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  Movement Yaga Guru Baba Ramdev and the Sadhu community has joined hands to launch national wide agitation if the Center Government does not intervene in the saving the holy river Ganga. Baba has warned and has given the time limit of three months to the Central and the State governments through which Ganga passes, to “take concrete actions to save the holy river”. Otherwise he has decided to launch a countrywide agitation for it.     Battle Yoga Guru Ramdev and the community of other Spiritual seers across the country, is the latest to join the ‘warriors’ who are waging a battle against the industry and development lobbies across the country and reluctant state machineries to save India’s dying rivers. With the Baba and the Sadhu community their power has increased a lot and it is being expected that they will purge not only Ganga but many other rivers and lakes of the accumulated filth and breathe a new life into them.     Ganga Raksha Manch The seer told that he is at the forefront of a group, the Ganga Raksha Manch, set up by spiritual heads in Hardwar to press the government to declare the endangered river a national heritage.  Several spiritual leaders like Sri Sri Ravishankar of the Art of Living, Murari Bapu, Asaram Bapu, Ramesh Bhai Ojha, the heads of the Shankaracharya hermitages across the country and along with various scientific and legal experts are the members of the Ganga Raksha Manch. He has their consent in taking it to the streets if the government doesn’t respond to their call   Ganga Expressway He criticized the UP chief minister Mayawati’s mega project, Ganga expressway from Noida to Ballia. Opposition had alleged a land scam behind the Rs 40,000-crore Ballia to Noida Ganga Expressway announced early this year by UP CM Mayawati. Baba Ramdev said that he is not against the development activities only if they will not pollute the holy river. But the proposed plan of construction of residential and shopping along the river Ganga will result only in an increase in the pollution level of the river.   Report A recent study by the Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution Board had revealed that the level of pollution in the river has reached alarming proportions. Yaga guru urged the Center and the state governments declare Ganga as a national heritage and set up a Save [...]

Ambush Thirty seven personal belonging to elite anti-naxal force Greyhounds went missing after Maoists ambushed a motor launch carrying an Andhra Pradesh police team in the Chitrakonda reservoir just inside the Orissa border on Sunday. The launch was carrying 62 officers and constables when nearly 100 Maoists of the Kalimela dalam of Orissa sitting on two hillocks straddling the reservoir opened fire with rocket-launchers, mortars and light machine guns on the boat. Maoists killed the boat driver, who belonged to the Orissa agriculture department. The police also fired back and during the exchange of fire the fiber glass boat capsized after it was holed due to the firing by the Maoists.   Police According to the Police sources the boat sank when to defend themselves the personal carrying heavy rucksacks and weapons moved to the left of the boat. After the policemen fell in to the water the Maoists used country boats to reach them and opened fire. Two policemen and a boat driver were taken hostage by them. Only 25 “swam to safety”, six of them with bullet injuries, rest of the policemen are missing, feared drowned. “Some injured policemen were inside the cabin when the boat capsized. Whether they have managed to escape or have died would be known after the boat is recovered,” a police officer said.   Reports There are no confirmed reports about the exact figure of the safe and missing police personal. Director General of Andhra Pradesh Police S.S.P. Yadav told that 10 policemen were injured and 35 were missing after the attack. It was one of biggest and first of the year’s surprise attack on the police squad carried out by State Militia Commission, which was recently constituted by the Communist Party of India-Maoist to intensify attacks on the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border. In the recent years Maoists had suffered several setbacks when they had lost over 300 armed cadres, including several top leaders. Search operation was launched by fire brigade and police personnel of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and was later on joined by Navel personal on Monday.   Maoists’ Base Maoists are slowly and quietly making their base in the cities Maoist leaders wander through the remotest vast areas of the country which are trapped in poverty and neglected by the government, raise some slogans and offer some instant justice for some social problems and pick up some young [...]

  Report A new survey based on experience of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households in availing various public services last year revealed that the level of corruption is “alarming” in the states of Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. According to the ‘India Corruption Study 2007′, brought out by Transparency International India (TII) and Centre for Media Studies (CMS), one third of below poverty line Indian households paid 8,830 as bribes to government officials to avail various public services – from police to PDS.       Corruption Levels Report was released by the Vice-President on Sunday. It was stated in the report that nearly 10 lakh BPL households had to pay bribes to the tune of Rs 7.15 crore last year to avail the benefit under the UPA’s flagship scheme. Study has disclosed rampant corruption in implementation of the populist National Rural Guarantee Employment (NREG) scheme. States have been grouped into four categories according to the level of corruption. These four levels are alarming, very high, and high and moderate.       ‘Moderate’ In Himachal Pradesh, Andhara Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttrakhand, Haryana and West Bengal the corruption level is ‘moderate’. Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu fall into the “very high” group. The report was based on the corruption experienced by Below Poverty Line households while availing basic services like hospital, electricity and water supply, PDS and other services as land records and registration, housing, banking and police services.     Political Interference There are several schemes that have been initiated by the central and the state governments for providing employment and other benefits for the poor. But these schemes are present only on the papers in stead of ground level. Study found that 14 per cent of the poor households either paid bribe or used a ‘contact’ mainly political, to get the benefits of National Rural Guarantee Employment (NREG) scheme. This is the fate of every scheme and the poor.   Reality Poor can get the benefits of such schemes only through political activists. Most of funds issued for such schemes sometimes remain unused or are used for some other purposes. Situation is so bad that people all called only to sign papers only to fulfill the necessary requirements. And funds disappear like the water in the desert.      

Battling for Life Former Indian Army Chief Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was battling for life in a military hospital in Wellington in TamilNadu. According to the military hospital sources he was undergoing treatment for a lung cancer. When the reports last came in he has slipped into coma and passed away late Thursday night on June26. He was in extremely critical condition and the doctors feared the worst. Manekshaw had been suffering of old age-related ailments for the past few years and was being treated at the Army Hospital in New Delhi and at the Military Hospital at Wallington, where he settled down after retiring as the army chief on Jan 15, 1973 after four decades of military service.Life and Career Manekshaw was credited with crafting the campaign that led India to victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war and creation of Bangladesh after the war. Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, born in Amritsar, Punjab on 03 April 1914, joined the first batch of 40 cadets at Indian Military Academy (IMA), DehraDun on 01 October 1932, after completing his schooling in Amritsar and Sherwood College, Nainital. He passed out of the IMA in December 1934 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Indian Army. During his military service of four decades he fought five wars from the British era and World War II, to the three wars against China and Pakistan after India’s independence in 1947. Honor Sam Manekshaw was the first of only two Indian military officers to hold the highest rank of Field Marshal of the Indian Army. He was awarded by the President of India, Padma Vibhushan in 1972, conferred the honorary rank of field marshal on 1 January 1973, for his stellar leadership during the Bangladesh campaign that saw the surrender of more than 90,000 Pakistani troops on December 16, 1971 in Dacca, then the capital of East Pakistan and which has now been renamed Dhaka. Contribution During his four decades of military service he showed, acumen for planning and administration while handling the issue related to partition in 1947, uncommon ability to motivate the forces, coupling with it a mature war strategy. He is known for, as Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee, welding the Army, Navy and Air Force in to a well-knit team, well planned and well executed operations during the war against Pakistan in 1971.

Incident In a shocking development, a young Muslim woman who was raped by her father-in-law has been “punished” with a divorce from her husband by a community panchayat that now finds her marriage ‘illegal’. This is exactly the replay of the Imrana case after three years that has caught the nations’ attention. Ms Hamid-un-Nisha, 25, was raped by her father-in-law Mr. Ramzan Ali in Bahrawan village in Gorakhpur district. Her husband Mr. Abdul Rashid works in Dubai. Panchayat She told about the incident to her relatives and also to her husband when he returned after a few days. As the news of the incident spread, a panchayat was convened on Wednesday June 25 in which representatives from 28 panchayats of neighboring villages took part. Ali admitted before the panchayat that he had raped Hamid-un-Nisha and pleaded guilty. He has been let off with a monetary fine of Rs 35,000 to be paid to the victim by the panchayat. Hamid-un-Nisha was told that since she had sex with her father-in-law, her marriage with Rashid was ‘haraam’ (illegal) and she stood divorced.  Replay of Imrana Case Since the matter was resolved in the panchayat no FIR has been registered in the case. .  It may be recalled that in June 2005, Imrana was raped by her father-in-law in Muzaffarnagar district. The community panchayat in the village had declared her marriage illegal and had asked the victim to treat her husband as her ‘son.’ Despite of protests Imrana had lodged a case her father-in –law, who was later on sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment but Imrana is facing social ostracism in her village and community even today.   Nationwide Debate The case once again has triggered off a nationwide debate on Shariat and women’s rights. Ms Hamid-un-Nisha has been punished though she is a victim. Once again the narrow minded followers of a religion to prove their dedication have spoiled a life and the victim was forced to leave her house and to stay with her parents. And for more surprise the husband of the victim acted only like a spectator and maintained a neutral stand on the issue. In such circumstance an innocent victim has been forced to resolve to the fate and she is victim of the crime committed by the whole society. Rules are made for the welfare and well being of the society, society is not made [...]

Processions Clashes continued even for the sixth day on Saturday between police and demonstrators at several places in the Kashmir valley as the protests against transfer of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board intensified. Maximum restraint was observed by police and Central Reserve Police Force to avoid a bloody confrontation despite of a few violent incidents. Massive protests started after Friday prayers when people starter pouring out in the streets throughout the Valley and started blocking roads and burnt half a dozen CRPF bunkers. Protestors burnt effigies of several political leaders. All the streets were packed with people chanting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. They also shouted slogans against Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and his predecessor Mufti Mohammad Sayeed holding them responsible for transferring land to SASB as part of a “major conspiracy.”   Yatra Amarnath yatra was suspended on Friday for the third time as a precautionary measure for ensuring safety of pilgrims as protests over the land transfer issue were continuing in the valley for the last few days. Because of bad weather and heavy rains it was suspended on June 20 because the routes leading to the temple had become dangerous. It was again suspended on June 25 due to heavy rush at Nunwan and Baltal base camps in Kashmir. Jammu Despite continuous appeals by Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad, to people to maintain calm and not to pay any heed to elements out to vitiate peace, protests have spread even to some parts of Jammu. People are also infuriated with the double standards of PDP chief “Mufti and his party ministers who first gave consent to the diversion of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) and then provoked the people to grind their own axe thereby vitiating centuries-old communal harmony”.   Political Interests All the political parties are trying to exploit the ongoing agitations to suit their Political interests eying the coming elections. PDP and its ministers in the government had themselves approved the order of giving land to SASB and now they have changed their colors. Reason is very simple they have nothing to do with the people except robbing them of their votes and engaging them in violence.    

  Meeting During the talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in New Delhi, both the sides agreed that composite dialogue is a useful platform to address all bilateral issues and decided to launch its 5th round from July 21.It is the first major political contact from across the border after a new elected government came to power in Islamabad. Invitation Pakistani minister invited the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit the country, saying the political environment in both the countries is “right” to make the peace process “result-oriented”. Visiting Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at a joint press conference with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi after wide-ranging talks had told the media that Pakistan is waiting for Indian Prime Minister’s visit. He stated that it is the appropriate time for both of the countries to renew their talks. Mukherjee Mukherjee expressed his view about the terrorism threats and said that both the countries should have an uhambiguous approach in fighting against the terrorism. “Terrorism is a threat to the stability of our respective democratic frameworks. Whatever be our political differences, we have to be unambiguous in addressing terrorist threats,” Mukherjee said to ToI. Both of the sides have agreed to hold the fifth round of composite dialogue on New Delhi in which Jammu and Kashmir issue, peace and security and confidence building measures are expected to be discussed. Mukherjee revealed that PM has agreed to visit the neighboring country and wants the dialog to be result oriented. Qureshi The two sides also agreed on setting up an institutional mechanism for regular dialogue between their Planning Commissions and discuss the possibility of cooperation in wind and thermal power sector as well as mass rapid transport system, like Metro rail. Qureshi said it serves the interests of both of the countries, India and Pakistan, to maintain ceasefire. He said that there are some issues that need our immediate interest and consideration. Hopes Quresh said that it is the write time to improve our relations particularly through enhancement of cooperation in economic and trade fields and people-to-people contacts. India-Pakistan-Iran pipeline is to mutually benefit both India and Pakistan.” And can become a “a pipeline of peace and new bondage”.