India and China withdraw troops from Himalayan face off

By Fayaz Bukhari and Satarupa Bhattacharjya
SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI, Indian | Mon May 6, 2013

(Reuters) - India and China simultaneously withdrew troops from camps a few meters apart in a Himalayan desert on Sunday, apparently ending a three-week standoff on a freezing plateau where the border is disputed and the Asian giants fought a war 50 years ago.

The two sides stood down after reaching an agreement during a meeting between border commanders, an Indian army official told Reuters, after the tension threatened to overshadow a planned visit by India's foreign minister to Beijing on Thursday.

But it was not immediately clear how far China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had withdrawn - Delhi had claimed they were 19 km (12 miles) beyond the point it understands to be the border with China, a vaguely defined de facto line called the Line of Actual Control, which neither side agrees on.

Defense and foreign ministry spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"Our troops have moved one kilometer backwards from the position they were on since April 16," said the officer, from the Indian army's Northern Command, which oversees the disputed region on the fringes of India's Jammu and Kashmir state.

"Chinese troops have also moved away from their position they were holding on since April 15 when they intruded in Indian territory. It is not clear yet how (far) the PLA moved back."

India considered it the worst border incursion for years.

New Delhi often appears insecure about relations with its powerful neighbor, despite slowly warming relations between Asia's largest countries. China is India's top trade partner, but the unresolved border sours the friendship.

India's opposition and much of the media has been critical of the government's handling of the standoff, drawing parallels with a 1962 war which ended in its humiliating defeat. On Friday, parliament was adjourned after members shouted "Get China out, save the country".

"YOU ARE IN CHINESE TERRITORY"

India says Chinese troops intruded into its territory on the western rim of the Himalayas on April 15. Some officials and experts believe the incursion signaled Chinese concern about increased Indian military activity in the area.

A group of about 30 Chinese soldiers, backed by helicopters, had pitched several tents near a 16th century Silk Road campsite called Daulat Beg Oldi, close to an air strip New Delhi uses to support troops on the Siachen glacier.

Each day since, Indian and Chinese soldiers and border guards left their camps and stood about 100 meters (330 feet) apart on the Depsang Plain, a 5,000 meter (16,400 feet) high desert ringed by jagged peaks of the Karakoram range.

Winter temperatures can drop to minus 30 degrees centigrade, and the area is lashed by icy strong winds all year round.

A photograph released by a source in the Indian army showed a group of six Chinese soldiers on a rock-strewn landscape holding a bright orange banner that read, in English and Mandarin, "This is the Line of Actual Control, You are in Chinese territory".

Delhi reopened the Daulat Beg Oldi airstrip in 2008. Two other runways, out of use since the war, have been opened and Daulat Beg Oldi has been upgraded since.

Siachen, at the north of the disputed region of Kashmir, is claimed by both India and Pakistan and has the dubious distinction of being the world's highest battlefield.

Tensions are likely to persist given India and China's increased presence in an area that for centuries was largely unclaimed and criss-crossed with caravan routes. Now the land abuts the Karakoram Highway joining Pakistan to China, which Beijing hopes to develop further as trade route linking it to the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.

Speaking before Sunday's resolution, Srikanth Kondapalli, an Indian analyst who specializes in China studies, said the dispute lay close to large hydroelectric projects and an ambitious plan to expand the Karakoram highway.

He said the lack of agreement about where the border lies, combined with increased military and infrastructure activity meant more flashpoints were likely.

"It is a no-man's land," said Kondapalli, who considers the current standoff to be more serious than the usual cross-border incidents. "Even if the (present) issue is resolved, this will only flare up."

(Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/06/us-india-china-idUSBRE9440B220130506.

INDIA: 'Missing Girls is About Femicide'

Nitin Jugran Bahuguna

DEHRADUN, Sep 18 2011 (IPS) - India has been ranked the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women, but the widespread practice of selectively aborting female fetuses may make it the most hostile to the female gender.

In the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, where the child sex ratio (0 – 6 years of age) has dropped to 886 girls per 1,000 boys – according to provisional data in the 2011 census – a strong civil society movement is building up against what is known as female foeticide.
Uttarakhand’s record is far worse than the unwholesome national child sex ratio which has declined to 914 girls per 1,000 boys, from 927 per 1,000 in the last decennial census, conducted in 2001.

Demographers extrapolate that where there were six million ‘missing girls’ in India’s 2001 census, the figure has risen to 7.1 million in the 2011 count – which puts India’s total population at 1.21 billion people.

“Technology and literacy have played a part in promoting female feticide as also a lack of principles and ethics in the medical profession,” says Shashi Bhushan of the Shri Bhuvaneshwari Mahila Ashram (SBMA), a Dehradun-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that helps protect the rights of women.

Bhushan’s reference was to the proliferation of illegally-run sex determination clinics using cheap ultrasound machines across Uttarakhand and their being patronized by educated people.

Rahmati Devi, 45, a dai (traditional birth attendant) in the picturesque lake district of Nainital, maintains that sex determination tests using ultrasound imaging are now routine in the villages of northern Uttarakhand.

“These tests always take place due to pressure from the husband or members of his family,” Devi told IPS.

“The addresses of ultrasound centers, where such services are provided clandestinely, are spread by word-of-mouth. These centers charge between Indian rupees 2,500 to 5,000 (52 – 105 dollars) to perform a sex determination scan,” Devi said.

Monitoring committees created under the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, that prohibits sex determination tests, are not active in most districts of Uttarakhand, except for sporadic raids on clinics suspected to be carrying out illegal procedures.

The SBMA has been campaigning for three years now to create awareness against the practice at the grassroots level under a program called ‘Kopal’ (sapling). With support from Plan International and 13 other NGOs, the SBMA has focused on such issues as the adverse physical and psychological effects on women who undergo abortions to eliminate female fetuses.

When Madan Singh and his wife Radha Devi in Rampur, Chamoli district, were considering a sex determination test to avoid the possibility of having a third daughter a ‘nukkad natak’ (street play), mounted in their village under the Kopal project, convinced them against it.

Such successes encourage activists like Bhushan. “Our work with community-based organizations and youth groups has also seen an increase in birth registration rates and institutional deliveries.”

Bhushan believes that states like Uttarakhand are only now beginning to wake up to the enormity of the problem. “What is referred to as the ‘missing girls’ amounts to mass murder of girls or femicide,” he said.

Recognising that healthy attitudes to the girl child must begin early, the Kopal initiative includes mobilizing youth groups to sensitize peers and elders about the vital role that girls play in any balanced community.

“The issue of dowry remains a powerful factor against having girls. A family with more men is considered strong and sons are perceived as assets,” observes social worker Bina Kala, 35, of Anjanisain village in Tehri district.

Under Kopal’s aegis, Bina helps organize ‘Mountain Children’s Forums’ which provide opportunities for gender relations to be discussed between groups of boys and girls.

“At these meetings we emphasize that in rural households the girl child contributes much more to the family economy than boys. She supports her mother in domestic chores and even sacrifices her dreams so that families can invest in the boys,” says Bina.

Health threats and cultural attitudes to women were factors in a poll by TrustLaw, a news service run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which ranked India as the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women, after Afghanistan, Congo and Pakistan, in results released in June.

At a Kopal meeting in Pithoragarh district, earlier this year, several girls complained that in spite of rising levels of literacy and education little has changed in the status of girls in the villages of Uttarkhand.

“At this meeting the boys responded by taking an oath that when they got back to their villages they would be more sensitive to their sisters and other girls,” recalls Bina.

At another Kopal meeting in the pilgrim district of Haridwar, a 17-year-old girl called Sonia emerged as a youthful voice in the fight against female feticide in Uttarakhand.

“We meet regularly and discuss ways to bridge the gender gap. Our message is that girls must be heard and that they have the right to equal treatment,” says Sonia who nearly dropped out of school but is continuing with her studies with support from SBMA.

Such civil society initiatives are backed by central and state government schemes designed to enhance the value of a girl-child in the eyes of the community.

Three years ago, the Uttarakhand government announced the ‘Nanda Devi Girl Child Scheme’ under which every girl child born after January 2009 in families living below the poverty line is entitled to a fixed deposit worth 105 dollars that can be withdrawn with interest when the girl clears high school and reaches 18 years of age.

“Such schemes are slowly but surely making a change in a society where the desire to have a male heir is a difficult and complex social issue,” says Bhushan.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/2011/09/india-lsquomissing-girls-is-about-femicidersquo/.

Biggest earthquake in 20 years in Northeast

Monday, September 19, 2011

Shillong, Sept 19: The northeastern region on Sunday experienced the biggest earthquake in 20 years. The earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale which hit the east and Northeast region, was the biggest in 20 years, officials said.

Records of Central Seismological Observatory showed increasing seismic activity in the region.
A total of 34 quakes of light and moderate intensity were felt in the region in 2009. The area witnessed 26 earthquakes each in 2008 and 2007, while it was 23 in 2006, the data showed.

On February 4 this year, a quake of 6.4 magnitude with its epicenter in the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur shook the region. An earthquake of similar intensity (6.8) had rocked the northeast on August 6, 1988.

On October 11, 2000 a quake of 6.0 intensity was felt in the region, while on September 21, 2009, another measuring 6.2 had claimed six lives in neighboring Bhutan, where it was epicenter.

The north eastern region had experienced some of the world's worst quakes like the Shillong quake and the Assam quake of 1950 both measuring around 8.5.

An earthquake in 1897 in Shillong plateau had left 1,542 people dead.

Source: One India.
Link: http://news.oneindia.in/2011/09/19/biggest-earthquake-in-20-years-in-northeast.html.

India postpones latest Agni missile launch

New Delhi (UPI)
Sep 2, 2011

India postponed until next week a test-firing of its indigenously built Agni II ballistic nuclear capable missile due to a technical glitch.

The two-stage surface-to-surface missile was to be tested by its Strategic Forces Command from Wheeler Island off the Bay of Bengal on Monday, a report in the Indian Express newspaper said.

"But we had to postpone the test due to technical problems," Avinash Chander, director of the Agni missile program, said.

The day next week for the launch is not decided, said Chander, who gave no reason for the failure.

But previous missile failures have been blamed on guidance problems.

There also were doubts about continuous rainfall in Balasore near the test-firing range over the past three days.

India has a checkered history of launching indigenously built missiles, including the Agni I, II and III weapons.

The basic Agni series includes the single-stage 450-mile range Agni I, already inducted into service, and the two-stage Agni II and III models.

The 1,200-mile range Agni II was inducted into the army in 2004 and still is undergoing test-firings. The 65-foot missile weighs around 17 tons and can carry a 1-tonne payload.

The 2,000-mile range Agni III is in the last stages of development.

The solid-propellant Agni series of ballistic missiles are manufactured by Bharat Dynamics, one of India's major manufacturers of munitions and missile systems founded in 1970 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Bharat Dynamics also manufactures India's Konkurs anti-tank missile.

Agni-II has been developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory along with other laboratories under the government-backed Defense Research and Development Organization.

India's main missile test launch center is Wheeler Island -- just over 1 mile long and 6 miles off the country's east coast in the Bay of Bengal and about 90 miles from Bhubaneshwar, the capital city of Orissa state.

It was from Wheeler Island that Agni III, with a range of just over 2,000 miles, was successfully test-launched from a mobile launcher in February last year.

During a test launch the following month, a Prithvi missile veered off its path, failing to reach its required altitude of around 70 miles. It climbed to around 45 miles before tumbling back into the Bay of Bengal.

Then in September, the DRDO acknowledged guidance problems that caused a failure in another Prithvi missile test launch. The surface-to-surface missile remained on the launch pad during a trial in Chandipur, Orissa.

The short-range, 4.6-tonne nuclear-capable missile became enveloped in orange smoke and the launch was aborted, officials from the DRDO said at the time.

"The failure to lift Prithvi II was due to a snag either in the main missile or the sub-system, including the launcher," a DRDO spokesman said.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/India_postpones_latest_Agni_missile_launch_999.html.

Indian protests mount over planned hanging

A woman burned herself to death near Chennai in protest at the planned hanging of the killers of Rajiv Ghandi, India's prime minister, in 1991.

NEW DELHI, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A woman burned herself to death near Chennai, India, in protest at the planned hanging of the killers of Rajiv Gandhi, India's prime minister, in 1991.

The woman, 27, poured gasoline on herself in front of the local tax office in Kancheepuram, around 70 miles from the Tamil Nadu state capital Chennai.

Witnesses said she shouted, "free Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan" and then she set herself on fire.

Bystanders and the police doused the flames but she died on the way to hospital, a local newspaper report said.

A note wrapped in plastic found on her body said she was a member of Tamil nationalist group Makkal Manram.

"If my life can save their three lives, I will die happily," the note reportedly said.

It also urged Tamil Nadu state chief minister J. Jayalalithaa to free the three convicts, who have been in jail for 20 years since receiving death sentences.

Last week the government announced the hanging will take place early Sept. 9 at Tamil Nadu's Vellore Central Prison in Vellore, around 85 miles north of Chennai.

The planned hanging comes after India's president rejected mercy pleas from the men found guilty of plotting the assassination of Gandhi by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber.

All three of the condemned men were members of Sri Lanka's militant Tamil Tigers group. Murugan and Santhan are from Sri Lanka and Perarivalan is an Indian Tamil.

Immediately after Gandhi's death, the Tamil Tigers claimed he was assassinated as a protest over what they claimed was India's interference in the Sri Lankan civil war.

However, in 2006, the Tigers, which by then had stopped its armed struggle for a separate state called Tamil Eelam, expressed "regret" for the murder.

The announcement of the hangings has polarized many people, groups and political parties in the state and across India where the last execution was in August 2004 in the state of West Bengal. A 41-year-old former security guard was hanged for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl. It was the first execution since 1995.

The assassins of India's independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi, and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were among those executed in the past 60 years.

At Vellore jail, where the last hanging was nearly 30 years ago, officials are busy getting the "rusty" gallows back into shape, a report in The Telegraph newspaper in Kolkata said.

The gallows are in "an asbestos-roofed shed over an iron beam and two trap doors. As the last hanging took place 28 years ago, the trap doors' hinges and lever have become stiff."

Prison officials are doing the refurbishment themselves because they couldn't find a contractor that would be associated with the hanging, The Telegraph said.

"Our own staff repaired and lubricated the mechanism. We have now placed an order for the ropes," a jail official said.

Although the gallows are designed for two simultaneous hangings, the jail plans to carry out the executions separately at 30-minute intervals beginning 4.30 a.m. Prison officials will draw lots to decide the order in which the trio will be hanged.

The situation at Vellore is typical of many jails across India. A 2010 article in New Delhi's Open magazine said India is a nation that allows capital punishment, is holding in jail many condemned to death but is a country with no hangmen.

The last hangman in the state of Maharashtra retired in 1995 and since then, there have been no takers for the job, the article said.

A hangman is not a full-time government employee but a sanctioned volunteer where his pay -- equivalent to a little more than $3 -- is a special allowance, the article said.

Prison officials will train a new hangman in things such as tying the noose. But the toughest part of the job isn't about ropes and levers, it is about conscience, a former inspector general of police prisons said.

"The moment a hangman starts thinking about karma, he should be retired. Till the lever is pulled, the prison officials are on tenterhooks as you cannot say how the hangman will react at the last moment," he said.

A few months before the death of the hangman Nata Mullick, who conducted India's last hanging in 2004, Open magazine interviewed him about the job.

Mullick, whose father was a hangman in the British colonial days, died in December 2009 after 25 hangings.

"The preparation of the noose is very important," he told Open magazine.

"If the noose is right, the person will feel less pain. I used fewer knots when a prisoner was heavy and more knots for a prisoner who weighed less. If the lever is pulled too hard, the head can be severed."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/31/Indian-protests-mount-over-planned-hanging/UPI-92051314785820/.

India anti-graft activist vows to continue crusade

August 28, 2011 — NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian activist who ended a 12-day hunger strike Sunday after pushing Parliament to consider his anti-graft demands promised his jubilant supporters that his battle against endemic corruption would continue.

"It's the end of my fast but it's not the end of my fight. I will be back," Anna Hazare, 74, told thousands of flag-waving and cheering supporters minutes after accepting a glass of coconut water and honey from two children.

Hazare's protest brought tens of thousands of ordinary Indians, fed up of the country's deeply entrenched corruption, to the New Delhi fairground where he held camp. More people marched in support in dozens of cities across the nation.

Hazare began his fast Aug. 16 demanding Parliament pass his sweeping proposal to create a powerful anti-corruption ombudsman to police everyone from the prime minister to the lowest village bureaucrat.

Officials said Hazare's version of the draft bill was unconstitutional and his hunger strike was an attempt to subvert Parliament's legislative role. Hazare and his aides complained that the government's own bill was too weak to battle the deep rot in India's political system.

In the end, Parliament held a nine-hour debate Saturday that ended with a nonbinding "sense of the house" expressing support for some of his demands: committing to greater transparency and including low-level bureaucrats and state officials under the watchdog's purview.

In the capital, thousands of singing, dancing and cheering supporters gathered Sunday evening to celebrate what they called Hazare's victory. "We the people of India give ourselves a corruption-free India," one supporter in the crowd told NDTV news channel, paraphrasing the opening sentence of the country's constitution.

"The question is where do we go from here," said Raj Kumar Sagar, an advertising executive in the capital. Hazare said the next step would be to make the electoral system more responsive to the people. While he gave few details, he said he would attempt to get citizens the right to recall and reject lawmakers who did not live up to their promises.

"Only that will really reduce corruption," he said. Hazare's protest was fueled by months of scandals — including illicit mining deals and the dubious sale of cellphone spectrum — that tarred the ruling coalition and opposition parties alike. Even as Hazare was fasting, four politicians were charged with buying and selling votes in Parliament.

The government, miscalculating the popularity of his anti-graft message, briefly arrested him to quash his protest, a move that sent tens of thousands of his angry supporters pouring into streets across the country.

Hazare, who claims inspiration from liberation icon Mohandas K. Gandhi, eventually was given access to a fairground in the capital, New Delhi, which drew tens of thousands of protesters from India's growing middle class fed up with paying bribes for everything from getting a driver's license to enrolling a child in nursery school.

"People are suffering from corruption, and there seems to be no end," said Prabhat Tiwari, a 25-year-old businessman who came to the protest ground every day for a week. As the protest dragged on and Hazare's weight plunged more than 16.5 pounds (7.5 kilograms), government ministers and protest leaders haggled over how to end the standoff.

Just before Hazare broke his fast Sunday, one of his aides led the gathered crowd in a pledge: "I take an oath that in my life I will never take a bribe, nor will I give a bribe." The plan for a government watchdog — which had languished in Parliament for more than four decades — will now go to a legislative committee to work out the details and try to resolve competing visions for the proposed ombudsman's office.

It seems almost certain that lawmakers will now have to take the issue of corruption seriously or risk further protests. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said this past week that the protest had awoken the government to the need for reform. Rahul Gandhi, a top official with the ruling Congress party who is seen as a potential future prime minister, proposed sweeping reform in everything from the electoral system to the graft-riddled mining industry.

"Some beginning has been made. It's difficult to say what will happen," Manoj Kumar, a 24-year-old student, said Sunday at Hazare's protest site. "There is an awakening across the country, so it will now be difficult for the government to ignore people's demands."

Hazare — a former army truck driver credited with organizing his drought-prone village to harvest rain water and use solar power — enchanted many Indians with his stubborn stance against the political system and left them with a rare feeling of empowerment.

The protest "has broken that sense of helplessness that large numbers of people were feeling in this country. It brought a glimmer of hope that we can bring about change," said Neerja Chowdhury, a journalist for The Indian Express newspaper.

The Times of India newspaper credited Hazare with channeling the public anger into "a mass movement that has shaken the government to its foundation and placed the entire political class on notice."

India's anti-graft activist ends hunger strike after parliament accepts his demands

NEW DELHI (BNO NEWS) — Indian activist Anna Hazare announced on Saturday that he will break his fast on Sunday morning after parliament accepted parts of his anti-graft plan, the Times of India reported.

In an address to supporters, the 74-year-old activist declared that the nation’s people have won a great victory, but cautioned that only half the battle has been won. He also thanked thousands of cheering supporters for their support for the anti-corruption movement.

Earlier, Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh reached the protest site at New Delhi’s Ramlila grounds to hand over a copy of the Lokpal resolution and a letter of the Prime Minister to Hazare. In his communication to Hazare, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed to him that Parliament had passed a resolution on the three issues raised by him and appealed to him to call off his fast.

“Parliament has spoken. It is the will of the people,” a smiling Prime Minister Singh said while coming out of the House after the day-long debate ended. The Lokpal resolution passed by Parliament includes the establishment of an anti-corruption watchdog, while employees of center and state governments will be brought under the ombudsman’s purview, according to the newspaper.

Hazare began his fast on August 16 shortly after he was detained by police for defying a ban on the planned anti-graft fast. Thousands of protesters were also arrested across India following his detention.

The activist was later released but he refused to leave prison and demanded that there should not be any restrictions on his protest. He then bargained for two days with the Indian government to settle the protest venue and other conditions. The government finally allowed him to carry out the hunger strike for 15 days in the spacious Ramlila Maidan Park.

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Singh on Tuesday wrote a letter to Hazare to express “deep concern” over his health and urged him to “consider my suggestions and end your fast to regain full health and vitality”.

The social activist started fasting against the government’s version of an anti-corruption bill, which did not include the prime minister and judiciary in its purview. Hazare threatened to continue protesting the exclusion of some recommendations made by civil society representatives from the Lokpal bill.

Hazare’s protest happens amid a series of corruption scandals involving government officials, which have sparked widespread public anger and calls for reform. The Indian government had previously failed to pass an effective anti-corruption law.

In 2010, Transparency International ranked India, one of the few countries yet to ratify the United Nations convention against corruption, at 87.

Saturday, August 27th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19725/indias-anti-graft-activist-ends-hunger-strike-after-parliament-accepts-his-demands/.

India commissions second stealth frigate

MUMBAI, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- India has commissioned the Satpura warship, the second of what it calls "stealth" frigates, in a ceremony in Mumbai, the Business Standard newspaper said.

The head of the Indian navy, Adm. Nirmal Verma, commissioned the vessel into active service as India's 140th warship.

The Satpura, which follows the Shivalik into service, is the second of three Project 17 stealth frigates being built by Mazagon Dock in Mumbai.

It will be followed by the Sahyadri early next year.

The vessels are based on the three 4,100-ton Talwar-class frigates that Russia built for the Indian navy a decade ago. However, the officially termed guided-missile stealth frigates come in at 6,200 tons.

The Satpura carries 24 Russian Klub missiles with a range of around 130 miles.

The navy originally wanted the Indian-made Brahmos missile but it was too heavy for the vessel, the Business Standard report said. Only India's heavier destroyers are armed with the Brahmos.

The Satpura has an Israeli Barak air defense system and an RB-6,000 multi-barreled depth charge launcher. It also carries two Sea King, or indigenous Dhruv helicopters.

Power for the 465-foot warship is provided by two French Pielstick diesel engines. In addition, two General Electric LM-2500 gas turbines are used in tandem with the diesels for bursts of speed.

The stealth aspect comes in its design, configured to reduce its radar, infrared, electronic, acoustic and visual signatures, the report said.

Similar designs are being used in Project 28, the construction program for anti-submarine corvettes that are being built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata.

Construction cost for the stealth frigates has been kept down through the use of warship-grade steel from the Indian firm Essar Steel, rather than importing similar grades.

But India remains concerned over the amount and cost of foreign high-tech equipment in its new vessels, Verma said.

Vice Adm. Ganesh Mahadevan, the navy's chief of Materials, said indigenization will rise dramatically for future vessels starting next year.

The Ministry of Defense also announced that the navy, along with the air force, is on schedule to receive additional Hawk AJT trainer jets.

The navy will get 17 of the 57 trainers to be built by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics.

Delivery of the first aircraft of the 57 will start in 2013 and be finished by 2016.

The $700 million order for the 57 two-seat aircraft was signed with HAL in July 2010, a report on the Machinist.in Web site said.

The air force is getting the other 40 Hawks, an advanced trainer designed by BAE Systems and which can be used as a low-cost fighter.

The order for the 57 from HAL comes after a previous contract with BAE and HAL for 66 Hawk aircraft.

In March 2004, the government signed a contract with BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce Turbomeca UK for the purchase of 24 Hawk AJTs to be built in the United Kingdom.

Also agreed at the same time was for HAL in Bangalore to manufacture another 42 Hawks under a transfer of technology contract, Defense Minister A.K. Antony said in the upper house of Parliament.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/08/26/India-commissions-second-stealth-frigate/UPI-59271314354180/.

Thousands Fast in India to Fight Corruption

By Shannon Liao
August 17, 2011

Government accuses movement of being undemocratic.

Thousands of protesters in major Indian cities began a fast on Wednesday evening, not sated by the Indian prime minister’s explanation of why leading anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare had been arrested the day before.

Hazare, 74, and six of his followers had been arrested on Tuesday, on the basis that their plan to maintain a hunger strike until a key piece of anti-corruption legislation passed Parliament was illegal. They were released on Wednesday after the government reached a compromise with Hazare.

The original plan of “fast unto death” was deemed illegal by the police because Hazare’s team had refused six preconditions, including one that limited the fast to three days, explained Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a speech to Parliament.

“Delhi Police came to the conclusion that Shri Anna Hazare and his supporters would commit a cognizable offense and there [could be] a breach of peace,” said the prime minister.

In a negotiated concession, the new fast started Wednesday night and will last 15 days.

The drastic protest is over the so-called Jan Lokpal Bill that is designed to stop corruption, arbitrate grievances, and protect whistle-blowers. Different versions of the bill have appeared before Parliament since 1968, but none have passed. Corruption is rife in India in all levels of government and society.

Anti-corruption watchdog organization Transparency International (TI) said that the Indian government has not been able to stop rising corruption and is instead trying to silence those who speak out against the problem, according to a statement by TI India’s Executive Director Anupama Jha.

While Hazare has proven himself a charismatic leader, the protest is not for his personality, said Partha Turaga, a representative in New Jersey of the India Against Corruption movement that is organizing the protests.

“It’s not just out of emotion. We trust him emotionally, but we also read all the drafts. We’ve seen and understood what this is all about,” said Turaga.

In his speech, Singh blamed Hazare for not approaching things in a democratic manner. “There will be opportunities for Shri Anna Hazare and others to present their views,” said the prime minister, adding that Hazare’s current path “is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our Parliamentary democracy.”

Singh acknowledged the issue of government corruption, and both the government and the protesters share a desire to see the bill passed quickly.

But they differ on the content of the bill. The version of the bill supported by protesters was drafted with input from civil society and has stronger punitive measures. The government amended that draft into another version.

One of key differences between the two is the independence of the judiciary body. In the protesters’ bill, a new anti-corruption body, called Lokpal, would monitor the judiciary. In the government’s version, the judiciary would be accountable under the Judicial Accountability Bill.

Turaga said that the protesters didn’t concern themselves with whether success was in sight but focused on whether they could make even the slightest impact.

“You’ve got to try your best; you’ve got to do the best you can, and that applies to all of us,” Turaga added.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/thousands-fast-in-india-to-fight-corruption-60503.html.

India's Anti-Corruption Figurehead Arrested

By Shannon Liao
August 16, 2011

New Delhi police detained the figurehead of India’s anti-corruption movement on Tuesday, the day he was to start a hunger strike unto death or until the Indian government agreed to pass strong anti-corruption legislation.

The arrest of Gandhian social activist, Anna Hazare, 73, sent thousands of supporters into the streets to protest. India Against Corruption (IAC), the organization behind the protests, reported that 10,000 people joined demonstrations in 20 locations across India resulting in 2,500 arrests. Hours after the arrests, the roughly 1,100 detained protesters in Mumbai were released, reported the Hindustan Times.

Hazare and IAC are demanding that the government adopt the Jan Lokpal Bill—an anti-corruption bill drafted by ministers, legal experts, and civil society designed to stop corruption, resolve grievances, and protect whistle-blowers.

The bill calls for a central government institution called Lokpal whose members would be appointed by judges and would be supervised by the Cabinet secretary and the Election Commission. Under the bill, corruption whistle-blowers would receive protection for their efforts.

The Indian government drafted its own version of the bill, which activists consider too weak to be effective. The activists’ version gives Lokpal more authority and extends the maximum punishment for corruption from seven years to a life sentence.

Chairman of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International India, P.S. Bawa, said in a statement on the organization’s website that the government shouldn’t ignore activists’ complaints about the bill because they have a lot of validity.

Hazare declared that he would start fasting on Aug. 16 until the Jan Lokpal Bill passed, according to a letter he wrote to the Indian prime minister on Aug. 14. He had also told the PM that fellow activists would join him.

“I and my team are ready to give our lives away,” wrote Hazare. According to his letter, the plan was to practice civil disobedience until the bill is passed, even if they are arrested for illegal protests and have to protest from jail cells.

On June 5, Swami Ramdev, a renowned yoga guru, was arrested, a day after he began an indefinite fast in support of the Lokpal Bill.

“The country is today ridden by corruption,” states the Lokpal Bill Public Consultation website. “What we need is an effective and independent institutional mechanism for tackling the malaise of corruption in this country. That institution is the Jan Lokpal.”

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/indias-anti-corruption-figurehead-arrested-60463.html.

Bollywood film on caste stirs controversy in India Bollywood film on caste stirs controversy in India

August 12, 2011 — NEW DELHI (AP) — A star-filled Bollywood film on India's caste system churned up passionate debate as it opened Friday, with angry lower caste groups trying to torpedo its release, saying it reinforces social prejudices against them.

The furor makes clear that caste — the millennia-old Hindu custom that divides people in a strict social hierarchy based on their family's traditional livelihood and ethnicity — remains a deeply sensitive subject in modern India, despite government programs to erase such distinctions.

At least three big states have banned the film "Aarakshan" from opening on schedule Friday over fears it could stir up caste tensions. Its director, Prakash Jha, filed an urgent appeal to the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the bans.

The film's stars were given police bodyguards, and police also guarded theaters that did show the film, searching moviegoers and barring them from bringing bags inside, authorities said. The movie's title means "reservation," a reference to affirmative action quotas for India's untouchables, also known as dalits, in jobs and education.

Dalits, who form nearly a fourth of India's billion-plus population, say the film belittles them and shows them in a negative light. Jha disputed their interpretation of his movie, but he agreed to edit out parts they may find offensive. The edited version, however, was not available as it opened across the country over this lucrative Independence Day three-day weekend.

The film's star, famed actor Amitabh Bachchan, sounded anguished on his Twitter account Friday, accusing people of condemning the film without even watching it. "Have cried at our helplessness in not making people understand that this art needs to be seen not banned!" he tweeted.

On his blog, Bachchan quoted his character in the film, the principal of a college: "Two Indias reside in this country ... and in truth, if we have to see any progress in our society, then the distance between these two Indias must be erased."

Caste discrimination runs deep in India despite government efforts since independence in 1947 to use affirmative action to wipe it out. India's economic boom has further sharpened the divide, with much of its dividends accruing to the upper castes.

Nevertheless, large sections of India's upper castes are incensed over the quota policy, which ensures lower castes get spaces in the country's highly sought-after medical and engineering schools, universities and jobs.

"Aarakshan" had created a buzz, with the films lead actors — also including action hero Saif Ali Khan and Bollywood starlet Deepika Padukone — traveling the country to promote its release. In the film, Bachchan plays the idealistic head of a college who ends up being pushed out amid tensions between dalit and upper caste students over the quota system.

Another objection raised by some lower caste groups is that the Dalit protagtonist, is played by Khan, who belongs to an erstwhile royal family in India. "This objection is unfair. By this logic, are they saying a Dalit cannot play the role of a king in a film?" asks Jha.

With dalit groups saying the film is biased against the quota system, the government of Uttar Pradesh, India's biggest state, banned the film Wednesday. A day later, the governments of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh followed suit.

The ban could cost the film more than 150 million rupees ($3.5 million) in earnings, as filmgoers were expected to crowd theaters over the long weekend, trade analysts said. A government panel for the welfare of lower castes also has asked the country's film authorities to review the clearance given to the film.

"We have written to the Censor Board to review the film and remove at least five objectionable dialogues from the movie," said P. L. Punia, who heads the panel. "These changes can be made without affecting the narrative of the film."

Another objection raised by some lower caste groups is the casting of Khan, who belongs to one of the royal families that previously ruled parts of India, as the Dalit protagonist. "This objection is unfair. By this logic, are they saying a Dalit cannot play the role of a king in a film?" asks Jha.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai film fraternity is closing ranks in support of the movie. "There is nothing objectionable in the film. When people see it, they will realize that there is nothing controversial," said Ajay Devgn, a leading Bollywood action star.

India eyes manned space missions

by Venkatachari Jagannathan
Sriharikota (IANS)
Aug 02, 2011

India's space agency has plans to launch a manned space mission in the future, but a lot of work needs to be done before that to ensure such missions are failure-proof, a top scientist has said.

K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of ISRO, said here that the space agency will have to first master the rocket technology to launch heavy communications satellites before it can progress to a manned mission.

"Rockets that carry humans cannot have a failure rate of more than two per thousand flights," he said after the successful launch of latest communications satellite GSAT-12 from the space port.

"Further what we have now (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) is only an unmanned rocket where the reliability should be 99 percent," Radhakrishnan said.

"We are trying to understand the intricacies of manned space mission. ISRO has to work on areas like thermal protection, life support and crew escape systems."

"We had a long discussion on manned space mission. The initial plan was to put two humans in space for seven days," he added.

According to him the first mission is to build a reliable GSLV rocket for launching heavy satellites.

He said ISRO is expected to be ready with a GSLV rocket to be powered by its own cryogenic engine next year.

Queried about the second space capsule recovery experiment (SRE-2), P.S. Veeraraghavan the director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, said the capsule is in the final stages of integration and the mission will be sometime next year.

Meanwhile, ISRO will follow a multi pronged approach to augment its transponder capacity - automatic receivers and transmitters for communication and broadcast of signals, a top official said.

"We can lease transponders from other satellite operators and launch our own satellites. ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) currently has 175 transponders whereas the demand is for 200 more transponders," Radhakrishnan said.

He said ISRO will launch a three-tonne communication satellite GSAT-10 with 30 transponders using Ariane rocket.

"We need few satellites like that. Two of the existing communications satellites - Insat 2E and Insat-3C - are nearing their end," he added.

Queried about the efficacy of using the other rocket -Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in launching communication satellites - like GSAT-12- he said: "GSLV rocket is better for such missions. When GSLV Mark III variant under development will be much more efficient."

Officials said after the two successive failures of GSLV rockets last year the space agency has understood the failure cause.

Speaking about satellite GSAT-12 launch, T.K. Alex, director of ISRO Satellite Center, said the initial operations went off smoothly.

"The solar panels were deployed and are generating power. The satellite orbit will be raised from 22,020 km apogee (farthest point from the earth) to 36,000 km apogee tomorrow and day after. All the 12 transponders in the satellite will be tested by the end of this month," Alex said.

He said there will be sufficient fuel left in GSAT-12 after raising its orbit to 36,000 km apogee so that it can be in operation for seven years.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/India_eyes_manned_space_missions_999.html.

Indian baby boy with 34 fingers and toes sets new Guinness record

Jul 21, 2011

Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), July 20 (ANI): Akshat, a baby boy over the age of one, registered his name in the Guinness world records for having a total of 34 fingers and toes.

He has set the record for having the highest number of fingers and toes and hails from the Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh.

Amrita Saxena, the mother of the child, said it was difficult for her to believe that her son broke the world record, until a family friend convinced her.

"He (family friend) read on the internet about the baby born in China with 31 fingers. Then he said that my boy has broken the record of having 34 fingers. At first, I was not convinced at all. It was hard to believe that my son has broken the record. But later, he along with my husband and my younger sister registered the data in the Internet. Then I was asked to submit certain documents after which his name was in the Guinness World Records," added Saxena.

Doctors attending to the child informed the mediapersons that it was a rare phenomenon and diagnosed it as polydactyly.

"The person who is diagnosed with it is polydactylic. It is due to certain defects in the bone development of the uterus. The reason behind this defect can be either developmental congenital formation or chromosomal anomalies, which is due to maternal infection or drugs," said Dr. Parul Gupta, a gynaecologist.

Gupta further explained that this congenital physical anomaly could be easily cured by performing a surgery.

"Yes, it is absolutely curable. Mostly people go for plastic surgery. And sometimes when polydactyly is minimal, it can be cured normally, without an operation. And if there is a major problem, then people prefer to go for a plastic surgery," added Gupta.

Meanwhile Saxena was a little worried for her son's future. She aspires for her son to lead a 'normal' life and wants him to undergo proper treatment for it.

It is quite interesting to know that Polydactyly or polydactylism is also known as hyperdactyly. It is a congenital physical anomaly in humans, dogs, and cats having supernumerary fingers or toes.

Huge uranium find reported in India

NEW DELHI, July 19 (UPI) -- A huge uranium deposit was struck in a mine in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state, with experts saying the site could hold the world's largest reserve.

The discovery was made in the mines in the state's Tummalapalle area, the Press Trust of India reported Tuesday.

"At today's estimates, the uranium reserves are to the tune of 49,000 tonnes (54,000 tons). We expect it to be three-fold of that," Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee told reporters at a gathering marking the start of construction of two nuclear-power reactors in Rawatbhata in the western desert state of Rajasthan.

The report said the uranium reserves at the site had been estimated at 15,000 tonnes (16,500 tons) prior to additional exploration by the Indian Atomic Energy Department's Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD).

The report said if the identified deposits are found to be over 150,000 tonnes (165,300 tons), the Tummalapalle mine could become the largest uranium reserve in the world.

"It's confirmed that the mine has 49,000 tonnes of ore, and there are indications that the total quantity could be three times of that amount. If that be the case, it will become the largest uranium mine in the world. The plant is ready, and will begin production by the end of this year," the Times of India quoted Banerjee as saying.

AMD scientists expect to find uranium deposits over the entire length of the 160 kilometer (nearly 100 miles) Tummalapalle belt, PTI reported.

The Uranium Corp. of India Limited, which has uranium mines and an ore processing mill in northern Jharkhand state, has identified additional deposits in two other states.

Analysts were quoted as saying the latest find would still not be able to meet the nuclear energy demand of India, which plans to build up to about 30 reactors.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/07/19/Huge-uranium-find-reported-in-India/UPI-39471311076331/.

Dhaka and Delhi launch census in enclaves

DHAKA, Bangladesh, July 15 (UPI) -- Bangladesh and India are conducting a joint population census in pockets of isolated territories within each other's national boundaries to end a long-standing border issue.

The census will cover all the 162 enclaves on both sides of the border as a first step toward an agreement over practical ownership of the lands and a land-swap, a report by Bangladesh's national news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha said.

Bangladesh and India share a border more than 2,500 miles long drawn up by the British when they left the Indian subcontinent in 1947. It divided the land mass between the two new countries, India and Pakistan.

At the time, Pakistan comprised West Pakistan, along India's western border, and East Pakistan along its eastern frontier. The two Pakistans were one country, with its capital in Karachi, West Pakistan.

Tensions and cultural differences resulted in East Pakistan gaining independence as Bangladesh in 1971.

However, the border issue with India was never settled. It left 111 Indian-administered areas -- enclaves -- within Bangladeshi territory as well as 51 Bangladeshi exclaves on the Indian side of the frontier.

The largest enclave is about 4,700 acres and the smallest around the size of two football fields. The total enclave population is estimated to be 150,000-300,000.

This week's census is being conducted by the Joint Boundary Working Group, which is working on a mechanism to exchange territories, based on a 1974 agreement.

The census will be part of information considered by the two countries when they kick-start discussions during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September.

"Joint teams of both the countries have completed the preparatory works for the headcount at the enclaves and we expect to refer the matter to a political level for a decision," Bangladeshi Home Ministry Secretary Kamaluddin Ahmed told the BSS.

"We are hoping to reach an understanding that will be pragmatic and take account of the ground realities, keeping in mind the spirit of the Land Boundary Agreement of 1974," Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told a news conference last week.

She said an agreement would "end the uncertainties and hardships of the people living in these areas."

But settling the issue may be harder than imagined. Among the enclaves are about two dozen counter-enclaves -- enclaves within enclaves.

There also is what the Economist Newspaper has called "the world's only counter-counter enclave -- a patch of Bangladesh that is surrounded by Indian territory, itself surrounded by Bangladeshi territory."

A settlement would go a long way to helping the overall security situation along the porous border where smuggling is rampant, from guns destined to rebel groups to cough syrup sold on the black market for its alcoholic content.

For a decade India has been constructing a 2,500-mile concrete and barbed-wire fence along the border to thwart the smugglers. By September, around 1,550 miles of the $1.2 billion project had been built.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/07/15/Dhaka-and-Delhi-launch-census-in-enclaves/UPI-33071310725800/.

Indian PM Reshuffles Cabinet

2011-07-12

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh carried out his much talked about reshuffle Tuesday bringing in eight new faces in the Union Council of Ministers including four in the Cabinet.

Singh has included V. Kishore Chandra Deo, Beni Prasad Verma, Dinesh Trivedi and Jairam Ramesh into the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) cabinet while dropping a few who were seen as non- performers.

Kapil Sibal has been retained as the Minister of Human Resource Development and Minister of Communications and Information Technology while two news faces - Milind Deora and Rajiv Shukla have been made Ministers of State.

Deo has been made the Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj Minister while Beni Prasad Verma Steel has been elevated as the Minister of Steel. Verma was earlier the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Steel.

The Railways Ministry has remained with the Trinamool Congress with Dinesh Trivedi getting the portfolio. Jairam Ramesh, who was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, has been elevated as the Minister of Rural Development.

Meanwhile, the first signs of discontent over the reshuffle carried out in the Union Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday have started to surface.

Sources say Congress leaders Srikant Jena and Gurudas Kamat are unhappy with their portfolios. The duo also gave the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President's House) in New Delhi Tuesday evening a miss.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has failed to reassure the nation with his "damp squib" cabinet reshuffle.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's much acclaimed and awaited reshuffle has proven to be a damp squib. It is a futile exercise which inspires none and in no way dispels the gloom shadowing the embattled United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said here.

Congress's ally party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party chief M. Karunanidhi Tuesday said that the reshuffle carried out by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not over and the party will decide on its nominees after its General Council meeting on July 23.

The DMK party did not seek replacements for former telecom minister A Raja and former textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran.

"The reshuffle is not complete yet. Will comment on it after it is formally announced. We did not ask for any replacement portfolios from Pranab Mukherjee," Karunanidhi said in Chennai, state capital of Tamil Nadu.

Source: CRIEnglish.
Link: http://english.cri.cn/6966/2011/07/12/1461s648045.htm.

Unwed Tribal Mothers Seek Aid

By K. S. Harikrishnan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, May 31, 2011 (IPS) - For Janu, walking the streets to beg for alms is the only option for survival. After all, she has a two-year-old daughter to feed, and she herself, at 14 years old, is little more than a child.

The story of Janu, who lives in the Attappady tribal area in Palakkadu district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is not an isolated one.

In tribal hamlets in the districts of Wayanad, Palakkadu and Kasargod, girls like Janu end up as unwed mothers after falling victim to sexual harassment and exploitation, sometimes by influential men who refuse to acknowledge their responsibilities. Now, these women face shame and starvation.

A survey conducted by the Kerala State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Department found 563 unwed mothers in the state. But the Kerala Women’s Commission (KWC) puts the actual number at more than 2,000.

An investigation led by Deputy Police Inspector-General S. Sreejith had found that there were no less than 1,000 unwed mothers in the tribal areas of north Kerala.

According to the KWC, most unwed mothers are 14 to 20 years old. Oommen Chandy, the new chief minister of Kerala, has directed the police to go the extra mile to ensure justice to the victims of violence, trafficking, and sexual exploitation, particularly unwed mothers hailing from the tribal sector.

KWC member and senior woman leader T. Devi told IPS that there has been a steep rise in the numbers of unwed mothers in the tribal community in the past fifteen years. "The Commission is initiating a police inquiry into the cases of young unwed mothers and making arrangements to rehabilitate the affected women," she said.

T. Devi pointed to forest officials, teachers, contractors, laborers and local leaders as among those accused of impregnating young girls. They lure teenage girls by giving them money, liquor, clothes, bags, and perfumes. They flatter the girls and then invite them to their homes or to see a movie. Some men offer marriage proposals.

Dr. K. G. Vijayalakshmi, director of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Women Empowerment and Human Resource Development Center of India, who has studied the problem, told IPS that the issues of unwed mothers are mainly linked to social backwardness.

"Hunger, poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, lack of communication and financial constraints are leading tribal women to seek the help of non-tribal people," she said. "These forest invaders, especially rich people, sexually exploit the women. Many unwed tribal girls are working free of cost in the residences of non- tribal people."

Chennai-based anthropologist G. P. Paul told IPS the issue of unmarried mothers is as serious as the problem of displacement from tribal territory. Kerala tribes have lost thousands of acres to non-tribal people, who venture into the forest to grab their land.

"No steps were taken to restore their land. Migration of non-tribal people continues. Raped and ravaged by non-tribal people, tribal women in Kerala are paying a heavy price," he added.

News reports cite a survey conducted in 174 hamlets in Attappady in 2000 by the volunteer organization NAMU, which found 343 unmarried mothers, some of them with more than one child.

Earlier in 1997, a committee of the Kerala Legislative Assembly also examined the problem and submitted a report to the government, which failed to act on it.

Since then, officials and activists have demanded action and social programs to address the issue of unwed mothers in tribal hamlets.

Pushkala Unnikrishnan, an activist in tribal issues and vice-president of the local self-government institution in Wayanad district, wants the government to implement special welfare schemes such as pensions for unwed mothers.

"It is a shame for a high-literacy state like Kerala that these unmarried tribal women continue to live in a state of penury and neglect, years after their problems came to public attention," said Unnikrishnan.

Kerala Aadivasi Forum (KAF), a tribal organization, is seeking justice from the government and social agencies for the rehabilitation of unmarried mothers and their children.

Bolan, a state committee member and KAF Wayanad district president, wants government to start planning a long-term program for the welfare of these mothers. "Living conditions of children born out of wedlock are worst. Most of them have inhibitions to face others, fearing being taunted as the children of harlots."

Experts point out that premature deaths of unwed tribal women were not uncommon, and several crude and inhuman methods have been employed to eliminate infants even after birth.

Kitty Lukose, a social researcher who has studied the condition of tribal unwed mothers in Wayanad, found out that many tribal girls resorted to abortion using traditional medicine. "They go to government hospitals for check-ups. Once they find that they are pregnant, they abort the fetus."

Dr. K. Ramachandran Nair, a physician who has served in tribal areas for more than 45 years, told IPS that hypertension and diabetes are very common among unmarried mothers.

"Some of the unwed mothers later turn into sex workers since there is absolutely no income for survival. The mothers are isolated both from their family as well as from the community. The culprits escape from the net through their economic and political power," Dr. Nair pointed out.

Dr. Beena Kannan, a health expert working in a government hospital in Kochi, a city north of the capital Thiruvananthapuram, suggested that regular medical checkups, both for the mothers and children, are essential for their survival.

"Besides imparting legal and emotional support, health organizations should give awareness on safe sex practices and condom usage," she added.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55849.

PA slams Israel's decision to bring Jews from India

Monday 27/06/2011

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) – The Palestinian Authority on Monday slammed Israel's decision to bring Jews from northeast India to Israel.

According to Monday’s issue of Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the ministerial committee convened under Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and decided to bring 7,300 Jews from India to Israel.

The report highlighted that up until 2007, 1,700 Indian Jews were brought to Israel, and immigration stopped since then.

PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the decision came in line with Israel’s policy to bring non-Israeli Jews to Israel at the expense of the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, he added, Israel prevents the Palestinians from returning to their homeland to live there.

"This is something we condemn, and since we don't have enough information, we need to contact the Indian government for an explanation," he told Ma’an.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400289.

India restores military exchanges with China

(TibetanReview.net, Jun20, 2011) India and China are resuming their military ties with the dispatch by the latter of a army delegation on Jun 19, reported AFP Jun 17. The ties had remained frozen since Jul 2010 after China refused to provide visa to the of India’s Northern Army Command, which has Jammu and Kashmir under its jurisdiction, saying he controlled a disputed territory. India retaliated by calling off all military exchanges between the two sides, including by canceling a Chinese officer’s scheduled visit.

China controls a sliver of Kashmir and regards the region, which is also split with Pakistan, as disputed territory.

India is now sending an eight-member delegation headed by Major General Gurmeet Singh who heads the Delta Force, part of a specialized anti-insurgency unit deployed in Kashmir. China now does not seem to have a problem issuing a visa. The report said the delegation will travel to Beijing and Xinjiang (East Turkestan) on a six-day visit.

The report cited media reports as suggesting the decision to resume defense cooperation was reached during talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao in China in April.

The resumption of military exchange with India takes place in the backdrop of China’s recent new assertiveness and angry exchanges with Vietnam and Philippines over disputed archipelagos which are both strategic and also said to be rich in oil, gas and fish resources.

Source: Tibetan Review.
Link: http://www.tibetanreview.net/news.php?cat=10&&id=9105.

India emerging out of shadows in Afghanistan as Pakistan stumbles

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

Tejinder Singh
May 14, 2011

India the silent operator in Afghanistan started emerging out of the shadows in Afghanistan as the veiled connections of Pakistani players to terror outfits become clear according to developments of the past weeks.

Commenting on the recently concluded visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Afghanistan, the United States on Friday welcomed Indian role saying, “India can play a constructive role in Afghanistan and in the region, and we would certainly welcome their involvement.”

On the question of if the U.S. - India equation is changing especially in Afghanistan, the State Department spokesman Mark Toner told journalists, “We talk about Afghanistan with India and – as well as other regional issues. Our bilateral relationship with India is quite close and robust,” adding, “We recognize India’s role in the region and are frankly encouraged by it playing a more active and constructive role.”

During a visit to Kabul on May 12-13, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh got a rare privilege to address a joint session of the Afghan parliament, just over a week after al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. commandos in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad.

In his address a sign of the deepening links between the two countries, Singh told Afghan lawmakers, "Terrorism and extremism are alien ideas to our people. They only bring death and destruction in their wake."

Singh reiterated commitment to fight terrorism in the region, saying: "We cannot and must not allow the flames of extremism and terrorism to be fanned once again."

Commenting on the ongoing attempts to make a peace deal with Taliban, Singh said, "India will respect the choices you make," adding, "Our only interest is to see a stable, peaceful and independent Afghanistan living in peace with its neighbors."

On Thursday, Singh pledged an additional $500 million in aid to Afghanistan, on top of $1.5 billion already promised to the war ravaged country.

President Barack Obama had spoken to Prime Minister Singh before his visit “to discuss the successful American action against Osama Bin Laden and to review progress in implementing the initiatives launched during the President’s November 2010 visit to India,” according to a White House communique.

“The two leaders also discussed global and regional issues of mutual concern,” the White House said.

On the other hand, Islamabad was struggling to keep domestic pro-Islamic voices in check while trying to keep pace with American acceleration on global war on terror.

The upcoming Chicago trial of David Headley aka Daood Gilani and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the two Pakistanis who allegedly planned and conducted the Mumbai sanguinary terror attacks is becoming a headache for Pakistan and the U.S. as well as those two are implicating the Pakistani government and its intelligence agency ISI in the ghastly attack that killed six Americans and scores of Indians.

In the court documents emerging prior to the trial, Rana was cited as saying that his acts of providing material support to terrorists in the Mumbai attacks as alleged by U.S. prosecutors ''were done at the behest of the Pakistani government and the ISI, not the Lashkar (e-Taiba) terrorist organization.''

In addition, Rana invoked his friend and fellow conspirator Headley's Grand Jury testimony in which the latter too implicates ISI.

A U.S. official familiar with the ongoing case, on condition of anonymity told AHN, “The U.S. will definitely try to keep as much of the upcoming hearing classified to do damage control against ISI but definitely the cat is out of the bag,” adding, “It is only a matter of time as the U.S. foreign policy shifts from Pakistan-oriented to India-loving.”

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90048402?India%20emerging%20out%20of%20shadows%20in%20Afghanistan%20as%20Pakistan%20stumbles.