News on India

Left stages protest against Govt proceeding with nuclear deal New Delhi, Sept 25: The Left and three supporting parties today staged a protest demonstration here against the UPA government’s decision to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal terming it as a “betrayal” of the country. Addressing a gathering of activists of CPI(M), CPI, RSP, Forward Bloc, TDP and JD(S) at the Jantar Mantar here, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat warned the UPA not to proceed with the deal. “Members of the coming Lok Sabha elections would decide whether the signing of the agreement was right or wrong,” he said. Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the top CPI(M) leader said: “he (Singh) has rushed to the US for signing the deal forgeting the assurance he had given that he will come back to Parliament to seek a consensus over the deal after getting clearances from IAEA and NSG.” Karat said the Parliament session has now been called from October 17 while it was actually slated to be convened from August 11. The government had shied away from convening the Parliament because it did not want to face people at a time when country has suffered a series of terrorist attacks, continuing price rise, he accused. “All these issues have to be discussed if the Parliament is convened and the government wanted to avoid it,” he said. Karat said it is now clear with the Bill being placed in the American Parliament that the Hyde Act of the US Congress would determine the contour of the deal with India. “All conditions of the Hyde Act would be enforceable. We have been warning this since the beginning,” Karat said, adding “the US would not only have power to terminate the agreement and took back fuel and technology from India but will also ask other countries to stop nuclear commerce with India.” Expressing doubt about the possibility of finalisation of deal “amid financial crisis in the US”, Karat said, “American Congress is busy with tackling the economic recess in their country instead of preparing for any debate with respect to signing of the nuclear agreement with India.” “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might have gone to US hoping a finalisation of the deal. But, it is unfortunate that this (signing of agreement) is not going to be possible,” he added. (PTI)

Godhra Commission report tabled in Gujarat Assembly GANDHINAGAR, Sept 25: The Sabarmati Express coach burning was a “pre-planned conspiracy”, a probe panel has said also giving a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the state police clean chit in the subsequent post-Godhra riots that claimed over 1,000 lives. The report which went into the coach burning in February, 2002 in which 58 kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya, were killed, “was a pre-planned conspiracy” which was hatched at the Aman Guest House in Godhra. The train carnage was cited as the reason by Hindu outfits to justify the post-Godhra pogrom. This finding of the two-member Commission goes contrary to a probe headed by another former Supreme Court judge U C Banerjee set up by the Lalu Prasad-headed railway ministry that the coach burning was purely an accident. Retired justice Akshay Mehta was the other member of the Nanavati Commission “There is absolutely no evidence to show that either the Chief Minister or any of the ministers in his council or police officers had played any role in the Godhra incident,” said the report of Justice G T Nanavati, a former Supreme Court judge, that went into the train burning incident. The first part of the report was tabled in the state assembly today and evoked instant criticism from political parties and activists opposed to the BJP. They contended that the Commission was set up to “mislead” the people. The conclusion that the train burning was a “pre-planned conspiracy” was based on various grounds including the statements of the passengers of the train that stone pelting continued for 10-20 minutes to prevent the passengers from coming out of the coach. 140 litres of petrol was purchased by Razzak Kurkur and Salim Panwala to execute the conspiracy, the Commission said adding that according to eyewitnesses, Shaukat Lalu and Mohammad Latika, had possibly opened the sliding door connecting the S6 and S7 coaches and entered S6 through that door. One Hassan Lalu had thrown a burning rag which had led to the fire in the S6 coach, it said. On the conspiracy, the report said it was hatched at the Aman Guest House on the directions of Maulvi Umarji and executed by Razzak Kurkur, Salim Panwala, Shaukat Lalu, Imran Sheri, Rafique Batuk and Shiraj Bala. “The conspiracy hatched by these persons further appears to be a part of a larger conspiracy to create terror and destabilise the administration,” the report said. Giving a clean chit to Modi in the post-Godhra events, the Nanavati Commission said there was no evidence to show there was lapse in the role of the chief minister or his ministers in providing protection, relief and rehabilitation to the victims of communal riots or in the matter of not complying with the recommendations and direction given by the National Human Rights Commission. Reacting to the report, Justice Banerjee, who headed the railway ministry appointed probe, said it was an accidental fire and there was no question anyone pouring petrol or indulging in a conspiracy in this regard. “I have no doubt about it,” he said adding it cannot but be an accidental fire. (PTI) ‘Sabarmati Exp fire could never have triggered through petrol’ NEW DELHI, Sept 25: As the Nanavati Commission probing the Sabarmati Express fire termed it as “pre-planned”, Justice U Bannerjee who carried out a separate probe into the incident maintained that it was an “accident” and could never have been triggered through petrol. The Bannerjee committee, set up by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in September 2004, in its report submitted in 2005 had said the burning of S-6 coach of Sabarmati express on February 27, 2002 was an accident. “I have recorded my findings that it is an accidental fire,” Bannerjee said when his comments were sought on the Godhra Commission report, which held that it was a pre-planned conspiracy and not an accident. The judge said he had examined a large number of witnesses, including an Income Tax Officer, who submitted that they had crawled on the floor to get out of the burning coach. While 250 people could escape to safety, there were 58 who were asphyxiated due to thick smoke. The sequence of the fire was something different. “This sequence could never have been in a petrol fire,” he said. (PTI)

DRDO develops ‘laser power’ for troops NEW DELHI, Sept 25: Following in the footsteps of the US Armed Forces, the Indian Army soldiers will soon be armed with laser guns to help take on militants without even firing a single shot. The Laser Science and Technology Centre (LASTEC), a DRDO laboratory, has developed ‘Laser Dazzler’ — a non-lethal gun — for the armed forces to be used during counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist operations. “The laser gun is a non-lethal anti-personnel weapon, which could be used to disorient or dazzle an armed soldier or a terrorist without causing any collateral damage in the process,” LASTEC’s Associate Director A K Maini told PTI here today. He said the gun would flash a laser beam, which could virtually “blind” the terrorist or anti-social element for around 40 seconds - time good enough for the troops to nab the culprit. The flash beam of the gun is two to three metres wide, which would provide better chances to the forces in disorienting the target. “The gun can be used effectively in counter-insurgency operations and close combat battles by the defence and paramilitary forces,” Maini said. The DRDO-developed gun would be used for trials by the Army in counter-insurgency operations in the next five to six months. It would be tested in “real combat” situations in both Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern states. The laser guns are also fully compliant with the UN conventions, which prohibit the use of laser guns that cause permanent blindness. “Laser guns causing permanent blindness are banned under a 1995 UN Convention called the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons. But the DRDO gun does not have any such effects on the target. The eyes come back to normal level as soon as the dazzling effect of the flash is over,” Maini said. The LASTEC had successfully tested the effectiveness of the guns in laboratory conditions. “The first batch of Laser Dazzlers was produced in Panchkula near Chandigarh. The guns would be coming back to us for technical clearances before we send them to the Army for user trials,” Maini said. The DRDO is also hoping to offer the laser gun to other paramilitary, central and state police forces after the Army carried out its trials. “Other paramilitary, central and state police forces also have to carry out operations against militants in conditions similar to the Army’s counter-insurgency operations, particularly in anti-Maoist operations,” he said. (PTI) Kerala sets up labour banks to overcome farm worker shortage THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Sept 25: Facing a grim shortage of farm workers, Kerala government has drawn up a project to set up ‘labour banks’ in panchayats to supply workers for farming and allied activities. The first labour bank has already been launched at Akathetharain in Palakkad district as a pilot project linked to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP). “It is a three-pronged concept. First of all, it will ensure work for labourers all through the year. It will also guarantee supply of sufficient workers in agricultural and allied areas and would eliminate middlemen in labour sector,” a spokesperson for Local Administration Minister Paloli Muhammdkutty told PTI. The idea was to create teams of workers organised in a three-tier structure. At the base will be workers’ neighbourhoods, followed by ward-level labour committees and panchayat-level labour banks. The first layer will comprise 10 to 20 workers, both men and women. There would be panchayat level committees elected by the workers themselves who would help the management of labour banks. The labour bank in Akathethara will enrol 700 workers, who would be made available for the jobs in and around the village. “Though initially, this is meant for rural area with its focus on the farm sector, the plan is to include all types of skilled workers in the scheme including construction labourers,” the spokesperson said. The members of the banks will also have a say in deciding the wages and working terms and conditions. However, for the time being, the workers will be paid the wage-level fixed by NREGP, sources said. After studying the experience of the pilot project, necessary modifications will be made in the scheme before extending it to all the panchayats in the state. Labour shortage has assumed a serious dimension in Kerala with the state depending heavily on migrant labourers supplied by contractors from other states. According to official estimates, over a million migrant labourers are engaged in construction sites across the state, a good chunk of them from states like Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and areas bordering with Nepal. Even in agriculture and traditional industries, the migrant labourers are being engaged increasingly. (PTI)