India Supports Mizo Model For Taliban

By Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury

S M Krishna condemns ex-Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani's assassination

Rabbani with PM Manmohan Singh in Kabul in May.

New Delhi, Sep 21 : India strongly condemned Burhanudin Rabbani's killing and described it as an attempt to silence the voice of "reason and peace in Afghanistan".

External affairs minister S.M. Krishna "unreservedly" condemned the assassination and termed it an "act of great brutality".

Recalling his meetings with Rabbani in Kabul last January and in New Delhi in July, Krishna said: "I fondly recall my meetings with him… when he had shared his vision of a harmonious and prosperous Afghanistan. Tragically, the forces of terror and hatred have silenced yet another powerful voice of reason and peace in Afghanistan."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also met Rabbani during his Kabul trip last May.

Expressing shock over the news, Krishna offered condolences to the Afghan leader's family and the people of his country. Reiterating support to Afghanistan's effort to consolidate peace and rebuild the war-torn country, Krishna said: "I would also like to reiterate the steadfast support of the people and government of India in Afghanistan's quest for peace and efforts to strengthen the roots of democracy".

Rabbani maintained close links with India during the Taliban regime between 1996 and 2001 and sought support to fight the likes of Mullah Omar.

India hosted Rabbani in July, when it sought from him an update on the Taliban reintegration process, including the state of negotiations with leaders of its various factions. He appraised the Indian leadership and officials of the negotiations he had undertaken with the Taliban leaders.

New Delhi had earlier indicated that India supported a Mizo model of reconciliation for the Taliban - renunciation of violence and accepting the country's constitution.

But it had ruled out supporting any power sharing formula that ensures Taliban rehabilitation though a backdoor support from the ISI.

Trapped In An Unequal World

By Soumik Mukherjee

A recent incident in the Capital has the Northeast students community fuming at the police for their discriminatory attitude

VR Ngarinthing (left) and his brother Shinmi

It was easy to miss the small gathering of youngsters bearing placards in front of the Sarojini Nagar police station on a busy evening. After all, protests are not an uncommon occurrence in the Capital. The words on the placard— 'The police must stop racial discrimination’— however, were.

Last week, a group of 50 Naga students, under the banner of the Naga Students Union Delhi (NSUD), came together to protest an act of discrimination by the Delhi Police. VR Ngaranthing (21) and his brother Shinmi (26), Nagas from Manipur, said that on the night of 10 September, after a scuffle with locals outside their Humayunpur residence, the police did not only act hostile and ask the locals to “beat them to death”, but Assistant Sub Inspector Shri Krishan also assaulted Shinmi and a friend of his at the AIIMS trauma centre.

The city police, however, gave a different account of the incident. A police official at the Sarojini Nagar police station told TEHELKA that the Naga boys, with three of their friends, attacked two locals after they objected to the boys’ public drinking. “It’s a regular incident when these people drink on the road,” insisted the official. "Their injuries are minor while one local boy suffered broken ribs and the other fractured a hand. To save themselves they have brought in the discrimination angle, to put pressure on us and divert blame. They often do that,” he said. The official also revealed that a blood alcohol test had been carried out on the two boys and the reports came out positive. TEHELKA was refused access to the report.

Ngaranthing and his friends, however, claimed that no blood alcohol test had been conducted on them. “The doctors at AIIMS while treating us even told the police, initially, that we were not drunk. Later the hospital authorities issued a report that said we were. It’s surely a case where the police influenced the report,” said Shinmi.

Leiyaza Wushu Wunga, Assistant General Secretary of NSUD and a former spokesperson for the Tankhul tribe, said that most of the time students from the Northeast are discriminated against, as they lack proper political backing. Citing a case in 2009, where two Naga boys were beaten up by the locals in the same fashion and the police were as intolerant, Leiyaza said that the case was solved in no time and the accused police personnel were suspended because Navin Brahma, the then Joint Secretary of Home Ministry was close to the tribe leaders. “But without such contacts the police often create hostile situation for our boys,” rued Leiyaza.

Madhu Chandra, a human rights activist and the convener for the organisation North-East Support Center & Helpline, said that the Delhi Police has made it a habit to harass the students and youth of Northeast. “These people are easy targets since they don’t have much support here. The police, instead of catching the perpetrators, often harass the Northeast boys as that solves the cases quickly,” said Chandra. “It’s the mindset of the mainland people that often discriminate and, in the process, alienate them,” she added.

Discrimination towards the students from the Northeast is widely practiced in the National capital. Sanjoy Takam, the Member of Parliament from Arunachal Pradesh said, “The civilians always look at them with suspicion just because they look different.” “The police is even more suspicious towards these boys because they are from Northeast. It’s true that some anti-Government elements work in the region but that does not mean that anyone from the Northeast has to be looked upon suspiciously,” he added. This kind of treatment will have a bigger impact in the politics of the Northeast, the MP pointed out. “A distance has already been created between the Centre and the Northeastern states and alienating the youth will only make it worse,” warned Takam.

NSUD and the boys have demanded the suspension of the three policemen involved in the Humayunpur case. The police was supposed to announce their decision on 17 September after an internal probe. However, when NSUD members inquired about the outcome of the investigation, they were informed that the case had been handed over to the vigilance department and the decision was postponed indefinitely.

With no conclusive evidence against the police in sight, the wait for justice for Ngaranthing and Shinmi will be long, it seems.

Soumik Mukherjee is a trainee correspondent with Tehelka.com. soumik@tehelka.com

Northeast Records 614 Quakes Between 1980-2009

By Ajit Patowary
 


Guwahati, Sep 21 : In all, 614 earthquakes of low and moderate intensities rocked the NE region in a period of 30 years, between 1980 and 2009, as per data available with the Regional Meteorology Centre (RMC) here.

RMC Deputy Director General of Meteorology (DDGM) H Pathak told this correspondent that during these years, 2005, with 38 earthquakes of various intensities, recorded the highest number of earthquakes in a single year. Both 1994 and 2009 recorded the second highest occurrence of earthquakes. Each of them recorded 36 earthquakes of different intensities.

Significantly, in the decade between 1980 and 1989, between 12 and 27 earthquakes rocked the region every year, whereas, in the following decade, the rate of occurrence ranged between 13 and 36 per year. In the latest decade, between 2000 and 2009, the rate of occurrance varied in the range of 14 to 38 per year, Pathak said.

From 1869 till 2009, the region has recorded three earthquakes that measured beyond 8 on the Richter scale – these had occurred on June 12, 1897 (8.7), on January 15, 1934 (8.3) and on August 15, 1950 (8.6).

During this period, it has recorded four earthquakes beyond 7 in magnitude. These earthquakes occurred on January 10, 1869 (7.5), on July 8, 1918 (7.6), July 2, 1930 (7.1) and on October 23, 1943 (7.2).

On ten occasions, the region has recorded earthquakes of 6 or more than 6 in magnitude during this period. These earthquakes occurred on June 2, 1934 (6.5), August 6, 1988 (6.6), August 21, 1988 (6.4), May 29, 1994 (6.6), August 8, 1994 (6), May 6, 1995 (6), July 28, 1996 (6), November 2, 1997 (6), October 11, 2000 (6) and September 21, 2009 (6.2).

Of the earthquakes occurring on June 12, 1897, June 2, 1934, August 15, 1950, August 6, 1988, May 29, 1994, August 8, 1994, May 6, 1995, July 28, 1996, November 2, 1997, October 11, 2000 and September 21, 2009, seven occurred in the southeastern direction from the Shillong-based Central Seismological Observatory (CSO).

The places located in this direction are – Southeast Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, South Myanmar and Eastern Bangladesh, Pathak said.

Jeje Lalpekhlua 'Honoured' To Be Given Best Young Player Award

FPAI Indian Football Awards 2011: Jeje Lalpekhlua 'Honoured' To Be Named In The Top Three For The Best Young Player Award

The Mizoram-born striker has made it to the top three of the ‘Best Young Player’ category in the 2011 FPAI Indian Football Awards.

By Amoy Ghoshal

The 2011 FPAI Indian Football Awards is less than a week away now and on Tuesday the nominees for all the categories were revealed.

India and Pune FC striker Jeje Lalpekhlua has made it into the top three of the ‘Best Young Player’ category alongside East Bengal’s Raju Gaikwad and Lenny Rodrigues of Churchill Brothers.

While speaking to Goal.com, the official online partner of the third edition of the FPAI Awards, Jeje said that he was honoured to make the top three.

“It is a big honour for me and giving me a special feeling. I have improved as a player in the last 12 months and this nomination is recognition of the same,” Jeje told Goal.com.

He also refused to draw comparisons with himself and Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia.

“Bhaichung (Bhutia) is a legend. I should never be compared with him. I have a long way to go in my career.”

The 20-year-old has scored in both of Pune FC’s matches in this season's Federation Cup and he stated that he has so far enjoyed playing and scoring in the football crazy city of Kolkata.

“It feels nice to score but I am disappointed that we couldn't win against East Bengal. In Kolkata there is a lot of passion for football so a lot of people come to the ground and thus it always gives you confidence to play.”

Jeje looked back to the 2-1 defeat to the red and gold brigade and admitted that the injuries of Subrata Paul, Mandjou Keita and Chika Wali made it difficult for PFC to get a positive result.

“Injuries to Subrata (Paul), (Mandjou) Keita and Chika (Wali) didn't help our cause and we also had a couple of half chances to score at 2-1.”

The former India Arrows (now Pailan Arrows) striker looked ahead to Pune’s final game in the group against Mohammedan Sporting.

“It is out of our hands now as it depends on the other game but we will still try to give our best and win the last group game,” he signed off.

source: goal.com

'Tectonically Unstable Northeast India Prone To Mega Quakes'

Seismologists point out that northeast India  is prone to earthquakes similar to the one that hit Sikkim , other parts of India, Nepal and Tibet  on Sunday evening. K Anurag reports   

Seismically-highly active northeastern region of the country may be rocked by an earthquake of high magnitude any day, given the data generated by  study of earth tremors for over 30 years since 1980 under the supervision of North East Institute Science and Technology.

Based in Jorhat in eastern Assam, the geological science department in the NEIST headed by Dr Ranju Duarah has set up 21 earthquake observation centres in the northeastern region. These automatic centres send instant signals to the central observatory at the NEIST as soon as any tremor occurs. On the basis of study conducted from the data collected on frequent quakes occurring in the region, NEIST geologists apprehend that a mega quake may hit the region any day though it is not possible to predict an earthquake precisely.

Dr Duarah is of the opinion that most earthquakes occurring in the region are related to subduction of the India-Burma tectonic plate under the Java-Sumatra tectonic plate. However, Sunday's 6.8 earthquake that rocked Sikkim and the Himalayan region is because of the continental collision between the Eurasian Plate and India Plate.

He said the tectonic activities in the Java-Sumatra plate were responsible for the disastrous tsunami that hit coastal regions of South Asia on December 26, 2004. The tsunami and accompanying earthquake on the base of the Indian Ocean also affected the India-Burma plate that is tectonically related to the Java-Sumatra plate. Over 350 quakes of different magnitude have jolted the northeastern region since the tsunami.

The seismologist pointed out that the northeastern region falls within the high-risk Zone V of the seismological map of the Indian subcontinent while Sikkim falls in the Zone IV (where risk factor is less compared to Zone V). The region was hit by mega quakes in 1897 and 1950 that created havoc with is topography besides causing damage to lives and property.

But quakes today can be more catastrophic, as the population in much higher. Hence, it calls for adequate precaution on part of authorities regarding building codes and urban planning, Dr Duarah observes.

Jaitley Seeks End to Porous Borders in Northeast States

New Delhi, Sep 21 : Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley today accused the Centre and Assam government of playing "vote-bank politics" in dealing with infiltration in North-Eastern states and suggested "an end to the pourous borders".

"My own view is that the present government- both in Assam and in Delhi have no political will to seriously detect and deport the foreigners and illegal immigrants," said Jaitley while delivering a lecture on "Current issues of North-Eastern India" organised by BJP's North East India "Sampark" Cell here.

Jaitley said "to solve the problem of North East, what is extremely important is to put an end to this porous border. And therefore, resolving all the boundary issues and putting an end to that porous border checks further infiltration. You need to have a legal mechanism. You need separate Tribunals to solve the problem."

With an obvious reference to Congress, Jaitley charged various political parties with indulging in "vote-bank politics" while dealing with infiltrators.

These political parties, he said, thought that "they cannot politically succeed" without them. "And therefore, there was a conscious effort to alter the demography of these regions -some parts of Assam and Tripura, which are areas which got adversely affected due to large-scale infiltration," he said.

Jaitley said BJP had a very clear stand on this issue. "BJP was clear on this that detection and deportation is necessary. You cannot allow the demographic and the cultural character of some of these states to be completely altered."

Seeking a dialogue with neighbouring countries to resolve border issues and infiltration, Jaitley said, "fortunately, you now have a government with which we have a reasonable relationship in Bangladesh and even at the cost of a lot of criticism internationally, successive governments in India have kept a working relationship with the military regime in Myanmar."

Reiterating that the border disputes with neighbouring countries have to be settled to bring normalcy in North-East, the BJP leader said, "even though China has settled its boundaries with several neighbours, it has not settled it with India."

"For some reasons, they have not been forthcoming in settling boundary disputes. One can assess what their intentions are. But the moment we settle the border disputes in these areas, that will ensure that peace and amity will come to this region," said Jaitley.

He also hinted at settlement of border issues by fencing the eastern border on the model of similar action in large parts of Pakistan border.

"While negotiating this, the sentiment of the people and the country is required to be taken. Government negotiators have to be particularly conscious of India's territorial sovereignty," he said.

Talking about the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Jaitley said "we require a twin mechanism. You will need security to eliminate terror and infiltration where security is required. But you also need a safeguard to ensure there is no abuse of this security."

Bar Refaeli – VS Magazine Photoshoot

Poonam Pandey Twitpics

Poonam Pandey recently gave an eyeful of her cleavage as she posted this pic on Twitter.

Poonam Pandey leaves little to imagination as she flaunts her cleavage on Twitter!

Poonam Pandey recently gave an eyeful of her cleavage as she posted this pic on Twitter. "Now the time for the 5th ODI.. Have lot more "SURPRISES" for the Boyz.. Hope atleast this time i get a Chance to Gift them :) if they Win... But for Now... All u Lovely Tweethearts This one is for u :) Love u all muawaaaaah!!!!!," wrote Poonam.

On September 9, Poonam posted this picture and wrote, "Hey My Lovely Tweeps!! Shot this for u... But the "Sensational Surprise" on its way if the Boys win the match today!!! Love u alll...Muwwwwaaah xoxxo"

Poonam, who's seen flaunting her sexy cleavage in this picture, tweeted, "This one for MSD for getting back the Hope in the Game!! n if they Win today a "Sensational Surprise" Keep Watching." The model posted this 'Twitpic' on September 9, 2011.

"Off to sleep. Good night <3 love you all XOXO<333333 :)," tweeted Poonam with this pic on September 10, 2011.

":(( Really Disappointed!!! But i Guess u Tweethearts!! i wont disappoint u!!! Lets c what happens in the Next Match my Surprise i still Pending!!! But for all u Lovely Tweethearts a Small Goodnight Gift!! Love u all!! Muwaaaaaahhhh!!!!," tweeted Poonam on September 11, 2011.