1 may 2014 issue

Vol:2

Issue: 5

1- May- 2014

Page: 44

Rs 20/-

FOG FOCUS ON GLOBE RNI Regd No JKENG/2013/50569

A Complete News Magazine

State Scan* Society* In-Focus* Outlook* Cover Story* Misfortune * Between the Lines* Neighbourhood* Red Terror* world @ Glance *Health* Sports

GAME OF ELECTIONS IN KASHMIR DRAGGED AND COERCED FROM YEARS “Power is Poison” Changing The Present For The Future

MP. Badruddin Ajmal Qasmi Presdent(AUDF) In Asaam Public Meeting

The Rahul Factor

Kashmiri Girl Rafiqa Sold

By Her Father At Rs./3500 In 1998 Now Traced in Punjab

2

FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014

Message Dear Readers “Focus on Globe” is a complete News Magazine for the readers of the subcontinent. It shall be our primary concern and top priority to highlight the grievances of the people at large, for their redressal at the hands of the concerned so that sufferings of the people are mitigated within the shortest possible time frame work.

The basic idea for creation of this magazine and to get it on the stands is to provide our valued readers, a variety of material on different topics viz current affairs / History/ finance / development/ information technology / travel / agriculture / media/ health / society / woman’s issue/ culture/ Qur’anic wisdom/ entertainment / sports / unemployment issues and so on and so forth.

It is hoped this Magazine shall serve as a useful source to our readers particularly the student community to remain abreast of the latest happenings in the world particularly in our parts of the globe.

The writer’s of this Magazine belong to different shades of opinion and we hope the readers would definitely enjoy the content of the magazine and will provide us with their valued suggestions for improvement of the magazine. The content of the articles reflect the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect our opinion and views what so ever.

(c) The contents of the magazine cannot be reproduce in any form without the prior written permission of the Editor–in-Chief of this Magazine.

To connect with the magazine please feel free to contact us on our email address at: focusonglobe@gmail.com

Thank you

MESSAGE

ADVISOR ER. N. A. JAN FOCUS ON GLOBE

http://email us:-focusonglobe@gmail.com http://www.issuu.com/focusonglobe http://facebook/focusonglobe http://twitter.com/focusonglobe

CONTANTS

State Scan* Society* In-Focus* Outlook* Cover Story* Misfortune * Between the Lines* Neighbourhood* Red Terror* world @ Glance *Health* Sports

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014

3

1

FOG FOCUS ON GLOBE Vol:1

Issue: 4

RNI Registration No:- JKENG/2013/50569

August- 2013

Page: 40

Rs 20/-

Complete News Magazine

H HISTORY H STATE SCAN H CURRENT AFFAIRS H GUJRAT H NEIGHBOURHOOD H RED TERROR H COUNTRY AFFARIS H COVER STORY H H HEALTH H WORLD AT GLANCE H WOMENS ISSUE H BUSINESS H LEGAL H SOCIETY H RELIGIOUS H SPORTS H RNIWOMENS RegdERANo JKENG/2013/50569

VOL:2 ISSUE 05 MAY 2014 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Muhammad Haneef Mahajan stone

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

COPY EDITOR H.Basharat yousuf EXECUTIVE EDITOR Nasir Ahmad Khan (SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT) Er. Abdul Majid Maharaji

KASHMIR BOIL AGAIN

CORRESPONDENTS Abdul Hafiz Lakhani (Ahmadabad) Dr. Atif Suhail Siddiqui, Ph. D (UP) Abrar Bhat Sumaiya Rafiq Zargar GENERAL MANAGER Sadat PHOTO JOURNALISTS

Gool inocentsAijaz Ahmad Parray crushed by BSF, ADVISORS Er. Nazir Ahmad Jan Syed Manzoor Ahmad Shah Kil ed 4 persons Dr.Khursheed Ahmad Mahajan 48 injured Gh. Jeelani Ghani Shabir Ahmad Wani LEGAL CORRESPONDENT Fahar Baba LEGAL ADVISOR Bilquees Rathore Gousia Rashid

Focus On Globe August 2013

GRAHPHICS Tamin Art Gallery 9419056944 PRINTER, PUBLISHER & OWNER Muhammad Haneef Mahajan PUBLISHED FROM: 24/Gulistani Mahajan SKIMS Road Upper Soura Srinagar-190020-Kmr (India) PRINTED AT: S.S.Printer Soura Near Police Station Soura Srinagar Kashmir Phone NO: +91 9796 363738, 9419078647 email: focusonglobe@gmail.com

Call it an attempt to confuse voters or sheer coincidence, but scores of candidates in fray in several Lok Sabha seats share common names or surnames.

In Vadodara, Independent candidate Narendra Babulal Modi has joined the fray against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

The ‘Delhi West’ seat in the national capital, where polling was held on April 10, saw three Jarnail Singhs in the race -- one of Aam Aadmi Party and two Independents.

In Bihar’s Banka seat, the CPI and BSP candidates share the same name -- Sanjay Kumar. In Uttar Pradesh, which has a maximum of 80 LS seats among all states, BJP’s Hema Malini has a namesake - an Independent candidate - in the contest in Mathura.

Three K Sudhakarans are in the fray -- one from Congress and two Independents -- in the Kannur seat in Kerala. In Punjab’s Bhatinda seat, Congress’s Manpreet Singh has a namesake who is contesting as an Independent.

In other seats, there are candidates sharing first names or surnames. Kuldeep Bishnoi of Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) is contesting against seven Kuldeeps in Haryana’s Hisar constituency.

In the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat of the state, two Satpals are contesting as Independents. In Bihar’s Samastipur, the BSP candidate is Ram Chandar Ram while the Lok Janshakti Party’s (LJP) nominee is Ram Chandra Paswan.

In the Karakat Lok Sabha seat, two Independents Bhairaw Dayal Singh and Ram Dayal Singh are slugging it out at the hustings.

In Gujarat’s Bardoli, CPI has fielded one Ravaliben Shankarbhai Chaudhari as its candidate while the nominee for a party ‘Hindusthan Nirman Dal’ from the same seat is Reniyabhai Shankarbhai Chaudhari.

In Karnataka’s Kolar, the BJP candidate is E N Narayanaswamy while there are three Independents -- Narayanaswamy M, S Narayanaswamy and H N Narayanswamy.

EDITORIAL

4

Focus OnOn Globe 1 April 2014 2014 Focus Globe 1-May

EVERY NECESSARY STEP SHOULD BE TAKEN TO SPREAD ADULT LITERACY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT

FIRST LADY RELEASING SOUVINER OF VASUDHAIVA KUTUMBKAM WELFARE SOCIETY-21

M

rs. Usha Vohra, First Lady and Chief Patron of the Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam Welfare Society, (VKWS), lauded its efforts towards the upliftment of women and children of the disadvantaged segments of society.

She was speaking at a function organized by VKWS at Jammu Club.

Mrs. Vohra urged the members of the Society to extend their activities for promotion of adult literacy to the maximum

possible extent. She said that interested members could consider launching a campaign by starting to teach uneducated adults living in their vicinity. In this context First Lady congratulated the Society for taking the initiative for providing computer education to the needy students on payment of a nominal fee. Speaking about the benefits of the opening provided by the Society, she said that, in this age of technology, computer education enhances the employment opportunities

STATE SCAN

of the young girls. No child should be left uneducated merely for want of funds and appealed that the affluent segments of society must come forward to sponsor their education.

Mrs.Vohra appreciated the fact that the VKWS has identified girl students for providing them scholarships for given periods. On the occasion, she released “Surging Steps”, a Souvenir brought out by the VKWS as part of its Silver Jubilee celebrations.

Earlier, Prof. Ved K. Ghai, President of the VKWS, read out the Annual Report (2013-14) which gave a brief account of activities of the VKWS and also presented the Action Plan (2014-15). First Lady said that the Society has launched “NIVIDA” as its Silver Jubilee Project, to help the underprivileged children and that VKWS is planning to provide educational support to meritorious students living in the rural areas.

Mrs. Sneh Chopra, Patron of the VKWS; Mrs. Kailash Gupta, Working President; Mrs. Indira Rathore, Vice-President; Mrs. Ruby Sharma, Secretary; were among those present on the occasion.

5

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Focus On Globe News Network

G

Rajiv Chuni

Rajiv Chuni Conferred Asia Pacific Award STATE SCAN

lobal Achievers Foundation (G. A. F.), an apex body that promotes and encourages commendable achievements from all over the country has conferred Asia Pacific Achievers Award on Rajiv Chuni, Chairman S. O. S. International, an NGO working for the welfare of PoK Refugees.

In a communiqué to Rajiv Chuni, A. K. Sharma Secretary of the Association informed, “You will be happy to hear that your name has been in the list of successful achievers to receive this “ASIA PACIFIC ACHIEVERS AWARD” for your respective field, among the few selected people from your respective field and region.” The award presentation ceremony shall be held during the “Asia Pacific Achievers Summit”, in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). This occasion will be conferred upon you by International Dignitaries, Leaders & other Prominent Personalities for your outstanding contribution towards progress and development of Indian Economy and Society.

Global Achievers Foundation (G. A. F.) is organizing its “Asia Pacific Achievers Summit” on “Promoting Achievements That Benefits Social & Economic Development” on Sunday 15thJune, 2014 at City Palace Hotel (Sheraton) Tashkent-100000, Uzbekistan. Different fields will be participating in this function. The Association invites Ministers from Different States, Ambassadors/High Commissioners of various Countries, High level Dignitaries etc., to speak on the issue. This function is being organized to highlight the Intellectual People opportunities in South East Asia, he said.

The Association regularly organizes International & National level seminars to promote socially responsible business practice and sustainable development in economics as well as social front in India, the communication further said.

6

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 April2014 2014 Focus On Globe News Network

RED CROSS INTERNSHIP TO STUDENTS

The Governor chairing 169th Managing Committee Meeting of IRCS, J&K,

STATE SCAN

G

Photo By: Focus On Globe

tively dealing with all emergent situations to provide timely

overnor, Mr .N. N. Vohra, President of Indian Red

relief and succor to the needy. In this context, he stressed the

Cross Society, J&K, observed that it would be ben-

high importance of organizing First Aid and short term Disas-

eficial if Red Cross Internship is introduced in the

ter Management courses and security drills for the Red Cross

State Universities and Government Medical Colleges. He also

volunteers to build their capacities in undertaking rescue and

emphasized the use of imparting Red Cross training to teach-

relief operations in the hour of need. He observed that medical

ers in educational institutions who could, in turn, train their

training camps should be organized periodically, particularly

students. Referring to the role of Red Cross in offering its

in the accident prone remote and far-flung areas of the State, to

valuable services during disasters, a large corpus of trained

train volunteers to render first aid and utilize other life saving

manpower will be an asset for the State. The Governor was

techniques to save lives in the case of any emergent situation till

chairing the 169th Managing Committee Meeting of the Indi-

specialized medical assistance becomes available to the needy.

an Red Cross Society, J&K State Branch, held at Raj Bhavan.

Reviewing the status of the proposed Red Cross Complex at

While reviewing the present status of the Jan Aushadi

Srinagar, the Committee decided that the required funds will

Scheme, the Committee stressed the need to create wide spread

be allocated by the State Government as projectised aid. The

awareness about the availability of the generic drugs at fixed

Divisional Commissioner Kashmir was directed to ensure that

prices from the Jan Aushadi Generic Drug Stores which are

the building plans are approved and work initiated at the ear-

being run by the Red Cross in the State. Medicines available in

liest. It was proposed that there should be set up, Blood Banks

these stores are at the rates prescribed by the Bureau of Phar-

maintained and operated by the Red Cross at Jammu and Sri-

ma Public Sector undertakings of India which are, in most cas-

nagar. The Governor asked Divisional Commissioners of Kash-

es, significantly lower than the market rates of branded medi-

mir and Jammu to prepare DPRs in this regard in consultation

cines. The Governor also suggested that the volunteers who are

with the Red Cross Society and the State Health Department.

instrumental in saving people’s lives should be duly recognized.

The Committee also reviewed in detail the action taken on

To upgrade the infrastructure at the district level offices of

the decisions of the last meeting of the Managing Committee

the Red Cross Society, the Committee directed that the Dep-

and deliberated on various agenda items for promoting the ac-

uty Commissioners should ensure the availability of fully

tivities of the Red Cross in the State. Earlier, Ms. Roma Wani,

equipped computer with internet facility at every District Red

Honorary General Secretary, IRCS, J&K State Branch, made a

Cross Unit. Referring to the need for intensifying Red Cross ac-

detailed presentation to highlight the activities undertaken for

tivities in the State, the Governor observed that the District,

resource mobilization, Training Programmes conducted, and

Regional and State Branches of the Red Cross should generate

the Action Plan for future activities. The state leavel high ranked

the required logistics and resources for promptly and effec-

personalities were present and participated in the meeting.

7

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Focus On Globe News Network

GOVERNOR DIRECTS HOME DEPARTMENT FOR EARLY DISPOSAL OF PENDING CASES Selection Boards. The Governor direct-

State Government, the Governor directed

ed Mr. Ajit K. Sahu, District Collector

that the Home Secretary shall settle the

Jammu and Mr. Rajinder K. Verma,

pending proposal for providing verti-

District Collector Samba to expedite the

cal reservation, on most urgent basis.

Later, the Governor chaired the

the early establishment of Sainik col-

meeting of the State Managing Commit-

r. N.N. Vohra, Governor,

onies at village Patti in district Samba

tee for Funds, which discussed various is-

emphasized the importance

and at village Barn in district Jammu.

sues relating to the budgetary support be-

of the National Cadet Corps

The Governor directed the officer

ing provided by the State Government to

being promoted in the maximum possible

representing the State Home Department

the Department of Sainik Welfare, as also

number of educational institutions in the

to ensure that all pending issues relating

the contribution of the Kendriya Sainik

State. Such training imbues the youth

to the Sainik Welfare Department are

Board to the J&K Rajya Sainik Board.

with discipline, moral courage and the ca-

settled on most urgent basis. The Rajya

The Governor emphasized the need for

pacity to deal with unforeseen exigencies

Sainik Board approved the establishment

evolving appropriate objective – specif-

working as members of a team. He said

of a Committee chaired by Chief Secre-

ic strategies for maximizing the welfare

this while presiding over the 76th meeting

tary Mr. Mohammad Iqbal Khanday ,

of ex-Servicemen and their families.

of J&K Rajya Sainik Board at Raj Bhavan.

Principal Secretary Home Mr. B. B. Vyas

A detailed power point presen-

The Governor observed that,

for the selection of ex -Defence Service

tation was made by Brig. (Ret.) R. S.

through its District and Zonal officers,

officers to posts under the Sainik Welfare

Langeh, Secretary, Rajya Sainik Board,

the Department of Sainik Welfare should

Department. The Board also approved the

on the occasion, giving details of mea-

extend all required help to encourage

amendment of the existing recruitment

sures taken for the welfare of the ex-Ser-

and enable the youth who are desirous

rules to enable the Sainik Welfare Depart-

vicemen, financial status of the Board,

of joining the armed forces and assist

ment to fill up all the existing vacancies.

status of construction of Sainik Bhavans

institutions

to

For promoting the employment of ex- Ser-

and implementation of various decisions

qualify for appearing before the Service

vicemen in the various departments of the

taken in the last meeting of the Board.

M

which

train

students

STATE SCAN

land acquisition processes for enabling

8

FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014 Jammu and Kashmir By: Muhammad Haneef Mahajan

Tear-jerking, Painful, Heartbreaking

SOCIETY

But Truth

Rafiqa in a picture taken by one of her Kashmir relative while visiting her in Punjab in April this year.

Kashmiri Girl Rafiqa Sold By Her Father In 1998

Fathers inhuman attitude which sold her daughter at Rs. /-3500 in 1998 Traced in Punjab

9

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Jammu and Kashmir

A missing Kashmir girl was ‘sold by her father for Rs 3500 to a laborer sixteen years ago’ and has now been traced in India’s Amritsar Punjab, her family and police said.

Speaking to Focus On Globe legal cor-

She was married to Javed Ahmad Ganie

was married to a Sikh and it could

respondent Fahar Babe, a senior official

in 1996 and had a daughter with him, but

lead to a problem,” her uncle said.

of the Police on basis on anonymity said

about 18 months after her marriage they

that Samia was brought to Valley after

felt apart and she returned to her father

some formalities. “It was revealed that

home. Her father Ghulam Nabi Mir had

Rafiqa the then age of 16 year-old now 34,

remarried and the 'couple tortured her' af-

went missing from native place Muspun

ter she returned from her in-law’s house.

village in South Kashmir’s Pulwama dis-

“After few months Rafiqa’s father lodged

trict, some 42 kms from Jammu and Kash-

a missing report in police,” he added.

mir’s summer capital Srinagar, has been

Fifteen days after she went missing,

traced in Punjab and is a mother of four

her father applied for compensation un-

children. Rafiqa is working as labour in

der SRO and was given the money by

Amritsar Punjab, following after his fa-

government. "Her father didn't share the

ther sold her to a non-local labour Hira

money with her husband and claimed

Singh in 1998 in Pulwama.” “The Police are

that Rafiqa had divorced Javed," he said.

looking in to the matter deeply, definitely

Her maternal family thought she was

law will take its own course,” he added.

dead as there was no news since then. But

In this picture taken by a cell phone, Rafiqa (right) is seen in a lighter mood as one of her daughters kisses a guest from Kashmir.

on March 16, 2014 a cleric from neighbor-

Kashmir police which was in touch

ing village informed the family that Rafiqa

with their Punjab counterparts then

and two sons with Hira Singh. Rafiqa,

had contacted him through his acquain-

sought help from the local government and

who had lost her mother in her child-

tance in Punjab. The cleric first went to

managed to meet Rafiqa. “When I entered

hood, was married and had a year-old

Rafiq’s father but he dispelled the news

she felt unconscious for an hour,” her

daughter when she went missing, her

and while shoving him away said that

uncle remarked and narrated her ordeal.

maternal uncle Ghulam Qadir Mir told

‘his daughter had died before 16 years.

He said Rafiq told him that ‘she was

Focus On Globe Legal correspondent.

Rafiqa’s father Ghulam Nabi is cur-

sold by her father for Rs 3500 to a Sikh

rently an elected village council member

laborer, Hira Singh, who worked at a

associated with the Peoples Democratic

kiln in her village in Kashmir’. “I was

Party. “The cleric came to us and in-

drugged and when I regained conscious-

formed that Rafiqa had sent a message

ness I found myself travelling on the

through one of his acquaintance and was

highway,” Rafiqa told her uncle. The

living in Punjab’s Amritsar,” her uncle

claim was also certified by the members

told Focus On Globe Legal correspondent.

of accompanying Kashmir police team.

Saima aka Pooja with her relatives in Kashmir. Her mother Rafiqa, she says has been rechristened to Neelam.

He said they immediately contacted the

Rafiqa said the group of men told her

police and a team of four police persons,

that she had been sent by her father for

including two women, was set up to trace

a medical checkup in a hospital in Am-

Rafiqa. On April 25, this year, when the

ritsar. She was locked in Amritsar for

family and police became certain about

days and was forced to marry Hira Singh

her whereabouts, they left for Punjab.

with who she bore four more children—

But they were not able to meet Rafiqa

two boys and two girls. “I cried for days

in Amritsar at once. “We met the ac-

and would always look for any Kashmir

quaintance of the cleric who said it

people in my colony and would return

was difficult to go to her home as she

disappointed, but in March I came across

SOCIETY

Rafiqa the then a mother of a baby girl has now 5 children including 3 daughters

10

FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014 Jammu and Kashmir an ised

acquaintance to It

me

of

Hira

help,”

who

prom-

Rafiqa said the group of men told her that she had been sent

told

her

uncle.

by her father for a medical checkup in a hospital in Amritsar.

Singh

She was locked in Amritsar for days and was forced to marry Hira Singh with who she bore four more children— two boys

The family returned to Kashmir but couldn’t get Rafiqa

and two girls. “I cried for days and would always look for any

along. However, after completing legal formalities, they man-

Kashmir people in my colony and would return disappointed,

aged to get her daughter, Saima aka Pooja— with her first hus-

but in March I came across an acquaintance of Hira Singh who

band— to Kashmir. “They didn’t allow us to get her to Kashmir

promised to me of help,” she told her uncle. It was this acquain-

and told us that when you get Saima back we will allow Rafiqa

tance of Hira Singh who had contacted the cleric in Kashmir.

had

this

Singh

she

Kashmir.

who

was

of

acquaintance

contacted

the

of

cleric

Hira in

to come to Kashmir,” he said. Rafiqa’s father and his second

The family returned to Kashmir but couldn’t get Rafiqa

wife son, forced and told us that leave this place as soon as. They

along. However, after completing legal formalities, they man-

family made threatening remarks and said ‘Rafiqa was dead’.

aged to get her daughter, Saima aka Pooja— with her first hus-

But the head of Auqaf committee in the village, Bash-

band— to Kashmir. “They didn’t allow us to get her to Kashmir

er Ahmed, said they will discuss the issue and take

and told us that when you get Saima back we will allow Rafiqa

appropriate

liv-

to come to Kashmir,” he said. Rafiqa’s father and his second

ing expenses of Rafiqa and her five children,” he told.

wife son, forced and told us that leave this place as soon as. They

action.

“We

are

ready

to

bear

the

family made threatening remarks and said ‘Rafiqa was dead’.

But the head of Auqaf committee in the village, Basher Ahmed, said they will discuss the issue and take appropriate action. “We are ready to bear the living expenses of Rafiqa and her five children,” he told.

Riyaz Ahmad, the Station

House Officer in the region, said they are in touch with their Punjab counterparts and are waiting for Rafiqa to return.

“Once we record her statement we will arrest her father,” he said. Rafiqa’s daughter Saima told that the Kashmir government should expedite the return of her mother.

“My mother would offer Nimaz covertly and would seek help from Allah and I am happy that her prayers have been heard,” she said in the company of her Kashmir relatives.

Rafiqa’s daughter Saima with a Kashmir relative in Pulwama.

Riyaz Ahmad, the Station House Officer in the region, said they are in touch with their Punjab counterparts and are waiting for Rafiqa to return. “Once we record her statement we will arrest her father,” he said.

Rafiqa’s daughter Saima told that the Kashmir government should expedite the return of her mother. “My mother would offer Nimaz covertly and would seek help from Allah and I am happy that her prayers have been heard,” she said in the company of her Kashmir relatives.

This is how her father has sold her daughter for a small

SOCIETY

amount to fulfill his needs; he crossed all the barriers of Islam even though his responsibilities as a father he didn’t prove himself as a good father and a good human being.

Rafiqa’s

father will get punishment from Allha at the time of Judgment in Rooz-a-Mahishar. Rafiqa has loosed everything. Did Rafiqa get back all those years? Did Rafiqa get her innocence her smile her childhood back? There could be hundreds and thousands of questions in Rafiqa’s mind who will share all those questions with Rafiqa. Rafiqa is almost half dead she died on that day when her IBLEES father sold her. When our society people will wake up and will understand their responsibilities towards our daughters/sister and mothers?

This is how her father has sold her daughter for a small amount to fulfill his needs; he crossed all the barriers of Islam even though his responsibilities as a father he didn’t prove himself as a good father

Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Focus Globe 1-May Jammu and Kashmir

11

and a good human being. Rafiqa’s father will be punished from Allha at the time of Judgment in Rooz-a-Mahishar. Rafiqa has loosed everything. Did Rafiqa get back all those years? Did Rafiqa get her innocence her smile her childhood back?

as oh h ,w ma echris at i a S nr ja, bee d Poo r’s e e ten moth home r he ernal . t ma wama Pul

SOCIETY

There could be hundreds and thousands of questions in Rafiqa’s mind who will share all those questions with Rafiqa. Rafiqa is almost half dead she died on that day when her IBLEES father sold her. When our society people will wake up and will understand their responsibilities towards our daughters/sister and mothers?

12

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 April 2014

Many brands are pushing to inspect clothing factories in Bangladesh after recent tragedies

This story is included with an NYT

A

fter the Spectrum sweater factory collapsed in 2005, killing 64 workers, hardly anything changed to improve factory safety in Bangladesh.Then the Rana Plaza factory near Dhaka collapsed on April 24 last year, killing 1,129 workers in what was the worst disaster in garment industry history. And that happened just a few months after the Tazreen Fashions fire, which killed 112 Bangladeshi workers.

Reacting to public outrage, Western retailers and apparel brands began a major push to improve safety at the Bangladeshi factories they do business with. It involves a sprint to inspect hundreds of plants each month and a commitment to help correct any safety problems found all with an eye to preventing another catastrophic collapse or fire.But instead of joining forces, the Western brands have divided into two sometimes feuding camps — a result, some say, that detracts from the overall effort, which has otherwise won praise. One group —the Bangladesh Accord for Fire and Building Safety has more than 150 members, including many European brands like H&M, Carrefour and Mango, as well as 14 American companies.

The other group the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety —

IN-FOCUS

After the Spectrum sweater factory collapsed in 2005, killing 64 workers, hardly anything changed to improve factory safety in Bangladesh.

Battling for a Safer Bangladesh

Workers in a clothing factory in Bangladesh.

includes 26 companies, all of them American or Canadian, among them Walmart, Gap, Target and Kohl’s.

Some members of the American-dominated alliance say that their side has performed more inspections than the European-dominated accord, while some accord members assert that the alliance’s inspections are less rigorous. Accord members say they work closely with labor unions and have extensive input from workers, while the alliance’s members assert that the accord has not provided wages to workers who were laid off when their factory was temporarily closed after inspectors found serious problems. Adding to the tensions, 15 American universities, including Columbia, Duke, Georgetown and New York University, have in a slap at the alliance told licensees that produce goods bearing the universities’ logos that they should join the accord, whose program they see as better.

Despite these tensions, Dara O’Rourke, an expert on workplace monitoring at the University of California, Berkeley, called the efforts in Bangladesh unprecedented. “The accord and the alliance are taking on the lowest end of a low-road industry,” he said. “They’re trying to bring up the worst garment conditions in the world. What they’re doing is really, really hard.”

A study released by New York University’s Stern School of Business showed how hard. It said that a major problem with the accord and the alliance was that while they will inspect 2,000 of Bangladesh’s more than 5,000 apparel factories, the more than 3,000 others generally have worse conditions — and middlemen often secretly send them orders from Western brands. Ellen O. Tauscher, a former House member from California who is chairwoman of the alliance’s board, said the Rana Plaza collapse “changed everything” and forced companies to act. She added, however, that solving the problem of factory safety in Bangladesh is “a very heavy lift.”

“Bangladesh has a history of corruption, of political turbulence,” she said. “It’s a place where these businesses, instead of walking away, decided to do what is not typical for business. Most businesses spend most of their time trying to buy down risk. These businesses

Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Focus Globe 1-May decided to take on risk. The question is, How do you do this in a way that makes material change quickly?”

The accord has hired 110 engineers to inspect for unsafe electrical boxes, structural soundness and sprinkler systems — a new requirement for all Bangladeshi garment industry buildings 75 feet or taller. The alliance has inspected 400 factories so far, and the European-dominated accord, 300.

The alliance has set a goal of inspecting all of its members’ 630 Bangladeshi factories by July 10; the accord’s goal is to inspect its 1,500 factories by late October.

The inspectors have found serious problems: buildings so overloaded that their columns had cracks, flammable fabric storage areas adjoining work spaces, fire stairways leading to the factory floor rather than outside the building. The cost of fixing the problems can be substantial — from several thousand dollars for a few fire doors to $250,000 for a sprinkler system. “We’ve found problems in every factory we’ve inspected,” said Brad Loewen, the accord’s chief safety inspector. “There are lockable gates at 90 percent of the factories, and occasionally they’re even locked when our engineers are there.”

As a result of the accord’s inspections, four factory buildings have been ordered temporarily closed for fear of collapse, while the accord has asked a government committee to close four others. Questioning the thoroughness of the alliance’s inspections, some accord members ask why the alliance has had only one factory closed even though it has conducted more inspections. Ian Spaulding, a senior adviser to the alliance, said that it had asked the Bangladeshi government to order four more factories closed because of serious structural problems. He said the alliance was blamed unfairly — partly because labor unions and a vocal university group, United Students Against Sweatshops, are constantly belittling it. “We need to do a better job as an organization telling our story,” Mr. Spaulding said. “We don’t want to fall victim to this tit-for-tat thing. The alliance isn’t perfect, and the accord isn’t perfect.”

Some alliance members fault the accord for not paying wages to the more than 2,500 workers at the Softex factory when it was closed in March after accord inspectors found structural problems that needed urgent attention. The alliance says that it has a $5 million fund to pay half the wages of Bangladeshi workers laid off in such a situation. (The factory owner is supposed to pay the other half.) Under the accord’s rules, factory owners are supposed to pay all the lost wages, if they can.Rezwan Selim, Softex’s chief executive, asserted that his factory was closed without due process and that the accord was not being cooperative or professional. Mr. Selim said he took out a bank loan to pay the wages after the workers engaged in protests. Rob Wayss, the accord’s executive director for Bangladesh, said his group’s exacting inspections had met with some resistance from factory owners. He said the accord had adhered to the letter of the law in closing plants and had pledged to help factory owners pay lost wages and finance needed safety improvements if they demonstrated that they could not afford those things themselves.

people who own the factory and people who produce in the factory understand what needs to be fixed.” The alliance, worried about libel lawsuits and first getting the go-ahead from Bangladeshi authorities, has not made any inspection reports public. “Hopefully the accord’s transparency will force the alliance to up its game,” Professor O’Rourke said.

Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a monitoring group and accord member, said many of the alliance’s inspections piggybacked on inspections done earlier for Walmart, asserting that those inspections had not been rigorous enough. He pointed to Walmart-sponsored inspections of the Dird Garments factory in September that gave B grades for structural and electrical safety. But when the accord’s engineers inspected Dird this month, they found “urgent concerns,” including “highly stressed columns” and dangerous overloading. They ordered the removal of loads from several floors and the emptying of the water tank on the roof.

Alliance officials defended Walmart’s inspections, saying they are made by structural and electrical engineers and not by compliance monitors, as they once were. After the Tazreen fire in 2012, Walmart increased the frequency and rigor of its inspections. Kevin Gardner, a Walmart spokesman, said, “Be assured, the factory safety inspections Walmart has undertaken in Bangladesh over the past year are comprehensive.” Alliance officials say their engineers perform demanding inspections that often supplement those done earlier. Unhappy about the tit for tat, Ms. Tauscher said: “This is really not a competition between the alliance and the accord. This is about working together to change the lives of workers in Bangladesh.” But Professor O’Rourke said the rivalry was undeniable. “There’s one good aspect about the competition,” he said. “It’s pushing both sides to raise the bar on what they’re doing to improve safety.”

Factories have drawn protests against companies like Mango, where demonstrators covered their hands in fake blood.

CreditAlbert Gea/Reuters

Credit Munir Uz Zaman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Mr. Wayss said one of the accord’s signal achievements was allowing the public to see detailed inspection reports of factories, which include photos showing dangerous electrical boxes and cracks in columns. “This showed an unprecedented level of transparency,” he said. “The purpose is to identify safety concerns and have people who work in the factory,

IN-FOCUS

“This is really not a competition between the alliance and the accord.

This is about working together to change the lives of workers in Bangladesh.”

Volunteers evacuated an injured worker after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory on April 24, 2013.

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FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014 MIDDLE EAST

By ERIC SCHMITT

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Saeed Al Batati contributed reporting from Sana, Yemen, and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.

OUTLOOK

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merican drones and Yemeni counterterrorism forces killed more than three dozen militants linked to Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen over the weekend in one of the largest such attacks there in months, officials from both countries said on Monday April 21. At least three airstrikes were carried out against Qaeda fighters in a convoy and in remote training camps in southern Yemen. They were militants who were planning to attack civilian and military facilities, government officials said in a statement. “Yemen’s Interior Ministry said on Monday April 21, that as many as 55 militants had been killed, but a senior Yemeni official put the figure in the 40s. The government’s statement also acknowledged that three civilians had been killed and five wounded in one of the airstrikes on Saturday April 19.”

Yemeni officials said they were working to identify those killed in the attacks. As part of a campaign using armed drones in Yemen, the United States has been trying to kill Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, and Ibrahim al-Asiri, the group’s master bomb maker. But American officials said Monday April 21 that those men were not the intended targets in these strikes. The precise role of the United States in the airstrikes and ground operations was not immediately clear.

American officials said the airstrikes had been carried out by drones operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, but an agency spokesman declined to comment. Other officials said American Special Operations military personnel had supported the Yemeni operations on the ground with intelligence and possibly logistical assistance. The Pentagon declined to discuss the operations.

The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, referred all questions about the operations, which started on Saturday April 19 and continued past midnight on Sunday, to the Yemeni govern-

ment, and he spoke only in broad terms about the counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. “We have a strong collaborative relationship, as you know, with the Yemeni government and worked together on various initiatives to counter the shared threat we face from A.Q.A.P.,” said Mr. Carney, referring to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. American officials sought to play down the United States’ role and to allow Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Yemen’s president, to bolster his domestic credibility and claim credit for the operations. They had a troubled relationship with the longtime president who preceded him, Ali Abdullah Saleh, but they have voiced confidence in Mr. Hadi and increased aid to the country.

The drone attacks were the largest barrage of airstrikes carried out in Yemen this year — 11 in all so far, according to The Long War Journal, a website that tracks drone strikes — and one of the largest strikes carried out since President Obama outlined a new strategy last May for targeting Qaeda militants in battlefields outside Afghanistan.In his speech in May, Mr. Obama said targeted killing operations were carried out only against militants who posed a “continuing and imminent threat to the American people.” He also said no strike could be authorized without “near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured,” a bar he described as “the highest standard we can set.”

Given that the administration would not even confirm that American drones carried out the strikes over the weekend, it was unclear how the people targeted in the strike posed a threat to Americans. The Qaeda affiliate has in the past targeted the United States Embassy in Sana, the Yemeni capital.

The raid by Yemen’s Counterterrorism Unit late Sunday, which occurred on the main road connecting the southern province of Shabwa with the adjacent

province of Marib, culminated nearly 48 hours of intensive airstrikes. “The operation delivers a strong message to the criminal and terror operatives that the armed forces and security personnel are ready to foil and thwart terrorist acts in any time and place,” Mr. Hadi said in the government’s statement. The statement said three airstrikes had destroyed a Qaeda training camp in a remote mountainous area in Abyan, a southern province, killing two dozen militants, including foreign fighters. The government said several other airstrikes had targeted vehicles and militants in Abyan, Shabwa and Bayda Provinces. Mohsen Labhas, a resident of Al Lahab, a village near a highway that connects the cities of Ataq and Bayhan in Shabwa Province, said that after hearing gunfire on April 19 Sunday night, he and other residents jumped in their cars and raced to the scene. They were met by American drones and helicopters. “We abandoned our car since we thought that the aircraft might target us, but it turned out that it warned us from approaching the area,” he said. “Nearly half an hour later, the aircraft fired a missile at a target on the ground,” Mr. Labhas said.

A strike on Saturday April 19 morning targeted a vehicle in Bayda Province, killing 10 militants and wounding one, according to the Yemeni government. It said intelligence had indicated that the fighters were planning to attack important installations. “Regrettably, three civilians were also killed during the attack and five were injured when their pickup truck unexpectedly appeared next to the targeted vehicle,”.

Saeed Al Batati contributed reporting from Sana, Yemen, and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.

A version of this article appears in print on April 22, 2014, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S. Drones and Yemeni Forces Kill Qaeda-

U.S. Drones and Yemeni Forces Kill Qaeda-Linked Fighters

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FocusOnOn Globe 1-May Focus Globe 1 March2014 2014

Elections were always a game in Kashmir played by New Delhi with abundant cheat codes

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uring the peak of militancy almost all pro Delhi politicians fled from the valley, escaping to warmer plains, having given up on their political future in Kashmir. Most of them were seen whiling away lazily in government provided accommodations outside the valley, descript and sans authority. Such was the contrast of fortunes that a ‘political hier’ who is nowadays known to change his SUV’s every six months (from his known ‘unknown’ sources of money), used public transport to commute like commoners in those powerless reclusive days in Jammu.

In a north-eastern suburb of Srinagar, soldiers from the Indian paramilitary camp had for days been making frequent rounds of these habitations, preparing ground work for elections. On times when these militaries would be confined to their garrisoned and dreadful camps, armed to teeth renegades sponsored by the Indian state, would go around in

COVER STORY

During mid 1995 the Indian government wanted early elections in Jammu and Kashmir, a recommendation that was rejected by a three member Election Commission in November 1995, realizing that the conditions on ground were not conducive. While the situation in Kashmir remained the same, New Delhi pushed for sudden elections in 1996. The election notification was issued on 14th August 1996 (last date for nominations August 21, last date for candidature withdrawal August 24) and polls scheduled to start in the first week of September, 1996. This rush was seen as an attempt by India to legitimize its governance in Kashmir thru the very means that it had been rigging for decades and ironically these very reasons had ignited the militant rebellion in late 80’s.

Since the election schedule was spread for almost a month (from mid August to September) the valley shut down for this entire period. There was absolutely no election fanfare to be seen in the valley, except for the odd ‘ferried gatherings’ in pro Delhi party offices, which were situated in garrisoned areas secured by Indian militaries. Even at the candidate level there was an evident reluctance towards these elections; came to fore that when a pro Delhi politician from Kashmir (now in power) refused to stand up for elections, agencies threatened to remove his security cover. Reluctantly he filed his nomination papers for these elections.

The Game Of Elections In Kashmir Dragged and Coerced In 1996 Till Date

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Focus 2014 Focus On On GlobeGlobe 1-May 1 April 2014 small cavalcades, some with banners of pro India parties, other acting to frighten the locals. Early one morning on a bright summer day, when the valley had shut its doors to all activity and a civil curfew was being adhered to, morning announcements by these renegades were followed by columns of Indian paramilitaries marching the lanes of this suburb, with loaded guns to scare and herd unwilling people towards the polling booths.

There seemed to be no age bar in this exercise; our neighbors three sons, all of who were school going kids, were also asked to proceed to the voter booth, as were many other kids in the neighborhood. Miraculously my family escaped this coercion; somehow the renegades and paramilitaries had skipped our home, after having slammed our main gate for quite some time which had been bolted from inside, and only leaving after breaking the gate lights that stood on its parallel pillars and hurling some stones towards our home (that hit the roof). In yet another time, the same renegades were responsible for kidnapping my brother and uncle, releasing them only after a big ransom had been paid. Just a day after the kidnapping, ransom and release, an officer of the local paramilitary camp had come knocking, claiming his visit to be a good will one, but indirectly seeking details of the money paid. Ironically, these criminal renegades worked under the very control of this paramilitary unit. Conflict is a big enterprise, for all vultures and bounty seekers!

So, it was to be, many of these herded electorate would vote for the most unlikely candidate from among this proxy pack. Queues soon poured their anger into the implausible, pushing the unlikely into the ballot box, some like those kids who knew nothing of elections even stamping more than one candidates on their given ballot, thus invalidating the whole 'paramilitary force driven exercise'. Since the paramilitaries could not round up entire neighborhoods’, this ‘democratic exercise’ was over even before noon.

According to later reports, in spite of such coercion by Indian militaries, the turnout was not more than 10% anywhere in the valley. As the coerced voters returned home, the humiliation of this day hung in the air for much time to come. Soon found out, in many other places too, coerced voters had ‘cast their votes’ to the most unlikely candidates in acrimonious outrage. A bigger surprise came on the results day, the BJP candidate in this suburb was declared to not have polled any significant votes and hence had even forfeited his deposit. All the “forced votes that sought to exercise defiance” against rule of the proxy, had been erased or replaced in good turn of those ‘nominated by Delhi Darbar Sabha. Like in past elections, at the end of the day India was more concerned about displaying voter head count, not to elect on voted votes.

COVER STORY

Our neighbor towards the west, a renowned science professor, who refused to be herded to the polling station or be forced to vote, was dragged down his lawn and kicked around like a rag ball, his fair fat body later swelling in mounds of red and blue. Realizing that they could not succeed in moving the heavy bodied professor anymore, left him to nurse for his own wounds, with his wife sobbing in her well practiced manner. The professors face, with a hanging double chin, sagging cheeks now red, over a neck that competed with the size of his head, displayed a strange mix of emotions when I went to see him in the evening; that of anger against the renegades and paramilitaries and of a shameful contempt for his own helplessness.

Blushing in contempt and abuse, commoners’ part of the herded crowd had experienced this shame so many times before; during torturous crackdowns by Indian forces when all civilian males of localities would be gathered like shepherd flock and driven by batons and gun butts towards the common playing field. The unlucky ones would be picked up and whisked away, of whom many never returned back. But today’s shame was different, in that they were being forced to do, what they never would want to do, an exercise they saw as being the root cause of a proxy state, that only legitimized this oppression. The initial contemptuous silence of this crowd soon melted away in the common humiliation they were walking towards.

The loathing of this exercise was soon followed by the realization of futility of refusal, while an unrepentant military machine kept an eye on the herd.

Converging into the local government school lawns where the election booth had been setup, this herd soon became a part of the other people who had been forced there. In this assemblage familiar faces met, recognizing a common discomfiture agony, and while queues were being ordered, someone in low voice suggested defiance to this humiliation “if we are to vote forcibly, why not vote for the unlikely one. Why not we vote for the BJP? After all, how are other candidates any different for us, than the proxy ones who are always put in power?” This suggestion ensured some faint smiles among the crowd, most nodding in acceptance.

In other interesting incident in downtown Srinagar, heard a candidate was declared to have won by almost four times the number of votes than were actually known to have been ‘polled’ there. This is what Kashmir’s are facing from the decades people of Kashmir don’t have right to choose their right candidate one who put their grievances in the Indian parliament because this is all set and fixed in Delhi Darbar Sabha if that will happen India will lose Kashmir forever but what their policies and strategies are they are making propagandas and other things to divert the UN attention to other side but nothing is hidden to the world and UN they are aware about the ground facts of Kashmir. Good time will come definitely for Jammu and Kashmir when Kashmir’s will rule their State. IN-SHA-ALLHA. Both the countries should understand what the people of Kashmirs wants.

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Rahul Ganghi Future of Congress

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cion of India's oldest political party, Rahul Gandhi, has much riding on his shoulders as he tries to resurrect the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Faced with the growing acceptability of the BJP - especially its once untouchable PM candidate Narendra Modi - and the taints of corruption and non-governance, the Congress is fighting with its back to the wall.

The 2Gs and Commonwealths have tarnished the image of the government near to beyond repair stage and add to it the consistently high levels of inflation and slowing economic growth during the UPA2; the common man may look for options beyond the tried and tested Congress.

Naysayers believe Rahul Gandhi is trying the impossible – to turn around the party's fortunes in time to make it a challenger to the Modi juggernaut.

While the task indeed is arduous, it would be premature to write off Rahul Gandhi and the ideology he represents. For one, the Congress has its root deep in the consciousness of the idea called India. Starting from the freedom struggle when the party was spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi to the post-independence era of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi - the Nehru-Gandhi family, has been part of the power DNA of the country.

Although as much the Congress and Rahul Gandhi would want to negate the suggestion, the baton has now firmly passed to Rahul Gandhi.

The 2004 idea to have someone from outside the family – Dr Manmohan Singh – in the hot seat doesn’t seem to be a worthwhile proposition going into the future.The family has to take charge, stake claim for power and also take responsibility for failure. Going into the polls, Rahul remains confident that path-breaking initiatives like Right to Information Act, MNERGA, Right to Education and Right to Food will ensure that the Congress betters its 2009 tally – 206 seats – or at least ensures that the party is in a position to cobble up a coalition. While it is undeniable that the above mentioned schemes have brought about a positive change in the lives of the marginalised in the country, what has undone the good work done by successive UPA governments has been the spectra of corruption and price rise.

COVER STORY

“Power is Poison” Changing The Present For The Future

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014

FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014

18 The 2Gs and Commonwealths have tarnished the image of the government near to beyond repair stage and add to it the consistently high levels of inflation and slowing economic growth during the UPA2; the common man may look for options beyond the tried and tested Congress. In reality, politics is a battle of perception. Rahul Gandhi has also termed the Lok Sabha elections as a “battle of thoughts”. He said that the Congress stood for empowering the people while the opposition represented only the rich in the country. Whether the opposition represents only the rich can be a matter of debate but Rahul is correct in terming the Congress as having worked to empower the people.

However, what Rahul seems to have missed is the changing reality of a young India, an India where people across the spectrum have moved or want to move ahead from an arrangement where the government acts as a benevolent giver. They aspire for an India where they are in control and not living on handouts. The change in the mood of the nation got reflected in the stunning victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi. The AAP may be crumbling under the weight of its own contradictions, but the idea has not. If not AAP, the nation would look at other options that promise suitable conditions for its growth.

Rahul is young and is perfectly placed to take on the role of the nurturer of the new thought, provided he shed his image of a reluctant politician. The Congress may have shied away from nominating him as the party's prime ministerial candidate, but the fact remains that he is the face of the party in 2014 and there's no escaping the reality.

COVER STORY

The Gandhi family has all through Manmohan Singh's tenure, tried to cultivate and maintain an image of aloofness from power with Rahul even saying once said that his mother Sonia Gandhi told him that “power is poison”.

“I cannot make big promises but my intentions are very clean.

I promise you that whatever demands you have, I would always make a whole-hearted effort to meet your demands,” Gandhi said.

The Gandhi family has, all through Manmohan Singh's tenure, tried to cultivate and maintain an image of aloofness from power with Rahul even saying once said that his mother Sonia Gandhi told him that “power is poison”.

He may want to cultivate an image of being an independent voice, an endeavour that often saw him crossing swords and embarrassing the government run by his own party. Be it tearing up the legislation on convicted netas or pushing Manmohan Singh to raise the LPG subsidy cap, Rahul has always tried to play the insider-outsider role, but he has now reached a position where it would not be possible to be on the sidelines anymore. He has to take charge. To his credit, he is trying to rebuild the party from within. Be it taking steps to democratise the NSUI or introduction of the primary system in selection of candidates for Lok Sabha polls, Rahul has not shied away from experimenting to change the dynamics.

Also, the way he has taken charge of the party's poll campaign for the Lok Sabha polls indicates that Rahul is ready to stand up and be counted when it matters, irrespective of the consequences. Though the old guard of the Congress party seems to have not taken kindly to their diminishing role in the future, most have no other option left but to fall in line and cede space to team Rahul. While the smarter of the lot have voluntarily ceded space to the young within their family, the impatient ones have jumped ship for greener pastures and the remaining are hoping to be “accommodated” in the house of elders.

The timing may be far from perfect to bring about sweeping changes but in case of the Congress, it is indeed the sooner the better. The veterans, who have enjoyed the fruits of power for 10 years, have to make way for new thought, especially because their track record has left much to be desired and has pushed the party to the verge of losing its prominence nationally. Rahul has taken charge now and he must get his chance and time to prove his mettle. He is on the right path and making the right assertions. “I cannot make big promises but my intentions are very clean. I promise you that whatever demands you have, I would always make a whole-hearted effort to meet your demands,” Gandhi said.

However, the need of the hour is that Rahul should present a credible plan to back up his promises with action on the ground. And, the plan of action should be long-term in its scope and reach. Irrespective of how India votes in 2014, Rahul must keep his eyes on the goal – to create a new Congress that is perceived to be more in tune with the changing realities of the biggest democracy of the world.

The Rahul factor...the story has just begun.

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014

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AAP provides ‘proof ’ against Nitin Gadkari

An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has alleged that he has found some proof of wrongdoing by former BJP national

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jit Sawant, a Congress rebel and now an AAP leader from Mumbai, has alleged Gadkari accepted Rs 25 lakh from Reatox Builders and Developers Private Limited, the developers of First City Township project in Mihan and Rs 31.45 lakh from Dattatraya Mhaiskar's Ideal Road Builders (IRB) for "favours granted".

The money was then routed to Purti Power and Sugar Limited through Update Mercantile Private Limited, one of the 16 shell companies connected to Gadkari. The transactions took place when Gadkari was the chairman of Purti Group. Sawant said, Reatox Builders also gave a donation of Rs 50 lakh to the BJP in 2009-10. "Further, Congress and NCP leaders are protecting and giving 'pro-development' certificate to Gadkari despite all these corrupt practices," said Sawant, adding they do not have any evidence against the Congress nominee from city Vilas Muttemwar.

A few days ago, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had said Gadkari and Muttemwar had connections with Reatox, an allegation that AAP withdrew in a press conference. "Political leaders like Gadkari are engaged in massive money laundering and routing black money into their business establishments through shell companies. I had earlier exposed about unaccounted money coming into Gadkari's Purti Company, in October 2012. Close associated and family members were directors in the shell companies," Sawant said.

"Now, I have all documents to prove Gadkari's link with Reatox and IRB. Gadkari should withdraw from the elections," he said.

Gadkari denied the allegations. "Ajit Sawant has been making these allegations since last year and there is nothing new in it. Purti group is cooperating with all authorities concerned with the developments and will continue to do so.

Sawant's allegations seem to clearly politically motivated," said Gadkari who did not respond to TOI's specific questions emailed to him. Sawant said the IT department did not do a proper investigation of Gadkari's affairs even though all documents of the "misdoings" were available with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). "The CBI too remained silent by not investigating into money laundering," he said.

COVER STORY

president Nitin Gadkari who is contesting for the Lok Sabha from Nagpur.

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Focus 2014 Focus On On GlobeGlobe 1-May 1 April 2014

Kiran Bedi against protests outside Gadkari’s house In Aug 25, 2012,

"Now, I have all documents to prove Gadkari's link with Reatox and IRB. Gadkari should withdraw from the elections," “Ajit Sawant”said.

TOI's queries which Gadkari didn't answer

COVER STORY

1. Congress MP Vilas Muttemwar has denied that he has anything to do with Reatox and also that he is not together with you in this venture as claimed by Arvind Kejriwal recently. Why haven't you issued any denial?

2. Documents obtained from Ministry of Corporate Affairs about Update Mercantile revealed that unsecured loan of Rs 25 lakh was taken from Reatox Builders, Rs 31.45 lakh from IRB and Rs 30 lakh from Awani Electricals. An unsecured loan of Rs 20 lakh was taken from Nitin Gadkari himself. Later, a major chunk of the money was transferred to Purti Sugar and shown as an investment. In 2007 when the transactions were done, Update Mercantile Jaykumar Varma, Pahade, Panse, Zade and others who are all linked to Purti and Gadkari.

3. Why did Reatox, IRB, Awani Electricals lend money to Gadkari and his company Purti? Were any special favours granted to these companies?

4. Is it a coincidence that the year Reatox lent money — 2006-07 — was the same in which it got contract to build First City in Mihan?

5. Why did Mr Gadkari give unsecured loan to Update Mercantile which was managed by his own people and from where did the money come from?

Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi

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resh differences have cropped among erstwhile Team Anna members with former IPS officer Kiran Bedi objecting to protests outside BJP president Nitin Gadkari's residence. This comes close on the heels of India Against Corruption's (IAC) announcement that they will gherao the residences of Gadkari and PM Manmohan Singh demanding their resignations on the CAG report estimating a Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss to the exchequer for coal block allocation without competitive bidding.

Bedi said, "I have my personal reservations on spreading this protest to other parties whoever they be. As they are powerless in the current scenario, I would like IAC focused only against the party in power which has the decision making power to bring strong laws or free the CBI from its control ... My friends in the movement have been informed of my perspective and reasoning.

However, they are free to do as they deem fit."

This is in sharp contrast to IAC chief Arvind Kejriwal's statement just a day earlier accusing the "Centre, Left and Right'' of connivance in the scam. The activists plan to start the protest rally from Jantar Mantar and proceed to the PM's 7, Race Course Road house and Gadkari's residence.

When asked if she will be present at the protest rally, Bedi responded, "I will be at Jantar Mantar for some time to offer my solidarity and support for the anti-corruption cause. If the volunteers wish to go to BJP president's house it is their decision. I am personally not for spreading to others in the current situation. I will also have to leave early to attend to my prior commitment of inauguration of Navjyoti Gram Niketan (Rural Management Training institute) planned a month ago. Had I the time I would have gone along to PM House or 10, Janpath (Congress president Sonia Gandhi's residence), the real seats of decision-making."

The statement could weaken the agitation as Bedi is one of the core members of erstwhile Team Anna. However, her affinity to BJP is not entirely surprising to fellow activists. Bedi had struck a jarring note when she fondly recalled BJP patriarch L K Advani's words of encouragement while speaking to the public gathered at Ramlila Maidan in August last year.

She was also the only Team Anna member to join Baba Ramdev at his Ramlila Maidan protest earlier this month despite the fact that activist Anna Hazare and others had decided to keep away, upset by the yoga guru's public support of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.

Bedi has also chosen to stay away from the "political" alternative and has expressed her desire to stay with the andolan, setting off speculation on what appears to be a "stepping away" from erstwhile Team Anna.

Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Focus Globe 1-May

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BJP versus BJP Ram Jethmalani Says Nitin Gadkari is Corrupt In October 17, 2012 COVER STORY

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t is not just Congress leaders who are accused of being corrupt. Now, it is Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) turn to fight back against corruption charges. As activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal is all set to reveal corruption charges against BJP President Nitin Gadkari, the senior politician faces allegations of financial irregularities from his own party colleague.

Party leader Ram Jethmalani said that he has evidence of financial irregularities against Gadkari. Jethmalani has said that if Arvind Kejriwal gives evidence of irregularities against Gadkari, then the senior BJP leader will not only back Kejriwal, but he too has evidence of wrongdoing by the BJP President. He also went to the extent of saying that he would demand Gadkari's resignation if the charges surface. In fact, Jethmalani had written a letter to Gadkari, dated Sept 27, 2012, when the BJP national executive was meeting in Surajkund on the outskirts of Delhi. In that letter, Jethmalani has complained about the state of affairs in the party. Jethmalani said some of the aspiring leaders of the BJP have announced that 'black Money is no issue' and the party's spokesmen are under instructions not to emphasise on this matter in public. Meanwhile, Gadkari mentioned that he had not received any such letter. Earlier, India Against Corruption (IAC) activist Anjali Damania had accused that BJP president had business relations with Sharad Pawar.

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COVER STORY

MP.Badruddin Ajmal Qasmi and President of All India United Democratic Front (AUDF), in Asaam public meeting

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hile the prospects of the corruption-tainted Congress appears dim in most of states, Assam is one of the few states where the party looks strong and hopes to do well in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Though a pro-government mood prevails in the state, the battle for the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam has turned interesting, given the popular mood in favour of Narendra Modi. However, Badruddin Ajmal's All India United Democratic Front (AUDF), which

CONGRESS BJP AIUDF KEY PLAYERS IN ASSAM

wields considerable clout in the Muslim-dominated districts, will also be a key player to watch.

Another powerful political party – the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) - which once dictated the direction of Assam politics, is in a state of disarray after several of its top leaders deserted the party to join the BJP. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party winning seven seats while its ally the Bodoland

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014

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Peoples' Party had retained Kokrajhar. The BJP had finished second with 4 seats while the AGP and the AIUDF had won one seat each. The AGP's fortune has been going down ever since it was relegated to third place in the 2011 Assembly poll, mostly on account of the fast rise of the AIUDF. Former student leader Sarbananda Sonowal was the first prominent leader to desert the AGP to join BJP, he was rewarded by his new party by making him the state unit president. Sonowal was soon followed by the party's founder-members and former powerful state ministers Chandramohan Patowary and Hiten Goswami. The defectors alleged that they were forced to leave the party as the rank and file had lost confidence in their founder-president and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who is not willing to quit as party chief. Though AGP came second on four seats in the last polls, this time the going appears to be tough for the regional party with the BJP going all out to consolidate its position in the state with its national leaders paying particular attention to the state.

Former AGP leaders, who had switched sides for the BJP, claim that people in Assam are fed up with the anti-people policies of the Tarun Gogoi's government and want to give the BJP a chance at the Centre. Riding on the Modi wave, the state BJP leaders are confident that the party will get more than the four seats it had won in the last LS polls. According to insiders, AGP chief Prafulla Kumar Mahanta is fast losing his grip over the party and many more leaders and their followers were waiting in the wings to leave the party at an opportune moment. There will be no smooth ride for Congress, which is still strong in the state, in the 2014 polls as infighting and internal squabble has badly plagued the state unit and a section of its ministers and legislators are extremely disappointed with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's style of functioning. A section of the Congress is also opposed to Gogoi's promotion of family members. His son, Gaurav Gogoi was nominated from Kaliabor constituency, replacing his brother and sitting MP Dip Gogoi.

Tarun Gogoi denies that pro-Modi sentiments are running high in Assam and it will work in favour of the BJP . The Chief Minister claims that the ruling Congress will win at least 10 seats (out of 14) in the 16th Lok Sabha polls scheduled for 7, 12 and 24 April in Assam.

He has also been very critical of the BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi terming him only ‘an expert in packaging and marketing of politics’ sans any essence. Another cause of worry for the Congress is the likely division of votes of its traditional minority vote bank following the rise of the AIUDF in minority-dominated constituencies of Dhubri, Karimganj and Silchar. The AIUDF, the largest opposition party in the state Assembly, is an ally of the UPA at the Centre, but it is opposed to the Congress in the state politics. While the Congress will contest 13 seats leaving one for its ally Bodoland Peoples' Party, the BJP will contest in 12 seats, ensuring a tough fight with all stake holders AGP, AIUDF etc.

Notably, there is no AAP impact in Assam despite its meteoric rise in the national politics after its victory in Delhi Assembly polls this year. It would be interesting to watch whether voters in Assam will give a thumps up to Tarun Gogoi's serious efforts for sustained peace, progress and development in the region and help Congress win the crucial Lok Sabha polls with flying colors.

COVER STORY

The fate of two Union ministers - Paban Singh Ghatowar, renominated from Dibrugarh, and Ranee Narah from Lakhimpur – will be decided in the first phase with the former attempting to retain the seat for the sixth term and the latter for the fourth term. Narah, whose candidature was also opposed by a section of the Congress, will find the going tough against BJP's state unit President Sarbananda Sonowal, while Ghatowar is expected to sail through comfortably. Going by the findings of the poll surveys, Congress is likely to increase its vote share from 35 percent in 2009 elections to 47 percent. The BJP is also expected to increase its share from 16 percent in 2009 to 19 now while AGP's vote share is likely to see a big drop from 15 to 9 percent.

The AIUDF, though a key player in minority-dominated areas, is also expected to witness a slight erosion in its support base. The party's vote share is also likely to go to 10 percent of votes from 16 in last elections.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party winning seven seats while its ally the Bodoland Peoples’ Party had retained Kokrajhar.

The BJP had finished second with 4 seats while the AGP and the AIUDF had won one seat each.

The AGP’s fortune has been going down ever since it was relegated to third place in the 2011 Assembly poll, mostly on account of the fast rise of the AIUDF.

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FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014

NEIGHBOURHOOD

By: AP in Islamabad

PAKISTAN'S NAWAZ SHARIF GOVERNMENT HOLDS ITS FIRST TALKS WITH TALIBAN

“Peace talks held in 'cordial atmosphere', though many militant groups who carry out violence are not linked to Pakistani Taliban”

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Taliban representatives' press conference about peace talks with a Pakistani government delegation in Peshawar. Photograph: Bilawal Arbab / EPA

A

Earlier, Ibrahim Khan, a professor and cleric who has represented the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan – as the Pakistani Taliban is formally called – told reporters that the face-to-face discussions were aimed at ending the violence.

The talks were originally to have taken place, but bad weather prevented the Government team, headed by secretary for port and shipping Habibullah Khan Khattak, from

travelling by helicopter to the north-west.The negotiations come at a sensitive time for Pakistan, where daily militant attacks challenge the government's authority.The Taliban, who operate in the northwest, have announced a ceasefire during the talks, but attacks claimed by their splinter groups have continued. Shahid, the TTP spokesman, has denied the group's involvement in the recent violence.

The main challenges of negotiating a peace settlement are the many groups and factions behind the violence.

Many groups operate independently of the Taliban, including both local and foreign al-Qaida-linked militant outfits.

The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban share a similar ideology, but the Pakistani Taliban have a separate leadership structure and focus their efforts on attacking the Pakistani Government and trying to impose their harsh form of Islam in the country. The Afghan and US Governments have held indirect talks through intermediaries with the Afghan Taliban.

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Pakistani Government team held direct talks with the Taliban after travelling to a secret location in the country's northwest, part of a push by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to strike a peace deal to end an insurgency that has killed thousands of people in recent years. Although previous Pakistani Governments have spoken directly with Taliban representatives, these are the first such negotiations since Nawaz Sharif took office last June. Over the past month or so, intermediaries representing the two sides have met and laid the groundwork for the talks.

Maulana Samiul Haq, one of the Taliban negotiators, said the discussions lasted for seven hours and would resume later in the week. Maulana Samiul Haq, a cleric, said the talks were fruitful and helped the two sides understand each other better.The Taliban spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, also cast the meeting in a positive light. "The talks with the Government team were held in a cordial atmosphere. The two sides discussed all the issues, including how to exchange each other's prisoners and continue the ceasefire," he said. Shahid said the Taliban treated the Government team as "guests" and that the team was on its way to a safe location.Information minister Pervaiz Rashid did not share any details, saying only that "the Government team is there for the talks with the Taliban, and the peace process is progressing well".

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FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014

PEACE TALKS CONTINUE AMID FRESH WAVE OF CIVILIAN KILLINGS

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Pakistanis carry the casket of their relative, a victim of a bomb blast, after receiving him from a morgue at a local hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, April 9, 2014. A bomb ripped through a fruit and vegetable market on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Wednesday morning, killing and wounding dozens, officials said. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

THE PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT IS IRONING OUT A PEACE DEAL WITH THE PAKISTANI TALIBAN. A DEADLY WAVE OF VIOLENCE IS SWEEPING THE COUNTRY, BUT IT MAY NOT BE AT THE HANDS OF THE USUAL SUSPECTS.

Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Focus Globe 1-May A deadly bombing inside a vegetable market on the fringes of Islamabad killed 25 people and injured as many as 100 others. It came at a time when the Pakistan government is trying to iron out a peace deal with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban, and working to extend the 40-day cease-fire, which recently expired. The vegetable market bombing also came one day after 16 people died when a 20 kilogram bomb rocked a passenger train at Sibi station in Balochistan province. Munawwar Azeem, an Islamabad-based journalist who works for English-language daily Dawn, was a witness to the attack.

“There was complete chaos. I saw body parts strewn all over the place and people had begun putting the injured in any vehicle they could get their hands on, even on hand-pulled carts, and shifting them to hospitals,” he told MintPress News. Police said about 5 kilograms of explosives were hidden in a guava crate. It was the deadliest attack in Islamabad after the one on the Marriott Hotel in 2008, which left over 50 dead and as many as 260 injured. On any given morning, Azeem said, the vegetable market is pulsating with anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 people, usually laborers and vendors. “It is open from all sides and it is virtually impossible to check the comings and goings.” Furthermore, the detectors placed at the entrance were not working on the day of the bombing. In a statement, the Pakistani Taliban denied any involvement in either of the attacks, saying, “The killing of innocent people in attacks on public places is regrettable and prohibited by Islam.”

Hidden hands

Who could be behind these heinous attacks if not the Pakistani Taliban?

“It could be anyone, including some se-

cret agency within and outside” as this kind of an attack “does not require expertise,” senior journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai told MintPress. Yusufzai was part of the initial four-member committee formed for negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban. This was echoed by Masood Sharif Khattak, former director general of Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau. “It’s too early to point a finger on anyone. Our nation stands divided today over whether to have peace talks with the Taliban or not. There are groups on either side who may want to derail it.”

Since 9/11, he continued, the country has been vulnerable to all kinds of activities of external intelligence agencies. “You cannot rule out their nefarious schemes, either.” At the same time, Yusufzai, who specializes in covering militancy and is an expert on Afghanistan, said the attacks could be from a faction of the Pakistani Taliban that is not in favor of these talks. “It is quite possible the hardliners among the TTP who do not want the peace negotiations to continue are jeopardizing the dialogue,” said Yusufzai. For example, on March 3, 11 people, including an additional session judge, were killed and over 30 were wounded in a gun, grenade and suicide attack at the district courts premises in Islamabad. The Pakistani Taliban also denied involvement in this attack. Ahrarul Hind, a splinter group that broke away from the main Pakistani Taliban after the group engaged in talks with the Pakistan government, has claimed responsibility for the attack. There are no confirmed figures showing how many groups comprise the Pakistani Taliban, and despite the ideological divide, many militant

groups also align themselves with the group.

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Recently, divisions and cracks within the Pakistani Taliban have become increasingly visible. Due to infighting between two factions under the group’s umbrella, over 50 people have reportedly been killed in clashes in the tribal belt of Pakistan, North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan. These differences emerged over the Pakistani Taliban’s leadership after the death of Hakimullah Mehsudlast in November. Nevertheless, Yusufzai supports the peace process wholeheartedly.

“Talking helps to know the intensity of the feeling of the other side; you understand their narrative and i nteracting can help change their mindset.

It’s better than operating in a vacuum.”

“Talking helps to know the intensity of the feeling of the other side; you understand their narrative and interacting can help change their mindset. It’s better than operating in a vacuum.”

He finds it hard to believe the market attack could have been carried out by mainstream Pakistani Taliban, though. As a gesture of goodwill, the Pakistani state has released 19 Taliban members, and 13 more are to be released soon. “There is no reason for them when, right now, they have a vested interest for the talks continue so that they can get their people released,” he said.

Should the Pakistani Taliban rein in errant factions?

“Once they are convinced the negotiations are moving forward, that the army and the government are on the same page, they may ask the splinter groups to hold their guns,” said Yusufzai. ”They do have the capacity to do that.” For now, he said, they may not want to fight their own allies. With rifts among the ranks, he said, many members may think it could well be the doing of the Pakistan government and its army — and this belief could have spurred the attacks. For Pakistan, this could mean more such attacks in the future.

“The state needs to be prepared all the time, and pre-empt these attacks using technology and its manpower,” said Yusufzai. Khattak said “counter intelligence” is the only way to prevent such attacks.

“For far too long, there was a void in governance,” he said, but he sees a glimmer of hope in the dialogue. “The TTP statement of condemnation should be seen dispassionately and the announcement of ceasefire coming from them is an achievement, nonetheless.”

NEIGHBOURHOOD

“The killing of innocent people in attacks on public places is regrettable and prohibited

by Islam.”

Many find the group’s sudden U-turn in characterizing civilian deaths as un-Islamic a paradox. For years, the Pakistani Taliban, which does not tolerate dissent, has never shown remorse and has spared no one. They have ruthlessly killed and maimed women, children, doctors, peacemakers, politicians, journalists and security forces, and they have had no qualms about attacking funerals, mosques, shrines, hospitals and public spaces. “It took over 50,000 deaths of innocent people for them to realize this?” retorted an infuriated Salman Ahmed, a banker in the southern port city of Karachi. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry – ‘TTP Spox says attacks on public places and casualties deplorable, such acts are illegal and “haram,”’” Bilawal Zardari Bhutto, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, tweeted.

For now, the government has accepted the Pakistani Taliban’s move to distance itself from the recent attacks. Minister of Information and Broadcasting Pervez Rasheed has even deemed it a good omen, noting that terrorists are growing increasingly isolated without the group’s support.

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Focus On Globe

1 April 2014

Prime Minister of Pakistan to Accept Gilgit Baltistan Charter of Demand By: S. A. Khan Filed Under: Civil Rights, News

NEIGHBOURHOOD

J

Jammu Kashmir National Independence Alliance (JKNIA) Calls upon Prime Minister of Pakistan to accept Awami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan Charter of Demand

ammu Kashmir National Independence Alliance (JKNIA) calls upon Prime Minister of Pakistan to accept Awami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan Charter of Demand. A representative delegation of Kashmiri Diaspora organisations lead by Mahmmod Kashmiri – Chairman JKNIA has delivered a memorandum to Mr. Khalil Ahmed Bajwa the Consul General of Pakistan in Bradford. The joint memorandum signed by the leaders of the Alliance Mahmood Kashmiri – Chairman JKNIA, Ghulam Hussain (KFM), Ershad Malik (JKDFP), Mirza Siddique (JKPF), Nadeem Aslam (JKNIA), Younas Taryabi (KWA), Sardar Amjad Yousaf (UKPNP) and Kh. Mushtaq Hussain (JKNLC) states: “Jammu Kashmir National Independence Alliance (JKNIA), and members of civil society and human rights activists in UK and Europe extend complete support and solidarity with the people of Gilgit Baltistan and fully endorse the ‘Charter of demand’ by Awami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan (AACGB).”

The Kashmiri diaspora community in United Kingdom and Europe deplore the arrogant attitude of Pakistani establishment by ignoring the just demands presented in the “Charter of Demand” by AACGB. The people of Gilgit Baltisan from every nock and corner of the region are peacefully participating in protest sit in (Dharna) since 15 April 2014 but there is no sign of considerate response from your government. Mehmood Kashmir said: “We are disappointed to observe and note colonial practices employed by your administration towards the people of Gilgit Baltistan. In our view the Government of Pakistan is failing to discharge its responsibilities under UN Security Council and UNCIP resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir in general and with regards to Gilgit Baltistan and AJK in particular.” The memorandum further states: “You cannot and will not be able to hide your negligence and violations of civil and political rights of the people of Gilgit Baltistan. The International community and European Union in particular has urged Pakistan to revisit its policies viz-a-viz Gilgit Baltistan and AJK. The leaders of JKNIA stressed that the people of Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir consider the existing governance arrangements under the Karachi Agreement of 28 April 1949 between our region and Pakistan as draconian colonial mechanism of subjugation and control. We unequivocally reject and oppose the terms and conditions of Karachi Agreement agreed under duress and imposed upon our people by Pakistan. Ghulam Hussain, President Kashmir Freedom Movement (KFM) said: “We want to convey our deepest anguish and we unequivocally condemn the lack of sensitivity and prudence shown by the Government of Pakistan thus far in response to the ‘Charter of Demand’ by AACGB.” JKNIA demanded immediate intervention from Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif and urged him to,

JKNIA delegation lead by Mahmood Kashmiri presenting Memorandum to Mr. Khalil Ahmad Bajwa Consul General of Pakistan, Bradford calling upon Prime Minister of Pakistan to accept Awami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan Charter of Demand 1- Accept the Awami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan “Charter of Demand” in its entirety without any further delay.

2- Respect and implement UN mechanism as recommended in UN Security Council and UNCIP resolutions in its letter and spirit in Gilgit Baltitan.

3- Meaningfully engage in dialogue with the independent representative of the people of Gilgit Baltsan and Azad Jammu Kashmir to re-negotiate the Governance arrangements’ for interim period to establish equitable relations between Government of Pakistan and the constitute assemblies and governments in both regions of the semi-autonomous liberated territories of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir. The memorandum further states: “Your positive actions will determine your intentions and you have to demonstrate whether your government and Pakistan as a nation justify to be considered as one of the Islamic democratic countries and responsible member of world community in the world by the people of civilized and democratic world. We are looking forward to see your positive action in protecting right to life, liberty and security of persons in Gilgit Baltistan, and recognition of the democratic and decentralized system of Governance by fully accepting the Charter of Demand of “Awami Action Committee” as a first step.”

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Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Focus Globe 1-May

South Korean PM Chung Hong-won Resigns Over Ferry

Chung Hong-won said resignation was "the right thing to do"

S

outh Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won has resigned amid criticism of the government's handling of the sinking of a passenger ferry.

He said the "cries of the families of those missing still keep me up at night". Mr Chung will stay in his post until the disaster is under control.

The Sewol ferry with 476 people aboard - most of them students and teachers - sank off South Korea on 16 April.

Officials have confirmed 187 died, but scores are missing presumed drowned.

Furious relatives have repeatedly criticized what they see as the slowness of the recovery operation."The right thing for me to do is to take responsibility and resign as a person who is in charge of the cabinet," Mr Chung said in a brief televised statement.

‘‘South Korean Prime Minister

Chung Hong-won’’

Bad weather is hampering the recovery operation

MISFORTUNE

“On behalf of the government, I apologize for many problems from the prevention of the accident to the early handling of the disaster”

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FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014 "On behalf of the government, I apologize for many problems from the prevention of the accident to the early handling of the disaster."

"There have been so many varieties of irregularities that have continued in every corner of our society and practices that have gone wrong.

I hope these deep-rooted evils get corrected this time and this kind of accident never happens again."

Relatives wait for news of their loved ones at Jindo harbour, near the scene of the disaster President Park Geun-hye accepted her prime minister's resignation but did not set a last day in office. The PM would leave his post once the ferry disaster was under control, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

An opposition party spokesman described it as "thoroughly irresponsible" and a "cowardly evasion" of responsibility.The day after the disaster, Mr Chung was booed and someone threw a water bottle at him when he visited grieving parents. Divers were battling atrocious weather conditions on Sunday as they tried to retrieve more bodies trapped in the sunken ferry. A coastguard spokesman said heavy seas whipped up by strong winds were badly complicating recovery efforts.

MISFORTUNE

"The situation is very difficult due to the weather, but we are continuing search efforts, using the occasional calmer periods," the spokesman said, adding that 93 divers would take part in Sunday's operation. All 15 crew members involved in the navigation of the ferry are now in custody, facing criminal negligence charges.

At Jindo harbour, relatives of the missing watched Mr Chung make his speech

Reasons unclear Divers found 48 bodies of students wearing lifejackets in a single room on the vessel meant to accommodate just over 30 people. The group was crammed into a dormitory and all were wearing lifejackets, a South Korean Navy officer said. The presence of so many victims in the cabin suggested many had run into the room when the ship tilted, correspondents said. The reason for the disaster is still unclear. But prosecutors are said to be investigating whether modifications made to the ferry made it more unstable.

Factors under consideration include a turn made at about the time the ship began to list, as well as wind, ocean currents and the freight it was carrying. Reports have emerged indicating that the ship's sleeping cabins were refitted sometime between 2012 and 2013, which experts say may have inadvertently affected the balance of the vessel.

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Flight 370 Mystery Becomes History

Sear gent Trent Wyatt looks out an observation window aboard a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P3 Orion maritime search aircraft as it flies over the southern Indian Ocean looking for debris from missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

Malaysia Jet Search Resumes By: VOA News

believe the call ended abruptly after the phone made contact with a communications tower as the jetliner flew at low altitude about 200 nautical miles northwest the island of Penang.

The newspaper said its sources declined to reveal who the caller was trying to reach. Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein cast doubt on the report, telling reporters he would have been informed about such a call, if it had indeed taken place. Pings consistent with a flight data recorder have been detected by an Australian ship using a U.S. naval device to detect black boxes. But no new underwater signals have been heard for several days. If authorities locate more signals, they can then deploy a robot submarine to search the ocean floor.

The Australian prime minister has also cautioned that trying to find anything nearly five kilometers below the surface of the Indian Ocean a thousand kilometers from land is a huge task that will not likely end any time soon.

MISFORTUNE

T

he search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 resumed, as fears mount that batteries powering transmitters from the plane's flight data recorder may have died.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott continues to sound notes of caution, stressing that it may take a long time to locate the Boeing 777 aircraft. Authorities also warn that investigators will have lost their chief means of detection when the flight recorder transmitter batteries lose power. Those batteries are designed to operate for at least 30 days, and many experts speculate they may have already stopped working.

Meanwhile, a leading Malaysian newspaper says investigators probing the plane's disappearance suspect the co-pilot attempted to make a cell phone call after the jetliner deviated from its original course.

The pro-government New Straits Times says investigators

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Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 April 2014 2014

US Threatening Tougher Sanctions On Russia

WORLD @ GLANCE

The Obama administration is willing to impose "additional significant sanctions" if Russia escalates the Ukraine situation.

By: The Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin, background, heads a meeting on Monday, July 9, 2012. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti Kremlin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service)

T

reasury Secretary Jacob Lew is warning Russia that it could face tougher economic sanctions because of its actions in Ukraine but so far other economic powers are showing a reluctance to go as far as the United States. Lew delivered his warning to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, telling him that the Obama administration was willing to impose “additional significant sanctions” if Russia escalates the Ukraine situation. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said, in a statement that Jacob Lew described Russia’s annexation of Crimea as “illegal and illegitimate.”

Jacob Lew met Siluanov in advance of talks between finance ministers and central bank presidents of the Group of Seven ma-

jor economic powers and a broader Group of 20, which includes the traditional powers and emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India. Jacob Lew’s tough language did not find its way into a joint statement from the G-7, and there was no hint that sanctions against Russia might be strengthened. Instead, the G-7 statement said the major economic powers had discussed “the situation in Ukraine, its financing needs and the international response.” It was expected that Russia also would be spared any criticism in the G-20 communiqué, which was scheduled to be issued at the end of the G-20 talks. Russia is a member of the G-20 but not the G-7. The G-7 nations are the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Canada and Italy.

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 Last month, President Barack Obama met with other G-7 leaders, and the group confirmed that it was indefinitely suspending cooperation with Russia, which for more than a decade had joined with the G-7 countries to form the Group of Eight nations. That larger group was to hold a summit later this year in Sochi, Russia. But the G-7 nations have said they will boycott that meeting. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin told reporters before the discussions began that France preferred to focus on the economic support being provided to Ukraine. That effort is being led by the International Monetary Fund, which says it will provide up to $18 billion in loan guarantees to Kiev to help the country get its economy moving again.

“The question is not to talk about sanctions.

The question is to get started … as quickly as possible” working to get the IMF’s support program implemented, Sapin told reporters.

The U.S. delegation to the G-7 and G-20 talks was led by Lew and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Those discussions were being held in advance of the annual spring meetings of the 188-nation IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.

The G-20 talks were scheduled to wrap up with news conferences from many of the participating nations. Then within one day the policy-setting councils of the IMF and World Bank were to meet. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the global economy was finally turning the corner after a deep recession but the recovery remains too weak.

Speaking at a news conference, Lagarde called on governments to aggressively pursue programs to spur economic growth to help the millions of people who remain unemployed. “Bold actions are needed to generate stronger growth,” Lagarde told reporters. The discussions on how to boost growth and fight poverty were likely to be overshadowed at

“The question is not to talk about sanctions.

The question is to get started as quickly as possible” working to get the IMF’s support program implemented, Sapin told reporters. The U.S. delegation to the G-7 and G-20 talks was led by Lew and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Those discussions were being held in advance of the annual spring meetings of the 188-nation IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.

33 the meetings by the rising tensions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

The United States and European nations have imposed various economic sanctions on Russia, including travel bans and asset freezes in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, with the possibility of tougher sanctions on the table. To provide support for Ukraine’s cash-strapped government, the IMF is working up a loan package to provide $14 billion to $18 billion in assistance.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to demand advance payment from Ukraine for natural gas that Russia supplies to the country. Asked about the IMF support, Lagarde said the IMF hoped to have the program for Ukraine approved by its 24-member board by the end of this April month or early May 2014. Foreign ministers from the 28-nation European Union are scheduled to meet in Brussels and the issue of expanding the sanctions will be discussed.

However, some countries have already expressed opposition to such a move.

World Bank President Jim Young Kim told reporters at a separate news conference that the sanctions that have already been imposed were having a dampening effect on Russia’s economy and if the crisis worsens, he said Russia could be pushed into a recession. Kim said the World Bank was preparing its own support package for Ukraine amounting to around $3.5 billion. A G-20 grants tribute to former Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty who died on April 2014. Jim Flaherty, who took the Cabinet position in 2006, was the longest-serving G-7 finance minister before he announced three weeks ago that he was stepping down. A friend said he had died of a massive heart attack. Australian Treasury Minister Joe Hockey, the current chair of the G-20, told the group, “Canada is poorer for his passing and we are all poorer.” Jacob Lew cited Flaherty for his skill in helping Canada navigate the 2008 global financial crisis.

WORLD @ GLANCE

2 IN 1

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WORLD @ GLANCE

British Army Doesn’t Want You To Read This Book

FocusOnOnGlobe Globe 1-May Focus 1 April2014 2014

The UK authorities are trying to block their own report on Afghanistan.

By: Corinne Purtill

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, right, talks to British soldiers at Camp Bastion, outside Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 16, 2013.(AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Three years ago, the Defense Ministry commissioned a young officer to write a book about British military operations in Helmand Province, the volatile region in Afghanistan that has claimed hundreds of British casualties. On 9th of April 2014, the book’s publishers handed out fliers instead of hardbacks at book launches as the ministry made a last-ditch effort to keep its own history from going to press. The author, former reserve Captain Mike Martin, 31, was forced to resign from the army to publish an account that offers unsparing criticism of the intelligence flaws and institutional failures he found in the Helmand operations.

The military fought publication of “An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict” on the grounds that it includes classified

“When they deployed to the north, the communities had no knowledge of why there were British soldiers arriving in their villages and the British had no idea as to who their friends or enemies were,” Martin wrote in an excerpt published in the Independent newspaper. “By this point the Helmand is were 28 years into their conflict and there was no patience for a historical enemy.”

materials, such as cables previously published by Wiki Leaks. Nonsense, one retired army colonel says.

“I read every word of every draft of each chapter,” said Alexander Alderson, who as head of counterinsurgency in Helmand was Martin’s boss in Afghanistan. “I was very conscious of the Official Secrets Act,” he said.

“I’m satisfied, as someone who holds the very highest security clearance, that there’s absolutely nothing in what he’s saying that transgresses the Official Secrets Act.” “I don’t think embarrassment and institutional failure is covered by it,” he added.

The book highlights devastating flaws in the army’s approach in Helmand. Its ignorance of the province’s language, culture and history stymied the mission and led to tribal leaders “the greatest natural politicians I’ve

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 ever come across,” Martin said — manipulating coalition forces to settle their own scores.

“Our biggest failure was a failure to understand,” he said at a promotional event for the book Wednesday 9th April at London’s Royal United Services Institute. Western forces tend to view Afghanistan’s recent history as a series of distinct conflicts — the Soviet war, civil war, Taliban rule — whereas locals in Helmand see those decades as a single ongoing battle over land, water and other resources. Coalition forces paid dearly for failing to appreciate that history. More than 400 of Britain’s 448 casualties in Afghanistan died in Helmand.

“When they deployed to the north, the communities had no knowledge of why there were British soldiers arriving in their villages and the British had no idea as to who their friends or enemies were,” Martin wrote in an excerpt published in the Independent newspaper. “By this point the Helmand is were

28 years into their conflict and there was no patience for a historical enemy.” Both American and British forces got better at dealing with insurgents over time, says Theo Farrell, head of the War Studies Department at King’s College London. “Armies make mistakes in war, and in the early parts of war armies make lots of mistakes because you know what? Wars are bloody difficult,” Farrell said at RUSI. The book is Martin’s dissertation for a doctoral degree. The ministry held the manuscript for more than a year before raising objections in February this year, he said.

On Tuesday 8 April, Martin resigned his commission, freeing the book to be published next month. He now works in Myanmar for a political risk firm. The book comes at a crossroads for the armed forces. On April 1, the army handed control of Camp Bastion — the UK’s main base in Afghanistan — to US forces and officially ended its eight-year mission in Helmand. By the end of this year,

Britain will have withdrawn completely from its fourth war in Afghanistan in 175 years.

Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry is facing cuts that will reduce the standing army to 82,000 troops by 2020, half its size during the Cold War. This isn’t the first time the military has fought to keep a book from the public.

In 2011, it paid $251,000 for the entire print run of “Dead Men Risen,” journalist Toby Harnden’s account of the Welsh Guards’ 2009 Afghanistan tour, and shredded all 24,000 copies. The book was eventually published with just 50 words trimmed. The effort to silence Martin seems to have backfired as well. By Thursday night 11 April, the book was number 45 on Amazon’s UK bestseller list. (Fallow this link) http//www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestseller/books/ref=sv_b_2#3 “They usually shoot themselves in the foot, some way or another,” Martin said.

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MILITARY ANALYSIS New Prowess for Russians Armed men outside an administrative building in Slovyansk, Ukraine.

American officials say Russian troops or pro-Russian separatists under Moscow’s influence control such buildings.

CreditGenya Savilov/ Agence France-Press — Getty Images

This story is included with an NYT Now.

By MICHAEL R. GORDON

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Russia Accuses Kiev of Flouting Ukraine Accord APRIL 21, 2014

Photos Link Masked Men in East Ukraine to Russia APRIL 20, 2014

. “It is a significant shift in how Russian ground forces approach a problem,” said James G. Stavridis, the retired admiral and former NATO commander. “They have played their hand of cards with finesse.”

The abilities the Russian military has displayed are not only important to the highstakes drama in Ukraine, they also have implications for the security of Moldova, Georgia, Central Asian nations and even the Central Europe nations that are members of NATO. The dexterity with which the Russians have operated in Ukraine is a far cry from the bludgeoning artillery, airstrikes and surface-to-surface missiles used to retake Grozny, the Chechen capital, from Chechen separatists in 2000. In that conflict, the notion of avoiding collateral damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure appeared to be alien.

Since then Russia has sought to develop

WORLD @ GLANCE

ecretary of State John Kerry has accused Russia of behaving in a “19th-century fashion” because of its annexation of Crimea. But Western experts who have followed the success of Russian forces in carrying out President Vladimir V. Putin’s policy in Crimea and eastern Ukraine have come to a different conclusion about Russian military strategy. They see a military disparaged for its decline since the fall of the Soviet Union skillfully employing 21st-century tactics that combine cyber warfare, an energetic information campaign and the use of highly trained special operation troops to seize the initiative from the West.“It is a significant shift in how Russian ground forces approach a problem,” said James G. Stavridis, the retired admiral and former NATO commander. “They have played their hand of cards with finesse.”

Under Russia, Life in Crimea Grows Chaotic APRIL 21, 2014

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more effective ways of projecting power in the “near abroad,” the non-Russian nations that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union. It has tried to upgrade its military, giving priority to its special forces, airborne and naval infantry — “rapid reaction” abilities that were “road tested” in Crimea, according to Roger McDermott, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.

The speedy success that Russia had in Crimea does not mean that the overall quality of the Russian Army, made up mainly of conscripts and no match for the high-tech American military, has been transformed. “The operation reveals very little about the current condition of the Russian armed forces,” said Mr. McDermott. “Its real strength lay in covert action combined with sound intelligence concerning the weakness of the Kiev government and their will to respond militarily.”

Still, Russia’s operations in Ukraine have been a swift meshing of hard and soft power. The Obama administration, which once held out hope that Mr. Putin would seek an “off ramp” from the pursuit of Crimea, has repeatedly been forced to play catch-up after the Kremlin changed what was happening on the ground.

WORLD @ GLANCE

‘‘The dexterity with which the Russians have operated in Ukraine is a far cry from the bludgeoning artillery, airstrikes and surface-to-surface missiles used to retake Grozny, the Chechen capital, from Chechen separatists in 2000.’’

“It is much more sophisticated, and it reflects the evolution of the Russian military and of Russian training and thinking about operations and strategy over the years,” said Stephen J. Blank, a former expert on the Russian military at the United States Army War College who is a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. For its intervention in Crimea, the Russians used a so-called snap military exercise to distract attention and hide their preparations. Then specially trained troops, without identifying patches, moved quickly to secure key installations.

Once the operation was underway, the Russian force cut telephone cables, jammed communications and used cyberwarfare to cut off the Ukrainian military forces on the peninsula.

“They disconnected the Ukrainian forces in Crimea from their command and control,” the NATO commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, said in a recent interview. As it cemented control, the Kremlin has employed an unrelenting media campaign to reinforce its narrative that a Russian-abetted intervention had been needed to rescue the Russian-speaking population from

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right-wing extremists and chaos. No sooner had the Obama administration demanded that Russia pull back from Crimea than the Kremlin raised the stakes by massing about 40,000 troops near Ukraine’s eastern frontier.

Soon, the Russians were sending small, wellequipped teams across the Ukrainian border to seize government buildings that could be turned over to sympathizers and local militias, American officials said. Police stations and Interior Ministry buildings, which stored arms that could be turned over to local supporters, were targeted.

“It is much more sophisticated, and it reflects the evolution of the Russian military and of Russian training and thinking about operations and strategy over the years,” said Stephen J. Blank,

“Because they have some local support they can keep leveraging a very small cadre of very good fighters and move forward,” said Daniel Goure, an expert on the Russian military at the Lexington Institute, a policy research group. While the Kremlin retains the option of mounting a large-scale intervention in eastern Ukraine, the immediate purposes of the air and ground forces massed near Ukraine appears to be to deter the Ukrainian military from cracking down in the east and to dissuade the United States from providing substantial military support. The Kremlin has used its military deployment to buttress its diplomatic strategy of insisting on an extensive degree of federalism in Ukraine, one in which the eastern provinces would be largely autonomous and under Moscow’s influence.

“They disconnected the Ukrainian forces in Crimea from their command and control,” the NATO commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, said

And as Russians have flexed their muscles, the White House appears to have refocused its demands. Crimea barely figured in the talks in Geneva that involved Mr. Kerry and his counterparts from Russia, Ukraine and the European Union. The Obama administration’s urgent goal is to persuade the Kremlin to relinquish control over the government buildings in eastern Ukraine that the American officials insist have been held by small teams of Russian troops or pro-Russian separatists under Moscow’s influence. Despite the focus on the combustible situation in eastern Ukraine, the joint statement the diplomats issued in Geneva did not even mention the presence of Russia’s 40,000 troops near the border, which President Obama has urged be withdrawn.

Military experts say that the sort of strategy the Kremlin has employed in Ukraine is likely to work best in areas in which there are pockets of ethnic Russians to provide local support. The strategy is also easier to carry out if it is done close to Russian territory, where a large and intimidating force can be assembled and the Russian military can easily supply special forces.

‘‘The Obama administration’s urgent goal is to persuade the Kremlin to relinquish control over the government buildings in eastern Ukraine that the American officials insist have been held by small teams of Russian troops or pro-Russian separatists under Moscow’s influence.’’

“It can be used in the whole former Soviet space,” said Chris Donnelly, a former top adviser at NATO, who added that Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Central Asia states were “very vulnerable.”

“The Baltic States are much less vulnerable, but there will still be pressure on them and there will on Poland and Central Europe,” Mr. Donnelly added.

Admiral Stavridis agreed that Russia’s strategy would be most effective when employed against a nation with a large number of sympathizers. But he said that Russia’s deft use of cyber warfare, Special Forces and conventional troops was a development that NATO needed to study and factor into its planning. “In all of those areas they have raised their game, and they have integrated them quite capably,” he said. “And I think that has utility no matter where you are operating in the world.”

A version of this military analysis appears in print on April 22, 2014, on page A1 of the New York edition

Shoot Palestinian Photographer In West Bank

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Red Terror By Israeli Forces

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During a mass prayer service of Palestinians protesting Israel’s refusal to release a group of Palestinian political prisoners, Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian photojournalist Mohammad Basman Yasin, 21 years old.

By Patrick O. Strickland A Palestinian farmer looks at Israeli army soldiers after he planted an olive trees near the West Bank town of Tubas in the Jordan valley, during a protest against the closure of land to Palestinians by the army and Jewish settlers, Tuesday, April 8, 2014.

(AP/Mohammed Ballas)

and killing journalists in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as the Gaza Strip. “Since 2000, the Israeli military has killed at least 22 journalists,” Rimawi told Mint Press News.

The protest

Palestinians were protesting Israel’s cancellation of the final phase of an agreement to free 104 long-term Palestinian political prisoners. The Palestinian Authority headed to the United Nations last week as United States-brokered negotiations with Israel wavered on the brink of collapse.

Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni responded by announcing that the final 26 men will not be released. “Fallow the link” http://www.israeli-cancels-Palestinian-prisoner Clashes erupted Friday 4 April, when Israeli forces began to use weapons other than live ammunition as Palestinian protesters assembled for a mass prayer service. Protesters responded by throwing stones.

Mariam Barghouti, a prominent activist with the Popu-

RED TERROR

RAMALLAH occupied West Bank —Israeli military forces shot and injured a Palestinian photojournalist during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank April last week.

Mohammad Basman Yasin, 21 year old, is a volunteer photojournalist for the Israeli organization B’Tselem, a group that monitors human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory. An Israeli sniper shot him on Friday 4 April, when the military responded with force to Palestinian demonstrators outside of “Ofer” Military Prison, located in the Ramallah area of the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s poor record on media freedoms has been widely criticized by Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights groups.

Reporters without Borders’ 2014 Press Freedom Index “Fallow the link” http://rsf.org/index2014/en-index-2014. php ranked Israel 96th for press freedoms among 180 countries across the globe.

Mousa Rimawi, the general director of the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), explained that Israeli forces have a long history of injuring

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lar Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), explained that Israeli forces attempted to crush and prevent the demonstration altogether. “[Soldiers] began firing excessive amounts of tear gas canisters before the demonstration officially began,” she told Mint Press.

“They had several snipers on location,” Barghouti added. “Some were shooting plastic-coated steel bullets and others live ammunition indiscriminately.”

‘‘That Israeli forces have a long history of injuring and killing journalists in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as the Gaza Strip.

“Since 2000, the Israeli military has killed at least 22 journalists,” Rimawi told Mint Press News.’’

RED TERROR

Israeli military targeting photographers Yasin is from Bil’in, a Palestinian village about 8 miles west of Ramallah. As part of his work for B’Tselem, he regularly documents protests in places across the West Bank. “Mohammad Yasin had his camera and his press vest on to show that he was a photographer and not a protester,” said Hamdeh Abu Rahmeh, Yasin’s cousin who was present at the time Yasin was shot. “He was photographing the people there and the protest when he got shot with a live bullet in his stomach.” Witnesses maintain that Yasin was standing at the back of a large crowd when he was shot. The video shows two activists throwing stones in the direction of a military jeep. Then, around 5 minutes and 30 seconds into the video, Yasin falls to ground after being struck.

According to B’Tselem, “Fallow the link” http://www.btselem. org./firearms the Israeli military’s Open-Fire Regulations have undergone extensive changes since the Second Palestinian Intifada (20002004). The group adds that many Palestinian casualties and fatalities in recent years are the result of the “routine use of lethal gunfire in situations that were non-life-threatening either to soldiers or civilians.”

Abu Rahmeh said, “It seems [Yasin] was shot with a dumdum bullet,” referring to bullets that explode upon entering their target.

Yasin, who was also struck in the face with a rubber-coated metal bullet, is presently under doctor supervision at Ramallah Hospital. As a result of the bullet that entered his stomach, he suffered injuries that could potentially result in the removal of his kidneys and liver.

“His kidney is damaged and the doctors are monitoring it to see if it will be able to operate on its own,” Abu Rahmeh explained. “The doctors said part of the bullet cannot be removed because it is lodged very deep. Three of his ribs were also broken.” When asked to describe the atmosphere at the time Yasin was shot, Abu Rahmeh said, “They were shooting live ammunition and many people were injured.” Though the Israeli military spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment on this article, she told Ma’an News Agency that soldiers had fired at “rioters…lightly injuring” five persons. “Fallow the link” http://www.maannews.net/eng/ According to media reports, at least 13 people were reportedly injured during the protest, including seven hit by live ammunition.

Not a new policy

Although no journalists have been killed so far this year, Israeli forces have exposed journalists to physical violence and arrests on several occasions. On March 22, six Palestinian journalists were detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. A week earlier, television correspondent Fida Nasser, who works for Palestine Today, was detained after being attacked by Israeli settlers while filming a segment in the West Bank city of Hebron. During her five-hour interrogation, she was accused of assaulting a female Israeli settler.

Harassing journalists, according to MADA’s Rimawi, “is not a new policy for Israel; it’s an old one.”

“HARASSING JOURNALISTS, ACCORDING TO MADA’S RIMAWI, “IS NOT A NEW POLICY FOR ISRAEL; IT’S AN OLD ONE.”

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Nigerian senator: '135 civilians killed’ in attacks Boko Haram has been accused of numerous attacks in the north including one last month in Bama, Borno State

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BETWEEN THE LINES

orno state senator Ahmed Zannah said the killings took place in at least three separate attacks in the state. The attackers are suspected to be from the Islamist Boko Haram movement. At least 1,500 people, half of them civilian, have been killed in the restive north-eastern region this year, according to Amnesty International. The organisation blamed both "an increase in attacks by Boko Haram and uncontrolled reprisals by Nigeria's security forces" for the high death toll.

Women 'abducted' Senator Zannah said the attackers first target was a teacher training college in the town of Dikwa. They killed five people there and abducted several women, he said.

The attackers burned down the college library before escaping, Mr Zannah said.

The militants then attacked two villages near the border with Cameroon killing a further 130 people, the senator said.

The attacks took place on this month, with initial reports claiming around 70 people had been killed. The Nigerian military has not yet commented on the attacks. A state of emergency has been in place since last year in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in north-east Nigeria.

Human rights groups: Human rights groups have criticised both Boko Haram and Nigeria's military for failing to protect civilians. Amnesty International said last month that Nigeria's army killed around 600 people after a Boko Haram attack. Some 250,000 people have been forced to leave their homes because of the fighting, the Nigerian government's relief agency said. Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since 2009 to create a strict Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Gunmen have killed 135 civilians in north east Nigeria a senior official from the region has told the BBC.

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‘‘Risking My Life to Find Nigeria's Boko Haram’’

By Will Ross The conflict between Nigeria's army and Islamist group Boko Haram has killed some 1,500 people so far this year, according to human rights group Amnesty International. Despite a state of emergency, attacks have intensified. The BBC's Will Ross speaks to a man who risked his life in a failed attempt to track down the militants. s soon as we began climbing the hills, the Boko Haram fighters started shooting down at us," says John as he describes the beginning of a military operation to flush the Islamist militants out of their hideouts on the slopes of the remote Mandara Mountains along the border with Cameroon.

Being from the area and knowing the terrain well, John told the BBC that last year he offered to guide the Nigerian military to the Boko Haram fighters. But he said the whole operation ran into problems when the local civilian self-defence group, known as the civilian Joint Task Force, joined the soldiers.

nity.

Haram said they would kill me wherever they find me," he said. Describing how he and a friend escaped to Cameroon. "They surrounded my house at night. But I escaped and hid in the bush. We went to a village near the Cameroonian border and slept there. "They came and surrounded the entire village. But we knew all the routes on the mountain so went into one of the caves which led through to another opening on the other side of the hill."

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These men are among 250,000 people to have fled their homes this year

“Of course they are after my life.

Boko Haram said they would kill me wherever they find me”

John Nigerian military volunteer

"The soldiers all met in the village and then suddenly a civilian defence force came to join us. But I could see that there were more than 20 Boko Haram members amongst that group," he said, adding it would be futile to fight the Islamist militants when you have Boko Haram members amongst your own force. I asked him what made him so certain that they were part of Boko Haram.

John's answer suggests the Islamist militants are extremely enmeshed in the commu-

'Nothing to lose':

Thousands of extra soldiers have been deployed but the attacks continue "We all lived in the same area. We reared cattle together. I know their faces. I grew up with them. Some of my cousins are members of Boko Haram - one of them is a commander who is younger than me - he's 33." Some of the men he was looking at, he said, were the very people who had earlier attacked many homes in his village.

A soldier then asked him to point out the Boko Haram members amongst the civilian JTF but they suddenly started fleeing. "Another soldier grabbed me round the neck and said the recruits had already sworn on the holy Koran that they they were not members of Boko Haram. He accused me of causing confusion."

The operation never took off.

Infiltrated

Although hard to prove, John is convinced that local officials have been protecting the insurgents. He says the Ciroma or local chief, has opposed efforts to attack them in the Mandara Mountains and through therecruitment process he ensured the civilian JTF was infiltrated by Boko Haram members. "Of course the traditional rulers and politicians have their hand in it," he says.

Some analysts have long argued that politicians are supporting the insurgents. Although there have been a couple of arrests, no case has ever been proven in court. Corruption is also often cited as playing a major role in fuelling the war. For as long as the conflict is raging, massive security budgets are allocated and are easily diverted. By opposing Boko Haram, John says his own life is now in danger.

"Of course they are after my life. Boko

Having grown up with people who went on to become Boko Haram members, I wondered why he felt they had joined the insurgents. "They are being cajoled into it by telling them that this is a holy war and they being supplied with weapons, real weapons." The Nigerian military says it is once again trying to attack the Islamist militants in the hills and mountains near the border. John says he is still ready to help.

"If the army trusts us, we are willing. We know every cave on the mountain and we know all the routes that they use so we will finish them up." "I have nothing to lose. They have killed so many people."

“Of course they are after my life.

Boko Haram said they would kill me wherever they find me” Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has vowed to carry out more attacks

Boko Haram At A Glance:

• Thousands killed in attacks, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria • State of emergency declared in three states in 2013 but violence continues • Some three million people affected • Declared terrorist group by US in 2013 • Founded in 2002 • Initially focused on opposing West-

Focus Globe 1-May Focus OnOn Globe 1 March2014 2014 ern education • Nicknamed Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language • Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state • Nicknamed Boko Haram, a phrase in the local Hausa language meaning "Western education is forbidden" • Official Arabic name, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad" • Founding leader Mohammed Yusuf killed in same year in police custody • Succeeded by Abubakar Shekau, who the military wrongly claimed had been killed Did Nigerian Military Splits Help Boko Haram?

Will the new leaders make any difference?

As dozens of bodies were being buried in north-east Nigeria following yet more attacks on Sunday by suspected Islamist militants, President Goodluck Jonathan was about to make a surprising statement acknowledging serious lapses within his own armed forces.

He suggested the military operation against the group popularly known as Boko Haram had at times been undermined by divisions within the security forces.Two weeks after dismissing the heads of the Army, Air Force and Navy, President Jonathan has now called on the newly appointed military chiefs to cooperate.“The new military chiefs should be given full power to take control of the situation. If politics gets involved in it there is no way it can be controlled” Stephen Mamza DamiBishop of Yola "Sometimes we used to hear some kind of mutual competition among the army chiefs and security personnel," he said at the opening of Air Force Secondary School in Yola, Adamawa State - one of three states under a state of emergency due to the Islamist rebellion. "But this time around we will not tolerate any unnecessary competition that will bring retrogression to this country."

against Boko Haram serious mistakes have been made that have left him far from impressed.

Moment of shame:

In early December, Islamist militants attacked the Air Force base in the city of Maiduguri destroying two attack helicopters - a strike right at the heart of the nation's military might. During his speech in Yola, Mr Jonathan recalled the awkward moment when, following this attack, a journalist had asked him: "Mr president is it not shameful?"

The Nigerian leader said he later turned to his then Chief of Defence Staff and asked: "If you were me, how would you have felt?"

"I believe we will no longer experience that kind of situation. That happened because of some obvious lapses," he told the audience in Yola.

He said that with a new Chief of Defence Staff working with "properly briefed" colleagues, "the Nigerian Armed Forces will be a different Armed Force". The question remains: How many lives could have been saved had it not been for the unhealthy competition and mistakes which the president referred to? There have been signs that the forces fighting Boko Haram needed reorganising.

Initially the military offensive was carried out by the Joint Task Force or JTF - a combined unit made up of all the armed forces and the police. In August, the JTF was disbanded and the entire operation was handed to a newly created army division. As if to defend its military effort, the outgoing JTF spokesman told the world that the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, had just been killed. He has since appeared very much alive in video recordings gloating over Boko Haram attacks.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (C) has appeared in several video recordings inrecent months despite claims he had been killed by the military

Throats slit:

A special advisor to President Jonathan later denied that "unhealthy competition" was the reason the military chiefs had been fired.

"The president has nothing but praise for the manner in which the outgoing service chiefs did their job in very challenging circumstances," read a statement from Reuben Abati. Nevertheless Mr Jonathan has for the first time admitted that during the fight

It is not hard to see that the current strategy against Boko Haram is failing some communities in north-east Nigeria. Sunday's attack on a market and homes in Borno State's Kawuri Village left more than 50 people dead. None of the survivors mentioned any resistance or counter attack by the military to save the vulnerable population. They spoke of dead bodies littering the streets and hundreds of homes being torched.

The military has refused to comment on

Questions remain over how insurgents have been allowed to carry out sustained attacks in north-eastern Nigeria On the same day there were scenes of horror at a church in Waga Chakawa village in neighbouring Adamawa State. Suspected Boko Haram militants locked the doors, shot anyone that tried to escape through the windows and then slit the throats of the congregation. More than 30 people were killed, including children."We need a greater security presence around that area," said Stephen Mamza Dami, the Bishop of Yola, after the attack. "The new military chiefs should be given full power to take control of the situation. If politics gets involved in it there is no way it can be controlled," he told the BBC. Boko Haram has in the past stated it was fighting to create an Islamic State but some Nigerians believe there are politicians who stand to gain from the insurgency. The Bishop of Yola pointed to a forced exodus of Christians following repeated attacks on residents of Gwoza close to the Cameroonian border.

"If the Christians there are wiped out completely, then there is no way a Christian can ever be elected even as a councilor in that area," he added, suggesting the attacks could be a way of getting rid of political rivals.

Security analysts believe that, to contain the insurgency, there needs to be far greater cooperation between Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad as the militants are taking advantage of their porous borders. Setting deadlines for an end to the conflict is widely viewed as harmful.When Air Marshal Alex Badeh was given the top job of Chief of Defence staff this month, he stated that the insurgency must end by April. "Such statements are like a red rag to a bull," said international relations analyst Aderemi Oyewumi. "They lead to more damage being inflicted. No timelines should be given. They should get on with the job, keep their heads down," he said, adding that the importance of the armed forces working together cannot be overemphasized. Perhaps it was no coincidence that the church attack was in Air Marshall Badeh's home state of Adamawa. Some analysts suggest it was a response to the chest-thumping statement of yet another deadline.

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Then came the surprise on 16 January when all the military chiefs were fired by the president. Some analysts believe the shakeup was not carried out purely for security reasons but was in part a political move aimed at securing support ahead of the 2015 elections.

Although President Jonathan has not publicly stated his intention to run, his assumed ambition to seek re-election has created a split in the governing party prompting defections to the opposition.

the attack, instead referring journalists to the police but there are many unanswered questions. How, for example, is it that the insurgents were able to drive into Kawuri in a large convoy of vehicles, carry out an attack for several hours and leave?

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These 4 Things Happen Right Before a Heart Attack

espite what you may believe, heart attacks rarely happen “out of the blue.”

In fact, your body may be trying to warn you of an impending heart attack for days, weeks, perhaps even a month or two before it occurs. Unfortunately, by the time you actually recognize you’re suffering a heart attack; it could be too late to prevent death or debilitating heart damage. So-called silent heart attacks, with signs and symptoms that are mild or seem unrelated to the heart, have long concerned cardiovascular expert Dr. Chauncey Crandall. So Dr. Crandall recently created a special free video presentation about the four most sinister warning signs to watch for.

Statistics show a clear link between a delay in heart attack treatment and death or disability. That’s why it’s essential to know exactly what your heart is trying to tell you with warning signs like those discussed in Dr. Crandall’s video.Although developed as an educational tool, this video rapidly went viral, surpassing 5 million viewers in just a few months. Newsmax Health Publisher Travis Davis attributes the viral sensation to the fact that the content hits close to home for many Americans, especially because heart disease is America’s #1 killer.

In fact, in the U.S. alone, nearly 1 million people suffer their first heart attack each year.

Dr. Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the renowned Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach, Florida, practices on the front lines of interventional, vascular, and transplant cardiology.

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN YOU ARE ALONE???

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ince many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.

H o w e v e r, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and … the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this. It could save their lives!!

A cardiologist says If everyone who read this topic share it to10 people, you can bet that we’ll save at least one life. Rather than sharing jokes only please contribute by forwarding this information which can save a person’s life...

HEALTH

4 Bodily Signs a Heart Attack is Near

A Decades of clinical experience have afforded him the chance to detect little-known warning signs and symptoms like the four he addresses in the video.

Dr. Crandall also tells the real-life story of one man who suffered a “widow-maker” heart attack after ignoring the warning signs — and almost paid the ultimate price. The story is scary but eye-opening, because Dr. Crandall outlines what could have been done to actually prevent this from progressing to the life-threatening stage. Dr. Crandall, medical editor of the Newsmax publication Heart Health Report, has a positive message: you don’t have to be a sitting duck for a deadly heart attack. In fact, according to Dr. Crandall, heart disease can be prevented — and even reversed — with the right information and simple lifestyle adjustments.

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Cricket T20 World Cup 2014 Kumar Sangakkara Suides Sri Lanka Home For Epic Finish Sangakkara's unbeaten 52 helped Sri Lanka chase down India's 130 with six wickets in hand and clinch the World Cup in his final Twenty20 match before retirement

I

t was an entirely fitting end to the T20 careers of Sri Lanka’s two durable stalwarts and stars, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, more appropriate still that Sangakkara, after a lean tournament, should lead them to glory. Last month they held a tickertape parade in Colombo after Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup – this may herald the street party of all time. For the best part of a decade, Sri Lanka have been the nearly men of limited-overs tournaments around the world, invariably diligent, smart, competitive and skilful but always falling just short. “Four previous finals since 2007, two in the 50-over World Cup, two in the World T20, had led to four defeats”.

India had progressed serenely to the final and was already holders of the World Cup and the Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka had played patchily at times and had lost in the group stages to England – of all teams. They brought a big-game plan from which they did not deviate. There were moments when Sri Lanka might have been devoured by the rampant form of Virat Kohli, and India will definitely ask themselves how it was that Kohli made 77 from 58 balls and yet they still managed to muster a mere 130 for 4. Part of the reason was that he faced only eight balls in the last four overs, and partly that Yuvraj Singh, one of the most destructive limited-overs batsmen around, spent 21 balls scratching around over 11. Sri Lanka bowled well and used their changes resourcefully, but perhaps not quite that well.

The total was too meager and only Sri Lankan apprehension could prevent their victory. The old hands all played their part. Tillakaratne Dilshan larruped four boundaries at the start and Jayawardene performed with neat aplomb before having a rush of blood. But Sangakkara was fiercely determined, paced his innings perfectly, and looked for singles; hit boundaries to prevent any tension creeping in and his 52 came from 35 balls.

“Sangakkara said: “It means a lot to all of us. We are very humbled by this.

My family and playing for Sri Lanka are the two most important things that happened to me in my life. Everyone’s got to go and my time is now.” What a way to go it was”.

SPORTS

“To the acclaim of all neutral observers and their own abundant relief, Sri Lanka became World Twenty20 champions last night. They defeated India, the favourites, with astonishing ease in a final that no one can have expected to be so straightforward”.

Sports

OWNER, PRINTER, PUBLISHER, EDITOR MUHAMMAD HANEEF MAHAJAN RNI Regd NO :- JKENG50569/2013

DATED: 17/1/2012