated with the process of law and will do so in the future," government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas said.
"Legal issues are a matter of detailed planning. Whatever rights are available under law, we would explore them and accordingly, whatever is required to be done shall be done...As far as the BJP government or the Chief Minister is concerned, we will cooperate with the process of law," he said.
Vyas ridiculed the Opposition Congress in Gujarat for demanding Modi's resignation. "Congress' demands are like castles in the air. These are 'mungerilal ke hasin sapne' (day dreams). They should first do introspection with regard to the incidents of 1984 (anti- Sikh riots) and 1969 (Gujarat communal riots)," he said.
"They should first see what their Chief Ministers had done when Sikhs were being killed (in 1984). At least Congress has no moral right to speak on the issue," the spokesperson said.
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