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Useful Features
Hindutva’s Violent History in Orissa
BY ANGANA CHATTERJI
Anthropologist
HINDUTVA’S PRODUCTION of culture and nation is often marked by savagery. On 23 August 2008, Lakshmanananda Saraswati, Orissa’s Hindu nationalist icon, was murdered with four disciples in Jalespeta in Kandhamal district. State authorities alleged the attackers to be Maoists (and a group has subsequently claimed the murder). But the Sangh Parviar held the Christian community responsible, even though there is no evidence or history to suggest the armed mobilisation of Christian groups in Orissa.
After the murder, the All India Christian Council stated: “The Christian community in India abhors violence, condemns all acts of terrorism, and opposes groups of people taking the law into their own hands”. Gouri Prasad Rath, General Secretary, VHPOrissa, stated: “Christians have killed Swamiji. We will give a befitting reply. We would be forced to opt for violent protests if action is not taken against the killers”.
Following which, violence engulfed the district. Churches and Christian houses razed to the ground, frightened Christians hiding in the jungles or in relief camps. Officials record the death toll at 13, local leaders at 20, while the Asian Centre for Human Rights noted 50. Read more
Zardari is Pakistan President
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has won a sweeping victory in Pakistan’s presidential election.
The election was called after Pervez Musharraf resigned rather than risk being impeached.
Mr Zardari faces severe economic problems and a rampant Islamist insurgency that are threatening Pakistan’s stability.
During the voting a bomb killed at least 15 people near Peshawar city.
The president is elected by secret ballots in the national and four provincial assemblies.
Mr Zardari won 481 votes out of 702, far more than the 352 votes that would have guaranteed him victory, leaving his two rivals trailing far behind.
In Sindh province, Mr Zardari won all 65 votes. In North West Frontier Province (NWFP) he got 56 out of the 65 votes. In Balochistan province he won 59 of the 65 votes.
By contrast he only won 22 out of 65 seats in Punjab province, the heartland of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N party.
Read full report in BBC website
- September 6, 2008
India lifts ban on long-grain rice (Pusa 1121) exports
Mumbai: India the world`s second-largest producer has allowed exports of the aromatic, long-grained rice Pusa -1121 with immediate effect.
The Government had recently partially lifted a six-month old ban on exports of some premium quality rice, due to expectations of a bumper crop for a second year in a row. But now the world’s second-largest producer has allowed exports of the aromatic, long-grained Pusa-1121 with immediate effect, a move that is expected to calm supply concerns in the global market.
Details of the shipments must be registered with the ministry, the Commerce Ministry said today on its Web site. It also fixed the minimum export price (MEP) at US$1,200 (Rs48,000) per ton. Shipments will be restricted through ports in Kandla, Kakinada, Kolkata, Mundra, Pipavav and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai.
The announcement could be the first step in relaxing the ban totally, according to Vijay Sethia, President of the New Delhi based All India Rice Exporters Association. Pusa-1121 is grown mostly in north Indian states. Read more
Indian Armed Forces carry out massive rescue & relief effort to fight Kosi floods in Bihar
PHOTOS: DPR Defense (India)
From Rajeev Sharma in New Delhi
The Indian Armed Forces are carrying out massive rescue and relief operations in the flood affected districts of Bihar. The floods came to Bihar after the Kosi river changed course in Nepal and water moved into the affected areas. A large number of marooned people have been evacuated to safer places. About 20,000 to 25,000 people are being evacuated daily.
The Army has deployed 37 columns for flood relief operations in the districts of Supaul, Madhepura, Araria, Purnia and Katihar. It has also deployed 37 medical teams at major relief camps. 450 average size boats, 64 small size boats and 6 helicopters have been pressed into service in the rescue and relief operations.
Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed IL-76, AN-32, Avro Aircraft and some helicopters in the rescue and relief operations. The IL-76 has so far evacuated 1360 people and airlifted 290 tonnes of relief materials in 37 sorties. The AN-32 have evacuated 532 people and airlifted 61 tonnes relief material in 102 sorties. Avro aircraft carried out 16 sorties evacuating 61 people and airlifting 9.5 tonnes of relief material. The IAF helicopters evacuated 176 marooned people in 350 sorties. They also airlifted 325 tonnes of relief material.
The Indian Navy has sent 145 specialized divers and 24 boats in the rescue operation. These divers have been sent to Bihar from Vishakapatnam, Mumbai and Kochi.
More teams of Army, Air Force and Navy are ready to move in as and when they are required by the State administration.
The Bihar Government has complemented the efforts put in by the Armed Forces in the rescue and relief operations. The Armed Forces are receiving full cooperation from the local administration, specially the district administration at Purnia from where most of the air lift operations are being carried out.
Mamta kills Nano: All set for pull out from Singur
Chennai/Kolkata, Sept. 2 Tata Motors is all set to pull out of Singur in West Bengal, from where it was to roll out its low-cost car Nano.
In a statement today, the company said it is “evaluating alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities and a detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site is under preparation.”
It said “to minimise the impact this may have on the recently recruited and trained people from West Bengal, the company is exploring the possibility of absorbing them at its other plant locations.” Read more
Strategic ties with U.S. will take India Pakistan’s way: Karat
Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said on Tuesday that the India-U.S. strategic partnership, of which the civilian nuclear deal was a component, would put India in the same position as Pakistan where the civilian government had little control over the dealings between its Army and the U.S. armed forces.
Inaugurating a national seminar on the nuclear deal organised by the AKG Centre for Research and Studies here, Mr. Karat cited a recent meeting between the U.S. defence services chief and his Pakistani counterpart Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on board the USS Abraham Lincoln as an event that showed that the civilian government had little control over the dealings between the U.S. and the Pakistan armed forces.
“This is the plight that India should not get into,” Mr. Karat said.
Read full report in http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/03/stories/2008090352261300.htm
Husain Hamara Hai: Maqbool aur Maankeshvar
M AQBOOL KA jigri dost Maankeshvar Indore school mein saath padein. Use bhi painting ka shauq magar Gita aur Ouran zabaan par. Aksar dono saath Ramlila ka natak dekhne jaaya karte. Maqbool ke nana Siddhpur Gujarat, mein masjid ke pesh , imam, isi vajah se Maqbool ko chhe saal ki umar hi se Quran ki aayatein zabaani yaad. Anek deen aur dharma ki baatein suni aur padi.
Maankeshvar ki dosti aur 50 baras ki umar tak ka saath, Maqbool par Ramayan aur Mahabharat ke charitron ka gehra asar pada, jise barson baad ‘M.F. Hu sain’ ne, unhe aajkal ki art zabaan mein, rang, rekha aur roop de kar canvas par utara, Maankeshvar bhi Indore chhod kar Bambai rehne laga aur kuchh arsa Maqbool ke saath kaam karta raha. Ahista-ahista vah duniyadaari ko chhod adhyatmik sadhana mein kho gaya. Maqbool phir bhi use kahin na kahin se dhoondh nikaalta aur ghanton uske ruhani faaslon ka saath deta. Khud Maqbool ka androni lagaav bhi usi taraf kheenchta raha, jiski buniyaad bachpan mein nana ne rekh di thi. Magar Maqbool ‘BambaiPlay House’ ke chamakte dhamakte stage aur cinema par 18 saal tak backdrop banata raha aur Maankeshvar dheere dheere sab kuchh tyaag kar sadhu ki saadgi le kar Himalaya ki ore chala gaya.” The above is an extract from Hu sain’s handwritten autobiography in Hindi (MF Husain ki Kahani, Apni Zubaani, September 2002). He has as much deep apnapan with Indian culture as anyone who has grown up within the mainframe of India, its holding template, which is un deniably Sanatana Dharma.
It is wrong to automatically as sume that he ‘desecrates’ Hindu deities. They are part of his identity. Let us not assume the worst because the Hindutvists urge us to think the worst.
Let us use our own judgment without being jealous of Husain’s glamour and success, as many of his detractors are. Let us be happy for him as a fellow-Indian and not be pinch-hearted. Husain hamara hai.
Courtesy: HT, Aug. 30, 2008
Indian Property Show Australia 2008 a success in Melbourne
A view of the Indian Property Show Australia 2008 in Melbourne
Event organisers from Zenith Events, Dubai and India Trade Centre, Melbourne
By our community reporter
Melbourne, Aug.28: The Indian Property Show Australia 2008 opened here with great enthusiasm today. The two-days show being held at prime location in The Camberwell Centre, Camberwell will end on Aug 29. About 16 property investment companies are participating in the show, organised by the Zenith Events, Dubai in collaboration with the India Trade Centre, Melbourne. The show gives a complete picture of why someone should invest in the lucrative proerty market in India. More information can be obtained by going to www.events-expo/australia. Earlier the show was held in Sydney on 23 & 24 Aug.
(More on the property show in the Sept.,2008 issue of South Asia Times)
Photos: Neeraj Nanda, South Asia Times
Indian traniee pilot killed in Melbourne crash
By our community reporter
Melbourne: An Indian traniee pilot, 24-year-old Akash Ananth died (on Aug.27) on his first solo flight when his plane clipped another aircraft and spiralled out of control, barely missing several homes and a school in Melbourne. The aviation student from India crashed his Cessna 150 into a garage in a block of single-storey units about 20 metres from Cheltenham East Primary School in Melbourne’s southeast.
The male pilot in the other plane, a Piper Warrior, was also an Indian trainee but was accompanied by another qualified pilot. They were uninjured and landed the plane safely at nearby Moorabbin Airport from where both aircraft took off.
Source: Oz media
Post - Musharraf challenge for Pakistan
By J. Sri Raman
After Pervez Musharraf stepped down from the nation’s presidency, the debate rages on in Pakistan on two questions: where the defeated military dictator will go now and where the country is headed. The third question - about the future of the system itself - has yet to become a dominant theme in Pakistani discourse.
On where Musharrraf is going, which is the issue of immediate popular interest, some answers have been attempted. Saudi Arabia, where he had exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was deemed an obvious option. It has nearly been ruled out now as not the right place for the former general fond of Scotch whiskey and free talking. Turkey, which he preferred as the place of his boyhood and the NATO nation with a pro-West and “secular army,” is also apparently out because of its relative proximity to Iraq. The US and the UK, so anxious thus far to get him a “safe exit,” are not exactly rushing to offer him refuge.
By several accounts, Musharraf himself would like, above all, to leave the army headquarters, where he has outstayed his welcome, only for a house he has been building in a posh Islamabad suburb. The house in Chak Shahzad will include a fish-pond, a walking track and “an extraordinary amount of barbed wire,” according to a report quoting Hammad Husain, the architect entrusted with the task. Husain, a family friend, is also reported to have disclosed that Musharraf’s wife Sehba had chosen “the curtains and fittings for the house, estimated at $2.34 million USD.” Read more
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