Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Sakshat Laptop for USD 20
According to the Financial Times, India is planning to produce a laptop for about USD20. The "Sakshat" laptop is intended to boost distance learning to help India fulfil its overwhelming educational needs. It forms part of a broader plan to improve e-learning at more than 18,000 colleges and 400 universities. However, some analysts are sceptical that a USD20 laptop would be commercially sustainable and the project has yet to attract a commercial partner.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
No US Mediation in Kashmir Issue
The Obama administration has made it clear that it is not in the mandate of U S Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke to deal with the Kashmir issue, thus allaying India's fears of a third party intervention in its ongoing tension with Pakistan.
''His (Holbrooke's) mandate is to go out and try to help bring stability to Afghanistan, working closely with Pakistan to try to deal with the situation in the FATA region,'' acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood said on Tuesday.
The spokesman said, ''With regard to Kashmir, I think our policy is well-known. I think India has some very clear views as to what it wants to do vis-àvis, dealing with the Kashmir issue, as well as the Pakistanis. But with regard to Ambassador Holbrooke's mission, as I said, is to deal strictly with the Pakistan-Afghanistan situation,'' Wood said.
When asked whether Holbrooke would play any role ''if there are heightened tensions again over, the Mumbai incident,'' the spokesman said, ''I don't want to speculate in terms of what he may or may not do, but his brief is focused solely on Afghanistan.'' This statement made it clear that the new US administration has no intention to mediate in the Kashmir issue, virtually accepting India's longstanding position to settle the issue bilaterally with Islamabad without any third party intervention.
Certain utterances of President Barack Obama during an election campaign led to the impression that his administration might try to mediate between New Delhi and Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
FOR GALLANTRY - Ashok Chakra for Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar & Omble Mumbai:
PREZ TO CONFER MEDALS President Pratibha Patil will present the medals to the next of kin of these of- ficers and personnel during the Republic Day parade
The country's highest peacetime gallantry medal, the Ashok Chakra, would be conferred on nine security personnel including Anti Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, Assistant Sub-Inspector Tukaram Omble and three others who were killed in 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
National Security Guards (NSG) commando, Gajender Singh who was also killed fighting the terrorists would receive the prestigious award, conferred for the most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Kirti Chakra, an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle has been conferred on Senior Police Inspector (Railways) Shashank Shinde who was killed by the bullets of the lone Pakistani terrorist captured, Mohammed Ajmal Amir alas Kasab.
Apart from Shinde, Police Constable (Security Branch) Ambadas Ramchandra Pawar and Mukesh Bhikaji Jadhav, Home Guard, would also receive the Kriti Chakra posthumously. Pawar and Yadav were both killed in the attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).
The country's highest peacetime gallantry medal, the Ashok Chakra, would be conferred on nine security personnel including Anti Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, Assistant Sub-Inspector Tukaram Omble and three others who were killed in 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
National Security Guards (NSG) commando, Gajender Singh who was also killed fighting the terrorists would receive the prestigious award, conferred for the most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Kirti Chakra, an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle has been conferred on Senior Police Inspector (Railways) Shashank Shinde who was killed by the bullets of the lone Pakistani terrorist captured, Mohammed Ajmal Amir alas Kasab.
Apart from Shinde, Police Constable (Security Branch) Ambadas Ramchandra Pawar and Mukesh Bhikaji Jadhav, Home Guard, would also receive the Kriti Chakra posthumously. Pawar and Yadav were both killed in the attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).
THE NATION SALUTES THEM - 133 personalities conferred Padma awards
The country's high est civilian award -- Bharat Ratna -- has been conferred on noted 86-year-old vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar, noted environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna, first Olympic Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, cricket captain M S Dhoni and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are among 133 personailties honoured with Padma awards this year. PADMA VIBHUSHAN Kakodkar, who was actively involved in bringing the IndoUS civil nuclear deal to fruition and 82-year-old Bahuguna, popular for his Chipko movement to save trees, were among the 10 distinguished persons to get Padma Vibhushan, the nation's second highest civilian award. The other recipients included ISRO Chief G Madhavan Nair, the man behind the historic unmanned Moon mission 'Chandrayaan', Sister Nirmala of Kolkata-based Missionaries of Charities and First Chancellor of Sweden-based World Maritime University Chandrika Prasad Srivastava. Historian D P Chattopadhyaya, Jasbir Singh Bajaj (Punjab) and Purushotam Lal (UP, both medicine), former Governor and noted civil servant Govind Narain and industrialist A S Ganguly(Maharashtra) were the other Padma Vibhushan awardees. PADMA BHUSHAN Shooter Abhinav Bindra, Information Technology and National Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda, economist Isher Judge Ahulwalia and Editor-in-Chief of Indian Express Shekhar Gupta were among the 30 eminent personalities awarded Padma Bhushan. PADMA SHRI Among the 93 persons chosen for Padma Shri were Team India captain M S Dhoni, spinner Harbhajan Singh, singer Udit Narayan Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, world billiards champion Pankaj Advani, R K Krishna Kumar of the Taj Group of Hotels and veteran broadcaster Ameen Sayani . PTI
MUMBAI ATTACK - Pak serious about India's dossier
Pakistan is taking India's dossier on the Mumbai terror attacks "extremely seriously" and will "have to act fast" to complete its probe, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.
"The dossier passed on to the government of Pakistan, we are taking it extremely seriously, and we have already started (an) investigation and the results will come soon," he told the 'Financial Times' daily in an interview.
Gilani also hinted that Pakistan could consider the option of extraditing terror suspects to India if relations between the two countries were normalised.
Replying to a question on whether he would ever agree to extradition of terror suspects to India, he said: "So far there is no such thing. But that depends on our normalisation of relations."
Asked how quickly the Pakistani investigation into the Mumbai attacks will proceed, Gilani replied, "I don't want to step into the domain of the Interior Ministry but at the same time we have to act fast."
The Premier said he had also spoken to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh about extending full cooperation for further intelligence sharing. "And even for getting to the culprits, we'll be needing their assistance," he said.
If any culprits are detected during the Pakistani investigation, the government will "proceed according to the law and we will ensure...that justice will be done", he said.
The Indo-Pak ties nose-dived in the wake of the Mumbai attacks that killed over 180 people. India blamed Pakistan- based elements for masterminding and coordinating the attacks.
After weeks of denial, Pakistan recently acknowledged that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested in India during the attacks, is a Pakistani national.
Asked if it was his understanding that the attacks were launched from Pakistan, Gilani said: "No, this is not the issue because the Government of India doesn't blame the government (of Pakistan), they don't even blame the organisations, institutions.
"They were only pointing out to the individuals, those people, are from every part of the world." Gilani described the New Year's greetings and peace message he had recently received from Prime Minister Singh as "a good sign".
Noting that Uzbek, Chechen, Arab and Afghan terrorists are operating in Pakistan, Gilani contended that such persons should be countered but an attack could not be launched on their country of origin.
"The dossier passed on to the government of Pakistan, we are taking it extremely seriously, and we have already started (an) investigation and the results will come soon," he told the 'Financial Times' daily in an interview.
Gilani also hinted that Pakistan could consider the option of extraditing terror suspects to India if relations between the two countries were normalised.
Replying to a question on whether he would ever agree to extradition of terror suspects to India, he said: "So far there is no such thing. But that depends on our normalisation of relations."
Asked how quickly the Pakistani investigation into the Mumbai attacks will proceed, Gilani replied, "I don't want to step into the domain of the Interior Ministry but at the same time we have to act fast."
The Premier said he had also spoken to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh about extending full cooperation for further intelligence sharing. "And even for getting to the culprits, we'll be needing their assistance," he said.
If any culprits are detected during the Pakistani investigation, the government will "proceed according to the law and we will ensure...that justice will be done", he said.
The Indo-Pak ties nose-dived in the wake of the Mumbai attacks that killed over 180 people. India blamed Pakistan- based elements for masterminding and coordinating the attacks.
After weeks of denial, Pakistan recently acknowledged that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested in India during the attacks, is a Pakistani national.
Asked if it was his understanding that the attacks were launched from Pakistan, Gilani said: "No, this is not the issue because the Government of India doesn't blame the government (of Pakistan), they don't even blame the organisations, institutions.
"They were only pointing out to the individuals, those people, are from every part of the world." Gilani described the New Year's greetings and peace message he had recently received from Prime Minister Singh as "a good sign".
Noting that Uzbek, Chechen, Arab and Afghan terrorists are operating in Pakistan, Gilani contended that such persons should be countered but an attack could not be launched on their country of origin.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Tales of crisis, courage and comedy
‘Sainik Samachar’ celebrates its centenary with a vivid collection of news and images from a century of military history
Few times in the recent past have the Indian Armed Forces been held in as high regard as they are right now. The special force operations during the Mumbai terror strike, the anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and the brouhaha over pay increases have kept the men in uniform continuously in the public consciousness. One cannot ask for a better time, therefore, to launch Soldiering On, a well-produced coffee table book to commemorate 100 years of Sainik Samachar, the Armed Forces’ news journal.
The book carefully and painstakingly chronicles the evolution of the Sainik Samachar from its launch in 1909 as the Fauji Akhbar—through various wars, a partition and a change in India’s status from domain to republic to, finally, its current avatar: A fortnightly published in 14 languages and read by thousands of soldiers and ex-servicemen.
Although positioned as a history of the Sainik Samachar, Soldiering On cannot help but become a visual history of the Indian soldier. This means that the book is illustrated with superb pictures infrequently seen outside military circles. The Armed Forces, in the sense of a national unified entity, may only be a few decades old. But as Soldiering On testifies, they have seen their fair share of trials and tribulations. The images in the book, even the ones blurred by age and poor preservation, do justice to these tales.
Two things stand out about the book. One is its balanced view of protagonists: The soldier, the politician and the passage of time are given adequate importance. So, for every few pictures of an Indian unit marching through pouring rain in World War I France, there is one of Indira Gandhi speeding up a ramp into a warship, officers trailing behind, and yet another of milling crowds around the Parliament building in New Delhi on 15 August 1947.
Second, the compilers of the book throw open the archives of the Sainik Samachar to readers and let them draw their own historical conclusions. This, from the Armed Forces, no less, shows a candour rare in popular Indian historiography. Without resorting to petty revisionism to show the evils of colonialism and the “British yoke”, Soldiering On sets the tone for its stance early on in its preface: “We leave it to our discerning readers to form their own opinion.”
Images of Jallianwala Bagh and old Sainik Samachar excerpts denouncing Mahatma Gandhi are left without interpretations or embellishments.
History buffs will enjoy how the book depicts the transient nature of our relationships with neighbours. A poignant picture shows Indian armymen bidding farewell to Pakistani counterparts shortly before the partition of both countries. Later ones show both war and friendship attempts between the countries. One of the final few images is that of armed black-helmeted commandos at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel.
All this might leave you thinking the book is all grim reportage and gritty soldier profiles. But the Sainik Samachar also carried delightful features by popular writers—Khushwant Singh, Ruskin Bond and Mulk Raj Anand (on Indian classical dancing)—and extremely funny cartoons. If the samples in Soldiering Onare anything to go by, the archives of Sainik Samachar should easily have enough material for a compilation of excellent humour in uniform.
Soldiering Onis a classic coffee-table book: Excellent eye candy for a quick flip-through, and plenty of insightful reading when you kick up your heels.
Few times in the recent past have the Indian Armed Forces been held in as high regard as they are right now. The special force operations during the Mumbai terror strike, the anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and the brouhaha over pay increases have kept the men in uniform continuously in the public consciousness. One cannot ask for a better time, therefore, to launch Soldiering On, a well-produced coffee table book to commemorate 100 years of Sainik Samachar, the Armed Forces’ news journal.
The book carefully and painstakingly chronicles the evolution of the Sainik Samachar from its launch in 1909 as the Fauji Akhbar—through various wars, a partition and a change in India’s status from domain to republic to, finally, its current avatar: A fortnightly published in 14 languages and read by thousands of soldiers and ex-servicemen.
Although positioned as a history of the Sainik Samachar, Soldiering On cannot help but become a visual history of the Indian soldier. This means that the book is illustrated with superb pictures infrequently seen outside military circles. The Armed Forces, in the sense of a national unified entity, may only be a few decades old. But as Soldiering On testifies, they have seen their fair share of trials and tribulations. The images in the book, even the ones blurred by age and poor preservation, do justice to these tales.
Two things stand out about the book. One is its balanced view of protagonists: The soldier, the politician and the passage of time are given adequate importance. So, for every few pictures of an Indian unit marching through pouring rain in World War I France, there is one of Indira Gandhi speeding up a ramp into a warship, officers trailing behind, and yet another of milling crowds around the Parliament building in New Delhi on 15 August 1947.
Second, the compilers of the book throw open the archives of the Sainik Samachar to readers and let them draw their own historical conclusions. This, from the Armed Forces, no less, shows a candour rare in popular Indian historiography. Without resorting to petty revisionism to show the evils of colonialism and the “British yoke”, Soldiering On sets the tone for its stance early on in its preface: “We leave it to our discerning readers to form their own opinion.”
Images of Jallianwala Bagh and old Sainik Samachar excerpts denouncing Mahatma Gandhi are left without interpretations or embellishments.
History buffs will enjoy how the book depicts the transient nature of our relationships with neighbours. A poignant picture shows Indian armymen bidding farewell to Pakistani counterparts shortly before the partition of both countries. Later ones show both war and friendship attempts between the countries. One of the final few images is that of armed black-helmeted commandos at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel.
All this might leave you thinking the book is all grim reportage and gritty soldier profiles. But the Sainik Samachar also carried delightful features by popular writers—Khushwant Singh, Ruskin Bond and Mulk Raj Anand (on Indian classical dancing)—and extremely funny cartoons. If the samples in Soldiering Onare anything to go by, the archives of Sainik Samachar should easily have enough material for a compilation of excellent humour in uniform.
Soldiering Onis a classic coffee-table book: Excellent eye candy for a quick flip-through, and plenty of insightful reading when you kick up your heels.
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