Guwahati, December 13
As a spin off of the Centre’s Telangana move, the twin hill districts of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar in Assam is all set to witness fresh intense agitation for statehood with Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), a tribal political party, is calling for 60-hour twin hill districts bandh from 5 am on December 15 demanding a separate state comprising the two hill districts.

Meanwhile, the CPI-ML, which has been involved in the statehood movement in Assam hills, has also called from 24-hour hill districts bandh on December 14 to press for its demand for a separate state.

General secretary of the ASDC, which has been leading a movement for creation of an autonomous state under the Article 244 (A) of the Constitution since 1986, Elwin Teron said the demand for a separate state had become imperative with the Centre failing to implement the article to ensure overall development of people in the two hill districts.

He alleged that the two autonomous councils in the two hill districts had been reduced to puppets at the hands of rulers in Dispur (Assam’s capital) who call all the shots in functioning of these two councils, including appointments of chief executive members.

In 1970, when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi contemplated granting full statehood to Meghalaya, a case for an independent state of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills was also made in a memorandum signed by a Cabinet member from Mikir Hills (renamed Karbi Anglong) and 11 others.

Almost 16 years later, on May 17, 1986, that demand for statehood led to the formation of the ASDC, which led a mass movement demanding the creation of an autonomous state under Article 244(A) of the Constitution. The agitation led to signing of the MoU on April 1, 1995 between the Assam government and the leaders of the ASDC.

The MoU upgraded both councils of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills with enhanced powers under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule. However, ASDC leaders are now disillusioned and have demanded creation of a separate state comprising the geographical areas of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills in the wake of Telangana proposal of the Centre. Veteran Karbi politician and CPI-ML Communist Party of India leader Dr Jayanta Rongpi once said in Lok Sabha: “The Sixth Schedule has been in practice since 1952. I was chief of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council for seven years. With that experience I can say that the Sixth Schedule has failed in India since 1952.”

Centre had upgraded all Sixth Schedule areas on Northeast - Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills, Garo hills (all now under Meghalaya State) and Lusai Hills (Mizoram) - into states. The ASDC leaders point out that Jharkhand Autonomous Council was upgraded into a separate state less than a year after the formation of its autonomous council under the Sixth Schedule.

Jaipur, December 13
With the Centre giving its nod to a separate Telangana state, the three-decade old demand for carving out a separate desert state, Maru Pradesh, by splitting Rajasthan, has got a fresh lease of life.

The demand has been revived under the banner of Maru Pradesh Nirman Morcha which is seeking a separate state for the nearly two crore population of Barmer, Bikaner, Churu, Sriganganagar, Hanumagarh, Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur and Sikar. The idea of Maru Pradesh doesn’t include the desert district of Jodhpur, the home turf of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, while to everyone’s surprise it includes prosperous districts of Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh, considered grain bowl of this part of the country. The morcha’s camel rally from Bikaner to Jaipur, demanding a separate state concluded here on December 8, a couple of days prior to the Centre’s decision on Telangana. Spurred by the Centre’s move, the morcha activists are planning to intensify their demand for a separate state.

Talking to The Tribune, morcha president Jaibir Godara said, “Our demand is justified as if you compare these nine districts with the rest of the state you will find that these areas are deprived of development with regard to infrastructure, economy, industry, agriculture, academics, finances, transportation and tourism. However, we want to pursue our demand in a peaceful manner.”

He claimed that the support has started pouring in for their demand, as over 300 college students will soon hold a meeting in Bikaner in this regard. “The students too feel neglected and they have approached us for support in our agitation for a separate state,” he said.

The morcha says the industrial output and employment in Maru Pradesh is less than 15 per cent of the total industrial output in Rajasthan. It also mentions that the industrial output of Rajasthan during 2005 was Rs 13 billion in which the share of Maru Pradesh was only Rs 2 million. Another regional imbalance projected by the morcha is that the road density in Maru Pradesh is mere 32 percent of the entire Rajasthan.

People closely associated with the morcha claim that in private, political leaders of both the Congress and the BJP from these districts are backing their movement. “They will come out in our support openly once the demand reaches the Centre,” said a morcha member. 

Mumbai, December 13
American-born terror suspect David Headley had not only played an active role in conducting reconnaissance of targets in Mumbai, but was also present in a control unit in Pakistan along with masterminds of the attacks to guide 10 Lashker-e-Taiba terrorists carry out the attacks.

Sources privy to the investigations of the terror suspect’s trail in India said 48-year-old Headley was present in the room from where the 10 LeT terrorists were being guided to various locations during the 26/11 attacks.

The investigators re-visited the intercepts and found that there were specific instructions given to terrorists various targets. India has asked for a voice sample of Headley from the FBI to match it with the one that was unidentified so far for security agencies. This voice was giving information on exact surroundings of the targets attacked by Lashker-e-Taiba militants. However, there was no firm response from the FBI on providing the same to the Indian investigators, sources said.

The sources claimed that there were frequent promptings by Headley to Lashker-e-Taiba mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi from a room in Pakistan. Lakhvi, against whom Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice at the request of India, was in touch with the terrorists.

Headley, who has visited India nine times - eight times before 26/11 and once in March this year - had conducted recce of Nariman House, Taj Mahal hotel, Lepold Cafe, Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Oberoi-Trident hotels.

He had conducted a detailed recce of Nariman House before the Mumbai carnage and even entered the targeted Jewish Centre posing as a Jew. National Investigation Agency (NIA) had recorded statements of some of the witnesses who had either seen or accompanied Headley to Nariman House, also known as Chabbad House.

Six of the occupants, including Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and five-month pregnant wife Rivka, were killed by the militants. However, the two-year-old son of Rabbi - Moshe - was saved by his nanny Sandra Samuel.

The attack by LeT terrorists last year in the five-storeyed house, which can be approached only through narrow lanes and by-lanes of Colaba, had left the security agencies without any doubt that a proper recce had been conducted before the strike.

A proper communication had also been ensured so that the terrorists attacking the Jewish Centre did not get lose their way in the bylanes leading to Nariman House. Sources claimed that there was evidence that Headley was there in the room when the terrorists were raining bullets in the city. — PTI

New Delhi, December 13
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it intended to issue guidelines for ensuring safety of cinema-halls and other places thronged by the public to prevent tragedies like the one that took place at Uphaar cinema in June 1997. The incident had claimed the life of 59 persons.

“We have to view the case in a larger perspective,” the Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and KS Radhakrishnan observed and asked all parties, including the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), to submit their suggestions in writing in that regard.

Payment of compensation was only one aspect of the case and as such, there was a need for looking beyond the fire tragedy and putting in place a mechanism for preventing accidents of similar nature, the Bench said. The court clearly indicated it would treat the case as a matter of public importance.

The AVUT, the Delhi Vidyut Board and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi have been asked to give suggestions by December 16. The trial court had sentenced the Ansal brothers, Sushil and Gopal, to two-year imprisonment on November 20, 2007, but the Delhi High Court reduced the sentence to one year on December 19, 2008. Last month, the SC Bench had directed the Ansal brothers to release an interim compensation of Rs 3.4 crore to the families of those killed in the accident. The total amount of compensation to be paid by them, out of the Rs 18.5 crore awarded by the Delhi HC on April 24, 2004, would be announced in the apex court’s final verdict.

New Delhi, December 13
Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several MPs today remembered martyrs who sacrificed their lives while repulsing a terror attack on Parliament eight years ago.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Leader of the Opposition LK Advani also paid floral tributes to the ‘heroes’ at a solemn ceremony in Parliament. Five heavily armed gunmen had stormed Parliament on December 13, 2001, and opened indiscriminate fire, killing nine people. Among the dead were five Delhi Police personnel, a woman constable of the Central Reserve Police Force, two Rajya Sabha Secretariat officials and a gardener. All five terrorists were shot dead. Many MPs were in the building at the time of the attack.

A year later, four terrorists, including convicted Afzal Guru, were arrested for the attack and found guilty after trial. Guru, who is said to be a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist, was the only accused to be awarded the death penalty. The sentence has been stayed as his mercy petition is pending. He is in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

New Delhi, December 13
It was an e-mail from Hungary seeking advice on an unusual cancer matter. For a moment, the Ludhiana-based Dr Sukhbindar Singh Sibia thought someone had pulled a fast one on him.

But it turned out to be a genuine mail and Sibia’s help had been sought for treating cancer in ‘a patient’ from virtually a different species - canines.

Budapest resident Eszter Ujhazi, the e-mail sender, wanted Dr Sibia to help his pet dog avoid chemotherapy and for that he was exploring the possibility of using Sibia’s novel no-surgery Cytotron cancer treatment.

According to Sibia, who was here recently to deliver a lecture on cancer, Ujhazi wrote that “my dog has been diagnosed with non-Hodgin lymphoma (B-cell, agreesive lymphoma) and our oncology vet suggested immediate chemotherapy but we do not want to…we are afraid of it.”

Ujhazi informed that he was drawn in after hearing the advantages of latest Cytotron treatment in India which claims to offer a no-surgery solution possibility for tumors by changing the cell membrane potential to stop cancer cell division. Sibia established India’s first Cytotron centre in March 2006 after clinical trials of the device at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Bangalore. The Cytotron device has been invented by a Bangalore-based medical engineering specialist, Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar.

“My device helps in avoiding dreaded side effects of conventional cancer treatment,” claims Kumar.

Claimed to be a breakthrough innovation, the Cytotron is said to be different from other treatments for cancer like surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The Cytotron has a safety certificate from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence.

Cytotron is considered an important milestone in radiobiology and tissue engineering. The technology has acquired health regulatory certificates in many western nations for tissue regeneration and degeneration. The Cytotron device looks like a MRI scanner, with a big bore; it has a gantry carrying 864 guns or radiating antennae, each of which produces radio frequency radiation simultaneously with high instantaneous magnetic field. A patient lies on the Cytotron bed that moves into the focus area. The treating rays are focused on the tumor with laser guides.

The Hungarian dog lover, Ujhazi, in his e-mail said he wanted to try the new cancer therapy to save his pet from trauma. “We are searching for any other cure for our dog than chemotherapy,” he said. After coming to know about the Cytotron treatment possibilities on internet, Ujhazi asked Sibia that whether it was possible to use the machine on dogs also.

For Sibia, the e-mail threw up a dilemma -- should he apply his treatment on a dog or tell its owner to look for other options. “I was aware that the Cytotron treatment had been used on another dog ‘Silka’ afflicted with cancer from Europe last year. ‘Silka’ was treated in Bangalore and his owner later started a blog by its name,” he said.

“Initially, I told Ujhazi to take his pet to the Bangalore centre, but he insisted on consulting me,” said Sibia. “In the end, it was Ujhazi’s attachment for his pet which made me agree to his request. We are now in the process of working out the modalities for bringing the dog to India for the checkup,” he added.

Kolkata, December 13
The Maity family had almost given up hope for the treatment of their four-year-old son Animesh suffering a brain tumour, when he received a fresh lease of life after undergoing a non-invasive advanced Robotic Radiosurgery, known as Cyberknife.

"Since the family was reluctant to go through the procedure due to financial stringency, we looked into the urgency of saving the child and he was referred to me. We immediately consented to treat Animesh free," chairman and CEO of HealthCare Global Enterprise Limited BS Ajaikumar said here.

Use of Cyberknife has been successful on 200 patients since June who were treated for cancerous tumours and lesions in brain, liver, pancreas, lung, kidney, besides in the treatment of hepato cellular carcinoma and cancer of the prostrate, Ajaikumar said. The response was positive for 60-70 per cent even after six months, he said.

The concept delivers low-dose beams of radiation over a period of six-eight weeks, the time needed to allow healthy tissues damaged during treatment to recover. "Unlike chemotherapy, Cyberknife kills only malignant tissues," he said.

The US technology-based Cyberknife - costing Rs 30 crore - is stated to be world's first and only whole-body radiosurgery system, Ajaikumar said. He said that 'pinpoint accuracy' allowed HCG's Cyberknife specialist team to reach malignant or benign tumours, as well as abnormal tangles of blood vessels while avoiding any damage to surrounding healthy organs.

HCG has 18 cancer treatment centres, including in Delhi, Chennai and Ahmedabad. It is a part of the flagship Bangalore Institute of Oncology, set up 20 years ago by Ajaikumar after he returned from the US. — PTI

New Delhi, December 13
Seeking to put questions raised about India’s nuclear deterrence at rest, former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar has said the Army should be “fully confident” as there is no doubt about the nuclear arsenal at their command. “I think that is guaranteed. The Army should be fully confident. There is no doubt about the arsenal at their command,” he told Karan Thapar in an interview on CNN-IBN’s ‘Devil’s Advocate’ programme on Sunday.

He was responding to a question on former Army chief VP Malik's remarks that nuclear scientists should assure the armed forces about the efficacy of the thermonuclear device.

Rubbishing claims by scientists K Santhanam and PK Iyenger that the 1998 thermonuclear tests by India were duds, Kakodkar has rejected their demands for a review. He asserted that the country has several hydrogen bombs with a yield “much more” than 45 kilotonnes (KT).

Kakodkar said Iyengar did not know very much about 1998 tests and was, therefore, “in no position to talk”. Santhanam only knew about the thermonuclear test on a need-to-know basis and, therefore, he too did not know everything, he added.

Kakodkar, who retired as AEC chief on November 30, contended that India has several thermo-nuclear bombs and their yield is well above 50 kilotonnes each. Dismissing the claim made by Santhanam, a defence scientist, and Iyengar, a former chairman of the AEC, that the yield of the thermonuclear test was only 20-25 kilotonnes and not 45 kilotonnes, Kakodkar said the AEC has six separate ways of measuring the yield and they all came to the same conclusion - i.e. 45 kilotonnes.

Kakodkar said the DRDO seismic instruments, which Santhanam is relying on to measure the yield, were flawed.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam has also defended India’s nuclear deterrence capability, saying the only thermonuclear device tested in 1998 produced the “design yield” sufficient for producing thermonuclear bombs.

The controversy erupted in August when Santhanam, who coordinated the Pokhran II tests and a former official with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), told a seminar in New Delhi that the only thermonuclear device tested was a “fizzle”, a term used to describe the test when it fails to meet the desired yield. — IANS

Guwahati, December 13
The proscribed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) today blamed some of the leaders of the pro-talks faction comprising members of its erstwhile “A” and “C” companies of the 28th battalion for the infamous Dhemaji blast on August 15, 2004 that snapped lives of 13 innocents, including 10 school children.

In an apparent attempt to “expose” some leaders of the pro-talks faction, the fugitive “commander in chief” of the proscribed ULFA, Paresh Baruah in a statement e-mailed to them media here said Dhemaji blast had remained the darkest spot in the “history of the revolution by the outfit” and in the course of time the leadership had come to know that it was a handiwork of certain leaders of the outfit which had initially misinformed the leadership that it was carried out by “colonial Indian occupational force”.

The ULFA commander said “those counter revolutionary leaders were now masquerading as so-called ambassador of peace amid the people of Assam after causing irreparable damage to the image of the ULFA in collusion with ‘Indian occupational forces’.”

He said that immediately after “Dhemaji blast” the outfit leadership issued a denial only “on the basis of information” given by these leaders who are now talking peace and that information later turned out to be “misleading information”. He once again apologised for the grave blunder on part of the ULFA leaders for failing to pinpoint and punish real culprits behind Dhemaji blasts.

The ULFA leaders asked for help and cooperation from the “freedom aspiring people of Assam” to keep track of such “counter revolutionary” in future.

A pro-talks faction leader had earlier apologised for Dhemaji blasts terming it a grave mistake. This was precisely the incident that triggered mass rising against ULFA in Assam and started the rapid erosion of its support base in the rural areas of the state.

New Delhi, December 13
Gender imbalances continue to prevail in corporate boardrooms across the world, but the situation is much better in our country if the number of women CEOs that India Inc has is any indication -nearly four times more than that of the US- a survey says.

According to a survey by international executive research firm, EMA Partners International, around 11 per cent of Indian companies have women CEOs, while in the case of Fortune 500 list from the US, women CEOs just account for 3 per cent of the total consideration set.

“In the backdrop of the Fortune 500 numbers, the Indian results certainly look a lot better, though on a standalone basis, it is clear that barring financial services, other industries have a log way to catch up,” EMA Partners chairman James Douglas said.

In India, the survey was carried out among 240 mid and large domestic MNCs. The companies were selected on the basis of revenues and market capitalisation.The survey was conducted in November. Globally, on an average, about 3 per cent of top CEOs are women, which is quite unrepresentative, given the fact that women constitute roughly half the population and around 50 per cent of the staff in most markets.

According to the survey’s estimates, over 25 per cent of the executives are women in Germany, more than 30 per cent in Britain, while this is 35 per cent in France. — PTI

New Delhi, December 13
Although 47 years have passed since the winter of 1962, but Indo-Chinese relations remain complex, unresolved and troubled.

However, the economic strides made by the two countries and the flourishing bilateral trade, which is about to touch 60 billion US dollars a year, would possibly prevent a serious confrontation, opined Commodore Uday Bhaskar, Director, National Maritime Foundation who earlier headed the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis.

Both India and China are victims of history and geography, he pointed out, and in a way are prisoners of the past. The war between the two countries in 1962 was a manifestation of anxieties, suspicion and lack of trust that the two ancient civilisations continue to exhibit. “The commonality of a shared and troubled colonial past have not brought them closer but the different political systems followed by the two countries have actually added to their suspicion of each other,” he opined.

Over the years, Commodore Bhaskar said, the two countries have agreed to maintain peace along the Line of Actual Control. And in 2005 there was a landmark agreement that mutual understanding and accommodation would be the operative principles guiding the two countries and not the use of force.

But while there is a perceptible hardening of the Chinese position in recent months, Commodore Bhaskar held the Indian media responsible for stoking deep-rooted national anxieties about China.

While China is highly unlikely to repeat 1962, there is a history of border disputes; issues that are rife like Arunachal and numerous intrusions.

“The challenge before India is to ensure that China remains a competitor in certain areas as also a potential interlocutor for cooperation in others,” he opined.

Bangalore, December 13
India today successfully tested nuclear-capable missile ‘Dhanush’, the naval version of ‘Prithvi’, by launching it from warship INS Subhadra off the Orissa coast at around 11:30 this morning.

A DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) official here said the missile hit the target at 350 km range with pinpoint accuracy. Two naval ships located near the target tracked the missile and witnessed the splash, he said. Radar systems located along the coast monitored the missile’s trajectory and confirmed all the parameters of the test meeting the requirements, the official said.

‘Dhanush’, the official said, worked on a liquid propelled single stage system and was having a diameter of one metre and length of 10 metres. Weighing six tonne, the missile had already been inducted into the Indian Navy. Today’s launch was part of the training exercise and was handled wholly by the Navy. DRDO scientists, including its chief VK Saraswat, were present to oversee the operations, the official said.

Major General PC Karbanda, Deputy National Security Adviser, and Rear Admiral CS Patham, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Forces Command, also witnessed the launch from INS Subhadra. Dr Saraswat congratulated the Navy and DRDO teams for the successful launch.

‘Dhanush’ has a payload capacity of 500 kg and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. It can hit both sea and shore-based targets.