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[1] From: Regi P George <george_regi@yahoo.com Date: Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:33 am Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] Government ready for CBI probe in 2002 Gujarat violence No Sir, They are plotting to prolong the case for another 20 years so that Modi can survive without any trial life long! Same like the Babri Masjid Probe! Sonia's UPA suppose to establish a special Judicial court to inquire all the riots and PUNISH the criminals! (But how is it possible for the Sikh Genocide they have to answer first!) regi Mukul Dube <uthappam@gmail.com wrote: Are we to see justice at last? MD ------------ [2] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com Date: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:43 am Subject: The Great Indian Achievement! http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiabroadcast/20080218/r_t_ibn_nl_general/tnl-armed-an\ d-ready-india-can-nuke-enemy-3a4f8c1. html Armed and ready: India can nuke enemy from sea IBNLive. comMon, Feb 18 06:30 PM New Delhi: India is now capable of firing a nuclear capable ballistic missile from under the sea. Top defence scientists told CNN-IBN in Delhi on Monday that the missile, K-15, will be test-fired for the sixth and final time from an underwater platform this week. The 700-km range K-15 will put India in the club of five nations (US, Russia, France and China) which have the technology to fire missiles from the sea. If the K-15 is successful, India will get the capability to launch nuclear weapons from land, sea and air. The missile would be armed on the country's submarines. CNN-IBN's Defence Correspondent reports that it is very difficult to target a weapon that is on a submarine, underwater and moving. Submarine-launched weapons are considered the best option for attacking the enemy because they provide stealth A senior defence official told reporters on Monday preparation for the test-launch is over. "We have completed all preparations for the first ever test launch of the missile and awaiting Government's nod," said S Prahlada, Chief Controller of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at the Defence Expo exhibition in Delhi. PTI, while quoting Prahlada, said the missile would be fired in the seas off the interim test range site at Balasore in Orissa. He said the DRDO would need just one test to ratify the missile systems and the parameters which would form the main armament of the country's indigenous nuclear submarine expected to enter sea trials late next year. Prahlada said DRDO had almost perfected the dry-run trials on the key missile and it would be integrated with the advanced technology vehicle, as officials called the indigenous nuclear submarine there after. The DRDO official said the preparations have also been made to conduct the second test of 3000-km range Agni-III missile. "We are just awaiting the weather condition to improve to go ahead with the test," he said. Prahlada said Agni-III would be ready for induction in the strategic command forces after two more tests. In the course of his chat, the DRDO official said almost all the major missile system in the country had now been fully inducted. "DRDO is now getting inquiries for various ranges of Indian missiles from different nations," he said adding it was up to the government to clear the sales keeping in view the international parameters. He said proposals had been cleared by the government for a joint venture with Israel to produce long-range surface-to- air missile for the Navy. The Government has cleared the deal worth Rs 2,500 crore and the advanced missile would be ready for induction in three years time. He said parts of the missile systems would be made in India and the rest in Israel. Peace is doable. -------------- [3] From: Abhiyya 2006 <abhiyya@yahoo.com Date: Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:35 am Subject: AMU admission forms now available free of cost AMU admission forms now available free of cost Posted February 18th, 2008 by Indian-Muslim http://www.twocircles.net/2008feb18/amu_admission_forms_now_available_free_cost.\ html By TwoCircles. net staff reporter Aligarh: From this academic year, seeking admission at Aligarh Muslim University will become cheaper. The university has made the Application Form and Guide to Admissions 2008-09 available on its Website www. amucontrollerexams. com. They can be downloaded free of cost. From now there will be no sale of admission forms or admission guides. The decision to provide free admission forms and guides was taken in a meeting of the Admission Committee of the university on 10th January. The committee also decided that there shall be only one form that can be filled in separately for admission to different courses. The filled-in forms, however, cannot be submitted online. To make the things easier for admission seekers, the university has also set up Helpline Mobile Telephone Number 09837043345 and email: helpdesk@amucontrollerexams.com between 8.00 am to 12 midnight. With an aim to attract meritorious students from across the country, the university has already decided to open four Admission Test Centres at Bhopal, Kolkata, Kozhikode and Pune. Admission Tests for Class XI/Diploma in Engineering, B. Tech./B. Arch. and MBBS/BDS will be conducted at these centres. To assess the facilities available at and security measures adopted by these centres, four committees consisting of Deans of the Faculties, Members of the Executive Council and senior teachers of the university have been formed With Regards Abi ------------ [4] From: rkurian@bgl.vsnl.net.in Date: Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:54 am Subject: Muslim Youth (in Hubli, Karnataka) not guilty of terrorism, as reported.. From: Vaartha Bharathi Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 7:51 PM Subject: KARNATAKA DGP CLARIFIES DEAR SIR PLEASE CLICK THE BEOW LINK . KARNATAKA DGP RUBBISHES STORIES FLOATED BY MEDIA IN KARNATAKA ABOUT THREE MUSLIM YOUTH EVEN BEFORE POLICE FILED ANY COMPLAINT AGAINST THEM. http://www.sahilonline.org/english/coastalnews.asp? nid=1438&sid=568759313 THANK YOU VARTHA BHARATISahilonline Muslim youths not involved with any terrorist activities: DGP Shrinivas S. O. News service, Tuesday, February 12, 2008: Bangalore: The three suspected Muslim youths who were arrested in Honali and Hubli were not involved in any terrorist activities. They neither had intention of any destructive activities nor had any weapon been recovered from them, declared the Director General of police (DGP) and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. K R Shrinivasan, on Monday. He was addressing in his first press conference in Bangalore, after the sensual and malicious reporting by the local newspapers. Almost all the Kannada and English dailies had continued their repulsive reporting. However, Vartha Bharathi, a Kannada daily from Mangalore, has disclosed the plot laid out by the Sanghpariwar's oriented dailies to marginalize the Muslim community across state by depicting them as terrorists. The daring act of the Kannada daily Vartha Bharathi for openly disclosing the wrong reporting by mentioning the names of the Saffron-oriented dailies, Udyavani, Vijay Karnataka and Kannada Prabha is highly commendable. According to the report published on the front page of Vartha Bharathi, Director General of Police, Mr. Shrinivasan told the press reporters that it was known that only one youth from the suspected three, Mohammed Ghouse alias Nasir had got training in Pakistan, while the other three were locals and they did not have any connection with any of the terrorist organizations, and neither they have any plan to take out harmful activities in the state. Mr. Shrinivasan further said that in the polygraphic test that was conducted before some days, Nasir and Abdullah had not provided any important information other than the information provided by them before the test. However, Nasir had said that he had contact with a man called Abu Hamza from Pakistan. Apart from this, no other information has been received, said the DGIP. Pointing to the reports published on the local newspapers of the state he said "the explosive type of the news which is being published was not true as they have not obtained any such type of information yet". Deputy General of Police (DGP) of COD, Mr. Ajay Kumar Singh, present in the press conference said that Nasir had no connection with the Hyderabad bomb blast. However, interrupting Mr. Ajay Kumar, Mr. Shrinivasan said that the Hyderabad police was investigating the matter and nothing can be told in this regard. It may be noted that on January11, while the Police was checking the vehicles at the Niyamathi cross in Honanalli, the police conducted the search of a blue Pulsar on the basis of their doubts. And when no documents of the vehicles were present with them, both the youths Mohammed Ghouse and Asadullah were arrested. Later, small stuffs like fake number-plate, black color purse, a CD along with road and railway maps were recovered from their possession. Both the youths were presented before the court, where a case of theft was registered against them. Later Muhammad Asif and Allah Bakhsh were arrested on the charges of supporting them in the theft. During the search of their homes, some religious books, digital diaries and some literature etc. were seized. Giving the further details, Mr. Shrinivasan said that the case has been handed over to the COD, who is investigating it. A gelatin and a hand grenade have been seized from the place near Dharwad by tracking the information disclosed by Muhammad Asif during the interrogations. On this occasion, replying to the question by the press reporters Mr. Ajay Kumar Singh said that any of these arrested youths were not connected with SIMI. "Whether it is the blast of the Hyderabad or any other place, these youths are not involved in any type of the explosion activities." Mr. Ajay Kumar Singh opined. Slapping the media, he said that there were not any realities in the reports published in the newspapers for the cause of outshining each other. Mr. Ajay Kumar Singh pointing out the news published in the newspapers about the staking of explosive in the Madrasas of North Karnataka, he said there were no realities in all these news. He further said that all such news were baseless. He requested the media not to attempt the destruction of communal harmony of the state by spreading rumors. When asked about the reports published in the newspapers on Saturday, in which Mirza Ahmed Baig was presented as a big terrorist, refuting the reports he said that nobody has been arrested. He said that till now only four people had been arrested. He also disapproved the reports of arresting of any student from Tumkur's engineering college. On this occasion, the Commissioner of Bangalore city, Mr. Neelam Achhutha Rao, Joint Civil Commissioner, Mr. Gopal Hussur, and the DIG of COD, Mr. Alok Kumar were also present. ------------ [5] From: rkurian@bgl.vsnl.net.in Date: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:59 pm Subject: "We need schools for all our children.. SHASHI THAROOR ON SUNDAY: We need schools for all our children 17 Feb 2008, 0038 hrs IST A few months ago I visited a school run by the Bangalore charity Parikrma, which offers a world-class English-language education for slum children. Interacting with the kids, who ranged in age from five-year-olds, who had just started schooling, to 16-and-17-year-olds about to take their board exams, provided no clue to their humble origins. One child spoke boldly of his plans to join the civil services. "Three years ago," Parikrma’s founder, Shukla Bose, whispered to me, "I found him selling newspapers at a traffic light." The Parikrma model sets out to prove that the poorest and most disadvantaged of India’s children can, if given the education, match the best of our elite. But it is not just that Shukla takes in the poorest kids - only those whose families earn less than Rs 750 a month are eligible. It is also that she recognises that education only succeeds if other factors work in its favour. Of what use is excellent teaching if the child is too hungry to concentrate or too undernourished for her brain to develop? So Parikrma provides all the kids with a full breakfast on arrival in the morning, a solid lunch at mid-day and a snack before they leave for home. What if they can’t afford to get to school from where their parents live? So, bus-passes are provided. But how can you expect poor kids to stay in school if their parents are ill at home and need their children’s help? So, Parikrma provides healthcare assistance to the entire family during the student’s years in school. And what good is a first-rate school education if the child does not have the resources or opportunities to go to college? So, Shukla has been busy fund-raising for full scholarships to send her first graduating class to university next year. Parikrma’s approach is impressive, its experience entirely positive, and the stories of its children heart-warming. Whereas, in Bangalore’s government schools, the drop-out rate by the eighth standard is as high as 72%, and the pass rate for the higher secondary exams 8%, Parikrma’s children, despite coming from poverty-stricken homes, all stay in school, and are expected to fare extremely well when the first group of them takes their board exams. What is more, to see the discipline in the smartly-uniformed children (uniforms also provided by Parikrma, of course), the intelligence shining through their scrubbed faces, the confidence in their questions to a visitor, and above all, the hope, is to see lives transformed, and futures built where there was only despair. Parikrma’s is not the only example of such educational endeavour. The Shanti Bhavan school in Tamil Nadu, run by the hugely impressive Abraham George - a former army officer who made his fortune in computers and is determined to give it back through his philanthropic George Foundation - also educates slum children to the highest standards, though it does so in a boarding-school format. ( The New York Times’ columnist Thomas L Friedman has written extensively of Shanti Bhavan in his book The World Is Flat .) I would not be surprised if readers write in to tell me of other charitable organisations trying to do similar work elsewhere in the country. Their methods and operating principles may vary, but the essential thing is this: they all realise that India is never going to be a great 21st century power if it doesn’t educate its young - all of them, not just the ones who can afford an education. I am sure the government recognises this too, but it has neither the resources nor the ability to deliver quality education to all of India’s children. Education is a state subject in our federal constitution, so its quality varies widely, from Kerala’s 100% record in putting all children through school, to Bihar’s female literacy rate of 27%. Our state governments have not been able to enroll all children between the ages of five and ten in school, nor are they able to retain the ones they enroll - some drop out because their families can’t afford to keep them in school when they could be out to work in the fields or weaving rugs or making footballs, some because the teaching is so abysmal that they don’t learn anything at school anyway. The result is that more Indian kids have never seen the inside of a school than those of any other country in the world. And those who have may not see a teacher, since we hold the world record for teacher absenteeism, or be given the books and learning materials without which the educational experience is incomplete. How on earth can we maintain our much-vaunted economic growth rates if we don’t produce enough educated Indians to claim the jobs that a 21st century economy offers? And how does the government expect to ever remedy the problem if it holds onto antiquated ideas about restricting educational opportunity to the non-profit sphere, when it is clear worldwide that the private sector is providing the best models for education? It is ironic that the man who bids fair to become the Bill Gates of schooling around the world is an Indian - Sunny Varkey, whose Global Education Management Systems already runs 65 for-profit schools across the Middle East, and who is the world’s biggest employer of British teachers outside Britain. But this Indian cannot open his GEMS schools in India, because our educational system won’t allow him to. That leaves us with a handful of excellent private and missionary schools, a large number of uneven (but mostly hopeless) government schools, millions of kids with no schooling at all - and the efforts of charities like Shanti Bhavan and Parikrma. I asked the Parikrma high school kids what they wanted to do in life. Sixteen opted for computer programming - a reflection of our era. One wanted to join the army, half a dozen the IAS, and one girl the CBI, "because I want to bring justice to our society." Our society needs justice - and it will only have it when we have enough schools to do justice to the potential of all our children. ------------- [6] From: rkurian@bgl.vsnl.net.in Date: Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:05 pm Subject: Bye Bye NRI! INDIASPORA { The Times of India} Bye Bye NRI 17 Feb 2008, 0028 hrs IST, Chidanand Rajghatta It’s all over for the NRIs, folks; long live the RNIs! If you are not familiar with the latter acronym, better get up to speed, because it could apply to you. It stands for Resident Non-Indians, a term manufactured by the now deposed and embittered NRIs to describe those they say are residents of India only in name, but who don’t show the slightest sign of being Indian — which to nostalgia-stricken NRIs means listening to Mohd Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar of circa 1970 while driving to work on the Beltway; not the Bollywood Rap the RNI types are soaking up while stuck in traffic jams in India. The tidings about the demise of the NRI cachet and the rise of the RNI legend was brought recently to America, the largest hangout for NRIs, by a crestfallen member of the long-hyped tribe. He had returned from India rather shell-shocked. It’s not just that the dollar had sunk below Rs 40 and touts at Taj Mahal were using greenbacks to blow their kids’ noses, he sniffed; it was the way he was treated at home. When he sat down for breakfast expecting to be served pohua and idli, he was fed Post’s Banana Nut Crunch. Olive oil had replaced asli ghee in the making of parathas. When they went out to dinner — Tex-Mex, no less — friends whipped out their wallets faster than Clint Eastwood drew his six-shooter in For a Few Dollars More, and didn’t allow him to pay. His Amex card returned to the US unmolested. There’s just no respect anymore for NRIs, he moaned. What happened to the good old days when nephews and nieces begged him for Levi’s and Nikes, for Chanel No 1 and Poison? Why, as recently as a couple of years ago, snotty little brats were pleading with him for playstations and iPods. But now all these were available in India, as were the latest laptops and cellphones. Having gone from Non-Returning Indian to a Non-Resident Indian, he had now been demoted to Not Required Indian. So, here’s the scoop. Apparently, our bharat mahaan is rolling in so much lolly, and such is the attention being lavished on it by the world, that NRIs are being told to take their depreciating dollar and dafa ho jao. Dirhams and euros are still okay, but the dollar is definitely in the doghouse. Heck, even the Taj — the hotel, not the monument — is reportedly telling folks they would rather be paid in pesos. People, it’s Pox Americana time, and the American NRI is bearing the brunt. As a long-suffering itinerant who straddles the world of NRIs, RNIs, IRNs etc, i can attest to the hardship the poor NRI is going through with my $0.02 of insight, the equivalent naya paisa being too unaffordable. It’s a terrible chore these days to shop in the US for the family in India. For one, there is hardly anything that is ‘Made in USA’; and what is available is already outdated in India. The horrible moment of truth laughed me in the face when i handed out a nice T-shirt i had bought for a brat, only to be thanked with "Chee! It’s Made-in-Bangladesh." The sneakers, it turned out, were made in Thailand, and the baseball cap in Vietnam. The nadir came when the gang espied my cellphone, a model that was apparently discarded in India in the 20th century. So, where does that leave the NRI? Word is that they are pressing for a change in nomenclature. They’d now like to be known as INRs — Indian Non-Residents. ------------- [7] From: rkurian@bgl.vsnl.net.in Date: Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:09 pm Subject: Is IMF Austerity only for the Poor? FromThe Times of India - SWAMINOMICS Is IMF austerity only for the poor? 17 Feb 2008, 0019 hrs IST, Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar Ten years ago, the Asian financial crisis ravaged south-east Asia. The IMF prescribed severe austerity and economic shrinkage. You chaps have been living beyond your means for years, it said, and have severe structural problems that cannot be reflated away. So, you need bitter monetary medicine (sky-high interest rates) and fiscal medicine (slashing government spending and fiscal deficits). Yes, the shrinkage of GDP will be painful, but will cure your structural ailments and improve your long-term health. Ten years later we have another financial crisis, originating this time in the US. But the IMF, which prescribed austerity for Asia in 1997, is prescribing fiscal and monetary stimulation in the US, to save it from the consequences of its own follies. This is not only bad economics but also outrageous politics. It looks like a double standard that discriminates against the poor. The US has for a decade indulged in chronic overspending, reflected in gargantuan trade deficits, financed by borrowing overseas. This has eerie similarities with south-east Asia’s over-borrowing in the 1990s. The Asian financial crisis began with the bursting of a housing bubble in Thailand, caused by imprudent lending. The current crisis has begun with the bursting of a housing bubble in the US, also caused by imprudent lending (sub-prime mortgages). Conditions in the US are in most ways better but in some ways worse than in Asia in 1997. The US is immensely creditworthy, and can borrow trillions with minimal effects on the dollar. By contrast, south-east Asian economies in 1997 had low forex reserves and eroding credibility, leading to a panicky flight of investors. The US has huge foreign assets to offset its rising debt, so its net debt is modest. The quality of US institutions, financial markets, corporate governance and accounting standards is infinitely higher than in Asia in 1997. So, we don’t see any panicky exit of investors from the US. Yet, in some ways the US is structurally worse off than Asia in 1997. Asian economies always had high savings rates. But US households have for years had a negative savings rate — that is, they spend more than their disposable income, taking advantage of cheap, easy credit. The US trade deficit of around $700 billion per year is mind-boggling, far higher than the combined deficits of the Asian countries that sank in 1997. A country as rich as the US can afford to overspend on this scale for years. But not even the US can do this forever. The US has a deep structural problem — grossly inadequate savings. Its politicians are as spendthrift as households. They have committed themselves to high welfare spending on social security (for retirees), Medicare (for the aged) and Medicaid (for the poor). Some projections suggest that such spending could triple from 7% of GDP today to 20% by 2030. So, both US households and the government are on an unsustainable spending spree. This cries out for structural adjustment. Huge US imbalances, in its balance of payments as well as savings, have to be pruned. This painful structural adjustment is not urgent, given US riches. But it is inescapable in the long run, and remedial action is overdue. The adjustment can take place either through a huge depression, as in the 1930s, or through a series of slowdowns-cum-mild recessions. Many economists — including me — would regard a string of mild recessions as less damaging for the US and world economy than another Great Depression. Seen in this light, a US recession is a solution to its structural imbalances, not a problem. A recession will reduce the US trade deficit, and drive home to US households the need to save more and borrow less. It will entail some pain. But, as the IMF is fond of saying, no pain means no gain. Global imbalances are evident in huge Chinese and OPEC surpluses, no less than in US deficits. All three require adjustment. But the US is currently in crisis, and needs adjustment foremost. You might think that the IMF today would be urging austerity and structural adjustment on the US, as it did on Asia in 1997. In fact, it is doing the very opposite. It has applauded the fiscal stimulus legislation and slashing of interest rates there. The IMF can argue, rightly, that the two situations are different. Yet, there are enough similarities to warrant complaints that it has one rule for the rich and another for the poor. I raised this issue of double standards when Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, gave a talk in New Delhi last week. If austerity was good for imprudent Asians in 1997, i asked, isn’t it also good for the imprudent US right now? Should you not welcome a recession as a form of adjustment? Should you not burst asset bubbles in the US rather than reflate them? Strauss-Kahn waffled and refused to give a straight answer. Instead, he talked of the need to reform the IMF, by giving a bigger say to developing countries. However, his double standards suggest that the reform has to go deeper. ------------- [8] From: Pradip Kumar Datta <pradip200@yahoo.com Date: Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:27 pm Subject: PMO told to make 29 Netaji files public PMO told to make 29 Netaji files public February 19, 2008 11:45 IST Rejecting the Prime Minister's Office's refusal to provide a list of classified files relating to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the Central Information Commission has asked it to make public a list of 29 such files. The commission's decision came after the PMO produced before it 33 classified files on the revolutionary leader. It, however, exempted four related files as they had reference to foreign states. Acting on an RTI application of 'Mission Netaji' -- a Delhi-based research trust -- challenging the PMO's refusal to make public its classified files on Netaji, the CIC had, in its order of January 25, asked the latter to produce in a sealed cover a list of classified files for its perusal. The PMO while declining to produce the list of the classified files had earlier said that divulging their contents could affect India's sovereignty and relations with foreign nations. Perusing through the files as produced by the PMO, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said while four of the 33 classified files had a reference to foreign nations, rest of the 29 files should be given. In its order passed on Monday, the CIC also noted that out of the 29 files, seven were classified "top secret," three "confidential" while the rest were marked "secret." Apart from the 33 files, the PMO also informed the commission about two recently de-classified files. "Under the circumstances, the PMO will provide a list of the 29 remaining files in addition to the two recently de-classified files, and list their titles," Habibullah said while directing the PMO's Information Officer Amit Agrawal to provide the list within 10 days to Anuj Dhar, a Mission Netaji functionary. Earlier, Dhar, in his Right to Information application, had asked for a list of classified and de-classified records on Netaji, as available with the PMO. While the PMO replied that it had 11 de-classified files relating to Netaji, an exception was claimed for listing of its classified files. It was also said that a process of declassification of its records was underway. Dhar, who moved an appeal before the CIC, contended that while some of related PMO documents were classified, a nomenclature and description of the files were submitted before Justice Mukherjee Commission. http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/feb/19netaji.htm [ visit: http://justiceforsubhas.blogspot.com ] ------- |
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| << February17, 2008 - [India Thinkers Net]Manipuri girl molested ,Mubai issues ,Regi's posts etc |
February20, 2008 - [India Thinkers Net]Allow NGOs in Orissa ,Suharto ,SEZ ,depression drug >> |
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