Haddi was a suicide bomber in making: Bhatkal

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  Saturday, 07 September 2013 14:56
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Akhtar alias Haddi was being prepared for a spectacular fidayeen, or suicide, strike in the coming months, counter-terror officials quoted Bhatkal as saying. Akhtar, too, confessed that he was trained by Pakistani spy agency the ISI in 2010.One of India’s most-wanted terrorists Bhatkal and Akhtar were picked up by Indian and Nepalese sleuths from Pokhra on August 29 and formally arrested in Raxual, Bihar, along the Indo-Nepal border.Bhatkal’s arrest is being seen as one of the biggest successes in India’s war against terror. He is believed to have masterminded at least six big terror strikes and is responsible for the death of more than 200 Indians.

“Akhtar had joined Yasin at his hideout in Nepal’s Pokhra only a few months back on the instructions of IM’s chief Riyaz Bhatkal,” said a source. A co-founder of IM, Riyaz Bhatkal, not related to Yasin, lives in an ISI safe house in defence housing authority’s colony in Karachi.Akhtar, 26, was drafted by Atif Ameen in what is now known as the Azamgarh module of the IM. Ameen was killed in Delhi’s Batla House encounter in September 2008. 

Akhtar, who also used Tabrez as an alias, was the one who planted the improvised explosive devices in the July 2011 Mumbai serial blasts, Pune serial blasts of August 2012 and February’s twin blasts in Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad, Bhatkal told his interrogators.Riyaz had also planned a suicide bombing at Bodh Gaya in Bihar, said sources. But, as reported by HT, Yasin Bhatkal has denied IM’s hand in the serial blasts that rocked the Buddhist holy town on July 7, injuring five people. “He says his men didn’t execute the Bodh Gaya strike though it was one of their targets,” said a source.

Bhatkal and Akhtar are being kept at a high-security paramilitary force camp in the outskirts of Delhi. A joint team of the National Investigation Agency and intelligence officials is questioning them.

Sources:Hindustan Times

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Whose ‘Telugu Desam’ will it be anyway

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  Sunday, 23 February 2014 00:58
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Pain Protest and some pepper spray and the state of Telangana is born. After years of struggle, and several rounds of agitation, Telangana is has come into being as the 29th State of India. Next question who will it benefit from the split in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

With the passage of Telangana Bill the Congress party has saved itself from certain extinction in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress along with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti or TRS is likely to bag the lion’s share of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the region. Elsewhere in Seemandhra the picture is very different with the Congress expected to draw a blank, no seats coming its way from the residual Andhra Pradesh. If that be the case it will mean that the Congress will only get half the 33 seats it won in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

Over in the BJP camp things are a no different while it doesn’t benefit from in Telengana the fact that the party supported the A.P. Reorganisation Bill has landed it in political quicksand as far as the Seemandhra region is conserned. Discontent is brewing within its district units in the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema areas. The feeling that the party has cheated the people of the Seemandhra region has been gaining ground over the last few days. The BJP workers in the region believe that the central leadership of the party allowed the Bill to be passed without first securing firm assurances on the interests of the Seemandhra region.

Realizing that both of them are not in a winning position at least in Seemandhra the BJP and the Congress have got into promise mode to try and woo back the people of the region. The BJP has promised to extend the special status to Seemandhra for 10 years instead of the present 5 given them under the agreement. And lest we forget there is the YSR Congress Party too in the fray here …and it is projected as the big winner in Seemandhra. So finally the BJP and the Congress will have the choice of wooing YS Jaganmohan Reddy in the state to firm up an alliance ..the question will Jagan be interested.

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‘People’s participation in development process is of utmost importance’: Naidu

• Wednesday, 17 December 2014 14:09
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New Delhi, Dec. 17 : Union Urban Development and Housing and Poverty Alleviation Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the people’s participation in the development process is of utmost importance and added that there should be provision of institutional infrastructure for efficient, accountable and transparent governance.

“Smart cities are possible only with smart leadership and smart urban citizenry,” he said.

Naidu said that considering the mammoth financial requirements for sustainable urbanization in South Asia, public-private partnerships have to play an important role.

Naidu further said that the fruits of new technologies should be harnessed so that our future cities become more efficient in use of energy and natural resources.

“Since cities are combinations of people, materials and factors that bind them together (values and emotions), we need to invest in hard (Material base) as well as soft (culture) resources,” he added.

Naidu said that nature, culture and future should go hand in hand. He said the pursuit of inclusive and sustainable urbanization in South Asia would help the region in achieving the development goals, and narrow the gaps in terms of social and physical infrastructure.

Naidu said that we need to look at and benefit from lessons from other regions in the area and adopt the best practices. He said that deliberations and exchange of experiences in the region would provide useful insights to the Government as it plans and moves ahead to develop smart cities across the length and breadth of the country.

He said that the government is working towards a model urban system that can allow the aspirations of all sections of the society, and can offer investment climate for intellect and money.

Naidu said the government has embarked on a mission to create 100 smart cities, which would provide sustainable economic, social and physical infrastructure, ensuring high quality of life.

Naidu said that the proportion of urban population is expected to rise rapidly in South Asia and the gigantic ‘urban demographic transformation’ needs to be managed in a manner that is more sustainable in terms of environment and more inclusive in economic and social terms.

“It must not lead to proliferation of slums, traffic congestions, increase in crime rate, etc.,” he said and called for thoughtful actions, strategic planning, and harnessing of new technologies so that there is smarter, more inclusive and sustainable development pattern.

Naidu, who inaugurated the Regional policy Dialogue on Sustainable Urbanization in South Asia here today, further said a strong engagement is required between science of planning and policy to enable affordable solutions for our cities.

He said that real growth of the region’s urban systems can be done through innovative planning, effective governance and dependable funding.

He said that the role of the private sector is crucial in these efforts as it can provide new knowledge and technology for enabling development of sustainable infrastructure and also for raising the financial resources required to bring about the change.

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THE NEW EAST INDIA COMPANY

• 
  Thursday, 17 October 2013 16:02
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Everyday there is a new exit poll…and with each of these predictions for Election 2014 one thing is becoming amply clear… that neither will the Modi’s and nor will the Rahul’s of the world get a clear mandate from the people…  Most polls put the share of the non BJP  non Congress regional stalwarts at around 240 seats .That has prompted the coming together of the new East India  Company.

Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, Nitish Kumar, Babulal Marandi and Badruddin Ajmal are together mulling the formation of a new front. Reciently Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy made a quiet visit to Ranchi. He met Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) leader Babulal Marandi, to cement  the formation of an eastern block of parties that are, equidistant from the Congress and the BJP.

The Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal (U), and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) hold sway in over 100 seats in eastern India. All of these parties being courted by both the BJP and the Congress, have so far decided to play it safe holding their election cards close to their chest.

So is it just about the East India Company, not really.  Later this month, the Left is organising a convention in Delhi, where Mulayam Singh Yadav, the leader of  the Samajwadi Party, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and BJD boss and Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik, are expected to be present. Also said to be making it to the meeting is AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa. Together they look like a formidable force which if they pull in a few more like minded allies will cross the 200 mark in terms of seat potential.

There is only one hitch, just like the East India Company of old the policy here  seems to one of  ‘divide and rule’, only the formula in this case applies to the members themselves..Each of them is ready  to ‘divide’  for himself or herself as much support as possible within the Company  and then become Prime Minister….Mulayam, Nitish, Naveen, Jayalalithaa, all four are Prime Ministers in waiting..

 Last time round  the East India Company was rejected by the Aam Aadmi.. Aur Aam Admi se yaad aiya …’Arvind Kahan hai’.  Will he be the real alternative that the Aam Admi is looking to in 2014.

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Modeled on Gujarat

• 
  Tuesday, 29 April 2014 11:32
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Be it an effect, wave or tsunami that brings Narendra Modi to power at the centre this year…one thing is clear, he will have to deliver on all that he has promised during his high octane very vocal campaign. More than anything India and especially its youth will watch and want him to deliver in bringing about an economic revolution more jobs and prosperity. Question is how will Modi do that?  As he has said time and again he will stretch the Gujarat Model to fit India …is that a possibility?

NO RED TAPE

Going by the Gujarat model if Modi has his way India will become a very business friendly nation.  Modi, has a personal interest in reducing red tape and administrative lethargy, has been able to take Gujarat one notch higher in terms of investor-friendliness generating more jobs and thereby better standards of living.

AGRI FIRST

On the agricultural front the Gujarat model under Modi has struck a fine balance between being business-friendly and agriculture-friendly. Modi has laid special emphasis on the growing of agriculture in the state. The state’s agricultural growth is 9.8 percent per anum. This is the critical differentiator between the state and say a Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu. While these states did better than Gujarat in terms of overall growth, the state has excelled in agriculture. This also meant a higher level of rural income than in other states.

NO DOLE

The Gujarat model does not believe in doles and direct subsidies. This is much in evidence in its power sector. In Gujarat the state runs some of the most efficient power companies in India. On the other hand the rural sector, does get a power sop rates are lower than in other states..

STAYING PUBLIC

Also Modi does not believe in selling off public sector companies instead he is a firm believer in turning them around. Thus the return on investment in public sector enterprises has gone from just above 3% before he took over to around 7 % now. While Modi did hive off the state’s electricity utilities he has not privatised them for fear they will not care for the less affluent.

And so when the waves and tsunami’s have dies down Mr Modi and company will have to get down to work to prove that he is indeed as good as he promises because that is the ultimate test of governance as we know it today

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NOTA, IT DON’T REALLY MATTER

• 
  Tuesday, 08 October 2013 18:40
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A cry of jubilation arose from urban India the day NOTA or the ‘none of the above’ option was added to the voting machine by the Election Commission …The talk in the college canteen and the water cooler corner alike, yippie finally WE HAVE THE POWER, time to cast our vote and reject those rotten *#@%%* politicians that we so hate… But have we really got the right to reject the dirty dozen (in most cases its more than that) at the polling booth  this time round …Answer to that, not really.

The NOTA button that electronic voting machines EVM’s will have from now does not give you the ‘the right to reject’ all candidates. The Supreme Court in its order has just given you the voter the right to register a vote that rejects all the candidates standing for election.That means even if the number of NOTA votes cast exceeds the number of votes bagged by the highest vote getting candidate, he wins, here’s how

Hypothetically speaking, there are 2 candidates A and B standing for election in a particular constituency which has 100 voters. There are 80 NOTA votes cast in the election. Of the remaining votes A gets 15 votes and B garners only 5 votes, A will be declared winner in the election. At present, under the Representation of the People Act, the returning officer is duty-bound to declare the candidate who secures the maximum num­­ber of votes as the winner.

This however is a first step in the right direction. Prior to 1988 the voter could submit a blank ballot, this was open to misuse. Then came the EVM the Electronic voting machine . The machine took away the secrecy from the ballot . Pressing  any button  on the machine made a beeping sound, heard through out the booth.  If the voter did not like any of the candidates in the field  and did not press any button no sound would be heard. This violated the voter’s basic right to secrecy. This has prompted the NOTA button.

What needs to be done next by the law , for starters votes cast for the NOTA  button should be cou­nted .In case the NOTA button gets more votes th­an any of the candidat­es, no­­ne of the candidates sho­uld be declared elected and a fresh election held.  Also none of the present candidates should be allo­wed to contest again

That will ensure that NONE OF THE ABOVE really becomes NOTA worthy

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