BJP lambasts UPA for illegal influx

From Our Spl Correspondent NEW DELHI, July 7 – Strategising along expected lines, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to rake up the issues of Chinese intrusion into Arunachal Pradesh and illegal influx from Bangladesh and its devastating impact on the North-East, in a major way. Come Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is going to enter the election scene in the North-East, particularly in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, with all guns blazing, targeting the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre and the Tarun Gogoi government in the State.Releasing BJP’s own version of the Report Card on the four years of UPA Government here today, Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said it was hardly anything to be proud of, and for all intents and purposes, the UPA has been a total failure on every front, gasping for its last breath.The 118-page booklet brought out by the main Opposition party has 18 chapters, and elaborately deals with the North-East. The BJP countered the Centre’s claim on the internal security, asserting that it has in fact deteriorated. In Assam, the Congress Government is turning a blind eye to a sinister bid to create tension between Karbis and Dimasas. The Congress Government has colluded with the perpetrators of these assaults on the nation’s integrity.In Manipur, it looks like the writ of the UPA government does not run there. Returning to its pet theme, the saffron party said that Assam’s Muslim population has trebled in the last 50 years. The Muslim population in Assam has increased by over 313 per cent as against the Hindu population growth rate of 193 per cent, in half-a-century between 1951-2001. Again quoting former Director General of Census Operations, NC Dutta, the BJP booklet held that it was due to illegal influx from Bangladesh that lower Assam and Barak valley districts had registered a high rate of population increase.The UPA Government has adopted a myopic and selfish approach towards the grave problems of demographic invasion by Bangladeshi infiltrators, giving no thought to the long-term harm that this could do to India’s security, unity and integrity, it said.The BJP criticised Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for describing former Governor Lt Gen Ajai Singh’s report on illegal migrants as being “totally baseless”.The Congress governments at the Centre and in the State are responsible for the current state of affairs in Assam, as they have always followed the policy of vote-bank even at the cost of national interests, the BJP alleged.The party, quoting an Intelligence Bureau report, also expressed concern at the high growth of madrassas in 12 States, including Assam. The border State of Assam has 2002 madrassas, which is lower than West Bengal (2116). The highest number of madrassas is in Kerala (9,975), it said.Touching on the ULFA issue, the Report Card pointed towards the outfit’s links with ISI and alleged that the ULFA is ultimately fighting the Jehadi war on behalf of ISI, which is calling the shots. “The ULFA is outsourcing explosives and IEDs from ISI. The Home Ministry’s report also confirms that ISI has succeeded in bringing ULFA, MULFA and MULTA together to carry out subversive activities”.The BJP held the Assam Government’s soft stand on insurgency responsible for the continued targeting of the Hindi-speaking people in the State. “It is a well-known fact that the Congress had taken the help of ULFA in elections and because of this, it is unable to deal with the banned outfit firmly,” it alleged.“Indecisiveness in tackling ULFA militants might unleash forces that would be injurious to inter-state cohesion and national unity,” it opined.The BJP Report Card also took a close look at the reports of intrusion by Chinese Army, mainly into Arunachal Pradesh. The UPA seems to be groping in the dark on its relations and dealings with China. It has no definite policy, the Report Card charged, attacking the Left parties as well.The villain of the piece is the UPA’s total dependence on the Left for its survival. For the CPM, the interests of China are superior to those of the nation, it said. The BJP has demanded that a Joint Parliamentary Committee should visit the spot to verify the situation, but UPA Government has so far not taken any steps to clear the mist, it said referring to intrusions in Sumdorong Chu Valley, Asapila and Taksin areas. The BJP booklet had, however, some major errors. It mentioned that its MPs Khiren Rijiju and Tapir Gaon were from Sikkim.The party questioned the UPA Government’s policy on Tibet, repeated incursions by China, refusal of visa to an IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh cadre, alleging that the UPA Govt is indulging in blatant appeasement of China. The BJP also described the proposed road to Mount Everest as a security threat to India. The Chinese efforts to divert the Brahmaputra river away from India would have serious ramifications. The project envisages a series of 11 dams around the Brahmaputra loop. India can ignore thee developments on India-Tibet border only at its peril, it said. source: assam tribune

China quake hits Indian silk industry

NEW DELHI, June 30 (PTI): Indian silk industry with an annual business of over Rs 10,000 crore has been hit hard by the last month’s earthquake in China, a major supplier of raw silk for the manufacturing units in the country. The industry claimed that hundreds of units in Varanasi, Bangalore, Madurai, Coimbatore and Bhagalpur have closed down as the raw material costs of silk have gone up by up to 40 per cent and over one lakh persons engaged in the sector have lost jobs after the earthquake in Sichuan province of China. Sichuan is the primary supplier of raw silk yarn and dupion to Indian manufacturers of silk products. Majority of the mulberry gardens have been destroyed due to the quake, which has led to a sharp fall in production in India. “The earthquake and subsequent floods in Sichuan has affected the import prices of raw material, which have gone up by about 30-40 per cent,” Indian Silk Export Promotion Council Chairman T V Maruthi said. Further, he said the industry has also been hit by increasing transportation costs due to hike in fuel prices apart from labour and other costs. The Council has approached the Textile Ministry seeking abolition of 31 per cent duty on imports to save the industry from the crisis, pointing out that the industry was already hit by about 12 per cent rupee appreciation against dollar last year. Official sources said silk garment and other products’ export target of Rs 3,770 crore is likely to fall by 15-20 per cent this fiscal due to US slowdown and hike in raw material costs. source: assam tribune

Increasing Chinese Threat to India

Increasing Chinese Threat to India

Dina Nath Mishra

In the history of the world there had been numerous rulers with the ambition to lord over the whole world or at least a large chunk of it. The Second World War happened due to the overriding ambition of Adolf Hitler. Thereafter, the Soviet Union nourished the ambition to have its ideological hold sway over the world through its puppet governments. We all know about the end of the story. Today the US nurtures the same ambition. However, it is China that is trying to dominate Asia.Today the emergence of China as a world power at par with the US is a global threat. Being a neighbour, India should be the most worrying country. India has not yet forgotten the humiliation of 1962 at the hands of the invading Chinese. The first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was naïve enough to underestimate Chinese designs and diplomacy and lived in his own make-believe world in spite of timely warning from Sardar Patel through a long letter addressed to him detailing the expansionist ambitions of the Chinese. The History of China published recently by the Chinese Government contains a map showing Chinese territory, which includes Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Laddakh and Arunachal Pradesh. The map also includes Burma, Malaya, Thailand, North and South Vietnam, Combodia and huge chunks of territories of Soviet Siberia, Mangolia, Republic of Tajakistan and Khirurgiia. The book declares the determination to bring back every territory one day or the other. There are thinking people who say that by and large status quo would prevail in the world order, but if one looks at the geopolitical map of the world of the last 500 years with an interval of 50 years each, the map would look drastically changed. Those who cannot think beyond status quo get shocked whenever the international boundaries happen to change. Nearly a month back, Defence Minister AK Antony plainly said that “with China developing anti-satellite missiles, lasers and other space capabilities, India has no option but to be fully prepared for Star War in future.” Army chief General Deepak Kapoor added that space war was increasingly becoming the ultimate high ground to dominate the war in the future. I can quote dozens of such warnings. China has positioned its nuclear submarines in Gwadar naval base at Baluchistan and more than half-a-dozen naval bases at Suludao, Quingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Hongkong etc. We have naval bases but inferior submarines at Mumbai, Goa, Kochi, Vishakhapatnam and Port Blair. China has developed observatory towers from where they can watch our movement at Sriharikota and other centres. Encirclement of India in the Indian Ocean by the Chinese is complete. They have since prepared metal road up to India, Nepal and Sikkim borders to their nearest points. Their missiles stationed at Tibet are targeted towards all Indian cities. Even US targets are also included. It must be noted that the defence budget of China in relation to India is almost double. According to Pentagon’s assessment, China’s military build-up poses a direct threat to India as well as Taiwan, Japan and Russia. China has pushed 75 million Hans into Manchuria, seven million into Sinkiang (hitherto Muslim-dominated area), 8.5 million into inner Mangolia, and 7.5 million into Tibet. The Chinese leadership has always followed the teachings of war strategy of their master Suntzu. Mao was particularly influenced by him. Suntzu said, “To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence, supreme excellence lies in breaking the enemy resistance without fighting”. This is what China is doing. There are experts in India who opine that there is no immediate threat from China, for China’s priority is to develop its economy. But this opinion can be discounted by the ground realities. Source: sentinel assam

China-Dalai talks likely next month

China-Dalai talks likely next month

MELBOURNE, June 12 – The Dalai Lama today said that talks between his envoys and China on the festering Tibet issue may resume next month as he reminded Beijing that “stability must come from the heart, not a gun.” The Dalai, now on a visit to Australia to deliver a series of meditation lectures, said he hoped that a new round of talks between his envoys and Chinese officials would take place “maybe next month.” Representatives of the Tibetan government-in-exile met with Chinese officials in early May in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and held inconclusive talks on the Tibet issue, weeks after the worst anti-government riots erupted in mid-March in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. The two sides had agreed to meet again but did not specify any date. The Dalai Lama said he backed China’s quest for a stable and harmonious society, but he also renewed his call for Tibet to be granted meaningful autonomy. “Stability must come from the heart, not a gun,” he said. The Tibet violence spread to neighbouring provinces in which at least 22 people were killed. The clashes fuelled anger over China’s rule in Tibet and the Olympic torch relay became the target of Tibetan pro-independence protests in Paris, London, San Francisco and other cities that threatened to cast a shadow over the Beijing Games in August. At a press conference in Sydney, the 72-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader also urged Tibetans not to hamper the Beijing Olympic torch relay when it passes through the restive Himalayan region. “We have fully supported the Olympic Games right from the beginning. The torch is part of that,” he said.“Over 1 billion Chinese brothers and sisters feel really proud of that. We should respect that,” he said, adding that “I don’t think there will be any trouble” when the torch relay passes through. The Olympic torch relay is due in Tibet from June 19 to 21. China blames the Dalai Lama for the recent Tibetan unrest, saying it was part of a campaign to split the region from the rest of the country. The Dalai Lama has denied these charges, saying he wants a meaningful autonomy for his people under China’s rule, not independence. – PTI

Over 8,500 killed, 900 students buried as powerful quake hits China

Over 8,500 people were killed and nearly 900 students were reported to be buried in one of China's strongest earthquakes in decades that struck the country's southwest Sichuan province on Monday.

Described as a 'disaster' by premier Wen Jiabao, the tremor measuring 7.8 of the Richter scale injured thousands in the mountainous province even as the shock waves rattled Chinese cities and caused casualties in Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces and Chongqing municipality.
Chinese state media said that 8,500 people had died in Beichuan county in Sichuan province from the massive quake.

It said another 10,000 people were believed hurt in the same county in the devastating tremor.
Nearly 900 students were feared buried after a high school building collapsed in Dujiangyan City, about 100 kms from the earthquakes epicentre of Wenchuan County in Sichuan province, official Xinhua news agency said. It gave no other immediate details.

The quake jolted vast swathe of China sending waves of panic as thousands of people came out of high rise buildings and poured into the streets in cities including Beijing and Chinas economic hub Shanghai, where China's tallest building Jinamo tower was also evacuated. There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.

The quake was also felt as far as in Bangkok, capital of Thailand and Hanoi in Vietnam.
Troops were rushed to the affected areas for disaster relief work, while President Hu Jintao ordered 'all out efforts' to help the victims.
China previously reported an earthquake of similar magnitude on July 28, 1976 in Tangshan city near Beijing in which over two lakh people were killed.

"My fellow Chinese, facing such a severe disaster, we need calm, confidence, courage and efficient organisation," Premier Wen Jiabao said as he flew to the disaster-struck area to oversee relief work.

Telecom networks in Chengdu, Chongqing and Zhengzhou cities were paralysed after the quake. In Chengdu, cracks were seen some buildings, Xinhua said
The quake that jolted eastern Beijing measured 3.9 on the Richter scale.
Lisa Wang, an office worker in Oriental Plaza in downtown Beijing, said the whole building was evacuated after the tremor.

Officials said 80 per cent of the buildings toppled in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu, 146 kms from Wenchuan County, the epicentre of the killer quake.
"My colleagues, more than 50 people, rushed downstairs from the sixth floor into the plaza in front of the building. A large number of people, other office workers, were already there and more people poured out," she said.

She said hundreds of people stayed outside for about 15 minutes before returning to their offices. Similar experiences were reported by others, some saying they even felt dizzy.
Before the strong earthquake struck, the Sichuan provincial seismological bureau detected a moderate quake measuring 5.4 on the Richter Scale in Mianzhu city of Deyang, Xihnua said.
Monday's quake was the strongest to hit Sichuan province in more than 30 years. Overall, 44 aftershocks had been reported, the strongest one measuring 5.6, it said.

Chinese Air Force has sent helicopters to assist in relief work in the quake stricken areas, while the State Seismological Bureau is also dispatching a team to gauge the situation.
Image: Rescuers search in the rubble of the collapsed Juyuan middle school in China's Sichuan province after the devastating earthquake on Monday.
Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/may/12china.htm