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TNT used in bombing of Israeli diplomat’s car
Team Anna member expelled for ‘recording meeting proceedings’
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Jantar Mantar
Fight against corruption to begin at school
DRDO’s next: Reusable rockets
Tatra deal
Kuwait Indians outraged over suicide; write to PM
Another anti-Mamata cartoon; professor files complaint
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TNT used in bombing of Israeli diplomat’s car
New Delhi, April 22 CFSL experts handed over the report recently to the Delhi Police giving its opinion about the explosive material used in the bombing of the vehicle of Israeli diplomat Tal Yehoshua, who was seriously injured in the incident and was later flown back to Israel. The CFSL had deputed its senior scientists for identifying the explosive used in the terror incident, a first of its kind in which an envoy was targeted by assailants from a different country. "It is established from the samples picked from the scene of crime that TNT was used as explosive material," the 31-page CFSL report sent to the Delhi Police said. The report also talks about pieces having magnetic nature which could have been used by the terrorist, identified as Houshang Afshar Irani, for sticking the bomb on the envoy's car which also left four other persons with minor injuries. According to the investigators, who have been closely coordinating with intelligence agencies of other countries, the terror attack was allegedly carried out by Tevhid-Selam-Quds, an organisation which is being handled from Iran. Its operatives are trained and equipped with weapons, ammunition and explosives, especially in handling of TNT and C4. The members of this group have a history of carrying out terrorist attacks on Israel like those in Turkey which includes the murder of Israeli security officer Ehud Sadan. The investigators had recently arrested journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmed Kazmi, who was working part-time for Iranian news agency and other Persian newspapers for allegedly being a part of conspiracy of bombing the Israeli diplomat's car.
— PTI
About TNT
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Team Anna member expelled for ‘recording meeting proceedings’
New Delhi, April 22 The expulsion was made on the ground that he was recording proceedings of the meeting held at Noida. Kazmi, however, claimed that he quit the movement because it was turning anti-Muslim. Kazmi stormed out of the meeting attended by Anna Hazare this afternoon and announced his resignation to the media outside the venue, alleging that the movement was turning “anti-Muslim” and there was no place for him in it. However, Team Anna members suggested that the reasons he walked out were different. Kazmi was seen recording proceedings of the meeting and the team members felt it wasn’t the right thing to do as the proceedings were not meant to be recorded. When Kazmi’s phone was checked, it turned out that he had three recordings of the meeting. He was then asked to leave and not attend the next few sessions. Team Anna members Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi claimed Kazmi was ousted from the group as he was “found audio-recording” the proceedings on his mobile phone.
Notices to ministers
NOIDA: Team Anna on Sunday decided to send notices to 14 Union ministers, whom they had named as "corrupt", seeking their responses to the allegations before going ahead with agitation seeking legal action against them.
— PTI
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Agni V: Big one for Antony
Anita Katyal
After being in the news for all the wrong reasons, Defence Minister AK Antony had something to smile about last week. The minister was thrilled when he got the news about the successful launch of Agni V from Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast. He called up his officers immediately and asked them to issue a statement on his behalf lauding the team of DRDO scientists on their achievement. Simultaneously, he called up DRDO chief VK Saraswat to congratulate him. That's when Antony made his now-famous comment, "The nation stands tall today," which was also picked up by the international media. Antony then rushed to his South Block Office, reaching there well before his officers got in. He told them that he wished to issue a detailed statement which would reflect the magnitude of the achievement and also take into account the work done by previous scientists as this successful mission would not have been possible without their contribution. "You must remember, this is a big one," he remarked repeatedly. Gadkari extends olive branch
Having invited the wrath of his colleagues following a string of controversial decisions, BJP president Nitin Gadkari is now trying to buy peace with them. To begin with, he nominated SS Ahluwalia, four-time MP and deputy leader in the Upper House, for a Rajya Sabha seat in the Jharkhand repoll after first denying him a ticket. A fresh poll is being held as the Election Commission had countermanded the earlier one following allegations of use of money power. Gadkari had come under attack from senior BJP leaders including LK Advani, over his decision to field London-based NRI businessman Anshuman Mishra for the Rajya Sabha while ignoring Ahluwalia's seniority and experience. Mishra eventually withdrew from the race. Earlier, Gadkari had come under flak from his party seniors when he inducted tainted BSP leader Babu Singh Kushwaha into the party on the eve of UP assembly elections. Gadkari, therefore, needed to build bridges with his colleagues. It is now to be seen if Ahluwalia sails through the election, as BJP partner JMM has decided to field its own candidate for the Rajya Sabha repoll.
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Fight against corruption to begin at school
New Delhi, April 22 The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are working together to create specialised curricular modules that will soon be included in the syllabus of all 12,000 CBSE-affiliated schools. The module will comprise examples of corruption in different spheres of life and perhaps contain references to the recent anti-corruption wave across India generated following Anna Hazare’s agitations for a strong Lokpal Bill. “It is true that like charity, value inculcation, also begins at home and schools. We need to catch children young to make them understand the importance of saying no to wrong things and help imbibe anti-corruption ideals into their value system. We are working with the CBSE to develop school syllabus to address these needs,” Chief Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar said. At present, the school system does not specifically focus on issues of bribery and corruption as defined by the law. CBSE Chairman Vineet Joshi admitted that the Board had held a couple of meetings with the CVC in this regard and was in the process of creating course content that can gradually be integrated into the school system. For this purpose, the CBSE has set up a taskforce which is developing the content along the stated lines. The CBSE calls it “a module on values”. “We have held meetings in this respect with the CVC. Corruption is an issue with all of us. The attempt we are making seeks to inculcate values among students. We will evolve a module of values for integration into general education. “The idea is to help wean students away from corrupt practices and methods, to help them understand the importance of saying no to bribes and enticements. The module will focus on developing a strong value system in students,” Joshi said. The anti-corruption syllabus being jointly developed by the CVC and the CBSE will be implemented in schools at the upper primary (Class VI onwards) level. “As of now, that is the plan. We sincerely hope the syllabus, once ready, will help awaken students to the ills of corruption,” Joshi said. The CVC is giving technical inputs for the module which will refer to the laws that cover corruption in India. The Chief Vigilance Commissioner, at a recent annual meeting of the CII, had even backed the need for a strong Lokpal Bill to combat corruption. "The Lokpal Act is much needed," he had said.
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DRDO’s next: Reusable rockets
New Delhi, April 22 As part of plans to develop reusable ballistic missiles, Defence Research and Development Organisation will test the indigenously developed scram jet engine next year, DRDO Chief VK Saraswat said today. "We have propulsion technology, we have re-entry technologies, we have the technology which can take a re-entry system which will deliver a payload and have yet another re-entry system which will bring the missile back when it re-enters the atmosphere on its return journey," he said. "We have demonstrated the performance of a scram jet engine operating at Mach six speed (six times the speed of sound)," he said. On the range of the Agni V, the DRDO chief said with moderate modifications "it can be extended to any range which is of our interest." On technological capability available with the agency, he said, "The DRDO has built the necessary technologies, production infrastructure and design capability for developing a booster or a sustainer... We have the capability to develop a re-entry nose cone which can withstand higher temperature and velocity." Reacting to reports that India does not possess sufficient indigenous technology for missile guidance systems, Saraswat said Agni V used a completely indigenous and high precision missile guidance system with "0.001 degrees of per hour accuracy." On criticism that DRDO sometimes does not live up to expectations, he said the agency was as good as its counterparts in advanced countries. Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), F-18 and Eurofighter took similar number of years and cost wise they were three times more than what we have put in our LCA," he said. On development of Kaveri engine, Saraswat said it too has performed well and was, "flown an IL-76 aircraft in Russia, 55 hours of successful flight... We are going to upgrade it so that it can be used in India's LCA Mark-II and future systems."
— PTI
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Babus who helped Vectra boss under CBI scanner
New Delhi, April 22 The CBI is suspecting that the suspended couple of Madhya Pradesh, under the I-T department's probe for amassing illicit wealth, are among many officers who have allegedly facilitated Rishi's dealings in the defence sector, agency sources said. The couple's proximity to Rishi is said to have developed while one of them was posted as the Joint Secretary at the Defence Ministry during 1999-2004, when Vectra group signed defence deals related to supply of light helicopters, they said. The agency has found that the couple still has close connections with Rishi and some of their funds are parked with him, they said. The I-T Department had conducted searches in Bhopal and other premises of the couple during the financial year 2009-10 and after scrutiny of their financial holdings and assets, a tax demand notice of Rs 135 crore had been issued against them. — PTI
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Kuwait Indians outraged over suicide; write to PM
New Delhi, April 22 In a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Indian Citizens Committee (ICC) chairman HS Vedi said the incident had caused grave consternation among the Indian expatriates living in Kuwait who were deeply agitated over the "apathy, callousness and high-handed'' approach of the officials of the Indian Embassy. The ICC said the issue of Muhammadali, who may have been in a state of frustration, could have been handled by the mission staff in a dignified manner instead of being handed over to the police. The ICC also urged the PM to ascertain the quantum of emergency services rendered to its nationals by the Indian Embassy. Suicide in prison Muhammedali, an Andhra Pradesh native, who wanted to return to India from Kuwait, approached Indian Embassy, where he is said to have turned violent. Embassy security handed him over to the police. The police later said he was showing physiological problem inside the cell. He committed suicide by hanging himself.
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Another anti-Mamata cartoon; professor files complaint
Midnapore, April 22 The police said Dr Bikram Saha, associate professor of medicine, last night filed a complaint at the Kotwali police station against Proloy Mitra and Chinmay Roy, alleging that the duo had forwarded him a cartoon in which Banerjee's head was missing with the comment “our CM has lost her head”. "These two are behind sending me such a malicious mail which denigrates the CM. I hereby register complaint against them," the professor said in his complaint. The development comes days after Jadavpur University professor A Mahapatra was jailed on the charge of sending a cartoon criticising Banerjee and her party colleague Mukul Roy.
— PTI
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Trinitrotoluene, an explosive material, was used in the February 13 bombing of an Israeli diplomat’s car in the high-security area of the capital, the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory
said in its report.
New Delhi, April 22
