News on India

BJP asks PM to seek explanation from Paswan
New Delhi, Sept 1: The BJP today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should seek an explanation from Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on his suggestion of providing citizenship to Bangladeshis staying in the country and asked him to take “action” against the LJP leader.
The BJP termed the suggestion of Paswan-led Loktantrik Janshakti Party as an open revolt against the Constitution and several directives of the Supreme Court on the issue of illegal settlers.

“We criticize in strongest terms the suggestion of a Union Minister bound by an oath of the Constitution,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said here, adding that all nationalist forces should also criticise the idea.

He said the matter was serious as the suggestion has come on the day when intelligence agencies have warned that ISI operatives and HuJI terrorists were entering the country with explosives and arms through Bangladesh to carry out terror activities.

“The BJP demands that the Prime Minister seek an explanation from his Cabinet minister and take action,” he said. To a poser on the type of action the BJP was suggesting, he said it was up to the Prime Minister.

The Lok Janshakti Party has favoured giving citizenship to Bangladeshis staying in the country.
The party, a constituent of UPA, passed a resolution at its training camp in Pushkar, Rajasthan in which it said that Bangladeshis, who are staying in India till August 31, 2008 and do not want to leave the country, should be provided citizenship.

“Those Bangladeshis who are already staying in India should be provided citizenship. Further infiltration should be checked. There should be strict vigil on the border,” the LJP resolution said. “No country in the world provides shelter to intruders but shows them the door, leave alone granting them with citizenship,” Javadekar said.

To a poser on reported intelligence inputs that terrorists could target Kochi and the National Capital during Ramzan, he said the Centre should make the report public so that the common man was aware of the threats.

“Firm steps should be taken to prevent any eventuality as terrorists could be armed with new weapons, including biological weapons,” he said.

He charged the Congress with indulging in politics of opportunism. “The policy of Congress has forced it to take a U-turn on several crucial issues, including Sethu Samudram, Amarnath and religious reservation in Andhra Pradesh following pressure from its allies,” he said. Javadekar claimed that before independence, Congress was a nationalist party. “But after the Shah Bano case, it has turned to politics of opportunism,” he said. The Congress, Communists and RJD have provided Bangladeshis with voter identity cards for political gains, he alleged. (PTI)


Jammu bounces back to normalcy
Jammu, Sept 1: People thronged barbers’ shops, children rushed to school and heavy traffic clogged the roads here on Monday as the Jammu region bounced back to normalcy after a two-month-long spell of curfews and shutdowns over the Amarnath land row.

The longest queues were outside beauty saloons or the roadside barbers, where people waited for their turn to get a haircut.

“I have been waiting for two months to get a haircut,” said Rohit Raina, a private sector employee. Rohit stood in line for over 90 minutes as his barber in Gole Market area of Gandhi Nagar struggled to handle the surge of customers.

“I opened my shop at 6 a.m. There is an unusual rush,” said barber Lakshmi Das.
Children could be seen rushing to school, excited at the prospect of meeting their friends after a long break.

“We had almost forgotten about school,” said Neha Gupta, a Class 6 student at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Gandhi Nagar.

People on the roads greeted each other with slogans of Bamb Bamb Bhole, hailing Hindu god Shiva.

Bamb Bamb Bhole had been chanted by members of the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti (SASS), which spearheaded the protests against the cancellation of land allotment to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).

The State government had on May 26 transferred a 40-hectare plot of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board but withdrew this following protests in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley. The revocation July 1 ignited an agitation in the Hindu majority Jammu region that lasted 61 days. The land was restored to the shrine board on Sunday morning by the government for use “exclusively” during the pilgrimage period.

Residents of the walled city here continued to congratulate each other Monday for what they believed was a “victory of the people of Jammu over the forces of injustice”. (IANS)


TC leader meets Governor; work stalled at Nano plant
Kolkata/Singur, Sept 1: Trinamool Congress (TC) leader Partha Chatterjee today met West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi for the second day today following his initiative to resolve deadlock over Singur issue with the help of a neutral mediator.

Chatterjee, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, was closetted with the Governor for about an hour at the Raj Bhavan. He, however, refused to divulge to the media what transpired at the discussion.

It could not be ascertained if he delivered any communication from Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee to the Governor who wrote to her last Saturday, advising her to withdraw the dharna and hold talks with the state government to solve the issue. The Governor in his letter had said “a person with no political or industrial affiliation be invited to act as an unbiased intermediator in the matter. He or she can go into the demand articulated by you and give carefully thought-out findings for the earnest consideration of all sides.” “If this thought was acceptable to you, please suggest a name or names. I would request the state government to respond positively,” he had said.

Meanwhile, normal work at the upcoming small car plant of the Tata Motors at Singur was stalled for the fourth day as the indefinite dharna by TC demanding return of 400 acres to ‘unwilling famrmers’ entered the ninth day.

One lane of an expressway linking Kolkata with Delhi, which was blocked due to the dharna, was opened for two hours between 9.00 am and 11.00 am this morning for facilitating movement of stranded trucks.

Some vehicles were also moving along the stretch of the expressway blocked since August 24 due to the indefinite dharna. About 4,000 trucks carrying perishable and essential commodities were stranded on the expressway for the last nine days, unable to reach Kolkata.

The 76-km expressway is a part of NH-2 connecting Delhi with Kolkata. The West Bengal government has said it would not like to use force to lift the blockade on the expressway and favoured resolving the problem through discussions as the authorities of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) visited the blocked stretch and discussed the situation with the Hooghly district administration. Agitators continued to block the main entry points of the Tata car factory. A Tata Motors spokesperson said in Kolkata “conditions are still not conducive here for resuming our work. We continue to assess the situation closely.” Braving occasional rains, hundreds gathered near the main dharna dais as the TC chief was scheduled to address a rally of small retailers to demand that big industrial houses not enter the retail sector. Meanwhile, film actor Aparna Sen, theatre personality Saonli Mitra and Kishwar Jahan, mother of computer graphics teacher Rizwanur Rehman, who died a mysterious death after his marriage to the daughter of a wealthy Hindu industrialist, joined Banerjee at the dharna. (PTI)


Sunderban residents plant mangroves to counter climate change
Sunderbans, Sept 1: Kabita Patra and her family members at Madanganj village in Namkhana island of the Sunderbans every night go to sleep with lurking fears of getting drowned if the dykes ringing the islands get breached during high tide.

Due to global warming and consequent sea level rise all human-inhabited islands in Sunderbans, the largest deltaic region in the world, face the threat of getting submerged if the dykes are breached during high tide.

“The dykes were constructed a century ago to settle people and prevent islands from getting submerged. Now the waters rise above the dykes and innundate islands during high tide, which happens twice a day,” Badal Mallick, aged 65, an island dweller says.

In August, September and November, the swelling rivers fed by monsoon rain, strong winds and rising sea level led to water overflowing the dykes of 54 human-inhabited islands of Sunderbans flooding. The floods caused damage to the standing paddy crops, releasing fish from the ponds, flattening mud houses, killing livestock and making the farmland saline by sea water.

Ocean scientists say rising sea level caused by global warming has already submerged Lohachara island and Suparibhanga or Bedford island and many more are shrinking as the rising water breaches the dykes and another dyke is built inside the previous, thus losing a part of the island.
“We’ve grown up seeing tides and ebbs in the rivers but now rivers rise much above the usual level and nibble at the bottom of the dykes to breach them,” Kabita Patra says.

“Creating mangrove forest on the riverfront is the only way to stop embankment erosion and save lives. Mangroves hold the soil in the thick network of roots and soak more carbon di-oxide from the atmosphere,” Director, School of Oceanographic Studies in Jadavpur University in Kolkata, Prof Sugata Hazra says. Islanders are slowly realising the need to grow and protect the mangrove species like Baine, Geona, Hetal which otherwise they would fell for firewood and log.
As August ends, the residents of Madanganj village go out to collect the floating seeds of mangroves from the rivers and estuaries to plant them. Men collect mangrove seeds, dig trenches to collect mudbeds on the riverfront during high tide and women plant the germinated seeds on the mudbeds when the river ebbs.

Sunderbans Development Board and several NGOs have come forward to give money and technical expertise to the villagers to plant mangroves, which is being considered as the main protector of the dykes. The team found erosion and submergence have been taking place in the twelve sea-facing southern Islands of the Sunderbans in West Bengal, including the largest island of Sagar where a large number of pilgrims gather at Kapilmuni Temple during Ganga Sagar fair in January. The western bank of the islands IS more vulnerable and Sagar Island has lost 30 square Km area. The islands of Ghoramara, Dublat GP of Sagar Island, G-Plot and Mousuni have been extremely vulnerable, Prof Hazra says. The Sunderban Islands are home to more than 4.1 million people who live in the high risk zone of cyclone and storm surges. According to Prof Hazra, the rate of sea level rising is currently approaching 3.14 mm per year near Sagar Island and this could increase to 3.5 mm in the next few years due to global warming. “The rate is higher in Bangladesh part of the Sunderbans due to higher rate of deltaic subsidence,” he says. Buoyed by the success of mangrove plantation programme carried out by Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) Ashram at Madanganj village, European Union and Germany’s Welthungerhilfe funded RKM Ashram to initiate similar plantation programmes in Shibpur, Mahismari and Beguakhali villages in Sagar, Moushuni, Gosaba and Pathar Pratima islands of the Sunderbans. (PTI)

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Two more killed in Orissa; communal violence continues
Bhubaneswar, Sept 1: Orissa continues to be on the boil with the death toll in communal violence going up to 16 on Monday even as the government has stepped up relief operations in Kandhamal, the place where the killing of a Hindu leader triggered anti-Christian mob fury a week ago.

Despite a curfew, two more deaths have been reported while several churches and houses have been set on fire in Kandhamal district. Violence has been reported from 11 other districts as well.
Properties belonging to Christians are being targeted relentlessly by the mobs, forcing thousands of people to flee to relief camps or even take shelter in forests.

“We had seven relief camps earlier but today we opened two more,” Kandhamal district collector Krishan Kumar told IANS. “At least 13,500 people have taken shelter in the relief camps.”
Relief camps are now working at Chakapada, Tikabali, Phiringia, Phulbani, Raikia, Baliguda, K Nuagaon, Tumudibandha and Daringbadi, he said.

At least 543 houses and 17 places of worship have been burnt, say officials, but unofficial sources say the figures could be much higher. The State has witnessed communal violence since Aug 23 when Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s central advisory committee, and four others were killed by suspected Maoist guerrillas at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal.

Kandhamal district, with a population of around 600,000, of whom 150,000 are Christians, has witnessed many clashes between Hindus and Christians in the past. Radical Hindu groups in the state allege that Christians killed Saraswati because he was opposing religious conversions, even though the state government has blamed Maoists for the killing. The State government claims to have deployed thousands of policemen and paramilitary forces to check the violence.

A curfew has been clamped on all major towns in Kandhamal district and in Jeypore town in Koraput district. Media reports said six churches and some houses had been burnt in Boriguma area of Koraput district and in some places in Rayagada district Sunday. However, director General of Police Gopal Chandra Nanda said: “Three or four churches had been set on fire.”
Orissa is not new to communal violence between Hindus and Christians. On Jan 22, 1999, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, 10-year-old Philip and six-year-old Timothy, were burnt alive by a Hindu radical mob in their vehicle in Keonjhar district. (IANS)

Forensic lab official committed fraud, says CBI
Kochi, Sept 1: Facing criticism from the Kerala High Court for its handling of CDs containing reports of narco test of the suspects in the Sister Abhaya case, the CBI today told the court that an official of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) at Bangalore had manipulated the CDs and sought action against her.

The submission in this regard was made by CBI standing counsel when the case came up before Justice V Ram Kumar.

The body of Sister Abhaya, an inmate of St Pius convent at Kottayam, was found in the well of the convent in 1992 and the case was later handed over to CBI for investigation. The CBI in its submission to the court today alleged that Dr S Malathy, an Assistant Director of the laboratory, had manipulated the CDs containing reports of narco-analysis test of three suspects in the case at her residence. The time code on the CDs showed 6.31 am whereas the lab opens only by 10 am, the CBI counsel said.

On August 26, the court rapped the investigating agency accusing it of making a “false statement” over the number of CDs it received from FSL. The CBI counsel accused Dr Malathy of playing fraud and said the investigating agency was ready to subject the three suspects--two priests and a nun for narco analysis test again.

CBI DSP R K Aggarwal in his written submission informed the court that properties of three files in the CD had shown that the file was created/modified on October 17 last year at 7.28 am, Oct 22 at 9.35 am and Oct 23 at 6.31 am respectively.

These files are 254 MB, 239 MB and 100 MB respectively and adding to 593 MB, which can be written in a single CD. Moreover, the CD was the same that was handed over to CBI Inspector L N Chourdhary in a sealed cover which was submitted in the court, Aggarwal said. (PTI)

Bihar flood situation eases marginally
Patna, Sept 1: The flood situation in Bihar today showed signs of improvement with the water level receding in five north-eastern districts following reduction in discharge in the Kosi river. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said over five lakh marooned people have been evacuated so far.
“Over five lakh marooned people have been evacuated so far and the rest, too, would be shifted to relief camps and safe shelters in the next three days,” Kumar said after a meeting with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) team led by its vice-chairman General N C Vij.

Later, addressing a Press conference along with several top state officials, principal secretary of the state's disaster management department R K Singh claimed over 5.5 lakh marooned people had already been evacuated and the rest about 1.5 lakh would be rescued over in three days’ time.

He said 15 Army columns with 150 motorboats and around 1,700 personnel and three columns of the Navy with 45 boats and 135 men as also 395 jawans of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) with 137 boats were assisting the state police machinery in the relief and rescue efforts.

Ten more Army columns with 1,120 men and 100 boats were on their way. Three more helicopters would join the nine IAF choppers tomorrow for airdropping relief, while two Cheetah helicopters would be pressed into service to spot those still marooned.

“Instructions have been issued to district authorities to evacuate even those who are reluctant to leave their homes fearing theft of assets and property,” Singh said.

The State administration had pressed into service 28,000 troops of district armed police and special auxiliary police jawans to guard the properties left behind by the victims.

Additional motorboats had been made available to the police for patrolling the areas even during the night following reports of burglary and loot by local hooligans, Singh said. All private boats have been confiscated by the local administration in the wake of reports of extortion by the boatmen controlled by local toughs and were being used by the administration for relief and rescue, he said.

Stating that 23.85 lakh people were affected by the deluge in Madhepura, Araria, Supaul, Saharsa And Purnia Districts, the disaster management department principal secretary said over 2.06 lakh people were taking shelter in the over 200 relief camps. Mega camps equipped with proper toilets and health centre having operation theatres and labour rooms were coming up at several places in the five affected districts.

An action plan was being formulated by a team headed by State’s development commissioner S Vijay Raghavan so that rebuilding and rehabilitation work could be started as soon as the water receded. (PTI)

No differences in third front: Gowda
New Delhi, Sept 1: Brushing aside reports of differences between ‘third front’ partners, JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda today said no one can prevent the emergence of a political “force” against Congress and BJP.

Gowda said he is closely watching the situation in the country and political compulsions will create a “force” against the Congress and BJP.

“A force will definitely emerge against Congress and BJP in the country. Some parties will join the force before the Lok Sabha elections. And some may choose to join it after the polls,” he told PTI.

“This is the true picture of present day’s politics,” he said in an interview. There were no differences of opinion among the partners of the third force as reported in the media, Gowda said adding that “we are all united.” “There were some problems regarding Ajit Singh’s RLD. BSP supremo Mayawati has her own reasons not to accommodate others. Still, we will persuade her and sort out all the problems,” he said.

On the leadership issue in the third front, Gowda said his party does not have any problem with either the Left or the BSP leading the combine. “For me, personally, there is no problem. I have already said Mayawati can lead the formation,” he said. (PTI)

CRPF to deploy specially trained force for combating naxals
New Delhi, Sept 1: With the government’s go-ahead for raising an anti-naxal force, the CRPF is formulating a plan to deploy the specially trained personnel in six states, mostly in the worst-affected areas. The CRPF will deploy 10,000-strong Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, official sources said.

While the worst-hit Chhattisgarh will get three battalions (nearly 3,000 personnel), Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh will get two each and Orissa, Maharashtra and Bihar will get one battalion each.

In Chhattisgarh, two battalions of the force will be stationed in Jagdalpur, regional headquarter of Bastar and one in Raigarh, which is used for transit by Left-wing extremists. In Jharkhand, the force will be stationed at Khunti and Hazaribagh while in Orissa, Maharashtra and Bihar, the force will be based at Koratpur, Bhandara and Gaya respectively. Asked why the force would not be stationed in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, the official said, “In Maharashtra, the force would be located in Bhandara which is on the border with Madhya Pradesh and hence it will function in both states. In Andhra Pradesh, Greyhounds are already there to tackle the menace.” The nod for COBRA, under the command and control of CRPF, was given on August 27 by the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. K Durga Prasad, a 1981 batch IPS officer from Andhra Pradesh and an expert in handling the anti-naxal operations, is likely to take charge of the COBRA. (PTI)

Cong, SP to jointly contest LS polls in UP
New Delhi, Sept 1: The Congress and the Samajwadi Party on Monday decided to jointly contest the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, with the Samajwadi Party seeking similar alliances in some other States.

A three-member Congress delegation led by general secretary Rahul Gandhi held discussions with Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh here for over three hours regarding seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh. “The Congress and Samajwadi Party will jointly contest the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh as both parties have same thinking,” Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is in charge of the party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, told reporters. “Both the parties have decided on a majority of seats in Uttar Pradesh. The rest will be decided in the next meeting scheduled on Sept 8,” he said.

The Samajwadi Party demanded from the Congress similar tie-ups in some other states including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Uttarakhand. The Congress said the talks were limited to Uttar Pradesh.

“Just like the Congress is asking for more seats in Uttar Pradesh, despite being weak there, we asked them to help us in states where we have a marginal presence,” Amar Singh said. Amar Singh also announced that the Samajwadi Party will not field candidates against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who represents Rae Bareli, and Rahul Gandhi, the MP from adjoining Amethi constituency. Both Lok Sabha seats are in Uttar Pradesh. The two parties also discussed demographic changes in the state following the delimitation of constituencies.

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav also took part in the meeting. The parties also discussed possible electoral tie-ups with rebel Samajwadi Party leaders Raj Babbar and Beni Prasad Verma, both of who have formed their own parties. (IANS)

Cong welcomes Amarnath row settlement
New Delhi, Sept 1: The Congress today welcomed the agreement reached between Jammu and Kashmir government and the group that led the agitation in Jammu over Amarnath land transfer and said all efforts should be made to ensure there is no sense of alienation among the people in any part of the State.

“We welcome the agreement...The state and central government should ensure that there is no sense of alienation in the people,” Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters here.

She said people from both Jammu and the valley have suffered in the agitation and asked for compensation for them. Asked about the rejection of the agreement by Congress’ erstwhile ally PDP and its allegation that it was unilateral, Natarajan said, “it is not unilateral. All parties have been consulted and the Prime Minister invited all parties in the talks”. (PTI)


MiG-29 crashes near Jamnagar
JAMNAGAR, Sept 1: A MiG-29 fighter aircraft crashed near here today during a training sortie but the pilot ejected safely. “The MiG-29 aircraft was on a one-on-one training flight when the pilot lost control and it crashed. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Dheer ejected out safely,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani said in New Delhi. This is the sixth IAF aircraft to crash this year. “There is no information as yet about any casualty on the ground when the aircraft crashed about 50 km west of the Jamnagar air base. As far as I know, it is vacant plot of land where the aircraft crashed,” Upasani said. The MiG-29 belonged to the IAF’s 28 Squadron and it had taken off from Jamnagar for the training exercise. The crash took place at 11.23 hours, he said.

Five crashes involved a MiG-27, two MiG-21s, a Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer and a Kiran trainer have taken place this year. A pilot was killed in one of the crashes.(PTI)


Post Singh is Kinng, Akshay bonds with son
Mumbai, Sept 1: Akshay Kumar, who recently returned rejuvenated after a holiday with wife Twinkle Khanna at Monte Carlo, spent a week exclusively with his son Aarav.
“It’s full-on male-bonding time now. If all three of us had been on a holiday together, I’d have been divided between my son and wife. And both would've felt cheated. By dividing my holiday time into two I can give myself completely to both,” Akshay told IANS.

While Akshay was on holiday with his son, he didn’t use the phone.
“At least not when Aarav was around.” Recently, when Akshay was on the reality show Dus Ka Dum with Salman Khan, the TRPs shot up to unprecedented heights. At the same time a lot has been written about Akshay’s leopard-spot T-shirt that he wore on the show. But the actor is unperturbed.

“I’m not here to go by definitions and standards of fashion set by others. I’ve always worn what I’m comfortable in. Why should I change that just because more people are watching me now? And I saw nothing wrong with the leopard-spotted T-shirt.”

“When Brad Pitt wears a similar T-shirt, everyone goes ooh and aah. I don’t want people’s approval about my clothes, but of my performances. Let me wear what I like,” said Akshay whose Singh Is Kinng is declared a huge hit. The success of Singh Is Kinng has put an extra responsibility on Akshay’s shoulder. “I never thought it would be so big. Now that it is such a success, I feel I’ve got more than I deserve,” said the actor who will be next seen in Chandni Chowk to China.

Apart from his film, the adventure show Fear Factor on Colours channel that Akshay is anchoring has also been a huge success. If rumours are to be believed, he is already negotiating for a second season of Fear Factor and that too at a much steeper fee than Fear Factor 1. (IANS)