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At UN, India slams Pak for promoting terror
Indian troops did not cross LoC: Gen
Criticism spurred PM’s tough talk
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1984 riots
Ganga water management low on states’ agenda
White yogi talks Upanishads at Mahakumbh
Modi spells out steps for ensuring women’s safety
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At UN, India slams Pak for promoting terror
New Delhi, January 16 With tension mounting between India and Pakistan over the recent killing of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control (LoC), India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said, ''Terrorism is a Frankenstein monster. Resort to the use of terrorism as an instrument of State Policy is short-sighted. Indeed, those who have taken recourse to it have invariably themselves suffered immensely from it proving the age old dictum that those who play with the sword, shall also perish by it.'' India has, however, made it clear that there was no question of allowing any third party intervention in settling issues between India and Pakistan. As far as UNMOGIP is concerned, New Delhi believes it has become irrelevant after the Simla accord between the two countries. UNMOGIP, in fact, now has a symbolic presence in India. In her speech, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Pakistan has been "one of the biggest victims of terrorism", underlining that a "uni-dimensional" approach to defeat the "hydra-headed monster" would not be sufficient. However, in her address to the Asia Society, she accused India of war-mongering and embarking on a ‘narrative of hostility’. But the Indian envoy was quite sharp in denouncing Pakistan for its role in promoting terrorism, though he did not name Islamabad even once during his speech. “My own country, India, has faced the scourge of terrorism for over two-and-a-half decades. And, indeed, our entire region, South Asia has been wracked by the activities of the biggest terrorist actors in the world, be the Al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jamat-ud-Daawa, elements of Taliban and others.’’ Terrorism, extremism and radicalisation continued to pose a serious challenge to peace, progress and prosperity in the region, he added. Over the years, the visible landscape of international terrorism has vastly changed. In the globalised world, terrorists were also globalised in their outreach and activities. They recruit in one country, raise funds in another and operate in others and were waging an asymmetric against the international community. Puri also spoke about the growing risk of weapons of mass destruction of different kinds falling into the hands of terrorists. India has long held the view that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was not safe and there was every risk of terrorist groups acquiring it.
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Indian troops did not cross LoC: Gen
Khairair (UP), January 16 "Our jawans don't cross
LoC. We honour human rights. We fire in retaliation when provoked," he said here after meeting the family of Lance Naik
Hemraj, who was beheaded by Pakistani soldiers in a cross-LoC attack in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir on January 8. Responding to the Pakistani charge that one of its soldiers was killed in "unprovoked firing" along
LoC, he said it may have happened during cross-firing. "These are normal activities that take place at
LoC. We have retaliated in response to cross-firing," he said. Replying to questions, the Army Chief said, "The relationship (between the two countries) is got to be seen on what has been going on at the border". The Pakistan Army had alleged that Indian troops had violated the ceasefire along LoC late last night and "carried out unprovoked firing" in Hotspring and Jandrot sectors. — PTI
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Criticism spurred PM’s tough talk
New Delhi, January 16 A view was taken that the PM would speak on this issue at the first available opportunity, which would be followed by a formal statement by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. The broad contours of this statement were cleared during the deliberations. While the statement was strongly-worded, a conscious decision was taken to put the blame for this “grave provocation and repugnant act” on the Pakistan Army and not the State in view of the ongoing internal tussle between the civilian government and the armed forces. New Delhi is well aware that the marginalisation of democratic forces in Pakistan by its army would have serious repercussions for India. The Prime Minister used the Army Day reception on Tuesday to speak to the media and warn Islamabad that “after this barbaric act, there cannot be business as usual”. UPA sources said the move to raise the pitch a notch higher was essentially a response to growing public outrage over the beheading of an Indian soldier and shrill Opposition criticism that the PM was soft on the issue. It was clarified that the PM did not react immediately as it was decided to wait for the External Affairs Ministry and the Army to first go through the paces. It was only after the failed Brigadier-level flag meeting that the PM moved in to do some tough talking. UPA sources said New Delhi would have normally refrained from adopting such a hard line and overlooked the border flare-up as a localised matter, but the Congress-led UPA could not be seen to be ambivalent on this issue after the BJP and a section of the media persistently berated it for not giving a befitting reply to Pakistan. The Indian response was also dictated by the fact that there is no possibility of any further movement in the Indo-Pak engagement over the next six-odd months as the present government’s term is coming to an end.
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HC tells Delhi Police chief to look into complaint of victims
New Delhi, January 16 A Bench headed by Chief Justice D Murugesan, however, refused to order a CBI probe into the complaint alleging lapses by policemen in probing the role of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a riots case and deliberately not filing the chargesheet in the lower court to save Kumar. “In the absence of any complaint pending, we are not inclined to issue any direction," the court said adding "We, however, make it clear that when petitioner files any complaint, the commissioner of police will look into it accordingly." — PTI We make it clear that when petitioner files any complaint, the commissioner of police will look into it accordingly.— SC Bench
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Ganga water management low on states’ agenda
New Delhi, January 16
Whereas all states were asked to send action-taken report on recommendations in May 2011, Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat told a meeting of the board today that only Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have responded so far. He urged the remaining states to also send in their responses at the earliest.
A model flood plain zoning Bill has also remained unattended by almost all states for past the four decades. It was circulated to the states in 1975,
but only Rajasthan has enacted a suitable legislation in that regard.
Now that the model draft Bill for flood plain zoning is almost outdated, Rawat said the Centre was considering reviewing and re-circulating it as a revised model flood plain zoning Bill for enactment and further action.
The last meeting of the Ganga Flood Control Board, constituted by the Centre for laying down broad policies and directing concerted efforts for management of floods in the Ganga basin was held in May 2011 after a gap of almost 11 years.
The National Water Policy recommends that there should be a master plan for flood control and management for each flood-prone basin.
At today’s meeting, Haryana and Rajasthan recommended transfer of excess flood water to their areas. The flood-affected area in the Ganga basin states is around 204 lakh hectares. Out of this, about 94 lakh hectares has been provided reasonable degree of protection.
“Even though, physical flood protection work, like embankments and dykes are essential, increased emphasis should be laid on non-structural measures, such as flood forecasting, and warning, flood plain zoning, and flood proofing, for the minimising losses and reducing recurring expenditure on flood relief,” Rawat said.
The meeting was attended by Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan,West Bengal, Himachal
Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.
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White yogi talks Upanishads at Mahakumbh
Allahabad, January 16 Hordes flock his camp out of sheer curiosity over a white man talking the Ramayana. But for Swami Jagrajpuri, the Australian physiotherapist who abandoned his Sydney home in 1990 to follow an Indian spiritual leader all the way to Rajasthan, the colour of skin has nothing to do with the practise of religion. With sheer devotion to Hindu faith and to his NRI Guru Swami Maheshwaranand, who runs 350 yoga centres worldwide, Jagrajpuri has become the sole foreigner to rise to the position of Swami (senior spiritual leader) within an Indian spiritual order. “I was anointed Swami at the last Mahakumbh in Prayag in 2001. It has been a tough but delightful journey for me. I have managed to keep my vows and earn the trust of my guru,” he says, admitting that many foreigners are turning to Indian spirituality and Hinduism for the reason that it is ever evolving. At Swami Maheshwaranand’s camp here in Kumbh, close to 150 foreigners happily offer voluntary service from cooking and mopping to fixing tents and fetching buckets of water. “We feel good doing sewa. It’s our way of giving back to Sanatan dharma which has given us our identity. It’s a religion that constantly adapts itself to the needs of followers. It embraces all. The Ramayana was written in one way but interpreted in many ways. Commentaries on Upanishads are diverse and fascinating,” Jagrajpuri says. As a foreigner, it wasn’t easy for him to practice the discipline. Any sanyasi before being formally inducted into the faith through “Diksha” by his guru must dedicate himself to rigorous schedule of spiritual practice. A sanyasi’s day starts at 3 am. Jagrajpuri received his “Diksha” in 1995. He terms the event as a life-transforming experience. “It was my new birth,” he says refusing to mention his old family name. “If you can remember your old life’s name, I can remember mine,” he argues. Since full anointment (poorna diksha) in the 2001 Mahakumbh, Jagrajpuri has been holding independent satsangs across Europe, the US and Arab countries. With such elevation comes the title of “Swami” which means a yogi can deliver sermons independent of his guru. Jagrajpuri now helps his jetsetter guru (who spends nine months in a year in the Austrian capital Vienna) handle sermons. By now, he has built a wide following at home and abroad. Many of his followers are the people he met during Kumbhs. As he says, “Returning here is like coming home. The atmosphere is magical. Sangam is the meeting of waters and Kumbh is the meeting of hearts,” he says.
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Modi spells out steps for ensuring women’s safety
Ahmedabad, January 16 Crime against women is less in Ahmedabad and many other parts of Gujarat compared to many other cities in the country. Chief Minister Narendra Modi can take pride that women in his state feel much more safer than when they are in the national capital. Even when the incidents of crime against women are sporadic, Modi, who also holds the Home portfolio, is far from satisfied and has directed the police to spruce up the department to handle the problems facing women in a quick and effective manner. The police has been asked to resolve complaints of eve-teasing, attacks on or threats to women within seven days and, as far as possible, file a charge sheet within 15 days to avoid any delay in justice. Women complainants will not be summoned to the police stations. Instead, the police will go to their residence or office to record statements. To make women feel safe to approach the police, all police stations have been asked to put at least two women police personnel on duty round-the-clock. The government has directed the police department to recruit more women in the force. Police patrolling in areas close to girls’ schools and colleges and working women’s hostels will be further intensified and anti-eve-teasing patrol parties will have a fair amount of policewomen. Complaint boxes will be placed outside women’s institutions allowing the victims easy access to the force.
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Draped in saffron robe, a foreign yogi is busy these days sermonising Mahakumbh pilgrims on treasures of the Upanishads and Ramayana. “This world is one and everything in it is one. When we understand that, what’s there to be jealous about?” he says, citing his favourite passage from the Ishupanishad.
Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Gujarat, will soon become a safer city for women. Hit by a wave of protests in the wake of the Delhi gang-rape case, the police has been issued a series of guidelines so that the fairer sex can move safely in the city.
Crime against women is less in Ahmedabad and many other parts of Gujarat compared to many other cities in the country.
Pakistan assumed the rotational Presidency of the UNSC for a month on January 1 and New Delhi fears that Islamabad might use the opportunity to again attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue. It was in this backdrop that Islamabad had recently demanded a probe by the UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) into the recent ceasefire violations along the LoC.