Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time- Two Hundred SEVEN
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
"Why Industries are closed and the Land is being taken by realty sector? Why slumabolishion act is related to Realty Boom?"
You have raised a very valid point. Are we going for the "magic" of "growth" via real-estate boom and consumption ? Are we following in the path of US and Dubai? We just have to see the end result to stop us in our paths.
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Anarya Dravid Vanga Indigenous: Operation Godavari to Flush out ...
Faultlines 19: The Maoists in Nepal:Strategies of Subversion and . ..... [ZESTCaste] would they divide india again.htm (From Palash Biswas Gosto Kanan, ...
anaryadravidvangaindigenous.blogspot.com/.../operation-godavari-to-flush-out-maoists.html - Cached -Anarya Dravid Vanga Indigenous: Maoists free abducted West Bengal ...
22 Oct 2009 ... September 25th, 2007 | by Palash Biswa. Caste War in India and Global ..... She and her mother-in-law got in touch with Maoist leader ...
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- [ Translate this page ]Palash biswas द्वारा 27 अक्टूबर, 2009 3:37 PM पर पोस्टेड # ... Maoists free abducted West Bengal cop and RSS and HINDUTVA Merged in ...
hindi.mywebdunia.com/authors/cGFsYXNoYmlzd2Fza2w=/.../latest/ - Cached -खोज परिणाम
- [ Translate this page ]Maoist Target BUDDHADEB and Lalgrh Heads for REPRESSION Troubled Galaxy destroyed Dreams: Chapter 259 Palash Biswas Naxalite Maoist India: Maoism in ...
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4 Nov 2009 ... Palash Biswas Palash India www.palashbiswas.ibibo.com .... I have to be UPDATED with all activities of the Maoists, Corporate Imperialism ...
palashbiswas.ibibo.com/.../298005~Why-is-SO-RED-the-GULMOHAR-Flower- - Cached -Crush Maoists, says Singh
22 Dec 2007 ... Crush Maoists, says Singh. Palash Biswas. Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. ...
o3.indiatimes.com/kolkatabase/archive/2007/12/22/4845221.aspx - Cached -Mamata muted on Maoist stance - Contribute - MSNIndia
Contribute; StoryPage; Mamata muted on Maoist stance. Mamata muted on Maoist stance. - by Palash Biswas 22 Oct 2009. This story has been read 420 times. ...
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- [ Translate this page ][ By: Palash biswas ]. palashkatha.mywebdunia.com Royals show off power of the Raj as maoist Captured Media , Bengali Refugees in Dandakaranya Remian ...
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22 Oct 2009 ... Palash Biswas. 22/10/2009. Melting effects: Great depression Vs .... The Maoists had threatened to kill Dutta, who was abducted by the ...
palashspeaks.blog.co.uk/.../maoists-free-abducted-west-bengal-cop-and-rss-and-hindutva-merged-in-zionist-congress-after-the-moon-india-eyeing-... -
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News results for Singur
Thaindian.comMamata proposes to build rail coach factory in Singur - 2 hours ago
KOLKATA: A day after state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) officials visited the abandoned Tata Motors land in West Bengal's Singur, ...Times of India - 50 related articles »
Singur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Singur is a census town in Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Singur railway station is 34 km from Howrah Station on the Howrah-Tarakeswar ...
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With due respect to Mamata Banerjee, who is spearheading the opposition to Singur, I have to say that her agitation militates against both West Bengal's ...
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Description: Budhdhadeb-er Gestapo bahinir Singur-dholai abhijaan. Police atrocities on villagers of Singur. The CPIM-path of industrializatin of West ...
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The West Bengal government has not given up industrialisation of the state, including finalising an alternate project for Singur, Chief Minister Buddhadeb ...
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4 Sep 2008 ... Singur, September 3 Enough is enough: Singur's message to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was loud and clear today. ...
www.expressindia.com/latest-news/...Singur.../357198/ - Cached - Similar -The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Bhel shown Singur ...
13 Nov 2009 ... Banerjee said Bhel could set up the equipment factory in Singur "if ... The Singur land is still in the possession of Tata Motors and its ...
www.telegraphindia.com/1091113/jsp/.../story_11735652.jsp - 17 hours ago -Singur
Singur Panchayat Samity. Home Zilla Profile Organisational Structure Major project Local Self ... 13, Singur-I. 14, Singur-II. 15, Mirzapur-Bankipur ...
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News and analysis on development and social issues in India, A year after 1000 acres of land were acquired by the West Bengal government, Singur is quiet ...
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Singur is a thriving farming community in the West Bengal State of India. Its 20000 habitants, mostly small peasants, agricultural workers and small.
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Mamata now wants to have rail coach factory in Singur | TwoCircles.net - TwoCircles.net : all news - 2 hours ago
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Tata Motors resolves compensation issues with Nano vendorsMoneycontrol.com - 9 hours ago In October last year, Tata Motors had announced the shift of the Rs 1500-crore plant for the Nano from Singur to a greenfield factory in Sanand, ... Tata Motors resolves compensation issues with vendors Economic Times Mamata demands Central Rule in BengalIndian Express - 9 hours ago On a day when a team from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd visited a site in Singur to explore possibilities of setting up a power plant, Banerjee once again ... Bharat Heavy Electricals mulls power plant at SingurIndia Business Blog (blog) - 20 hours ago by Indo Asian News Service on November 12, 2009 Political showdown at Bengal National Chamber of Commerce meet Kolkata, Sep 22 (IANS) High drama prevailed ... Land still with Tatas, minister points outPress Trust of India - 39 minutes ago Kolkata, Nov 13 (PTI) Welcoming Railway minister Mamata Banerjee's proposal for a coach factory at the Tata Motors abandoned site at Singur, ... Farmers' agitation may threaten the Freight CorridorMerinews - 4 hours ago Observers say if the farmers start following Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Singur agitation path, the railways may have to abandon the project like ... Many Naxalites have joined Trinamool Congress: MamataPress Trust of India - Nov 12, 2009 Asked since when these Naxalites are with Trinamool Congress, she said, "it all started during the Singur agitation. They came forward and supported us. Forward Bloc to review its alliance with CPI-M Thaindian.com Home secy in a flip-flop over Maoist links of Trinamool Indian Express Buddhadeb steps into his 10th year as Chief MinisterHindu - Nov 8, 2009 The setbacks range from forced relocation of the Tata Motors' small car project from Singur to a severe electoral defeat for the CPI(M) and the Left Front ... Buddhadeb enters into his tenth year as WB chief minister Economic Times `It's corporatized state terrorism'Times of India - Nov 9, 2009 Whether it is Nandigram, Singur, Kakinada or Raigad, it is the poor who fight every where, Narmada Bachao Andolan Medha Patkar said on Monday. ... LF harps on Nano for bypoll edgeTimes of India - - Nov 1, 2009 But a victory will bolster the LF government's agenda for industrialization, the constituency being only 20 km from the Tata Motors factory site in Singur. ... Video: Yechury backs Basu's appeal  NDTV.com |
Maoists release abducted Jharkhand legislatorIBNLive.com - 2 hours ago REBEL POWER: A file photos of Maoists, whom the government regards as India's utmost security threat. ibnlive.com is on mobile now. ... Maoists abduct RJD legislator in Jharkhand Times of India Maoists release abducted RJD leader Little About (blog) RJD MLA abducted Calcutta Telegraph Indian Maoists kidnap legislator, kill threeDAWN.com - 6 hours ago AFP PATNA, India: Indian Maoists kidnapped a state legislator and were suspected of triggering a landmine blast that killed three troopers in separate ... Can use civilians to fight govt, warn Maoists Indian Express Orissa to seek joint anti-Maoist operationPress Trust of India - 3 hours ago Bhubaneswar, Nov 13 (PTI) With unabated Maoist attacks claiming seven lives, including three CRPF jawans, in a span of three days, the Orissa government ... Heightened operations against Maoists in Rayagada Times of India Police killed in India mine blast BBC News Hold unconditional talks with Maoists: RamadossTimes of India - 4 hours ago He told reporters in Chennai that though he despised the armed struggle by the Maoists, the naxals "intentions and reasons are just. ... Hold unconditional talks with Maoists: PMK to Centre Press Trust of India Bags of powder found in Maoist beltCalcutta Telegraph - 17 hours ago Gaya, a "liberated zone" of Maoists, neighbours Jharkhand where elections will begin later this month. The seizure of the substance — Naxalite literature ... 73 bags of explosives recovered in Gaya Times of India Maoists amassing ammo to disturb Jharkhand poll Daily Pioneer 45 quintals of explosives meant for Maoists seized Press Trust of India Two years after, trial of 'Maoists' yet to beginExpress Buzz - 11 hours ago SAMBALPUR/DEOGARH: It is more than two years since Maoists mowed down three villagers of Ranigula and Telikusum under Tileibani block but trial of the nine ... Maoist's' family demand trial Times of India Yechury has close links with Maoists: MamataTimes of India - Nov 12, 2009 It was because of Yechury's proximity to top Maoist leaders in Nepal that the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government sent him as envoy to the ... Anti-Maoist operations at Lalgarh to continue: Pranab Press Trust of India 16 suspected Maoists held in ChhattisgarhSamayLive - 1 hour ago Raipur: As many as 16 suspected Maoist guerrillas were arrested in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region Friday, police said. The village level cadres, ... Tribal Bastar prepares for war Hindustan Times Chhattisgarh steps up highway patrolling Thaindian.com High alert in Bihar's Jehanabad to foil repeat of 2005 jailbreakSify - 5 hours ago Security was stepped up at Bihar's Jehanabad district Friday following intelligence reports that Maoist rebels may be planning a repeat of their audacious ... Stay up to date on these results: |
Bhel shown Singur land |
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| Calcutta, Nov. 12: The Bengal government has invited Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) to set up a power equipment factory and suggested as a possible site the land leased out to Tata Motors in Singur. The government also plans to set up a power plant jointly with the public sector Navratna company in Katwa, Burdwan, where land acquisition has run into trouble from farmers. A Bhel team, led by general manager S.C. Mittal, today visited the Singur site, about 40km from Calcutta and originally meant for the Tata Nano. Mittal was accompanied by Debashis Sen, managing-director of the state power development corporation. Power minister Mrinal Banerjee said Bhel, which specialises in manufacturing boilers and turbo-generators, had no equipment manufacturing plant in the region. "We took them to Singur today for a look at the site," he said, stressing that it happened to be one of the areas being considered. Banerjee said the government had proposed setting up a 1,600MW power plant jointly with the public sector company. "We want to set up two 800MW units and we came to know that Bhel is eager to participate in power generation." Talks were on with Bhel regarding both, the minister said, but no decision had been taken yet. "Bhel has neither rejected nor accepted our proposal," he added. "The Bhel officials will return to Delhi, have a discussion among themselves and get back to us." Banerjee said Bhel could set up the equipment factory in Singur "if they like the place. But for setting up a power plant, we think Katwa would be ideal." Mamata Banerjee, whose agitation forced the Tatas to shift the Nano project from the nearly 1,000-acre site, made her stand clear this evening. "The (Bhel) factory can come up on 600 acres but 400 acres have to be returned to farmers from whom land was taken forcibly," she told STAR Ananda from Delhi. It is not clear how much land Bhel will need for the factory. An NTPC-Bhel power equipment plant is coming up in Andhra Pradesh on 750 acres. The southern project, estimated to cost Rs 6,000 crore, is expected to create 6,000 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect opportunities. Factories making power equipment are usually more employment-intensive than power generation plants. Describing the state government's drive as "a gimmick and an eyewash", Mamata said Bhel wanted to set up two power plants with the railways, too. The Singur land is still in the possession of Tata Motors and its vendors. A Tata Motors spokesperson said the company would discuss the matter with the government. The lease is due for renewal in April. |
Only lakhs spill in Koda crores hunt | ||
| OUR BUREAU | ||
Ranchi, Nov. 12: On a joint drive with the Enforcement Directorate to unearth embezzled crores, the income tax department has so far recovered only Rs 23.65 lakh and $ 3,430 (Rs 1.6 lakh) from former chief minister Madhu Koda and his two key associates, Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Choudhary. Tax officer Ranjit Kumar Lal today filed an affidavit before a division bench of Jharkhand High Court saying raids were conducted on 69 premises owned by Koda and his aides. He said that the department was in touch with various banks to find out about fixed deposits made in the former chief minister's name. Sleuths raided Koda's home on October 31 and are still interrogating him there. Sinha and Choudhary have been evading interrogation despite repeated summons. Jharkhand police today sounded an alert to all states and district police chiefs to arrest Sinha and Choudhary, coaccused with Koda in an assets case. Additional director-general of police (CID) G.S. Rath said the alert had been sounded following the tax department's arrest warrants against the duo yesterday. ED summon The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to Mumbai-based bullion traders and hawala agents Manoj Punamia, Arvind Vyas and Lalit Jain — believed to be close associates of Madhu Koda and company — to appear before it on November 16. Koda is expected to go to Delhi a day before. Interrogation by tax officials, however, continued at Koda's residence even today. After Mumbai, Delhi will be the centre stage of interrogation by ED and tax sleuths. Tax director (investigation) Ujjwal Chaudhary and ED deputy director Prabha Kant today returned to Delhi. Two tax officials from Ranchi have also left for Delhi. Sources revealed that they had zeroed in on Punamia as the main hawala and bullion agent managing the foreign illegal transactions made by Koda and his associates. The officials are also assessing whether bullion trades were actually made or the seized invoices were counterfeit. Vikas Sinha, brother of Vinod Sinha, is in ED custody. He is a partner of Balaji Bullion & Commodities. The ED authorities are said to be cross-checking "facts" with Vikas. Both ED and tax sleuths have found that maximum amounts illegally amassed by Koda and his henchmen are from allotment of mines to prospective investors, transfer and posting of technocrats and bureaucrats and from a Rs 1,480-crore rural electrification project. The ED has approached Switzerland for information on investment and transactions made by the former chief minister and his associates. Earlier, authorities in Indonesia, the UAE, Liberia, Thailand Singapore were also approached. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091113/jsp/frontpage/story_11734810.jsp |
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Trinamool, Cong share uneasy ties in BengalDaily News & Analysis - 17 hours ago One Trinamool leader said they want the Congress to keep its nose out of Bengal and "this is why we didn't object to the Centre's PSU disinvestment plan". ... Yechury has close links with Maoists: Mamata Times of India Mamata proposes to build rail coach factory in SingurTimes of India - 2 hours ago KOLKATA: A day after state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) officials visited the abandoned Tata Motors land in West Bengal's Singur, ... Bhel shown Singur land Calcutta Telegraph Bengals-Steelers PreviewBengals.com - - 37 minutes ago The Bengals are gunning for their sixth straight AFC North victory, their most since a six-game run from Nov. 6, 2005-Nov. 5, 2006. ... Steelers-Bengals Rematch Bleacher Report Bengals' Defensive Stars Turn a Corner FanHouse (blog) Written by Cody Evans - Managing Editor and Clayton Akers - Sports Editor MSU The Trail Blazer Online East Bengal in Abel handsCalcutta Telegraph - 17 hours ago Calcutta: As promised by new coach Phillippe de Ridder, there weren't any miracles in East Bengal's I-League match against Lajong FC at the Barasat Stadium ... Hammond shines in East Bengal's win over Lajong FC Times of India Bengal fall 14 shortKolkata Mirror - 5 hours ago By Archiman Bhaduri Kolkata: It was so near, yet so far for Bengal as they fell 14 runs short of Baroda's first-innings score of 307 in their Ranji Trophy ... Bengal gift away lead Indian Express Ganguly fails to boost Bengal in Ranji Trophy Sakaal Times Sourav show not enough Calcutta Telegraph FTN: Left Front's moment of crisisIBNLive.com - 9 hours ago While in West Bengal the Left Front managed to win one out of the 10 seats, in Kerala it lost all the three seats. After these successive poll losses ... Rebel minister won't go with Mamata or Cong Indian Express Student Suspended for Haircut Honoring Bengals' Winning SeasonFanHouse (blog) - - 10 minutes ago His barber, Chris Campbell of the B Street barbershop Razor Sharp, cut Bengal stripes on the sides of Reader's head and a large capital B on the back to ... Student suspended over 'Who Dey' haircut? Oxford Press Maoists release policemen abducted in West BengalHindustan Times - Nov 11, 2009 Maoist guerrillas on Wednesday released two policemen they had abducted on Tuesday in West Bengal's West Midnapore district, police said. ... India's Naxalites: Wages of feudalism Pakistan Observer Bengal plans power plant in BhutanTimes of India - - 12 hours ago Revealing this on Wednesday, consul-general of Bhutan in Kolkata Tsering Wangda said the West Bengal government had already approached the Bhutan government ... Mamata demands Central Rule in BengalIndian Express - 9 hours ago Riding high on her party's impressive performance in the recent Assembly bypolls in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief and Union Railway Minister Mamata ... Buddha's core team ready to sit in Opposition IBNLive.com Mamata in poll dilemma Calcutta Telegraph Stay up to date on these results: |
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Phyan fires up Calcutta - Hottest November 12 in a decade, illness risk hovers | |
| G.S. MUDUR AND MEGHDEEP BHATTACHARYA | |
Nov. 12: Cyclone Phyan spared Mumbai when it was at its fiercest but its dying residue has made eastern India warmer and turned the region around Calcutta into a temperature hotspot that may precipitate respiratory illnesses. The minimum temperature in Calcutta today was four degrees above normal at 22.6 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest November 12 the city has experienced this decade. The cyclone has weakened into a low-pressure zone that hovered today over Madhya Pradesh, drawing relatively warm winds and moisture from the Bay of Bengal towards eastern India, according to meteorologists. Such temperature fluctuations may alter the concentrations of potential allergens and microbes which, along with air pollution, may precipitate illness in susceptible people, allergy and infectious disease specialists have cautioned. "It isn't the temperature itself but its effects on allergens and infectious organisms which lead to symptoms," said Vannan Kandi Vijayan, the director of the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, New Delhi. The concentration of certain pollen grains and other types of allergens, including bacteria and viruses, in the atmosphere may increase during such transient spurts in temperature, he said. The maximum temperature in Calcutta over the past two days has also been about 3 to 4 degrees Celsius above normal and the India Meteorological Department has predicted maximum temperatures to remain between 33 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius over the next three days. "Eastern India is experiencing an indirect effect of cyclone Phyan," said Gokul Debnath, director at the IMD, Calcutta. The moisture drawn over eastern India by the cyclone's residue has contributed to cloud build-up over parts of Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. The clouds prevent heat from escaping into space, he said. The relatively warm winds from the Bay of Bengal are also preventing cooler winds from the northwest to blow across eastern India, further contributing to the warmth. But meteorologists said the warmer weather should be viewed as a short-lived fluctuation around the normal temperature value. The temperature oscillates around the mean value, said Ajit Tyagi, director-general, IMD. In situations when allergen and microbial load is high, air pollution can further raise the risk of illness with pollutants serving as ferrying vehicles for microbes. "Pollution may aid the spread of bacteria, viruses, or allergens," said Dev Kumar Kesar, head of medicine at the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences near New Delhi. "That may explain why susceptible people are more comfortable after a little bit of rain," he said. |
Mumbai police confident of thwarting repeat of 26/11
Mumbai: "A lesson has been learnt", a top Mumbai police official said today, adding the security apparatus is well prepared to thwart a repeat of 26/11 after acquiring latest weaponry and technology worth Rs 36 crore.
With intelligence agencies warning of major terror strikes, the top brass of Maharashtra and Mumbai police expressed confidence about meeting any challenge thrown by terror outfits. The first anniversary of the audacious Mumbai terror attack that left 183 persons dead falls on November 26.
The state police chief and Mumbai police commissioner said though the metropolis continued to be on the terror hit-list the security apparatus was more prepared and alert this time.
Source: PTI
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It was the terrorist Muslims that after the fall of USSR declared that they cannot live without enemies and their next target is the USA!!!!!!!!!
The terrorist Muslims are who lied to the whole world to send their very advanced Air Forces to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians in their home cities!!!!!!!!
The terrorist Muslims are who support ethnic cleansing for Christian and Muslim Arabs in Palestine!!!!!!!
Aren't all that sufficient to convict those terrorists????!!!!!!!
--------------------------
A. M.
Just see the MOTTO behind. Terrorist Muslims are the Enemy of United states of America and hence, Muslims worldwide must be Terrorists. This is the logic of War against Terror.
In the same way, just because Central India is notified as RED Frontier and it is projected as Foreign Territory as Kashmir and Entire North East had been treated since Transfer of Power and only Military Option with Zero Tolerance may RESOLVE the Insurgency Problem in the selected Landscape and Humanscpae.
Since the Maoists are ACTIVE in Tribal Regions and Insurgency Cultivation gets fertile land always in tribal bases as which had been PROHIBITED SCHEDULED areas for outsiders, developed communities during Colonial Rule in India, the logic is Every TRIBAL man or woman must be a Maoist or EXTREMIST, hence the Aboriginal Indigenous communities and Minorities converted must be subjected to REPRESSION, Military Rule and Ethnic Cleansing.
Media is conducting OPINION Polls to hand Over Central India to Army Rule. No Body asks any question against Anti national ETHNO National Uprising in rest of India! No Body questions the MURDER of Parliament and democracy.
Our Black Untouchable Brotherhood worldwide have already seen 2012, the Projected Mass destruction in a typical Hollywood Film just released today.
Maoists are ANGRY with me as I relate them with Corporate Imperialism and the Ruling Hegemony. On the other hand, the intelligentsia Hindutva Brand me as Maoist as I am a Social activist Committed to the interests and Existence of Black untouchable brotherhood, which I may not EVADE as it had been my Family Liability before I was Born in a Scheduled Caste Refugee Bengali Family settled in Naintal. I am based in Bengal and had been opposing the Marxist Bengali Brahaminical Gestapo genocide culture, hence our Marxists Friends consider me their ENEMY and Never Take Notice of the Points raised relating Corporate Imperialism, India Incs Rule Extra Constitutional and the Hindutva Global as I follow the Marxist Ideology better than any Brahmin Marxist, even better than the General Secretaries and Polit Bureau members!On the other hand , since I attack the Brahaminical system and UPA Agenda of mass destruction, Opposition in Bengal , civil society, media and intelligentsia Never recognises my existence.
However, it makes No Difference! I belong to the exiled Dalits banished out of Bengal. But our people who stayed in Bengal and face Persecution unprecedented, I may not communicate them neither I may have an Audience consisting of Black Untouchable Brotherhood. Most of my readers turn Hostile as they belong to the Ruling Class only.
Nov 13, 2009 12:48 AM
247
Respected friends!
For the first thing, I am not a Maoist neither I am a Sympathiser.
But knowing the landscape and Human scape relating to the MOW as well as Maoist Zone, I may not Contradict the Social realism and magic Corporate Economics related.
If you read me on Net you should be knowing that I am up against the withering away of the State which is taken over by Post Modern Manusmriti Order, Corporate Imperialism, global Weapon Market and India Incs. We have no representatives as the Political parities have turned to be MNCs themselves.
For example, Madhu KODA passed Licence for Coal Mining amounting One Lac Sixty One Thousand Crores and shifts a little bit of the Ice berg, rs. Four Thousand crore in his reserve within forty Five minutes. He is not so GOOD Player of the Game.Just imagine what Havoc other Politicians do with the money paid by Indian tax Payers!
You may have read the advertisement in every newspaper inviting NGOs for Partnership in Flagship Welfare Programme! Who are behind the screen and run these NGOs mostly funded by foreign agencies including World bank, UNESCO and IMF!
The most amusing part of this equation is the fact that Maoist Flare Up intensified since neo Liberalism and Free market democracy were introduced and so are the NGOs, Civil Societies, toilet Media Streamlining, Intelligentsia changing wings DILUTING all Democratic Institutions.Market ahs emerged sovereign and Sovereignty of the Nation as well as its individual citizens exist no more. extra constitional Elements like Nilekani, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Sam Pitroda, Rangrajan and the gang assisted by Pranab, kamalnath, Sibal and Shashi Tharur do all the work of Governance, Policy Making, Legislation and diplomacy sidelining the State and the parliament.
Genuine problems are not addressed at all. non Issues are made issues. demagogues and money power rule the country. You just die for Development. On which Cost? For whom? Why the Rural Population is engaged in EXODUS? Why Indian Agriculture is transformed into Chemical Industry fatal? Why our children have no job other than call centre, contact labour and Marketing? Why seventy crore People Starve despite Glittering Sensex, Inflated Economy and so much Hyped RESILIENCE? Why Industries are closed and the Land is being taken by realty sector? Why slum abolishion act is related to Realty Boom? Why Food prices may not be afforded? Why public Utilities are Privatised? Why savings should be withdrawn only after paying Tax? Why Disinvestment is mandatory for every profitable PSU? Why Trade Union Movement is dead? Why Popular mass Movements are Branded as Insurgency and Military Option is adopted with ZERO Tolerance? Why AFPSA continued in almost every part of untouchable Himalayas?
You have not to be a Maoist to raise these questions? Genuine democratic space is killed and EMPOWERMENT of SC ST OBC and Minorities denied and the ruling Hegemony is busy to defend the Foreign Interest Anti national?
Maoists, NGOs, Media and Intelligentsia to which Ms Arundhati ray belong create the Space for Ethnic cleansing to accomplish the Mass Destruction agenda of Economic reforms.
Maoists have NEVER targeted the CORPORATE Interest. lest all industrial activities and mining would have stopped. Organised sector is detached.
No Insurgency or Terror Network may survive without the support of state agencies. Maoist menace has PUSHED the Indigenous Aboriginal Communities and Refugees into a death Zone where they strand in Cross Fire. Since, they are Black Untouchable Negroid , my People , I have concern and Commitment for them.Neither for the Maoist nor for the Intelligentsia.
thanks.
Palash Biswas
Kolkata, India
Nov 12, 2009 04:01 AM 246 | > "... there is an elephant in India's drawing room. Maoists openly defy the Constitution, which they say is a mask for a brutal order. Are not our mainstream parties equally contemptuous of the law? Why did the NDA regime try and do away with Schedule 5 of the Constitution that protects tribal lands from encroachment? Why is it still being violated? Is there not prima-facie evidence of politicians' involvement in massacres in Delhi and Gujarat in 1984 and 2002? Why haven't they been brought to justice? In 1987, 40 Muslims of Meerut were killed in custody. Why did the case take 18 years to come to court? The BJP and the Congress both supported the private army named Salwa Judum with disastrous consequences for Chhattisgarh's population." http://www.hindustan...Article1-474600.aspx |
| Nov 12, 2009 02:57 AM 245 | I am certainly impressed with Ms. Roy's rhetoric.Not really because all she says makes sense to me, rather of her approach to find the solution to Maoism. Considering that it is an internal deal and we are looking to strike a mutual agreement with 'our' 'inimical' friends, need is to get to the roots. The best way to get there is to put yourself in their tribal shoes for a while... Having accepted the fact that people in the areas have not yet had the access to any education, how can anyone expect them to think on an equal footage.They are like the innocent victims of ignorance.Helpless but to fight for their rights and rescue their survival.I think if anyone optimistically wants to develop the land, he ought to have concern for the local people at the first place...In this very case, that means educate them, develop their thought and the rest would follow..All this with due respect to the fact-Bauxite in the land is going nowhere!! |
| Nov 11, 2009 12:13 PM 244 | To begin with, I am not a fan of Ms Roy. Neither is it that I always share her opinions. However, one cannot differ on this issue. I agree with her on the fact that this 'war' is not against 'enemies'. It is against the very people of the land who are standing up for themselves. It is indeed a matter of shame that we are crushing them for interests better known to Mr PC. We are even ready to deploy our soldiers for this purpose. And if I may ask, to against whom? It takes some time to plan, identify locations and set up an Army Brigade. But surprisingly, it hasn't taken all that long this time, unless ofcourse it was thought for quite a while. Spare a thought for the so-called 'enemies' once. I too would stand-up if someone entered my house demanding me to give it up. I am not justifying their means. But then, do we give them an option? Do we have any talks with them? Or, are we even ready to listen if one of them speaks? I think we have our answers there. |
| Nov 11, 2009 10:59 AM 243 | We like to shoot Ms messenger and oppose in shrill voices everytime an Arundhati Roy or a Medha Patkar shows us the mirror. I'm a convert from being a shooter earlier and have now come to see merit in these sane voices. My saltutes to Arundhati Roy for being an example of courage & indomitable spirit. For the intellectual urban shooters, may I recommend "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein". Fate of middle class urbanites will not be very different from these poor tribals, its just a matter of time & manner |
| Nov 09, 2009 07:59 AM 242 | >>>>>>>Dalits in Trivallur district have gone on campaigning against Justice Dinakaran who usurped these poor people' s lands and yet this guy Prabhu posted umpteen posts in these columns condemning Brahmanism that the Brahmins are hounding innocent Dinakaran because he is a Dalit>>>>>>> I have consistently maintained that the highly contagious disease called ' corruption ' has been spread in India from those on the top of caste hierarchy to those below , ie , brahmin downwards. In my earlier posting, I had shown that the caste background of the current serving judges of the supreme court do not correspond with the caste % of Indian society. This situation continues to exist 60 years after India's independence is unacceptable and has to be investigated. India does not belong alone to the micro-minority upper castes but also belongs to the overwhelming low castes. Therefore 70% of all judiciary in the supreme court, high courts and lower courts must be from the low castes - corresponding to their population %. This itself will bring to an end the corruption of the rich and the powerful upper castes in our nation who are engaged in outright theft of the nations natural resources - land, minerals, oil and gas, etc and thus displacing a huge population of the low castes in the process. The current news coming out thru media exposes that our very judges are shareholders in the various companies who are engaged in theft and displacement of our low caste people. The following news shows that the upper castes who have immigrated to western nations have begun corrupting their institutions too. This proves beyond any reasonable doubt that corruption has been spread from ' brahmin ' downwards in Indian society and in this news ' brahmin ' outwards in westery society. Insider trading suspect on run in Mumbai? Press Trust of India, Sunday November 8, 2009, New York Deep Shah, an Indian-origin suspect in the largest ever hedge fund scam in the US is on the run and is believed to be in Mumbai, federal authorities have said. Shah, 27, and Gautam Shankar, 35, were among the 14 new suspects charged on Thursday in the $53 million insider trading scam by the FBI. While Shah is a former analyst at the Moody's Investor Service, Shankar who has already pleaded guilty is a former proprietary trader at Schottenfeld Group in New York. Two other Indians were charged in the fraud earlier. Rajiv Goel, director in strategic investments at Intel Corp's investment arm, and Anil Kumar, a director at global management-consulting firm McKinsey & Co, both 51, were charged for fraud in October. |
| Nov 08, 2009 02:48 AM 241 | All land where tribals live is not rich in mineral deposits The theory is only a figment of imagination of smt A.Roy .How true is Plato"s words ,in his ideal republic poets / writers who write what is not directly known to them and therefore creates confusion in people's minds………………..….Gopal kochukattu |
| Nov 07, 2009 07:31 PM 240 | "To sacrifice innocent tribals' interest in the name of progress is like doing away with the daily 'Dal' to get the both ends meet while keeping the daily 'Booze' maintained." |
| Nov 07, 2009 07:30 PM 239 | "To sacrifice innocent tribals' interest in the name of progress is like doing away with the daily 'Dal' to get the both ends meet while keeping the daily 'Booze' maintained." |
| Nov 07, 2009 06:57 PM 238 | We Sindhis didn't get our own state. Does that mean we should start throwing papads at the government? |
| Nov 07, 2009 03:55 PM 237 | sandy the anger of the maoists is not entirely due to the fact that they are poor. it has a lot to do with the fact that some indians have become phenomenally rich. these are the entrepeneurs who have used their inintiave, hardwork and brains to build new industries which never existed before. they became rich after the govt removed some of the many mindless hindrances in their way.they became rich by embraceing modernism, new technology. i am certain that maoism, communism , the various minority causes would lose a lot of steam if the present class of entrepeneurs had not existed at all. envy,jealousy have been the fuel which has resulted in the present myriad dissatisfactions. muslims do not seem so dissatisfied in poor muslim countries,like sudan,somalia or pakistan as much as in india. all the poor who have failed to hitch a ride in the new wealth of india, have seriouas complaints. politicians in various states such as mahrashtra,assam, delhi, kashmir, will now do their best to exclude poor immigrant labour from bihar, up, bengal. they will try and help their own poor, which is a tough job in itself. is it fair for a explodeing poor population to demand handouts from the rich amongst them. look at any family in india from the poor countryside. how much do the few rich amongst them do to help even their own near families.how much do rich dalits, obc.s, muslims, christians do to help their own. damn little. however all of them expect the rich upper class hindus to come to their aid. i know this is a futile dream. i dont expect my rich family to help me out now that i have lost a fortune in the latest finance crisis. it would be stupid to do so. it would cause more problems. in america even the poorest want to make it by fullfilling their dream. in india they wait for handouts, which are seldom given. the govts in india should speak the truth to all. you guys have to make it on your own. the politicians should do the same. instead these people make grand promises to the poor, whilst stealing blind for themselves. look at mayawati, mulayam singh, laloo, and now koda. especially the muslims should stop demanding. many hindus have a bias against them because of past history. they have to help themselves. no one else will. the faruki,s mirza,s have their work cut out for themselves. get off your butts, and do something for yourselves. no one else will. the record of the last 60 years is enough evidence. dont trust the roys, vinod mehtas. they are just in the bizness of earning money and fame by pretending to be interested in your situation. all these guys are fakes. |
| Nov 07, 2009 01:35 PM 236 | @ Mr. KVSKumar You really thought this guy Prabhu is against Brahmanism due to short of information? Haven't you seen his earlier posts? He is a through and through caste bigot of lowest order who does not have any compunctions to openly campaign for even corrupt people as long as they are his preferred caste. His only grouse must be that he is not getting his share in the 'bra-money-ism' you have so aptly paraphrased. Dalits in Trivallur district have gone on campaigning against Justice Dinakaran who usurped these poor people' s lands and yet this guy Prabhu posted umpteen posts in these columns condemning Brahmanism that the Brahmins are hounding innocent Dinakaran because he is a Dalit. Where is in reality Dinakaran is no more dalit and he is a crypto Christian wearing the dalit tag on his sleeve only for certain benefits !!! What brahminism has got to do with open corruption of a high court judge? But this guy has argument over that! You are wasting time to read Vedas and instil sense in a caste pig when he deserves to be ignored. |
| Nov 07, 2009 01:07 PM 235 | nri bodh -- "But this Commie hypocrite Arundhati has cleverly omitted to mention that the Maoists themselves have on every occasion, insisted that their only objective is the destruction of the present govt system- that they will only stop their "peoples war" against "the reactionary capitalist imperialists" when they install their own Mao/Pol Pot-styled totalitarian Communist regime. No amount of 'explaining' by this Commies dingbat will change this reality." Seriously ??!! Excerpt from the article above which chaddies almost always never read... _________________________ "Who are the Maoists? They are members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist)—CPI (Maoist)—one of the several descendants of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), which led the 1969 Naxalite uprising and was subsequently liquidated by the Indian government. The Maoists believe that the innate, structural inequality of Indian society can only be redressed by the violent overthrow of the Indian State. In its earlier avatars as the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) in Jharkhand and Bihar, and the People's War Group (PWG) in Andhra Pradesh, the Maoists had tremendous popular support. (When the ban on them was briefly lifted in 2004, one-and-a-half million people attended their rally in Warangal.) But eventually their intercession in Andhra Pradesh ended badly. They left a violent legacy that turned some of their staunchest supporters into harsh critics. After a paroxysm of killing and counter-killing by the Andhra police as well as the Maoists, the PWG was decimated. Those who managed to survive fled Andhra Pradesh into neighbouring Chhattisgarh. There, deep in the heart of the forest, they joined colleagues who had already been working there for decades. Not many 'outsiders' have any first-hand experience of the real nature of the Maoist movement in the forest. A recent interview with one of its top leaders, Comrade Ganapathy, in Open magazine didn't do much to change the minds of those who view the Maoists as a party with an unforgiving, totalitarian vision, which countenances no dissent whatsoever. Comrade Ganapathy said nothing that would persuade people that, were the Maoists ever to come to power, they would be equipped to properly address the almost insane diversity of India's caste-ridden society. His casual approval of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Sri Lanka was enough to send a shiver down even the most sympathetic of spines, not just because of the brutal ways in which the LTTE chose to wage its war, but also because of the cataclysmic tragedy that has befallen the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, who it claimed to represent, and for whom it surely must take some responsibility." _____________________________ |
| Nov 07, 2009 11:19 AM 234 | "Caste and Religion % of India:" Mr. Prabhu, it is not not 'brahmanism' that is the root of every ills of India Those who calim to be superior to the rest based on their birth are nothing but pseudos. Their ism is 'bra-money-ism'. To defeat the pseudos there is only one way and that is to revolt and question them using the vedas and spirituality as did by Sree Narayana Guru, the foremost social reformer of Kerala. Read : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narayana_Guru |
| Nov 07, 2009 10:26 AM 233 | In short Ms Roy is condoning treason! Bodh ARoy is a fit case for trial in a court of law for seditious writings.I hardly see any justification for violence in the name of welfare of tribals. |
| Nov 07, 2009 09:51 AM 232 | Caste and Religion % of India : Lower Castes (Sudras): 42-44 percent (˜ 475 million) Dalits ("SC"s): 16-18 percent (˜ 190 million) Upper Castes: 12-14 percent (˜ 145 million) Muslims: 12-13 percent (˜ 140 million) Adivasis ("ST"s):7-8 percent (˜ 80 million) Christians: 2 percent (˜ 22 million) Sikhs: 2 percent (˜ 22 million) Others (Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, Jews, etc.): 2 percent (˜ 22 million) The numbers do not add up to 100 percent partly because they are best-estimates, and partly because there is some overlap between various categories. Note that lower castes, Dalits and Adivasis, when taken together, number about 750 million, almost 70 percent of India's population. 60 years after India's Independence, we still have this Riddle before us in the current composition of our supreme court judges ! Please reconcile the above facts with the Caste and Religious composition of the current serving supreme court judges of India. The names reflect the caste and religious background of our honourable judges of the supreme court. K G Balakrishanan S H Kapadia Tarun Chatterjee Altamas Kabir R V Raveendran Dalveer Bhandari D K Jain Markandey Katju H S Bedi V S Sirpunkar B Sudershan Reddy P Sathasivam G S Singvi Aftab Alam J M Ranchal Mukundakam Sharma Cyriac Joseph A K Ganguly R M Lodha M L Dattu Deepak Verma Balbir Singh Chauhan A K Patnaik T S Thakur S S Nijjar K S Radhakrishnan What is wrong in India ? It is ' Brahmanism ' . Brahmanism at its core denies the fundamental social and spiritual equality of human beings. Brahmanism is based on an unequal social order of mankind. It also denies equal value to women. It does not want the blood of Indians to mix across caste lines even though racially we are all Indians. Brahmanism has refused to abolish the caste system for 3,000 years. It is because of this ideology and attitude that the nightmare of the Dalits, Tribals and the Backward Cates continues. |
| Nov 07, 2009 08:42 AM 231 | The Maoists are using the plight of the tribals as their excuse to propagate their "peoples war" against the state, with willing accomplices the likes of Roy and the liberal (read Leftist) media and intelligentsia and such. No one can deny the problems the Tribals face- the criminal neglect by govt and atrocities committed by the cops against them. But that can be remedied by appropriate govt action. But this Commie hypocrite Arundhati has cleverly omitted to mention that the Maoists themselves have on every occasion, insisted that their only objective is the destruction of the present govt system- that they will only stop their "peoples war" against "the reactionary capitalist imperialists" when they install their own Mao/Pol Pot-styled totalitarian Communist regime. No amount of 'explaining' by this Commies dingbat will change this reality. The only option left to govt is massive force, as any other course will be lending succor and giving legitimacy to such murderers who takes their orders from foreign nations bent on destroying this already unstable land. The fetid two-faced Commie Roys of this world could go suck egg- rotten(gandha) ones. In short Ms Roy is condoning treason! |
| Nov 07, 2009 08:23 AM 230 | Its funny to see comments on 'comments', causing distraction. The mining industry sells India to the world plundering natural resources. I wonder what makes people so greedy that they stop thinking in the long term. Is there not enough visible proof that we humans have caused enough environmental degradation? What do we humans want after all? This corporate-govt-(false)media nexus reminds me of the snake charmer - while the snake charmer distracts the snake he catches the snake by its hood. So the hidden hand is the worry. Seriously, these talks should be discussed in Cophenagen, and all the 'developed' countries resolve not cause demand for natural resources in the developing countries and we look to develop technologies that will not depend on natural resources like we do now. |
| Nov 06, 2009 09:42 PM 229 | Apropos of Arundhati Roy's article I deem it appropriate to invite attention of all to what the US Congress in a historic Concurrent House Resolution [no. 139] on India's discrimination and untouchability had resolved in May 2007. Highlighting the anatomy of untouchability the Resolution says: "The Untouchables, now known as the Dalits and the forest tribes of India, called Tribals, who together number approximately 250,000,00 to 300,000,00 people, are the primary victims of the caste discrimination in India." The dimension of the problem, by the sheer size of its sufferers, is difficult to comprehend with equanimity of mind. With such large a population under groaning distress and exploitation, nowhere under the sun peace, stability and unity can be achieved or secured. Of course, prosperity of the kind we have been witnessing may not be impossible. The aforesaid Resolution adds further: "Discrimination against the Dalits and the Tribals has existed for more than 2000 years and has included educational discrimination, economic disenfranchisement, physical abuse, discrimination in medical care, religious discrimination and violence targeting Dalit and Tribal women." Untouchability and discrimination in India is as old as the Himalayas. Discrimination against human being based on birth is India's cardinal philosophy since ancient times. The media and intellectual class have successfully brashed the aforesaid Resolution under the carpet and public in general do not know it. The Government of India must be aware of it. Nothing has been done to reverse the ongoing atrocities, discrimination, hatred based on caste and humiliation of the dalit and tribal. The dalit and tribal communities have been allowed to willow in illiteracy as required by a policy outlined and ordained by ancient Hindu scriptures lest there are no clamour for spaces under the sun for them. If the threat of war really fructify in full scale, there will be deluge and the fate of India appears sealed. No security forces which will kill at will and result in genocidal extermination of their target groups will ultimately be in a position to keep the nation in one piece. Let the government first of all crush hands that indulge in cruelty, atrocities, practioners of untouchability and discrimination against dalit and tribal with the force they propose to employ for suppressing naxal/Maoists instead. That may be a good beginning. |
| Nov 06, 2009 08:25 PM 228 | Vivek, The notion of Indian state is an offshoot of the British Raj. There is no place for indigenous reforms in this system. There is no clarity on what we are supposed to gain from it. There are hardly a few who are in awe of the constitution. I certainly do not understand the need for a President. |
| Nov 06, 2009 08:07 PM 227 | "Eventually, the British let them live in truce on their lands" The tribals were never a serious threat to British or other invaders and occupiers. These people had an almost non-interference in their way of life, due to the sacrifices and resilience of the rest of Indians, who acted as the buffer. Guys supporting maoists here are not sadhus living on alms and resting in the jungles, in peace with the tribes. I am sure most of them have not seen tribal way of life in close encounters. They cannot distinguish a Gondi from a Koya, Chenchu, Bhil, Munda or Santal. |
| Nov 06, 2009 11:27 AM 226 | >You are right, the caste system no longer exists but >the poor and powerless are still treated like a >shudra, with no rights against the powerful. but the poor is irrespective of caste. there are poor brahmins as well. >Do you not know that the justice system in India has >been deliberately kept inefficient so that the one >without the money and endless resources to fight for >decades will not dare to go to courts? Do you know >police rfuse to file FIRs if the local political >leader is against it, at least in west bengal, bihar >and most bimaru states? but this has nothing to do with caste. most of the ruling elite in most of the states are normally classified as BC or OBC. they are not "brahmins" or "kshatriyas". the problem is about corruption and greed - not caste. by making caste the issue and barking up the wrong tree, it ensures that : 1. the real culprits are not targetted. 2. so no justice will ultimately prevail. btw land grab is not only in tribal areas. this even happens in chennai. jayalalitha's 'aide' sashikala and her goons were notorious for grabbing all prime properties in chennai. the modus operandi : goons will go to a nice bungalow in a posh area and offer the residents some price. if they don't accept ... one of my personal friends land was also grabbed by dmk goons. the road to her property will simply blocked off and some rowdies asked her to move on. that is all. this has nothing to do with caste. rather it is abuse of political power and greed for wealth. the communists with their pet prejudices and fantasies are giving this a tradition vs tribal, low caste vs high caste, hue - so that they can war against the establishment and subvert the traditions. but nothing could be further from the truth. |
| Nov 06, 2009 09:21 AM 225 | DC, "She uses real data and staistics and at the same time fabricates information from time to time, exaggerates her points, uses flowery language as a substitute for cold data if it challenges her contention. She often manipulates absense of available data as conspiracy theory." Perfect description of Ms. Roy. And as always excellent and enjoyable post from you. |
| Nov 06, 2009 07:39 AM 224 | It's a good elaborate dissection with facts and figures from a prolific writer - Arundathy Roy. Whether everything stated therein is agreeable or not definitely it is commendable and is appreciated. Except the imported rogues, nobody wants a war as the first choice to settle disputes, yet if the decent soft spoken message is unheard or ignored then it's driven to a time to speak in a language that the other understands well – there's no other way about it. Yet, the recent seeming realignment of partnerships and developments in the subcontinent, India, under the pretext / disguise of national interest and security, had successfully field-tested and monitored the effectiveness, the world opinion and side-effects, with the wholehearted covert and overt support of Mr. Karuna's DMK TN Municipality, of its prototype (Lankan Solution) strategy of 'Annihilation / Genocide of seeming Threats' on Eelam Nationalism. Results are (1) militarily (Genocide) a success because the chosen target was soft, its isolation and the advantage of geographic location enabled silencing news media and effective usage of high flying banner of 'Terrorism against Democracy'; but (2) the effectiveness of is a failure – became counter-productive and (3) the resulting spawn of side-effects on other areas are monumental. Perhaps testing this prototype may be of multi-purpose - to study its usefulness in the trouble boiling areas in the northern flank. India will have to think twice, over and over and again and again, before using the prototype because the targets in the North and Northeast are neither soft nor helpless or orphans, currently developed partnership - with the rivals – against the Tamils will be dislodged / short-lived and unless India creates or finds some karunas, likes of Rams and DMKs in the North and employing refined and refreshed mentality of RAW. Farook Abdullahs or Dorji Khandus will never be the duplicates of Karuna of TN since they didn't migrate from Andhra Pradesh as Mr. karruna did. It will be very difficult to find still never be possible or an easy task for India because such karunas, Balus and Kovans live only in TN. May God bless Mother-India! |
| Nov 06, 2009 06:12 AM 223 | Nothing mentioned in this article by Roy is untrue. Nothing she has mentioned in this article is a lie. The reality is, the article talks about destabilizing the caste-based status-quo and hierarchical structure based on which the country's resources are used. It talks about taking away unjust govt preference of allocating the country's resources on people who are at the top of the caste-hierarchy. That's the real pain. The opposition to Roy is because she disturbs the sh!t that's there but the so called educated Indians choose to ignore and mask it before the developed world. The strength of a chain is tested by the weakest link. The weakest link for the chain called India needs to be strengthened, then only India will prosper and become strong. Whether you like it or not, the existence of the naxalite problem is the proof that there is something wrong in the existing system. The first step in a 12-step rehab program is accepting that there is something wrong with you. If you think there is nothing wrong with keeping the tribals naked, killing them and raping their women, well... you do not belong to a civilized society. |
| Nov 06, 2009 05:18 AM 222 | R I thought you are half brain dead. Now I see you are a total brain dead and follow people such as Ms. Roy like a zombie. Vedanta promised and paid off some Congress leaders. What a surprise! Ms. Roy was a big supporter to CON party till yesterday. Thanks to brain dead supporters like you, the murderers and goons who call themselves "Naxalites" or "Maoists" can get away with any crime. Somebody got to call the bluff of hypocrites such as Ms. Roy. |
| Nov 06, 2009 05:12 AM 221 | Raj Unfortunately Roy is not a messenger - she loves to jump into any controversy always with a contrarian view from others and in effect get a lot of publicity and support. My problem with Roy has always been the spin. She uses real data and staistics and at the same time fabricates information from time to time, exaggerates her points, uses flowery language as a substitute for cold data if it challenges her contention. She often manipulates absense of available data as conspiracy theory. And that dilutes a writer's credibility. As regards land reforms, believe me there is no easy way out. In China it is easy because the government can evict anyone and decide any compensation. There is no space for political opposition there. In India it is different. If the government tries to buy contigous plots of land for industrialization by paying compensation, you can have a controversy like Singur in West Bengal. Mamta Banerjee's opposition there forced Tatas finally to quit West Bengal. And if you allow private entrepreneurs to acquire land you can have controversies like the Vedic Village near Calcutta where a local land mafia was forcibly buying land from the local population on behalf of private corporations. It's very easy for us to criticize the government for its failure to acquire land and to criticize private enterprises for their failure to acquire land. What's the solution? Will you say no to industrialization. That's fine for those of us living outside India. But can a populace of 110 crores progress without industrialization? It is very easy for Roy or anyone to lecture on development debate or be an anti-capitalist after reaping all the benefits of capitalism. The truth is that in this world nothing is in black or white everywhere there are shades of gray. It is always possible to find a middle ground through discussions and negotiations in a democratic set up. All you need is the patience to hear and accommodate all the views and arrive at the best compromise. Please do not lose faith in Indian democracy which despite all obstacles like linguistic and cultural diversity of the voters, ongoing corruption and manipulation by politicians, illiteracy of the population and mass poverty has continued to deepen into Indian society. Political space has been created for Dalits and OBCs, regional issues came to forefront through Shiv Sena,DMK or Telugu Desam, the leftist, the liberals and the right wing political parties have co-existed, power has percolated down to the Panchayat level. The poor and illiterate voters time and again voted out powerful incumbents - be it Mrs Gandhi, or Atal Bajpai. Hindu nationalism is debating with secularism. A rural Sikh farmer's son can become a PM. A suave Doon School urbanite co-exits with semi literates from villages in the same parliament. We need Adivasi leaders with stature like Babasaheb Ambedkar who championed Dalit's cause. Let there be negotiations of Adivasi leaders with the government about how to improve governance and public distribution system in Adivasi areas. Let Maoists be their spokesmen. But so far Maoists have only shown propensity for armed insurgency and bloodshed, while arm chair leftists like Arundhati supported them. |
| Nov 06, 2009 05:10 AM 220 | For those who want to read about how mining companies have brought death and destruction to the native population and what is in waiting for tribals of India, the eye opener is the book, - The open veins of Latin America are still bleeding. ... Eduardo Galeano, |
| Nov 06, 2009 04:03 AM 219 | Raj Ms. Roy is not a messenger. She creates the message most of the times convoluted. She manufactures it. She supports Islamic terrorism. She supports naxal murders. She muddies the issues. Tribals have issues. I have issues. AP late-CM YSR and his gangs grabbed my land too. He grabbed several other lands. Should we should all get together and burn some buses/trains, kidnap innocent people, kill some police? Every one has issues in India. Ms. Roy keeps repeating lies to the detriment of national security. She alleges conspiracy in situations where none exist such as Batla House encounter or Nov 26 Mumbai massacres. She lies everywhere that India is nuclear war mongering nation ignoring all the evidence of how Pakistan amassed nuclear weapons with helpful testing from China. Her support for any group LET that wants to bomb India and kill Indians is well knows. She has no problems in hugging military leaders, terrorists and Islamic fanatics from across the border. She tries to imitate Noam Chomsky mostly basing her arguments on lies and left wing propaganda. |
| Nov 06, 2009 02:24 AM 218 | Some people do not get that Roy is the MESSENGER and not the MESSAGE. Roy or no Roy, the fact remains that the tribals own the land and if you want their land, suitable compensation needs to be paid. And if they are not ready to sell their land, you have no business to kill them to steal their land. It's unethical (it's not illegal if the govt is doing the killing because they can legally murder people). But the thing is, A Marwari and ethics do not go together. If the govt wants their land for the development of the country, fair enough, develop the tribals first because they are part of the country as well. Or is it that they are third class citizens of India? Probably Dr Manmohan Singh, the supposedly learned PM of India never got the education to treat every Indian at par. |
| Nov 06, 2009 02:21 AM 217 | DC Thanks for rational and patient comments. No one is currently happy with this corrupt, nepotism and dishonest political system. Every hard working individual is being ripped off whether he is rich or middle class or poor. No can't get anything done unless they pay bribes. The whole nonsense about brahmin, bania garbage this Biswas keeps throwing is nonsense. As we have seen, backward caste leaders, SC/ST leaders are all dominating the political scene now a days and are no different than yesteryear Thakur/Brahmin leaders. Every chance they get they loot and promote nepotism. It starts at the top led by Gandhi dynasty and every state and local level also promote a dynasty. The so called liberal media and liberal activists like sidetrack the issues and have been doing this for the last 15 years. They succeeded in turning the debate from reforming our corrupt democratic system to it a Secularism vs Communalism alone and helped re-establishing the dynasty. We had the best opportunity in 1990-2005 to reform our democracy to a people's oriented democracy. We can introduce a lot of reforms: Term Limits, Direct election of leaders, separation of legislature, executive and judiciary, Primary system to eliminate nominations, people electing on issues/policies. We have never given democracy a chance. No system is perfect. It needs continuous reforms. Fix it as you find problems. As we have seen in the history, Maoisms, Communism are big failures. I am sure if these naxals succeed in their aim, they would probably kill more people than Mao (estimated 50-75 million) and Stalin (25 million). After keeping quite for 50 years on the reforms needed for our democracy, irresponsible communists such Ms. Roy promote Maoism to succeed democracy. Where did we give a chance for this democracy? |
| Nov 06, 2009 01:43 AM 216 | Palash Biswas I read your posts with both appreciation and concern. My appreciation is for your first hand experience with the downtrodden and my concern is for your inability to understand the reasons for their exploitation and therefore sympathizing with the Maoists. Unfortunately you are mixing two issues - Arundhati has mixed them deliberately but you are mixing them due to lack of clarity of your thinking. One issue is related to the oppression of the masses and the other is related to the Maoist uprising. Oppression of the masses by their privileged brothers and sisters has been there since the dawn of the human civilisation. Don't forget that the Adivasis and the lower castes (genuine ones not the SC/ST quota recepients enjoying cushy urban lifestyle) also belong to the lowest economic class of the society. Obviously they are the most vulnerable ones. Even the forward castes with low economic background are facing the same fate. The second issue is related to the Maoists. Maoists preach of classless societies, attract overt and covert support of the poor (because they only sell the dreams of a better tomorrow and they profess to champion poor people's cause). But in reality they have nothing constructive to offer. And their motto is not to serve the poor but to grab power using violence. The rationale they have given so far for killing innocent people, many of them are also from the poorest rung of the society is absolutely ridiculous. During the Naxal movement in Calcutta these same goons used to kill school teachers, college professors and police constables in the name of killing the class enemies. I share your concern for the downtrodden, but please do not get carried away by the peddlers of violence and bloodshed. It is quite easy to criticize and show anger and frustration through violent means, but it is quite difficult to come out with a constructive solution to the problems faced by the downtrodden. You need better livelihood, education, access to communication and healthcare for the downtrodden. And that is possible if you can improve the present system of distribution and governance. The states where the lower rung people are better off have better governance and public distribution system at the grassroots level. There is no dearth of poverty alleviation program in India - it is just that in many parts of India those benefits are not riching people. Create a political space to voice the demand of the people so that the benefits are accessible to the people. Or join the NGO or work for the government to implement successfully the programs intended for the poor. But if you take a gun and join the Maoists then either you have no idea of what you can do after the end of all the bloodshed or you are aware of the problems without any capacity to think through the solution. Violence cannot resolve governance issues. |
http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262519
Indian Army still facing a dearth of officers
Thu, Nov 12 04:06 PM
New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) The Indian Army is grappling with an acute shortage of officers. Despite the recession, it has been unable to attract more talent and contain their outflow. In 2008, the army was able to take in 1,500 officers - but over 1,800 left the force.
The army now faces a shortage of 11,238 officers.
'It is a very peculiar situation. Despite the recession and relaxation of our requirements the number of officers leaving the army is more than the number of officers we have managed to take in,' a senior officer familiar with the situation told IANS.
'What adds to the worry is that the negative inflow has been witnessed despite an economic slump,' he added.
The negative flow of the officers in the army has been witnessed since 2007 when nearly 1,780 officers resigned or retired, compared to the intake of about 1,750. While there has been a constant outflow of officers in the past, the army had managed to induct more before that year.
The army received 535 voluntary retirement applications in 2005, 810 in 2006, and 1,265 in 2007. The defence ministry's approval depends on the need of the armed forces. The army approved voluntary retirement for 365 officers in 2005, 464 in 2006 and 608 in 2007.
'Concerned by the situation, we have made it mandatory that officers with less than 15 years service will be considered for premature retirement or resignation only on medical grounds,' another officer said.
The army's sanctioned strength is 46,615 officers, but it has been facing a shortage of 11,238. The problem was aggravated when about 3,000 officers sought premature retirement in the last three years. Most of them moved to the lucrative corporate sector.
The data for 2009 has not been compiled yet.
'But there has been an increase in the number of withdrawals of premature retirement applications since January 2009. We hope that the trend will be reversed this year,' the officer said.
'In the past six months 65 officers have withdrawn their applications for premature retirement.'
Now, the army is hoping the financial crisis and the Sixth Pay Commission -- which has increased their salaries -- will help bring in many more to the armed forces that is facing a shortage of middle-rung officers in particular.
(Ritu Sharma can be contacted at ritu.s@ians.in)
Moradabad farmers cultivating flowers ahead of Commonwealth Games, Kumbh
Fri, Nov 13 08:20 PM
Moradabad, Nov. 13 (ANI): In view of the upcoming 2010 Commonwealth Games and Kumbh Mela, farmers of Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh have begun large-scale cultivation of flowers.
"We are hoping that our demand for flowers will go high. Farmers will get good returns for their hard work. So sensing the significance of the events, the farmers are now moving towards floriculture and are accepting floriculture over traditional crops," said Ram Anand, an official of agriculture department, Moradabad.
An increasing number of farmers are substituting traditional farming with flower cultivation. They are growing roses, marigolds and gebra.
"In 2010, the Commonwealth Games is going to take place in Delhi for which we are getting prepared. The demand of flowers has gone high and many people including locals and tourists come here to buy flowers," said Rehman, a farmer.
"In 2010, the Commonwealth Games and Kumbh Mela is going to take place, so during that we are expecting our business to grow and for that we are growing various flowers like marigold, rose and others so that we can supply them," said Pankaj Kumar, another farmer.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be India's first major international sports event after the 1982 Asian Games.
Delhi had bagged the contract after beating the Canadian city Hamilton in the bid for rights to host the games. (ANI)
What Didi didn't say: group that 'hijacked' train is her party ally
Wed, Oct 28 05:48 AM
First, she suggested that CPM cadres blocked the Rajdhani Express to malign her image. When confirmation came that it was the Maoist-backed PCAPA, Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was ready for a dialogue. And even asked those holding the train hostage to identify a venue.
This, when earlier in the day, Banerjee had taken the families of two missing policemen to meet Home Minister P Chidambaram. And called for the military to be inducted in anti-Maoist operations. What she did not say was that the group which had stopped the Rajdhani was the very group she and her party have supported — and solicited support from — barely months ago. Consider:
* Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders visited Lalgarh soon after the PCAPA was formed after police action following the landmine attack on the Chief Minister's convoy at Salboni in November 2008.
* In the initial stages of PCAPA's agitation, Banerjee shared the stage with Chhatradhar Mahato — key Maoist behind the Lalgarh attacks — and other leaders. Today's protesters demanded Mahato's release.
* Trinamool Congress leaders again went to Lalgarh during the Lok Sabha campaign with PCAPA help in March-April, 2009.
* After joint security operations began in Lalgarh and there were reports of exodus of villagers, Banerjee sent Sisir Adhikari, Union Minister of State, to hand over relief material to the PCAPA.
* Among the "intellectuals" who sought support for Banerjee on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls on the plank of a "change" for Bengal, were many who had visited Lalgarh and interacted with Mahato. Kaushik Sen and Aparna Sen were among those who called for a stop to the joint security operations.
For the record, Banerjee and other Trinamool leaders have tried to differentiate between the Maoists and the "tribal movement." They have argued that their support to the PCAPA was driven by their abject poverty and claimed.
'China gave uranium to Pakistan for two a-bombs'
Fri, Nov 13 06:33 PM
Washington, Nov 13 (IANS) In a disclosure likely to embarrass Beijing on the eve of President Barack Obama's visit, a leading US daily Friday reported that China gifted 50 kg of uranium to Pakistan with a do-it-yourself kit to make two atomic bombs in 1982.
Citing accounts by controversial Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan, The Washington Post said enough weapons-grade uranium for two atomic bombs was transferred to Pakistan in five stainless-steel boxes loaded on a Pakistani military C-130 aircraft from the western Chinese city of Urumqi.
The uranium transfer was part of a broad-ranging, secret nuclear deal approved years earlier by Mao Zedong and Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, according to the accounts by Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, who is under house arrest in Pakistan, the daily said.
According to Khan's account, 'provided to The Washington Post', the uranium cargo came with a blueprint for a simple weapon that China had already tested, supplying a virtual do-it-yourself kit that significantly speeded Pakistan's bomb effort.
The transfer also started a chain of proliferation, the Post noted with US officials worrying that Khan later shared related Chinese design information with Iran; in 2003, Libya confirmed obtaining it from Khan's clandestine network.
'Upon my personal request, the Chinese Minister . . . had gifted us 50 kg of weapon-grade enriched uranium, enough for two weapons,' Khan wrote in a previously undisclosed 11-page narrative of the Pakistani bomb programme that he prepared after his January 2004 detention for unauthorised nuclear commerce.
'The Chinese gave us drawings of the nuclear weapon, gave us 50 kg enriched uranium,' he said in a separate account sent to his wife several months earlier.
The influential US daily cited unnamed US officials as saying they have known about the transfer for decades and once privately confronted the Chinese - who denied it - but have never raised the issue in public or sought to impose direct sanctions on China for it.
President Obama, who said in April that 'the world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons,' plans to discuss nuclear proliferation issues while visiting Beijing Tuesday.
Although Chinese officials have for a quarter century denied helping any nation attain a nuclear capability, current and former US officials cited by the Post say Khan's accounts confirm the US intelligence community's long-held conclusion that China provided such assistance.
Mao, Bhutto set terms of secret n-deal: Washington Post
Fri, Nov 13 07:38 PM
Washington, Nov 13 (IANS) The terms of a secret deal under which China transferred 50 kg of uranium to Pakistan in 1982 for making two atomic bombs were set in a mid-1976 conversation between Mao Zedong and then Pakistan prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a leading US daily reported Friday.
Citing accounts of controversial Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, The Washington Post said Khan - then a metallurgist working at a Dutch centrifuge manufacturer - was provoked to offer his services to Bhutto by India testing its first nuclear bomb two years earlier.
Khan, according to the US daily, said he and two other Pakistani officials - including then foreign secretary Agha Shahi, since deceased - worked out the details when they travelled to Beijing later that year for Mao's funeral.
Over several days, Khan was cited as saying, he briefed three top Chinese nuclear weapons officials - Liu Wei, Li Jue and Jiang Shengjie - on how the European-designed centrifuges could swiftly aid China's lagging uranium-enrichment programme.
China's foreign ministry did not respond to questions about the officials' roles, the Post said.
'Chinese experts started coming regularly to learn the whole technology' from Pakistan, Khan states, staying in a guesthouse built for them at his centrifuge research centre.
Pakistani experts were dispatched to Hanzhong in central China, where they helped 'put up a centrifuge plant', Khan said in an account he gave to his wife after coming under government pressure, according to the Post.
'We sent 135 C-130 planeloads of machines, inverters, valves, flow meters, pressure gauges,' he wrote. 'Our teams stayed there for weeks to help and their teams stayed here for weeks at a time.'
In return, China sent Pakistan 15 tonnes of uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a feedstock for Pakistan's centrifuges that Khan's colleagues were having difficulty producing on their own.
Khan was quoted as saying the gas enabled the laboratory to begin producing bomb-grade uranium in 1982. Chinese scientists helped the Pakistanis solve other nuclear weapons challenges, but as their competence rose, so did the fear of top Pakistani officials that Israel or India might pre-emptively strike key nuclear sites.
Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, Pakistan's former military ruler, 'was worried', Khan said, and so he and a Pakistani general who helped oversee the nation's nuclear laboratories, were dispatched to Beijing with a request in mid-1982 to borrow enough bomb-grade uranium for a few weapons.
After winning Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's approval, Khan, the general and two others flew aboard a Pakistani C-130 to Urumqi.
Khan says they enjoyed barbecued lamb while waiting for the Chinese military to pack the small uranium bricks into lead-lined boxes, 10 single-kilogram ingots to a box, for the flight to Islamabad.
According to Khan's account, cited by the Post, Pakistan's nuclear scientists, however, kept the Chinese material in storage until 1985, by which time the Pakistanis had made a few bombs with their own uranium.
Khan said he got Zia's approval to ask the Chinese whether they wanted their high-enriched uranium back. After a few days, they responded 'that the HEU loaned earlier was now to be considered as a gift ... in gratitude' for Pakistani help, Khan said.
The laboratory promptly fabricated hemispheres for two weapons and added them to Pakistan's arsenal, he was quoted as saying.
Britain suggests Taliban reintegration, BBC sites leaked memo
Fri, Nov 13 06:52 PM
London, Nov 13 (IANS) British officials have proposed the Afghan government reconcile with senior Taliban leaders and have them removed from an international sanctions list, the BBC reported Friday.
The leaked document calls for a 'combination of carrot and stick' to encourage Taliban commanders and soldiers to lay down their arms and rejoin Afghan society.
The 'Afghan-led' plan should start off by wooing foot soldiers and working up through low and mid-level commanders as well as shadow governors, before a final reconciliation with leaders of the Quetta Shura (council).
The Quetta Shura is believed to direct much of Taliban activity, the BBC said.
The memo seen by the BBC said: 'We must weaken and divide the Taliban if we are to reduce the insurgency to a level that can be managed and contained by the Afghan Security Forces.'
'This can be achieved by a combination of military pressure and clear signals that the option of an honourable exit from the fight exists.'
'Putting in place the right combination of carrot and stick, at the right moment, will be critical to changing the calculations of individual commanders and their men,' says the memo which was first reported by the German magazine Stern and by Hasht-e Sobh, a newspaper in Kabul.
The memo said 'reconciled Talibs' should be removed from a United Nations sanctions list. It includes members of the former Taliban regime and its Al Qaeda allies.
Obama pledges to maintain alliance with Japan
Fri, Nov 13 06:55 PM
Tokyo, Nov 13 (IANS) US President Barack Obama said Friday that the alliance between Japan and the US will endure for a foreseeable future of East Asia, Xinhua news agency reported.
'I began my trip here in Tokyo because the US-Japan alliance is a foundation for peace and prosperity throughout East Asia,' Obama said at a news conference after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. 'I am confident that we will continue to strengthen the US-Japan alliance for future generations,' he said.
The news conference was a reaffirmation of the strong ties between the two nations, but the tensions on the 'Status of Forces Agreement' were perceptible.
'It will be a very difficult issue, but as time goes by I think it will become more difficult to resolve the issue. So we understand we need to resolve the issue as soon as possible and we will work to do that,' said Hatoyama.
Obama said that it was essential to work towards reaching an agreement on this issue.
He arrived Friday in Tokyo, kicking off a two-day visit to Japan.
Japan is the first leg of Obama's four-country Asian tour, which will also take him to Singapore, China and South Korea.
9/11 suspects to be tried in New York - U.S. official
Fri, Nov 13 06:41 PM
Enlarge Photo Undated file photo showing a man listed as one of the "most wanted terrorists" and released... Five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be sent for prosecution to criminal court in New York from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an Obama administration official said on Friday.
The five were being prosecuted in U.S. military commissions at Guantanamo, but the Obama administration has pledged to close the controversial prison and to move some of the cases to traditional U.S. criminal courts for trial.
Still, some will be tried in military tribunals, including the accused mastermind of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole warship in Yemen, Abd al-Rahim al Nashiri, the administration official said, declining to be further identified.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce the decisions later on Friday, the official said.
The move marks one of the first major steps by President Barack Obama's administration to close the prison, which he has pledged to do by Jan. 22, 2010. However, Obama and his team have faced numerous political and diplomatic hurdles and some officials privately admit it may be hard to meet the deadline.
There are 215 detainees at the detention camp which was set up in early 2002 by the George W. Bush administration to house terrorism suspects.
The trials in New York will likely provoke some strong reactions, particularly since it was the site of the 2001 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center's twin towers and killed nearly 3,000 people.
There has been resistance by some key U.S. allies to take detainees from Guantanamo who have been cleared of connections to terrorism and some of Obama's political foes in the United States do not want the trials held on U.S. soil.
Some Republicans argued that Guantanamo already has the facilities to try and imprison the terrorism suspects. They also have said the communities that would house the prisoners could become targets for attacks.
But the administration of Obama and his fellow Democrats have countered that the U.S. courts and prisons have handled scores of terrorism suspects previously and they must close Guantanamo because it has tarnished the United States' reputation abroad.
The White House pressed Congress to overhaul the military commissions to address concerns raised by human rights groups. Lawmakers ultimately barred the use of confessions from harsh interrogations and made it tougher to use hearsay evidence.
(Editing by Arshad Mohammed and Vicki Allen)
Russia-India-China: The Bush Curse
By Eric Walberg
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16033
Global Research, November 11, 2009
Al Ahram
Moscow is trying to draw India and China closer to put out the flames now flaring across the continent, from the Caucasus and Central Asia, to Iran and Pakistan
United States President Barack Obama has shown a flicker of independence in shaping US Eurasian politics. To secure transit routes through Russia to Afghanistan, he loudly proclaimed the end to US missile base plans for Poland and the Czech Republic, and downplayed any further NATO expansion in Russia's backyard. He resisted jumping on the Gates-Clinton-McChrystal escalation bandwagon, insisting that it would be counterproductive to blindly back the thoroughly discredited Karzai, and hinting that negotiations with the Taliban and Iran could mean an about-face on the Bush strategy of total war in the region.
Obama's strategy is now described as focussed on securing the main cities in Afghanistan, while abandoning most of the country to the Taliban. This can only be a holding measure while attempts are made to lure moderate elements in the Taliban away from their comrades to join the Karzai clique. In talks with former Taliban foreign minister Mullah Wakil Ahmed Mutawakkil brokered by Saudi Arabia and Turkey, US negotiators supposedly offered governorship of six provinces in the south and northeast, a senior Afghan Foreign Ministry official told IslamOnline.net – if they accept the presence of NATO troops in Afghanistan and eight US bases.
But the latest is he will bow to McChrystal's demand for up to 40,000 more troops, US drone attacks continue apace in AfPak with his blessing, and the US is urging Pakistan on in its civil war against its frontier provinces of Baluchistan and Waziristan, pouring in massive military aid.
And missile and other plans in Eastern Europe are proceeding apace, with or without Obama's blessing. US officials have gone out of their way to assuage the Poles and Czechs with assurances that the bases were not really cancelled. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs Ellen Tauscher recently said the command centre for the new version of anti-missile defence could be stationed in the Czech Republic.
Now Poland is asking not only for missiles, but US troops, apparently "alarmed" by military exercises conducted by the Russian army in Belarus. "We would like to see US troops stationed in Poland to serve as a shield against Russian aggression," Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski was quoted by Interfax. "If you can still afford it, we need some strategic reassurance," he added sarcastically. When asked to comment, a Russian Foreign Ministry official told Kommersant, "It is better to ask the World Health Organisation for an assessment of Mr Sikorski's words." Estonia, which has sent a hefty 10 per cent of its armed forces to Afghanistan, is also asking for US troops.
NATO assurances to Georgia and Ukraine about joining up are still a dime a dozen. Georgia's army is being armed by the US, Israeli and Ukraine, according to Alexander Shlyakhturov, head of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, encouraging Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in his plans to reincorporate South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
All this can only mean that talk of real cooperation with Russia is an illusion, as is vague talk of accommodation with Iran. Obama may mean well, but the inertia of US empire is hard to stop.
Russian politicians are not blind. Nor are the Chinese. Both Russia and China refuse to accede to US fiat on Iran, and are cooperating on many fronts these days looking for ways to ease the world towards a "multipolar world".
This is the backdrop to the 9th meeting of the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral meeting which took place in Bangalore in late October, attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. Said Lavrov after the meeting, "RIC is a group of countries that are integrally needed to mobilise regional efforts. But they are not enough. All of Afghanistan 's neighbours are needed. The US, the main supplier of troops is needed. Iran is needed. The Central Asian countries are needed." He politely refrained from saying that it is only because of the US invasion that the US has any role at all in the region.
As Lavrov rightly points out, it is the regional countries China, Russia, India and Iran that are the ones left to pick up the pieces in AfPak after the US finally packs its many bags. Russia has the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Russia and China have the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Even Iran has initiated its own trilateral format with Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, as MK Bhadrakumar writes in Asia Times, so far Lavrov's efforts to fashion the three mini-superpowers into a united front on regional issues have been fruitless. Bad karma between the two most populous countries in the world lingers on; namely, the India-China frictions over borders and the Dalai Lama.
It is not only its Chinese neighbour that India can't get along with. Deriving from its perennial distrust of anything to do with Pakistan, Delhi refuses to acknowledge the fact that the Taliban are an Afghan political reality and are part (let alone "all") of any solution. Having drifted into the US orbit (curiously, along with its rival Pakistan), India risks being left behind, as the US-inspired war in Afghanistan continues to go nowhere, Pakistan descends into anarchy, China surges ahead, and the Russians and Chinese intensify their cooperation.
Of course, this and RIC's inability to address Afghanistan suits the US just fine. Regional powers working together independently of the US to solve their problems would leave the US and its many SEATOs and NATOs out of the picture. Japan would like to fashion an East Asian community no longer subservient to Washington, but, according to President of the Japan Foundation Kazuo Ogoura, "It is intolerable [for Washington] to see Asians considering their relations among each other in a form that excludes the US."
Obama is visiting Beijing and Tokyo this week. Oblivious to Asian disinterest in marching to US orders, Mark Brzezinski (son of Zbigniew) advised him in the New York Times to include in his "China List" establishing a formal mechanism among the leaders of the US, China and Pakistan – China is after all Pakistan's oldest friend as counterweight to India. This pointedly leaves out Russia and India and ties China to US plans for the region. Good luck, Mr Obama.
Surprisingly, Moscow hasn't given up entirely on Obama. Lavrov told Russian journalists in Bangalore, "Obama has announced a different philosophy – that of collective action, which calls for joint analysis, decision-making and implementation rather than for all others to follow Washington 's decisions. So far inertia lingers at the implementers' level in the US, who still follow the well-trodden track. This is a process which will take time before the president's will is translated into the language of practical actions by his subordinates."
However distasteful US actions are, the Russian leadership cannot risk closing the door completely on US efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, considering it was on the losing end against the Afghan resistance 20 years ago and is less than enamoured by an avowedly Islamic state there. But it is unlikely that China will join India and Pakistan as a US client state, and if India buries the hatchet with China and reconsiders its position on the Taliban, the situation for the US – and Afghanistan – could yet change dramatically. There is small reason for any of the RICs to be haunted by Bush's curse – the US-inspired wars and subversion in their backyard.
Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ You can reach him at http://ericwalberg.com
AFRICOM and America's Global Military Agenda: Taking The Helm Of The Entire World
By Rick Rozoff
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=15788
Global Research, October 27, 2009
Stop NATO - 2009-10-22
"The developments come as the White House seeks grounds to establish a major military presence in Africa...[A]nalysts caution that similar pretexts were used to justify the US invasion of Afghanistan, the missile attacks in Pakistan, and its waning military operations in Iraq, where the civilian population continues to bear the brunt of the US intervention."
"AFRICOM facilitates the United States advancing on the African continent, taking control of the Eurasian continent and proceeding to take the helm of the entire globe."
—————————
October 1st marked the one-year anniversary of the activation of the first U.S. overseas military command in a quarter of a century, Africa Command (AFRICOM).
AFRICOM was established as a temporary command under the wing of U.S. European Command (EUCOM) a year earlier and launched as an independent entity on October 1, 2008.
Its creation signalled several important milestones in plans by the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to expand into all corners of the earth and to achieve military, political and economic hegemony in the Southern as well as the Northern Hemisphere.
AFRICOM is the first American regional military command established outside of North America in the post-Cold War era. (The Pentagon set up Northern Command, NORTHCOM, in 2002 after the September 11, 2001 attacks to take in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.)
Its area of responsibility includes more nations – 53 – than any other U.S. military command. By way of comparison, EUCOM includes 51 nations, among which are 19 new nations emerging from the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and the reunification of Germany.
The Pacific Command (PACOM) incorporates 36 countries in its theater of operations, down four since the creation of AFRICOM.
Central Command (CENTCOM) currently includes 20 nations in what is referred to as the Broader Middle East.
Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) covers 32 states, 19 in Central and South America and 13 in the Caribbean, of which 14 are U.S. and European territories.
AFRICOM is also the only new U.S. regional military command absorbing nations formerly in other commands; in fact in all other commands outside the Western Hemisphere.
EUCOM ceded 42 nations (including Western Sahara, a member of the African Union whose recognition has been virulently opposed by the West since Morocco invaded it in 1975) to AFRICOM.
The Horn of Africa region (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan) was transferred from CENTCOM to AFRICOM, with the former picking up Lebanon and Syria from EUCOM in return. Egypt is the sole African nation still in CENTCOM. The Pentagon's Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, which includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, the Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Yemen, the last on the Arabian Peninsula, was also transferred from CENTCOM to AFRICOM. The U.S. has an estimated 2,000 troops stationed in Djibouti at Camp Lemonier which hosts the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa.
PACOM lost the Indian Ocean island nations of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles to Africa Command.
Africa is, lastly, the first new continent targeted by the Pentagon for a comprehensive military structure, as the U.S. created comparable commands in Asia, Europe and Latin America after World War II and during the Cold War and had fought wars in all three areas by 1918. With the exception of the bombing of Libya in 1986 and military operations in Somalia in the early 1990s and by proxy since 2006, Africa has to date escaped direct American military intervention. And until the acquisition of Camp Lemonier in Djibouti in early 2001, before September 11, there was no permanent U.S. military installation on the continent.
The beginning of AFRICOM's second year has witnessed major military exercises on the western and eastern ends of the continent.
On September 29 AFRICOM led the militaries of 30 African nations in the ten-day Africa Endeavor 2009 maneuvers in Gabon off the coast of the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea. "The U.S. military has begun an exercise in the African nation of Gabon... to improve command and control between forces for possible peacekeeping or anti-terrorism missions.
"Africom... is sponsoring the exercise and much of the instruction is done by U.S. military personnel based in Europe and the United States." [1]
Coordinated with the command out of which AFRICOM arose, "The AFRICOM exercise comes on the heels of a similar U.S. European Command-sponsored operation – Combined Endeavor – that tested the communication compatibility of the U.S. and its European allies." [2]
The Gabon-based exercise reprised the previous year's Africa Endeavor which was run by European Command before AFRICOM's formal activation and which included "21 African nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Sweden and the United States.
"Nations and organizations who participated... were Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Uganda, the United States and Zambia." [3]
The Pentagon participated with personnel from "U.S. Marine Forces Europe (MARFOREUR); U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Public Affairs; First Combat Communications Squadron, Ramstein Air Force Base; 8th Communications Battalion, Camp Lejeune; Marine Headquarters History, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa; U.S. European Command (EUCOM); U.S. African Command (AFRICOM); and the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC)." [4]
This year's maneuvers effected the formal transfer of Africa from European Command to the new Africa Command.
From October 16-25 the U.S. is heading a multinational military exercise, Natural Fire 10, in Uganda in which "More than 1,000 American and East African troops are... deployed... as the United States carries out its biggest military exercise in Africa this year." [5]
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are to provide troops to join 450 U.S. military personnel in drills which "involve live fire in the field as well as convoy operations, crowd control and vehicle checkpoints..." [6]
An African newspaper account of the exercises suggests ulterior motives: "[T]he decision to site the exercise in northern Uganda raises questions about whether it may presage a renewed US-supported assault against the Lord's Resistance Army," which has waged an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government since 1987.
The same source continued with these observations:
"The exercise in northern Uganda is scheduled to begin one week after the conclusion of another US-led military exercise in Gabon.
"Nearly 30 African nations – including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – took part in that communications-focused initiative led by the US Africa Command... Together, these exercises are cited by Africom's critics as further indications of what they describe as the growing militarisation of the US presence in Africa.
"Situating the exercise in Uganda reflects the close military relationship that the United States has developed with that East African country...
"Worries persist in Africa that the Pentagon intends to station large numbers of US troops on the continent, despite denials by Africom's leaders that such a move is being planned.
"The United States already maintains about 2,000 troops at a base in Djibouti. This Joint Task Force/Horn of Africa detachment is the source of some of the US soldiers, sailors and Marines who will participate in Natural Fire 10." [7]
Two days after the above was published a Ugandan newspaper announced that "Hundreds of Rwandan and Burundi troops have arrived in the country for joint military training exercises geared towards the formation of the first Joint East African Military Force.
"The training, which will also have troops from Kenya and Tanzania with experts from the US, will be conducted in Kitgum... Last week, the UPDF [Uganda Peoples Defence Force] said it supports the formation of a joint regional army, believing this will handle conflicts in the region.
"The proposal was mooted during a meeting of delegates from the five member countries in Kampala early this month." [8]
The Pentagon is setting up a new African regional military force.
On October 20 a Rwandan news source revealed that "The visiting US commander of US Army Africa, Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, has stressed that the US army is interested in strengthening its cooperation with the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF)."
Garrett was quoted as saying "We are hoping to improve the relationship between Rwandan Defence Forces and the US army – this involves increase in interaction between our forces... Likewise, we hope that the Rwandan Defence Forces can also participate in our exercises. So we are hoping to increase the level of cooperation between the US and the Rwandan Defense forces." [9]
The U.S. and its allies previously deployed Rwandan troops they trained and armed to Darfur and Somalia.
In northwest Africa, on October 20 the U.S. ambassador to Mali presented the latest tranche of "more than $5 million in new vehicles and other equipment" to the armed forces of his host country. [10]
Two years earlier the Pentagon led a multinational military exercise, Operation Flintlock 2007, in the capital of Mali with troops from thirteen African and European nations.
In the prototype exercise, Flintlock 2005, the U.S. deployed over 1,000 Special Operations troops, Green Berets, for joint military maneuvers with counterparts from Senegal, Niger, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Algeria and Tunisia.
Flintlock 2005 was employed to launch Washington's Trans Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative with Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. An American news report of the exercise bore the title "U.S. Said Eying Sahara For New War Front." [11]
An official with the U.S. Special Operations Command Europe said at the time, "This is just the start of decades worth of work in Africa," [12] a sentiment echoed by an American armed forces publication which wrote "If military planners have their way, U.S. troops are going to be deploying to Africa for years or maybe decades." [13]
Within days of the completion of the 2007 exercise in Mali a U.S. military cargo plane, "flying food to Malian troops fighting rebels in the far north of the country," was hit by gunfire. The plane had remained in the nation after Flintlock 2007.
"Malian troops had become surrounded at their base in the Tin-Zaouatene region near the Algerian border by armed fighters and couldn't get supplies... [T]he Mali government asked the U.S. forces to perform the airdrops..." [14]
The fighters in question were ethnic Tuaregs.
Tuaregs in Mali and Niger, "whose armies have received U.S. counter-insurgency training," have "taken up arms... driven by resentment over unresolved grievances and against what they see as interference in their territories by government armies and foreign companies." [15]
What is in fact the reason for the heightened American military role in Mali and Niger rather than the Pentagon's by now standard claim – alleged al-Qaeda threats – was mentioned in a Reuters dispatch of last year.
"The stakes are rising. We've got companies, beyond gold exploration [Mali is Africa's third largest gold producer], wanting to explore for oil in northern Mali.
"There has been significant interest by investors wanting to explore for oil in Timbuktu (and other northern towns)... If oil is eventually discovered, that could of course play a role." [16]
The report from which the above is quoted also said: "Tuareg tribesmen in neighbouring Niger... launched a fresh rebellion early last year, demanding greater autonomy and a bigger slice of revenues from French-operated uranium mines in their traditional fiefdom around the northern town of Agadez." [17]
Last year the Red Cross reported that 1,000 Tuareg civilians fled into neighboring Burkina Faso to escape a U.S.-supported Malian government offensive.
AFRICOM's mission in the region, as with much of the rest of Africa, is to wage counterinsurgency campaigns to secure vital resources including gold, precious stones, oil, natural gas and uranium.
The infamous Niger "yellow cake" forgeries played a decisive role in U.S. propaganda leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Off the eastern coast of Africa "The US has supplied the Seychelles with drone spy planes... Seychelles officials say the planes will be used for surveillance, but did not say how many aircraft the US would be handing over... The move comes a day after the US gave equipment to Mali to fight insurgents." [18]
A Middle Eastern website put together several components of AFRICOM's plans in rendering this analysis:
"The United States is taking its military venture in Africa to new levels amid suspicions that Washington could be advancing yet another hidden agenda. American operatives are expected to fly pilotless surveillance aircraft over [Seychelles] territory from US ships off its coast... Washington has also started to equip Mali with USD 4.5 million worth of military vehicles and communications equipment, in what is reported to be an increasing US involvement in Africa.
"The developments come as the White House seeks grounds to establish a major military presence in Africa... [A]nalysts caution that similar pretexts were used to justify the US invasion of Afghanistan, the missile attacks in Pakistan, and its waning military operations in Iraq, where the civilian population continues to bear the brunt of the US intervention." [19]
The same news site reported two days earlier that a U.S. spy drone had been shot down over the southern Somali port of Kismayu. "Kismayu residents routinely report suspected US drones flying over the port. The drones are believed to be launched from warships in the Indian Ocean." [20]
It was also reported in a feature titled "US to make Blackwater-style entry into Somalia" that "The grounds have reportedly been established for armed American presence on Somali soil with a US security firm [Michigan-based CSS Global Inc.] winning a contract in the war-ravaged country." [21]
The development was characterised as follows: "Washington has been [increasingly] deputizing the companies, which are notorious for misusing their State Department-issued gun licenses as excuses for trigger-ready atrocities. The move has been denounced as an effort at putting a non-military face on the US pursuits in the respective countries." [22]
Though not part of AFRICOM's area of responsibility, the African nation of Egypt recently hosted the latest Bright Star war games.
The Pentagon's website described aspects of this year's Bright Star, "U.S. Central Command's longest-running exercise":
"U.S. Marines and sailors were part of a four-nation coalition that stormed the beaches... during a major amphibious assault demonstration Oct. 12.
"The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Navy's Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, as well as the Egyptian army and navy and Pakistani and Kuwaiti marines, took part in the assault as part of Exercise Bright Star 2009, which began Oct. 10 and ends Oct. 20.
"As part of the simulation, Egyptian special operations forces conducted beach reconnaissance prior to the assault. U.S. Marines followed with four AV-88 Harriers. Then amphibious assault vehicles, Humvees and landing craft came ashore... Troops from the various nations, along with 30 vehicles including aircraft, landing craft, amphibious assault vehicles and amphibious tracked vehicles, participated. [23]
Another American source added: "The coalition of military forces participating in the exercises also includes France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
"During the past week, Fort Bragg soldiers made parachute jumps with Egyptian, German, Kuwaiti and Pakistani soldiers." [24]
AFRICOM was nurtured by U.S. European Command since then U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2002 proposed the creation of a NATO Rapid Response Force (NRF), which was approved by NATO defense chiefs in Brussels in June 2003 and was inaugurated in October 2003. In 2006 Rumsfeld followed up on that initiative by forming a planning team to establish a new Unified Command for the African continent.
The top military commander of EUCOM is simultaneously NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and the two generals holding those joint positions during preparations for forming and activating AFRICOM were Marine General James Jones (2003-2006) and Army General Bantz John Craddock (2006-June, 2009). The first is now National Security Adviser to the U.S. president.
"[T]he newly formed NRF [NATO Rapid Response Force] carried out its first exercise code named STEADFAST JAGUAR in Cape Verde... in West Africa from 14-28 June 2006." [25]
"The islanders of Cape Verde are slowly getting used to German armored vehicles and Spanish helicopters descending on their sun-drenched beaches as U.S. fighter F-16 jets roar overhead.
"7,800 troops involved in the maneuvers, the alliance's first major presence on African soil." [26]
Reuters reported at the time that "The NATO Steadfast Jaguar exercises are the final test of a 25,000-strong rapid-reaction force due to be ready from October to dive into troublespots around the world and deal with everything from natural disasters to terrorist attacks."
And it quoted U.S. Lieutenant-Colonel Matt Chestnutt, "whose unit of F-16 fighters was deployed in the 1991 Gulf War and later conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo," as saying "Africa was a great choice. It is possible the NATO Response Force could come here one day." [27]
Agence France-Presse was no less effusive in its account of the unprecedented war games, dubbing its report "Military Brass Hail 'the New NATO' at Cape Verde War": "Troops, fighter planes and warships descended on the West African archipelago of Cape Verde as NATO continued major war games this week to test its global rapid-response force.
"Leading politicians and military top brass from the western alliance's member countries hailed the maneuvers — NATO's first on African soil — underway on the archipelago's northern island of Sao Vicente." [28]
Two months before NATO held a warm-up naval exercise, Brilliant Mariner 2006, ranging from the Netherlands to Norway and consisting of "sixty four ships from eighteen countries... conducting joint warfare inter-operability training in a multi-threat environment," which was "the final preparation phase before the land, air and maritime components of the NATO Response Force come together in June for the capability demonstration exercise Steadfast Jaguar 2006 in Cape Verde, off the west coast of Africa." [29]
A month before the NATO global strike force pilot exercise in Cape Verde, Portuguese Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral said "the West African archipelago is interested in joining both NATO and the European Union. [30]
The test run for the NATO Rapid Response Force was also conducted off the African mainland. In 2005 the Alliance held the 16-nation Noble Javelin 2005 air force, army and naval exercises in Spain's Canary Islands off the coasts of Morocco and Western Sahara.
U.S. warships returned to Cape Verde the following year and an American commander said of the event that "These are the types of efforts that are contributing to the CNO's [Chief of Naval Operations] '1000-ship Navy' initiative." [31] On Washington's 1,000-ship Navy, see Proliferation Security Initiative And U.S. 1,000-Ship Navy: Control Of World's Oceans, Prelude To War. [32]
Also in 2007 it was reported that the "USS Fort McHenry will begin a roughly six-month deployment to Western Africa as the Navy tries a new concept it has dubbed the Global Fleet Station program." [33]
The Global Fleet Station (GFS) program was elaborated in 2007 in a U.S. combined maritime services release, "A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower."
In June of that year Admiral Harry Ulrich, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe, spoke at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C. and said "The Global Fleet Station concept is 'closely aligned' with the task to be provided by the still-developing U.S. Africa Command." [34]
Africa, then, is a testing ground for NATO's Rapid Response Force and the U.S.'s 1,000-ship Navy and Global Fleet Station projects.
Later in 2007, even before AFRICOM was formally announced, Defense News reported that the Pentagon had already decided to divide the continent into five regions: North, south, central, east and west.
"One team will have responsibility for a northern strip from Mauritania to Libya; another will operate in a block of east African nations – Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar and Tanzania; and a third will carry out activities in a large southern block that includes South Africa, Zimbabwe and Angola... A fourth team would concentrate on a group of central African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Congo [Brazzaville]; the fifth regional team would focus on a western block that would cover Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Niger and Western Sahara..." [35]
Before the official inauguration of AFRICOM, analysts around the world sounded the alarm that beneath the innocuous-sounding claims by Washington that it was solely interested in becoming a "security partner" to African nations lurked something more geostrategically significant. And more sinister.
The following are from Nigerian, Algerian and Chinese sources, respectively.
"From the current data on production capacities and proven oil reserves, only two regions appear to exist where, in addition to the Middle East, oil production will grow and where a strategy of diversification may easily work: The Caspian Sea and the Gulf of Guinea.
"The Caspian Sea came into the limelight after the demise of the Soviet Union, and the US has since entered the region and built up a strong military presence on both sides of the lake.
"Some of the problems linked to Caspian oil give the Gulf of Guinea a competitive edge.
"Much of its oil is conveniently located off shore.
"[T]he region enjoys several advantages, including its strategic location just opposite the refineries of the US east coast. It is ahead of all other regions in proven deep water oil reserves, which will lead to significant savings in security provisions. And it requires a drilling technology easily available from the Gulf of Mexico." [36]
"A major focus of AFRICOM will be the Gulf of Guinea, with its enormous oil reserves in Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola and the Congo Republic... The U.S. is already pouring $500 million into its Trans-Sahel Counterterrorism Initiative that embraces Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria in North Africa, and nations boarding the Sahara including Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Senegal." [37]
"By building a dozen forefront bases or establishments in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and other African nations, the U.S. will gradually establish a network of military bases to cover the entire continent and make essential preparations for docking an aircraft carrier fleet in the region.
"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with the U.S. at the head... carried out a large-scale military exercise in Cape Verde, a western African island nation, with the sole purpose for control of the sea and air corridor of crude oil extracting zones and to monitor the situation with oil pipelines operating there.
"[The US} is also seeking to set up small military facilities in Senegal, Ghana and Mali, so as to facilitate its interference in the oil-rich African nations... [T]he African Command represents a vital, crucial link for the US adjustment of its global military deployment.
"At present, it moves the gravity of its forces in Europe eastward and opens new bases in East Europe.
"Africa is flanked by Eurasia, with its northern part located at the juncture of the Asian, European and African continents. The present US global military redeployment centers mainly on an 'arc of instability' from the Caucasus, Central and Southern Asia down to the Korean Peninsula...
"AFRICOM facilitates the United States advancing on the African continent, taking control of the Eurasian continent and proceeding to take the helm of the entire globe." [38]
The third set of observations is from a director of the Chinese Army's Academy of Military Sciences. That is, from an authority expected to be familiar with world geopolitical dynamics and trends.
He situates America's military drive into Africa, all of Africa, within an integrated global context, as does the Nigerian commentary that preceded his analysis once removed.
The campaign to subjugate an entire continent with its more than one billion inhabitants to Western military and economic demands is an integral and milestone component of broader designs around the world. Starting with the Balkans and Eastern Europe as a whole after the breakup of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union in 1991, the U.S. and its NATO allies have relentlessly pursued plans to penetrate and dominate the former Eastern bloc, former Soviet space, the Broader Middle East, the Arctic Circle and Greater Antarctica and to reclaim and solidify control of Latin America and Oceania.
AFRICOM and complementary NATO initiatives are an exponential advancement of the campaign by the West to reassert and expand global supremacy by targeting a continent at the crossroads of north and south, west and east, and the industrial and the developing worlds. As an earlier citation mentioned, it is also the meeting place of three continents and the Middle East with coasts on two of the world's oceans and three of its seas.
Notes
1) Associated Press, September 30, 2009
2) Stars and Stripes, October 4, 2009
3) United States European Command, July 29, 2008
4) United States European Command, July 16, 2008
5) The East African, October 12, 2009
6) Ibid
7) Ibid
8) The Monitor, October 14, 2009
9) The New Times, October 20, 2009
10) Associated Press, October 21, 2009
11) United Press International, December 28, 2005
12) Stars And Stripes, May 15, 2005
13) Stars And Stripes, July 17, 2005
14) Stars and Stripes, September 18, 2007
15) Reuters, May 23, 2008
16) Reuters, June 6, 2008
17) Ibid
18) BBC News, October 21, 2009
19) Press TV, October 21, 2009
20) Press TV, October 19, 2009
21) Press TV, October 16, 2009
22) Ibid
23) U.S. Department of Defense, American Forces Press Service, October 14, 2009
24) Fayetteville Observer, October 4, 2009
25) Leadership (Nigeria), November 22, 2007
26) Reuters, June 29, 2006
27) Ibid
28) Agence France-Presse, June 23, 2006
29) NATO, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, April 5, 2006
30) Reuters, May 19, 2006
31) Navy NewsStand, April 11, 2007
32) Stop NATO, January 29, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/proliferation-security-initiative-and-us-1000-ship-navy-control-of-worlds-oceans-prelude-to-war
33) Stars and Stripes, June 14, 2007
34) Ibid
35) Defense News, September 20, 2007
36) Abba Mahmood, Country, Gulf of Guinea And Africom Leadership, November 22, 2007
37) U.S. embassies turned into command posts in North Africa Ech Chorouk, October 17, 2007
38) Lin Zhiyuan, deputy office director of the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences, U.S. moves to step up military
infiltration in Africa
People's Daily, February 26, 2007
Afghan insurgents learn to destroy key U.S. armored vehicle
By Jonathan S. Landay
McClatchy Newspapers
Saturday, November 7, 2009 http://alethonews.blogspot.com/2009/11/afghan-insurgents-learn-to-destroy-key.html
WASHINGTON — Taliban-led insurgents in Afghanistan have devised ways to cripple and even destroy the expensive armored vehicles that offer U.S. forces the best protection against roadside bombs by using increasingly large explosive charges and rocket-propelled grenades, according to U.S. soldiers and defense officials.
At least eight American troops have been killed this year in attacks on so-called Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, and 40 more have been wounded, said a senior U.S. military official who, like others interviewed on the issue, declined to be further identified because of the issue's sensitivity.
The insurgents' success in attacking the hulking machines, which can cost as much as $1 million each, underscores their ability to counter the advanced hardware that the U.S. military and its allies are deploying in their struggle to gain the upper hand in the war, which entered its ninth year last month.
The attacks also raise questions about how vulnerable a new, lighter MRAP, the M-ATV, which is now being shipped to Afghanistan, are to the
massive explosive charges that Taliban-led insurgents have been using
against its bigger cousin.The insurgents are also hitting MRAPs
with rocket-propelled grenades that can penetrate their steel armor,
according to U.S troops in Afghanistan, several of whom showed
McClatchy a photograph of a hole that one of the projectiles had
punched in the hull of an MRAP.
The Pentagon has spent more than $26.8 billion to develop and build three versions of the largest MRAPs, totaling some 16,000 vehicles, mostly for the Army and Marine Corps, according to an August report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.Another $5.4 billion is being spent to produce 5,244 M-ATVs, the smaller version that U.S. defense officials contend offers as much protection as the large models do, but is more maneuverable and better suited to Afghanistan's dirt tracks and narrow mountain roads.
"The traditional MRAP was having real problems . . . off road in
Afghanistan," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. "And clearly we
have to do a lot of work off-road. And these new vehicles will provide
our forces the ability to travel more safely off road — certainly off
paved roads — than they would have been able to do with other vehicles."
Defense officials acknowledged the growing problem of successful attacks on MRAPs, and said the U.S. military is constantly developing improvements for the vehicle that include better sensors and tactics.
"It's not all about the armor. We can't build something that is impervious to everything," said Navy Capt. Jack Henzlik, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We are using a comprehensive strategy to try to provide for the protection of our forces."
The issue was the subject of a high-level meeting convened on Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who made the production of MRAPs his highest priority in 2007 as U.S. troops in Iraq
were suffering massive casualties from roadside bomb attacks.
The use of powerful explosive charges against MRAPs "is a problem that he (Gates) is keenly aware of, very concerned about, and is determined to make sure this building is doing everything it can to combat," Morrell said. "We have never advertised MRAPs or M-ATVs as a silver bullet for the IED (improvised explosive device) problem. This is but one element of a vast array of capabilities that we need to bring to bear to protect our forces."
However, retired Army Col. Douglas A. MacGregor, a former armored cavalry commander and combat veteran and an expert on armor warfare, said that vehicles such as the MRAP have "very limited utility" in a war against a guerrilla group such as the Taliban."
The notion of a wheeled armored constabulary force as a prescription for a close combat situation is nonsense," he said.
U.S. troops rely on the MRAP's V-shaped hull, which is designed to deflect explosive blasts, and heavy armored plating to protect them against the landmines and IEDs that are causing most American combat deaths in Afghanistan.
October was the deadliest month for U.S. troops since the 2001 U.S. invasion. At least 59 were killed, bringing the total for the year to at least 272 dead, according to the Internet site iCasualties. At least 139 of those troops died in IED blasts, according
to the Pentagon.
"Pentagon officials note that insurgents are building larger IEDs and are finding better ways to conceal them," the Congressional Research Service report said.
"The biggest question is what took them so long," said a senior Pentagon official with extensive experience with the MRAP program and familiarity with the weapons and techniques that the militants in Afghanistan have developed to "compromise" the vehicle.
The fact that the large MRAPs — which range from 7 tons to 24 tons depending on the model — often are confined to narrow mountain roads and valleys in Afghanistan has made it easier for insurgents to prepare ambushes using anti-tank mines, IEDs or rocket-propelled grenades capable of penetrating armor, the official said.U.S. defense officials insisted that many more U.S. troops would be killed and injured in Afghanistan and in Iraq if they'd been equipped with vehicles other than MRAPs.
"KIA (killed in action) rates in particular are noticeably reduced in MRAPs," said Irene Smith, a spokeswoman for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, the Pentagon agency created to develop defenses against roadside bombs.
U.S. defense officials in Washington and Kabul declined to reveal the number of MRAPs that have been crippled or destroyed since the first vehicles were deployed in Afghanistan in 2003, saying they didn't want to provide the Taliban with information on the effectiveness of their tactics.
McClatchy is voluntarily withholding some U.S. soldiers' descriptions of insurgent tactics out of concern that they may not be known by all of those fighting U.S.-led forces.
The soldiers spoke out of what they said was a heightened concern about the vehicles' vulnerability to ambushes, especially on mountain roads where there's no room for the vehicles to turn around.
Business News
Vedanta Resources'' Zambia unit workers call off strike
New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) Workers at London Stock Exchange -listed Vedanta Resources' Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) unit in Zambia today called off their three-day old strike.
- MCX-SX November rupee futures end stronger PTI - 07:51 PM
- CSE index slips 59 points PTI - 07:38 PM
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General
- Accion International picks up 49.5 pc in Saija FinancePTI - 06:52 PM
Mumbai, Nov 13 (PTI) Global micro finance company Accion International today said it has picked up 49.5 per cent stake in non banking finance institution Saija Finance for USD 5 lakh.
- Cox & Kings plans international acquisitionsPTI - 06:47 PM
Mumbai, Nov 13 (PTI) Tour and travel operator Cox & Kings is looking at smaller acquisitions globally to consolidate its position in the international market, a top official said.
- Recent rains not likely to have a huge impact on coffeePTI - 06:45 PM
Bangalore, Nov 13 (PTI) The recent rains are not likely to have huge impact on coffee production, Coffee Board Chairman G V Rau said today.
- Gold tumbles from historic highs, silver also slipsPTI - 06:44 PM
Mumbai, Nov 13 (PTI) Gold prices tumbled from their overnight record high levels on the bullion market here today on emergence of hectic selling by stockists amidst weak overseas cues.
- NYT to cut 25 jobs next yearPTI - 06:41 PM
New York, Nov 13 (PTI) US daily The New York Times will lay off at least 25 editorial employees at the news service next year and would move the operation to Florida-based newspaper Gainsville Sun.
India
- Bourses allowed to set derivative contract expiry dateIANS - 06:35 PM
Mumbai, Nov 13 (IANS) India's equities markets regulator Friday decided to allow stock exchanges the flexibility to set the expiry date for equity derivatives.
- BJP's Delhi shutdown: key markets shut but life unaffectedIANS - 06:33 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Many major markets in the capital were closed for several hours Friday but city life remained unaffected during the daylong shutdown the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called to protest the rising prices of essential items and hike in the bus and Metro fares.
- International Finance Corp to be chief advisor for Kerala portIANS - 06:22 PM
Kochi, Nov 13 (IANS) International Finance Corp (IFC), a member of the World Bank group, will provide advisory services to Kerala for building a greenfield port at Vizhinjam, near state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
- Warrant against Anoushka Shankar's blackmailerIANS - 06:19 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) A Delhi court Friday issued a warrant against the man who allegedly blackmailed sitar player Anoushka Shankar, saying he should be produced before it Nov 27.
- Mamata now wants to have rail coach factory in SingurIANS - 06:16 PM
Kolkata, Nov 13 (IANS) Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee now wants to build a rail coach factory jointly with the West Bengal government on the Singur plot abandoned by Tata Motors, but after returning the 400 acres to 'unwilling' farmers.
International
- ANALYSIS - Japan automakers feel heat as Hyundai charges aheadReuters - 02:30 PM
Hyundai Motor has left rivals in the dust with a stunning run this year, and Japanese automakers have even more to worry about now as the yen climbs and South Korea seals more trade pacts to benefit its exporters.
- Canada needs India more than India needs Canada, says paperIANS - 01:05 PM
Toronto, Nov 13 (IANS) A nuclear deal with India is a must to save Canada's nuclear industry, a respected Canadian daily said here ahead of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit to India next week.
- Islamabad wants neutral experts in row with India over hydel projectIANS - 12:52 PM
Islamabad, Nov 13 (IANS) Pakistan plans to propose the setting up of a court of arbitration and appointment of neutral experts over India's Kishanganga hydropower project and the proposal would soon be sent to New Delhi, an official said.
- Sheikh Hasina to visit India in DecemberIANS - 12:44 PM
Dhaka, Nov 13 (IANS) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be in New Delhi Dec 19 for bilateral talks that may include India receiving transit facilities to reach its northeastern region.
- China to emphasise economic restructuring in 2010Reuters - 11:34 AM
China will place more emphasis on improving the quality and structure of the economy next year as growth becomes less of a worry, a central bank vice-governor said on Friday.
Personal-Finance
- Sensex shuts 0.92 percent upIANS - 05:02 PM
Mumbai, Nov 13 (IANS) A key Indian equity index ended a volatile trading session Friday 0.92 percent higher than its previous close.
- Sensex up 1.15 percent in afternoon tradeIANS - 02:51 PM
Mumbai, Nov 13 (IANS) A key Indian equity index was ruling 1.15 percent up Friday afternoon amid volatile trading.
- Sensex closes 0.91 percent downIANS - Thu, Nov 12
Mumbai, Nov 12 (IANS) A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets closed 0.91 percent lower Thursday with realty, metal and banking stocks coming under selling pressure.
- Sensex trading volatile, Asian markets in redIANS - Thu, Nov 12
Mumbai, Nov 12 (IANS) Indian equities markets were trading dull Thursday afternoon even as the benchmark index ruled in a volatile zone. Other Asian markets were no different with key indices ending in the red.
- Essar, Paradip Port sign deal for Rs.400-crore coal berthIANS - Tue, Nov 10
Bhubaneswar, Nov 10 (IANS) Paradip Port Trust Tuesday signed a concession agreement with Essar Paradip Terminals for construction of deep draught coal berth, the port authorities said.
Markets
- INTERVIEW - Hindustan Copper smelter decision soonReuters - 05:58 PM
State-run Hindustan Copper Ltd will decide by the end of November if it wants to re-open its smelter in Rajasthan, with time and money the key considerations, its chairman and managing director said on Friday.
- Is RIL shares underperformance a blip?Reuters - 05:24 PM
Shares of India's biggest listed company Reliance Industries are down since mid-June, compared with the rising benchmark index, in an unusual occurrence for a firm seen as a bellwether for the stock market.
- BSE Sensex posts best weekly rise in 11 weeksReuters - 05:19 PM
The BSE Sensex climbed 0.9 percent on Friday to its best weekly gain in 11 weeks, led by banks and outsourcers and supported by rising foreign portfolio investment.
- BA, Iberia merger hinges on pension deficitReuters - 04:44 PM
British Airways' 3 billion pound ($4.99 billion) pension deficit could yet scupper its planned merger with Spain's Iberia, as the UK airline has still to get clearance from the fund's trustees.
- Potato, onion push up food inflation to 13.68 per centHT - 04:05 PM
The country is reeling under the impact of steep 13. 68 per cent rise in a number of food items pummelled by a supply crunch in staple potatoes.
India News
Bourses allowed to set derivative contract expiry date
IANS - 06:35 PMMumbai, Nov 13 (IANS) India's equities markets regulator Friday decided to allow stock exchanges the flexibility to set the expiry date for equity derivatives.
- BJP's Delhi shutdown: key markets shut but life unaffected IANS - 06:33 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Many major markets in the capital were closed for several hours Friday but city life remained unaffected during the daylong shutdown the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called to protest the rising prices of essential items and hike in the bus and Metro fares.
- International Finance Corp to be chief advisor for Kerala port IANS - 06:22 PM
Kochi, Nov 13 (IANS) International Finance Corp (IFC), a member of the World Bank group, will provide advisory services to Kerala for building a greenfield port at Vizhinjam, near state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
- Warrant against Anoushka Shankar's blackmailer IANS - 06:19 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) A Delhi court Friday issued a warrant against the man who allegedly blackmailed sitar player Anoushka Shankar, saying he should be produced before it Nov 27.
- Mamata now wants to have rail coach factory in Singur IANS - 06:16 PM
Kolkata, Nov 13 (IANS) Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee now wants to build a rail coach factory jointly with the West Bengal government on the Singur plot abandoned by Tata Motors, but after returning the 400 acres to 'unwilling' farmers.
- Koda pressed for contracts to Sinha's firm: ex-mines secretary IANS - 06:02 PM
Ranchi, Nov 13 (IANS) A former Jharkhand bureaucrat has claimed that in 2007 then chief minister Madhu Koda had pressurised him to push files recommending iron ore mine contracts to close associate Vinod Sinha's company.
- Bus users switch to Metro for quick, smooth ride IANS - 06:01 PM
New Delhi/Noida, Nov 13 (IANS) The opening of Delhi Metro's Noida line Friday was welcomed by thousands of residents of east Delhi and Noida. Ticket counters stayed busy all day and packed trains ferried people to and from from the suburb, many of whom were happy to bid adieu to a harrowing bus ride in exchange for the smooth, quick metro ride.
- RIL offers to withdraw affidavits of directors on Ambani pact IANS - 05:50 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Reliance Industries Ltd Friday made a conditional offer in the Supreme Court to withdraw the affidavits of seven directors who claimed no knowledge of the contents of a family pact between the two Ambani brothers.
- HDFC to buy stake in Credila Financial Reuters - 05:49 PM
Housing Development Finance Corp said on Friday it had agreed to buy about 41 percent in education loan provider Credila Financial Services from DSP Merrill Lynch Capital.
- Union Bk sees FY10 earnings from cards, ATMs double Reuters - 05:47 PM
State-run Union Bank of India expects to more than double earnings from offsite transaction channels by 2009/10-end, a senior official said on Friday.
- TVS Motor reintroduces Flame motor bikes Reuters - 05:36 PM
TVS Motor Co Ltd said on Friday it reintroduced its "Flame" brand of motor bikes that feature twin spark plugs after obtaining the necessary legal clearances, it said.
- PVR board oks raising 421.9 mln rupees via pref shares Reuters - 05:29 PM
Theater operator PVR Ltd said on Friday, its board approved raising 421.9 million rupees via preferential allotment of 2.55 million shares, at a price of 165 rupees a piece to Thailand's Major Cineplex Group Plc.
- Ramsarup inks accord to sell power to West Bengal IANS - 05:27 PM
Kolkata, Nov 13 (IANS) Ramsarup Industries, which has interests in steel, power and infrastructure businesses, Friday said it has signed an agreement with the West Bengal government to sell power to it.
- BGR Energy bags orders worth Rs.45 crore IANS - 04:52 PM
Chennai, Nov 13 (IANS) City-based engineering, procurement and construction company BGR Energy Systems Ltd has bagged three orders worth Rs.45 crore, taking its order book position to Rs.12,200 crore, the company said Friday.
- Mamata game for joint venture with West Bengal in Singur IANS - 04:49 PM
Kolkata, Nov 13 (IANS) A day after state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) officials visited the abandoned Tata Motors land in West Bengal's Singur, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her eagerness Friday to build a coach factory on the plot.
- S.Korea's GS Home to buy into Network18 arm Reuters - 04:47 PM
South Korea's GS Home Shopping will buy a 15 percent stake in HomeShop18, a unit of India's Network18 Media & Investments, for $18.5 million, they said boosting the Indian firm's shares 20 percent.
- Rain damage in Nilgiri estimated at Rs.300 crore IANS - 04:37 PM
Chennai, Nov 13 (IANS) The northeast monsoon rains that lashed the Nilgiri district, killing 43 people and destroying several homes and standing crops, has caused losses worth about Rs.300 crore, Communication and Information Technology Minister A. Raja said Friday.
- US will sign treaty at Copenhagen only after Senate approval: Official IANS - 04:25 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) The Unites States has indicated that it will not be signatory to any treaty in Copenhagen, before it gets approval from the Senate.
- SMEs want lot size reduced, separate set of brokers HT - 04:05 PM
The SME Chamber of India is planning to make a representation to capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) requesting that the size of a trading lot be reduced and to have a separate set of brokers for SME trades.
- Govt puts AI under lens before equity infusion HT - 04:05 PM
The government has asked state-run carrier Air India to cut cost and enhance revenue to the extent of Rs 2,000 crore by March before any equity infusion is made in the airline. The decision came in a meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that met on Thursday.
Politics News
U.S., Japan vow to revitalise strained ties
Reuters - 07:47 PMU.S. President Barack Obama and Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, pledged on Friday to revitalise their strained security alliance as they adapt to a rising China, set to overtake Japan as the world's No.2 economy.
- China's Hu prods West on trade, investment barriers Reuters - 07:38 PM
Chinese President Hu Jintao called on Friday for an end to "unreasonable" trade restrictions on developing countries, just days ahead of a U.S. presidential visit to his country that has been clouded by economic tensions.
- 9/11 suspects to be tried in New York-US official Reuters - 07:29 PM
The alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four others will be sent for prosecution in a criminal court in New York from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an Obama administration official said on Friday.
- 'Missing' Madhu Koda surfaces in hometown IANS - 07:12 PM
Ranchi, Nov 13 (IANS) Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, who is at the centre of a Rs.2,500 crore money laundering scam, surfaced at his home town Chaibasa hours after Income Tax officials said he had 'disappeared' from his home in the state capital Friday.
- BJP mum over Gadkari as next party president IANS - 06:54 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Speculation continued over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Maharashtra unit chief Nitin Gadkari, whose name has been thrown up as the surprise choice of the party's next president, even as senior leaders refused to either confirm or deny this.
- Maoists release abducted Jharkhand RJD legislator IANS - 05:55 PM
Ranchi, Nov 13 (IANS) A Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislator from Jharkhand and his aide who were abducted by Maoists in Latehar district a day ago were released Friday, police said.
- Hurriyat chief ready for talks through open or quiet diplomacy IANS - 05:55 PM
Jammu, Nov 13 (IANS) Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Friday said he was ready for talks to resolve the Kashmir issue 'through open or quiet diplomacy'.
- Raj Babbar's victory cast's a shadow on Mulayam in Uttar Pradesh ANI - 05:45 PM
New Delhi, Nov. 13 (ANI): November 10, 2009 will be observed as a Black Day every year by the Samajwadi Party, as on this day it suffered perhaps the biggest ever jolt in its 17-year history.
- Leaders flock to see ailing Karunakaran IANS - 05:17 PM
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 13 (IANS) Many visitors are flocking to meet veteran Congress leader and former Kerala chief minister K. Karunakaran, who was admitted to a hospital here Thursday after he complained of breathlessness and fever.
- BJP shutdown evokes a mixed response in Delhi ANI - 04:40 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (ANI): The shutdown call given by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against spiralling prices of essential commodities evoked a mixed response in Delhi.
- Madhu Koda goes 'missing' from Ranchi home IANS - 04:27 PM
Ranchi, Nov 13 (IANS) Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, who is at the centre of a Rs.2,500 crore money laundering scam, has 'disappeared' from his home, a senior Income Tax official said Friday.
- No business ties with YSR's family, says Karnataka minister IANS - 04:24 PM
Hyderabad, Nov 13 (IANS) Karnataka Tourism Minister and industrialist G. Janardhan Reddy has denied the Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) allegations that he had business ties with the family of the late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
- Cong plots to snatch Mayor's seat from Sena HT - 03:10 PM
Mumbai, Nov. 13 -- The Congress is hoping to bag the Mayor's post using disgruntled Shiv Sena corporators. The Sena's debacle in the recent assembly elections followed with rumours of mass defection of its corporators to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has given the Congress hopes that the party can win the mayoral elections to be held in December.
- Apex court turns down Mayawati appeal on Ambedkar park IANS - 02:37 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) The Supreme Court Friday refused to suspend its order halting all construction and maintenance work at the memorial sites of Dalit leaders in Lucknow to enable the Uttar Pradesh government to prepare for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's death anniversary on Dec 6.
- 68 fishermen still missing after Cyclone Phyan: Goa chief minister IANS - 02:28 PM
Panaji, Nov 13 (IANS) As many as 68 fishermen were still missing after being trapped in Cyclone Phyan which passed through the Arabian Sea earlier this weekback, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said here Friday.
- India quietly bolsters disputed China border Reuters - 02:17 PM
The rutted mountain road to Tawang in India's remote northeast, quiet and empty for years, is abuzz these days with heavy construction activity.
- Political settlement 'very important' in Sri Lanka: Minister IANS - 02:08 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Now that the Tamil Tigers have been defeated, it is 'very important' to have a political settlement to end Tamil grievances, a senior Sri Lankan minister said here.
- Meira Kumar leaves for New York IANS - 01:09 PM
New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) A parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar Friday left for New York to attend the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.
- Most of Bengal's ruling parties against advancing assembly polls IANS - 12:56 PM
Kolkata, Nov 13 (IANS) Ignoring the views of a minor partner, the majority of West Bengal's ruling Left Front (LF) constituents say there is no need to advance the state assembly polls slated for mid 2011 just because of 'some electoral setbacks'.
- Obama faces strains in Japan, first stop in Asia Reuters - 12:52 PM
U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Tokyo on Friday for a summit where the two allies will seek to put strained security ties on a firmer footing as they adjust to a rising China set to overtake Japan as the world's No. 2 economy.
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tawang Walk The Line China's stand on Tawang lies inextricably close to its suspicions of India's intentions on Tibet. Therein lies the rub.... | |
| Over The Great Wall, The Mire | |
 opinion Long Live Sibling RivalryLet there be no war. Let bhai-bhai one-upmanship last forever. | |
the india complex A Cure For Our Sinositis? Is it paranoia or just plain old envy because China has surged far ahead of us in every field? | |
 china eye view Here Be (No) DragonsThe Indian media reserves its vitriol for China. It's horribly unfair. | |
bilateral trade Bazaar Ping-Pong Trade is growing. But a closer look finds India chafing at inequalities. | |
 Column WeightliftingA stronger India must counter China with open-minded caution | |
karnataka: bjp Shobha Karandlaje, BSY's pointswoman, is central to the crisis poll Sutra 'Those who form governments can also pull them down,' goes an old jungle saying in our Bellary  opinion The 'sarkari Musalman' class trades solely in Muslim backwardness  opinion Paradoxically, unassertiveness catches up with the Loh Purush  opinion It's time we extirpated the horrific dehumanisation from our prisons Govt report: land reforms A scathing report on the pro-business land takeover policy ...and it's official too crime: youth They're young, educated, and they kill. A worrying city trend. | ||||||||
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review Imaginary sips for exquisite wines bleeding into each other. Then, the treacly gladness of a rummy concoction. review That English fiction abounds in South Asian names we already knew. And South Asian voices? We still don't know. review This well-illustrated volume should be useful as a textbook in film schools, but its value for ordinary film enthusiasts is even higher | ||||||||
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