Nation: Tercentenary commemoration of ‘Gurta Gaddi,’- appointment of the Adi Granth as the Guru of Sikhs.

Over 3 lakh pilgrims take part in ‘Gurta Gaddi’ in Nanded

Nation: 

Plot to assassinate Obama

Plot to assassinate Obama is foiled

Tue, Oct 28 07:39 AM

Washington, Oct 28 (DPA) Federal agents have foiled a plot by two Nazi-sympathizers to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and kill more than 100 African Americans at a school in Tennessee, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the two men said they planned to rob a gun store and go on a 'killing spree' at a predominantly African American school in Crockett County, Tennessee.

Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman 'further stated that their final act of violence would be to attempt to kill or assassinate presidential candidate Barack Obama,' federal agent Brian Weeks wrote in the affidavit.

Police recovered one sawed-off shotgun from Schlesselman, but it does not appear the plot had gotten very far.  more 

Orange County - Mujibur Rehman on violence against minorities in India

Kandhamal, one of the 30 districts of Orissa, was  created in 1994 by the then Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, father of  present CM Naveen Patnaik. According to the 2001 Census, 52 per cent of Kandhamal’s population are Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 17 per cent are Scheduled Castes (SCs). Out of 100,000 Christians, 60 per cent are converted from SCs, locally known as Pana Christians. The region is called Kandhamal because it is land of the Kandha tribes. The word ‘Kandha’ means hills. The per capita income in the district is Rs 4,730, whereas Orissa’s per capita income is Rs 5,264. It has only 15 sanctioned police stations with a capacity of 647 personnel looking after 648,000 citizens.

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While Naveen Patnaik runs a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), his father had opposed alliances with Hindutva parties. In the 1989 national election, when all major non-Congress parties had electoral alliances with the BJP, Biju Patnaik opposed the move, and yet won a majority of the Lok Sabha seats in the state for his party. The electoral history of Orissa elections indicates the rise of the BJP from the 2000 election. In 1980, the BJP garnered only 1.36 per cent of the vote; in 1990, the BJP fielded 63 candidates, garnered 3.56 per cent, won two seats and lost deposit in 54 seats. In the 2000 election, however, 38 out of 63 of its candidates won, and it got 18.20 per cent votes, and in 2004, it won 32 seats and got 17.11 per cent votes. But the BJP’s presence has created advantages for Hindutva organisations to consolidate their base. While Naveen Patnaik may claim that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) represents the legacy of Biju Patnaik, the fact is the most important legacy of secularism is being deeply compromised by the BJD by first being part of the coalition and then not being able to control the recurring violence against Christians.
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Orissa’s religious violence is intriguing because Oriya sub-nationalism was never rooted in Hindu religion. Instead, it grew around the Oriya language. It was Lord Jagannath and his cult which defined the mainstream Oriya  religious traditions. The statement  once made by an unknown Bengali writer, “Oriya ekta bhasa naye (Oriya is not a language)” became a rallying cry for a separate state movement leading to the creation of Orissa on April 1, 1936. Madhusudhan Das, a noted barrister, led a mass political movement through his political party, Utkal Sammilani, which was independent of the Congress Party. The idea of Orissa, along with Sindh, as a separate state, was floated in a White Paper prepared by British in 1933, as a sequel to the report of the Simon Commission. Thus, Orissa is the first state to be created on the basis of a separate language and inspired state reorganisations across linguistic lines in post-independent India.


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India's space journey started from St Mary Magdelene's Church, Thumba, now a space Museum

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Nation

India's space journey started from St Mary Magdelene's Church, Thumba, now a space Museum

India's space journey started from a village church 22 Oct 2008, 0107 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman, TNN T’PURAM: Far from the research stations and labs, India's space programme began at a church in what was once a tiny fishing village called Thumba, Carts carried rocket material in the early days (TOI Photo)  not far from Thiruvanathanapuram airport in Kerala. In 1962, when the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established, father of India's nuclear programme Homi Bhabha, along with Vikram Sarabhai, evaluated a number of sites in Kerala to establish a rocket station. Finally, they zeroed in on Thumba. But there was a hitch. Fisherfolk of the village, emotionally attached to the place, particularly the  had to be convinced to give up the place. The task fell on a former bishop of Thiruvananthapuram. During a Sunday congregation, he spoke to the villagers about the advantages of a space programme. He then asked if they had any objections if the village was handed over to the space department. The villagers paused only a while, and chorused, "Amen", indicating that they were ready to give up their village. Space experts later commented that that it was an auspicious beginning for India's space missions. The project was initiated with the blessings of the villagers who were resettled. The small place of worship became the mainstay for the team of rocket scientists, including A P J Abdul Kalam. The first drawings of some of the earliest rockets were made in this church, now a space museum.   more

Right to ask questions is integral to democracy

Vidya Subrahmaniam
The Hindu  , October 23, 2008

You cannot say we are dealing with terrorists and therefore don’t ask questions, says senior Congress leaderSalman Khursheed.

— Photo: V.V. Krishnan 

share the facts: The public is confused by the wildly varying accounts of the Jamia Nagar encounter, says Salman Khursheed.

The Congress party is deeply divided over the September 19 police encounter in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar. The raid killed two Muslim youths, Atif Ameen and Mohammad Sajed and injured a third, Mohammad Saif. Muslim Congress leaders, backed by the secular strand within the party, are demanding a judicial enquiry into the incident; and if not that at least a convincing response to questions. Their plea is that the Muslim community, in a ferment over the encounter and the subsequent arrests, needs to be reassured of the fairness of the police action. Transparency is the essence of fair investigation, they say. As against this, National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan has taken the position that to yield to this demand would be to undermine the police force. Senior party leader Salman Khursheed was among those who met the party chief and the Prime Minister in this connection. In an interview to The Hindu he argues that the right to ask questions and seek answers is an inherent right in a democracy, and those who do so must not be fobbed off or be called “anti-national.”

Right to ask questions is integral to democracy

Vidya Subrahmaniam

You cannot say we are dealing with terrorists and therefore don’t ask questions, says senior Congress leaderSalman Khursheed.

— Photo: V.V. Krishnan 

share the facts: The public is confused by the wildly varying accounts of the Jamia Nagar encounter, says Salman Khursheed.

The Congress party is deeply divided over the September 19 police encounter in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar. The raid killed two Muslim youths, Atif Ameen and Mohammad Sajed and injured a third, Mohammad Saif. Muslim Congress leaders, backed by the secular strand within the party, are demanding a judicial enquiry into the incident; and if not that at least a convincing response to questions. Their plea is that the Muslim community, in a ferment over the encounter and the subsequent arrests, needs to be reassured of the fairness of the police action. Transparency is the essence of fair investigation, they say. As against this, National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan has taken the position that to yield to this demand would be to undermine the police force. Senior party leader Salman Khursheed was among those who met the party chief and the Prime Minister in this connection. In an interview to The Hindu he argues that the right to ask questions and seek answers is an inherent right in a democracy, and those who do so must not be fobbed off or be called “anti-national.”

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A different Sena: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena of Raj Thackeray

Interim bail for Raj Thackeray

Rahi Gaikwad, The Hindu, October 23, 2008 

MNS leader still faces many cases

Kalyan (Thane district): It was celebration time for the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Wednesday as its leader Raj Thackeray was let off on interim bail. After spending a night at the Manpada police station here, Mr. Thackeray went home to a boisterous welcome in the evening.

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 Frontline  vol 23 issue 6,  Mar. 25 - Apr. 07, 2006 

A different Sena

LYLA BAVADAM
in Mumbai

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena seeks to project itself as a political force suited to the new era.

VIVEK BENDRE 

Raj Thackeray at the launch of the party, in Mumbai.
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TEHELKA exposes Police story of Jamia Nagar encounter

Wednesday, 15 October 2008 TEHELKA INITIATIVES: Critical Futures | Tehelka Foundation

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 39, Dated Oct 04, 2008 CURRENT AFFAIRS   terror puzzle Police Theories Encountered The official narration is shooting holes into their own story on the Delhi operation, triggering demands for an inquiry SHOBHITA NAITHANI New Delhi IT’S 11 AT night on September 22. Sombre activity is in progress at the Nizamuddin burial ground, but a stunned, occasionally resentful uncertainty pervades the air. A group of some 150 armed policemen stand round, keeping grim watch over a gathering of over 250 people. Some of those attending the funeral are irate. They are questioning the veracity of the rationale that brings them to the burial of Atif, alias Bashir, and Mohammed Sajid, blamed for the September 13 New Delhi blasts and shot dead three days earlier in a police encounter in New Delhi’s Jamia Nagar. Now the two are being buried in the presence of the Shahi Imam of the Delhi Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, local politicians and numerous Muslims visiting the city to mark Ramzan. Speaking at the funeral, Bukhari reiterated what many civil society organisations have been saying since September 19, the day of the encounter: “The police cannot label anyone a terrorist. It’s for the courts to decide whether a person is guilty.” more

Ram Setu not part of Hinduism: Govt tells SC

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court the Ram Setu, which many Hindus believe was the bridge Lord Ram built to cross over to Lanka, was not an integral part of the religion.

The Centre’s affidavit also said the Setu, a 48-km long chain of limestone shoals, was destroyed by Lord Ram himself and is not a place of worship as claimed by some Hindu groups.

The groups say the Sethusamudram shipping canal project, which proposes building a shipping canal between India and Sri Lanka, would destroy the Setu.

The Government referred to Kamba Ramayana written by Tamil saint Kambar to support its claim. The affidavit is surprising, as the Government is examining an alternative alignment for the channel project upon a directive from the Supreme Court.

Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy and several other organisations have filed pleas before the Supreme Court claiming Ram Setu is a place of worship and sacred to Hindus. The petitioners claim Lord Rama and his army built the Setu to reach Sri Lanka to rescue his wife.

The Centre has appointed a six-member committee to examine if an alternative route for the Sethusamudram project can be taken to save the Setu. The court is awaiting the report of the six-member committee.

The Sethusamudram project

The Sethusamudram shipping canal project proposes linking the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping canal.

The project involves dredging 82.5 million cubic metres of the Adam's Bridge or the Ram Setu. When completed, the canal will be 167 km long and its estimated cost is approximately Rs 2,427 cores.

This is the country's first effort at dredging a navigation channel that is 30-40 kilometres offshore. The project promises to save travel time and cost drastically.

As of now, ships traversing from India's east coast to the west coast have to circumnavigate Sri Lanka due to this bridge located southeast of Rameswaram.

Once the canal is ready, ships can navigate through the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, and enter the Bay of Bengal directly, thereby reducing the distance for ships by 780 km and sailing time by up to 30 hours.

source 

Abhaya Sahu, President of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, arrested in Orissa

Anti-Posco leader heldSoumyajit Pattnaik, Hindustan TimesBhubaneswar, October 13, 2008

Abhaya Sahu, president of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, was arrested on Sunday by the Jagatsinghpur police near Paradip, nearly 80 km from Bhubaneswar. Sahu has been leading the agitation against the Posco steel project ever since the MoU was signed with the South Korean steel major in 2005. more 

World: My vision of India-Pakistan relations -Manmohan Singh

World: My vision of India-Pakistan relations -Manmohan Singh

Ways to help Orissa Christians

Want to help Orissa Christians? Here's how! click here

P.C. Alexander on Shivraj Patil

 Asian Age  October 10 ,2008 Opinion 

The troubles of Shivraj Patil

P.C. Alexander

Home minister Shivraj Patil must have been taken aback by the vehemence of the attacks on him from all sides — the Opposition parties, the media and even a section of his own party — during the last few weeks. Epithets like "inefficient", "inadequate", "incompetent", "inept" etc. are being hurled at him and demands are being made that he be sacked. The latest to join in demanding his scalp is the Samajwadi Party, the new UPA ally.

Let us examine how an otherwise endearing personality like Shivraj Patil could fall so steeply in the esteem of so many people in the fifth year of his tenure as the home minister. I can mention three reasons which I believe contributed the most towards his present uncomfortable position. They are... read 

J.S. Verma, former chief justice of India speaks about Gujarat Violence

Outlook.com October 03, 2008 Jitender Gupta

INTERVIEW

'In '02, I Asked The Centre To Use Art 355 On Gujarat'

Former CJI, and chairman of the NHRC at the critical time when the Gujarat riots took place, on Nanavati Commission and more

SABA NAQVI INTERVIEWS J.S. VERMA

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J.S. Verma, former chief justice of India, is considered both an excellent legal mind and a man of great integrity in an age when standards of judicial probity have fallen so sharply. He has been part of several significant judgements of the Supreme Court, besides having been chairman of the National Human Rights Commission at the critical time when the Gujarat riots took place. He spoke to Saba Naqvi. Excerpts:  Judges seem to be complicit in trying matters through commissions of inquiry or being used for political purposes?  Well, I am upset at the inordinate delay in commissions of inquiry.
I'm shocked that Nanavati should say the NHRC got the Gujarat government's cooperation. His absolving it of failure to implement the NHRC recommendations goes against public records.	The Liberhans Commission has been at it, examining the Babri Masjid demolition, for 16 years. Even the Nanavati Commission that is in the news now has taken six-and-a-half years to come up with its findings. I don't want to say anything about it giving a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government. But I want to say something about the claim made by

the commission that the Gujarat government complied with all the requests made by the NHRC of which I was then the chairman. Justice Nanavati has absolved the Gujarat government of failure to implement the recommendations of the NHRC. That is against public records. Please see my letter of January 3, 2003, to the prime minister, within a fortnight of when I demitted office. In the letter, I expressed my deep anguish that a lot remained to be done to give justice to the victims of Gujarat which required reparation and also identifying perpetrators and punishing them. This letter is part of the annexure of the 2002-03 annual report of the NHRC.  more

Tercentenary commemoration of ‘Gurta Gaddi,’- appointment of the Adi Granth as the Guru of Sikhs.

Nanded set for big event

S. Harpal Singh

— PHOTO: G. SANJEEV REDDY 

FOCAL POINT: Pilgrims outside the Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib gurudwara in Nanded.

NANDED: This Maharashtra town and its historic Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib gurudwara will host this month the commemoration of the tercentenary of ‘Gurta Gaddi,’ or the 

It was at this gurudwara that the epoch-making event took place 300 years ago. It also houses Angeetha Sahib, the final resting place of 10th Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh. It was in Nanded that he was mortally wounded in 1708 by an assassin. Before his passing, he issued an edict to Sikhs to follow the Guru Granth Sahib as their leader.

An estimated 50 lakh pilgrims from all over the world are expected to visit the gurudwara between the Dasara festival on October 9, and November 3 when the occasion of Guru Gobind Singh’s parlok gaman, or passing, will be observed. more 

Rousing welcome to Guru Granth Sahib

S. Harpal Singh

Over 3 lakh pilgrims take part in ‘Gurta Gaddi’ in Nanded

Photo: P.V. Sivakumar 
 
GREETINGS: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with the sword presented to him at the ‘Gurta Gaddi ’ celebrations at Nanded strung to his waist, exchanges pleasantries with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Thursday. —

NANDED (MAHARASHTRA): The Guru Granth Sahib was given a rousing welcome at the Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib Gurdwara here on Thursday as it arrived for consecration in connection with 300 years of its elevation as the eternal Guru of Sikhs.

This Gurdwara is central to the ‘Gurta Gaddi’ celebrations, for which pilgrims from across the world have been registering since October 27 when the festivities actually began. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was among the devotees who paid their obeisance at the Gurdwara on Thursday. more

Godavari bridge will become Asia’s largest

Rajahmundry, Oct. 7: The largest road bridge in Asia will soon come up across Godavari River, stretching about 15 km and connecting Kovvur with Rajahmundry. The four-lane bridge, to be built by spending Rs 800 crore, would have a four km stretch across the water body with a 2 km approach road on the Kovvur side and a 9 km approach road on the Konthamur stretch. It would get connected to the National Highway No. 5 through Diwancheruvu and would facilitate transport of passengers and goods up to Kolkata. The carriageway on the bridge will be nearly 14 metres. Gamini India would be taking up the construction of the bridge under the BOT system and aims to complete it in three years The Centre has agreed to bear 20 per cent of the total cost of the project.  At present, the roads and buildings department is in the process of acquiring land for construction of approach roads. In Rajahmundry division, the department is trying to acquire about 146 acres falling in Katheru, Kolamuru and Palacharla villages.  The department has already deposited Rs 18 crore with the revenue department for land acquisition and the latter is confident of completing the process by December. Similarly, about 18 acres is also being acquired in Kovvur by spending Rs 2 crore. Once the road bridge is completed, it will shorten the distance between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam by nearly 40 kilometres.  "As the Centre is proposing to develop the four-lane national highways into six-lane ones, there will be an increased volume of vehicular traffic," said Mr P. Ramesh Babu, executive engineer (special division) of the roads and buildings department.  read

Ethnic cleansing in Assam

Violence: Govt trying to say it NDFB ethnic cleansing

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Editor 06 October, 2008 12:00:00

A stunned Assam Government is trying to call the string of violence in Udalguri an ethnic cleansing by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) currently in ceasefire with the government.

According to the government sources,its not due to clashes between the Bodos militants and immigrant Bangladeshis, but a systematic ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the NDFB to clear the BTAD areas of the non-Bodos people. The government has already arrested four NDFB cadres on Sunday with weapons saying they were involved in killing a woman and a child in Baksa district.   read 

ADvani in Election mode:Wrong to malign Islam

Saturday,4 October 2008 15:30 hrs IST

Wrong to malign Islam: Advani  - New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani Saturday said that it is wrong to target and malign one particular religion for the wrongs of a few. "Even if the Quran is quoted in threatening emails by terrorists, we should not malign a religion. It is the particular interpretation of the Al Qaida-type of groups," Advani said while addressing a seminar on 'War on Terrorism' organised by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, a BJP- sponsored think tank. He said that Hindu scriptures could also be misinterpreted and it would be "intolerable if people malign Hindutva because of that". On the party's repeated demand for reviving the stringent anti-terror law Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Advani said: "We have accepted the Supreme Court's directions and precautions to check misuse of the law. This shows the determination of the BJP to make proper laws." More

Double Standards in Karnataka

The double-standards of the Sangh Parivar are evident in the way the Yeddyurappa government has responded. Even as churches were being ravaged by the Bajrang Dal, VHP and its affiliate organisations,Yeddyurappa declared that it is all "a conspiracy" against him. He denied vehemently reports that any of the sangh outfits are involved. The Karnataka chief of the Bajrang Dal, Mahendra Kumar, during a TV talk show, pompously declared that his organisation was responsible for the attacks. He even went on to assert that this will continue till Christians continued to convert Hindus.

Neither Home Minister VS Acharya nor Yeddyurappa, not the state police took note of it, until the Centre's "advisory" was received. He was arrested but managed to get bail within two days. His release has been delayed as another court in Koppa in Chikamagalur has issued a body warrant against him and he has to be produced on September 27.  more 

NHRC issues notice to K'taka govt on attack on Christians

New Delhi, Oct 3 (PTI) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today issued a notice to Karnataka Government and asked it to submit a report on the violence against Christians in the state. The NHRC's notice came following a complaint filed by an Ahmebdabad-based NGO, Prashant -- A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace. The Commission asked the Chief Secretary to submit the report on the violence against Christians in Mangalore and surrounding areas. The NGO has alleged that the local administration seemed to be hand in glove with the perpetrators of violence against the Christian community, an NHRC release said. PTI. ..read

Punjab Minister Manoranjan Kalia watches helpless youth being beaten by the mob

Times of India Oct 3, 2008 


Punjab's Industries and Local Government Minister Manoranjan Kalia, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and lives in Central town here, came to the terrace of his residence and watched the helpless youth, who was tied to an electric pole, being beaten black and blue. The minister, who had several Punjab police guards posted at his residence, neither sent them nor called the area police to control the situation. 

The minister, on seeing that television cameras were watching him also, beat a hasty retreat in to the house from his terrace.

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Court directs Orissa to deploy paramilitary forces

The Hindu , October 2, 2008
Court directs Orissa to deploy paramilitary forces

Prafulla Das

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Daytime curfew reimposed in nine towns

45 persons taken into custody

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PHULBANI: Acting on a public interest petition filed by the Utkal Christian Council, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice B.N. Mohapatra has asked the State government to deploy paramilitary forces at the relief camps where thousands of riot-affected Christian families have taken shelter.

The Court also directed the Kandhamal police to ensure immediate registration of cases at different police stations on the complaints filed by affected families living in relief camps and other places. The Superintendent of Police of Kandhamal was further directed to take stringent action against any policeman found sympathising with the rioters.

In Kandhamal, official sources said daytime curfew was reimposed in the nine towns as the administration apprehended a backlash in the wake of the arrest of local leaders. The towns include Phulbani, G. Udaygiri, Tikabali, Raikia, Tumudibandha, K. Nuagaon, Gochhapada, Phiringia and Baliguda. Night curfew was already in force in these towns since long.

In fact, over 200 people were arrested in the district since communal violence broke out after the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda last month. But arrest of prominent local leaders started only after Tuesday’s attack in G. Udaygiri area.

At least 45 persons were taken into custody from G. Udaygiri, Phulbani and others areas. General secretary of Kandhamal District unit of the BJP Bhagaban Mohanty was among them.  more 

35 RSS, VHP men held in Kandhamal

Kandhamal police have finally arrested 35 people for instigating communal clashes in the district. Of them, there are activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.The authorities have issued orders to surrender all licensed guns in 24 hours.


Kandhamal district police chief Praveen Kumar told HT: “We have made 35 arrests in the last 24 hours. Indefinite curfew was imposed in nine places.” He did not confirm the arrests of RSS and VHP people.

The Centre has agreed to provide 10 more CRPF companies in Kandhamal, besides the 36 already deployed in the district.  read it all