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President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Bicentenary celebrations of Presidency University on Friday in Kolkata. Speaking on the occasion, the President said the Presidency University is not merely a collection of buildings or an expression of language. The University stands for advancement, progress, thinking and questioning. The early students of the Hindu school from which the College and later the University emerged were known for their liberal thoughts, ideas, and philosophy as well as opposition to all prejudice. 

Mr. Mukherjee said the Presidency College gave birth to and nurtured generations of students who went on to influence and change the course of our country’s history. 

“”What is most remarkable is that this institution which was established primarily to educate the lower bureaucracy of the colonial rulers, went on to not only question and reform everything archaic, but also emerged as the hot bed of anti-colonial ideas and actions,”” he said. Established as a place for liberal, scientific and secular education based on Western ideas of nationalism, Presidency College became the institutional as well as intellectual manifestation of Bengali renaissance, he said. Although Presidency continuously upheld academic excellence, its most outstanding trait lay in its ability to question, discuss and debate every established dogma.  Be it socio-religious beliefs, political construct or ideological tenets, Presidency as an institution always dwelt upon the thesis and the anti thesis before arriving at the synthesis, that suited our nation the most, he told the gathering.

The President said as a great institution of modern world, Presidency’s biggest achievement has been its ability to inculcate a love for learning. Not just learning that is contained within the scope of the text books and syllabus, but knowledge that is acquired by plunging into the depths of subjects.  

It is this eternal pursuit that produced luminaries such as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Anandaram Barooah in literature.  S N Bose, M N Saha, P C Mahalnobish, Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, Shyamal Sengupta and Ashoke Sen in the field of basic Science.  Amartya Sen and Sukhamoy Chakraborty in the field of economics and alumnus such as Dr Rajendra Prasad (India’s First President), Muhammed Ali of Bogra (Prime Minister of Pakistan) and Abu Sayeed Chowdhury (The President of Bangladesh). The President said he was happy that this rich tradition is continuing and expressed the hope that it will continue to flourish.

The President said students should not become mere salesman for commercial products but should contribute to research, innovation and enhancement of knowledge. He expressed concern over the fact that none from an Indian University has won the Nobel Prize since Sir CV Raman and only a few Indian universities find a place in the top of international ranking of Universities. He said as Visitor of 126 Central Institutions, he has been asking institutions of higher learning to focus on research and innovation as well as improving their international rankings.  He called upon Presidency University to become the number one university of the country and to get a top position in international rankings.”

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Is Punjab in for a political change this time with the Congress having lost to the Shiromani Akali Dal for the last two consecutive terms in 2007 and 2012? It would seem so with anti-incumbency stacked against the SAD-BJP combine and in particular against the veteran — chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy chief minister son Sukhbir Singh Badal.

As the campaign chief of the Congress, former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has a spring in his stride as this election might be his swan song. He is keen to teach the Badals a lesson of sending them into political oblivion.

Former Test cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu makes a “”ghar wapsi”” to the Congress having been disillusioned with the BJP. He is seeking a makeover of Punjab and taking it to the heights it once enjoyed by evolving policies rather than indulging in bluster and hollow rhetoric.

The Congress has the highest stakes in Punjab and has an even chance of winning there among the five states going to the polls in February-March. The results will be known on March 11.

And last but not the least is that “”sneaky little fellow”” as Capt Amarinder Singh describes Aam Aadmi party convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal trying his fortunes in Punjab. There is no doubt Kejriwal made a tremendous impression initially and if the assembly elections in the border state had been held six months back it was widely believed the AAP would have won hands down. 

Since then much water has flowed under the bridge with the AAP being hit by splits and scandals shattering their chances of forming the government in Punjab. At the same time the fledgling AAP can still be a spoiler. It may be recalled that in the 2014 general elections the AAP won four Lok Sabha seats out of the 13 in Punjab garnering 25 per cent of the vote share. 

The maverick Kejriwal feels Punjab is important in pursuit of his national ambitions in the next general elections in 2019. Under these circumstances both the Congress and the SAD have been compelled to launch a frontal attack against the AAP supremo. Ironically, even though in the last decade Punjab has enjoyed surplus power, several infrastructure projects encompassing heritage makeover along with making available subsidised atta-dal coupled with pre-poll sop of creating jobs.

All this has failed to soothe the ruffled feathers of the electorate against the SAD. They are hoping to capitalise on fielding the disgruntled in the Congress and the AAP in the hope of splitting the votes in favour of the Akalis. Whether this strategy works as evidenced in 2012 when the Akalis won a second consecutive term remains to be seen.

With the entry of the AAP in the electoral fray in Punjab, political equations have changed for the first time. There is an impression that the Akalis had encouraged lawlessness and condoned the high-handed attitude of its local leaders. The business interests of the Badals and their extended family has also come under close scrutiny.

The alienation of the “”Pathic vote”” can cost them dear. The pardon granted to the controversial Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who was charged with blasphemy by the Sikh clergy controlled by the Badals and a series of acts of desecration of the Sikh holy book had led to palpable anger against them.

On the other hand the Congress has been affected by factionalism, poor distribution of tickets and lack of efforts to keep its flock united. The delay in finalising its candidates once again is due to infighting with various factions propping up their own candidates. Reports suggest that Congress rebels have raised the banner of revolt in no less than 30 out of 117 constituencies in Punjab. With the likelihood of a three-way division of votes, political pundits and psephologists have become rather cagey in giving their assessment of the likely outcome indicative of the Punjab assembly elections going to the wire. 

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.)”

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A first ever study on the effectiveness of decoys and mukhbirs (informers) schemes under the Pre-Conception &Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act, 1994 has shown that these schemes have resulted in a large number of convictions.

As high as 77% of the total convictions under this Act, aimed at preventing sex-selective abortions, were due to information provided by decoys and mukhbirs. A total of 291 convictions have been reported under PC&PNDT Act between 1994 to December 2015. Of these, 85 convictions were reported from Rajasthan, 76 from Maharashtra and 63 in Haryana.

The report “Decoys & Mukhbirs: The unutilized instruments for enforcement of the PC&PNDT ACT’’ says that these convictions are not a mere coincidence but a reflection of effective implementation of the scheme. The report has been brought out by the Asian Centre for Human Rights.

“”The Appropriate Authorities (AAs) established under the PC&PNDT Act can find out violations such as non registration of the diagnostic centres, non-display of the registration certificate at a prominent place, non-maintenance of the records, non-filing of the forms but nabbing those conducting sex selections during the act requires a pregnant woman willing to act as decoy customer. Despite recognizing indispensability of the decoys and Mukhbirs, no national scheme has been launched,’’ says the Asian Centre for Human Rights.

The report examined the decoy and Mukhbir schemes in 12 States including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.

There are no dedicated staffs to ensure proper implementation of the schemes. Rajasthan is the only State which has established PC&PNDT Bureau of Investigation and the Commissioner of Health of Gujarat informed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in November 2014 that successful sting operations could not be carried out because of “non-availability of dedicated staff to undertake sting operation, the report points out adding that  publicity and awareness campaigns about the dedicated telephone help lines, websites and cash rewards for reporting cases of illegal sex determination and female foeticide have been extremely limited, leading to failure of the schemes.

Indeed, Secretary to the Health Department,  Madhya Pradesh in its letter dated 15.11.2016 to all District Magistrates of the State acknowledged the lack of awareness about its complaint scheme.

The number of sting operations conducted using decoy customers and informers have been very few vis-a-vis magnitude of sex selection i.e. about 12.5 million girls missing every year. Though sting operations are not indicative of successful detection of the violations of the PC&PNDT Act, as per information collated in this report, in Rajasthan, 52 decoy operations were conducted as on 20.12.2016; in Maharashtra, 67 decoy operations were conducted as on 31.12.2013; in Haryana eight decoys were awarded as of 2012; in Tamil Nadu one decoy operation was reported in 2016; in Gujarat 14 decoy operations were conducted as of October 2014; in Punjab two decoy operations were conducted in 2016; in Odisha only one decoy operation was conducted in September 2012; in Madhya Pradesh only two informers were rewarded as on 19.01.2016; in Uttar Pradesh 52 decoy operations were undertaken as on 31.03.2015; and in Jammu and Kashmir, only one decoy operation was conducted since 2011.

The schemes for dedicated telephone help lines, websites and cash rewards for reporting cases of illegal sex determination and female foeticide do not address circumstances which turn the witnesses hostile including intimidation, reprisal and counter-cases filed against the decoy customers. Monetary reward of as low as Rs. 5,000 offered by Odisha is not attractive enough considering the risks involved in conducting sting operations to nab those conducting sex determination or female foeticide. Though the Government of Odisha admitted that “the money offered is negligible and this turns away most volunteer’’ instead of increasing the reward money, the Odisha government altogether abandoned the programme on sting operations involving the decoys!

Most State Governments do not have specific budgetary allocations for the scheme. Some State Governments made very meagre allocations. Odisha Government allocated Rs 40,000 for the Financial Year 2012-13 for a total of eight sting operations at the rate of Rs 5,000 per sting operation.

With the exception of Rajasthan, none of the State governments has made any scheme for ensuring retention of yet-to-born baby of the pregnant woman participating in a decoy operation. In 2015, Rajasthan revised its Mukhbir Scheme to provide that “Provisions should be made to give an insurance policy to the yet-to-be-born baby of the pregnant woman participating in a decoy operation.’’

The report further says that sting operations using decoys has failed as the Appropriate Authorities in certain States like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu announced in advance in which districts sting operations would be conducted and consequently no sex determination and/or sex selection could be detected during subsequent sting operations as potential violators of the PC&PNDT Act were alerted in advance.

Also,  there is no specific time frame for the AAs to take actions on the complaints/information received by the AAs against sex selection. There are also no complaint mechanisms against the AAs who can act as law unto themselves with respect to complaints or information submitted as no court shall take cognizance of an offence under the PC&PNDT Act except on a complaint made by the AAs as per Section 28(1)(a). The courts can take cognizance only if the AAs fail to take action in not less than fifteen days. There have been numerous cases of unscrupulous AAs alerting the doctors, sonologists, and diagnostic centres before the inspection. This not only aborted the sting operations but left the decoys and at risks including for counter-prosecution from the doctors, sonologists, and diagnostic centres. The PC&PNDT Amendment Rules of 2014 which outlined the code of conduct for the authorities under the PC&PNDT Act do not have any mechanism to establish accountability of the AAs.

Pointing out that the decoy and mukhbir schemes do not address judicial delay and problems faced by them during the trials including no assistance to attend each hearing, the report says this is despite that of the 291 convictions as on December 2015, 137 convictions during 2013 and 111 convictions during 2015 took place only after the directions of the Supreme Court on 4 March 2013 in Voluntary Health Association of Punjab vs Union of India and Others to dispose of all pending cases under the PC&PNDT Act within a period of six months.

“”A number of State governments have suggested extreme measures like invoking the National Security Act or provisions of the Indian Penal Code relating to homicide and death penalty to combat the scourge of sex selection. Yet, most State governments have not focused on the most basic issue: the need for streamlining and strengthening the role of the decoys and informers without whom the PC&PNDT Act cannot be effectively enforced,’’ the Asian Centre for Human Rights has said while recommending launching of a “National Decoy and Mukhbir Yojana’’ for implementation of the PC&PNDT Act and amendment of the PC&PNDT Rules to establish mechanisms for prompt action on information and complaints received on sex selection.”

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As many as 39 persons were killed and more than 50 injured when the engine and nine bogies of 18448 Jagdalpur – Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailed at Kuneru Railway Station in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh late on Saturday night. The incident occurred at Rayagada – Vizianagaram section on Odisha – Andhra Pradesh border when the engine and 9 coaches including one passenger- cum- luggage coach, two ordinary second class coaches, four sleeper class coaches, one AC three tier coach and one AC two tier coach went off the track.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the loss of lives due to the derailment. “”My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones due to the derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express. The tragedy is saddening. I pray for a speedy recovery of all those injured due to the train accident. The Railway Ministry is monitoring the situation very closely and is working to ensure quick rescue and relied operations,’’ the Prime Minister said.

Of the injured, seven are said to be in a critical condition and have been admitted to various hospitals. Those who had received simple injuries were discharged after first aid. Medical relief train was rushed to the site. A statement issued by the Ministry of Railways said ambulances were arranged to shift the injured to hospitals and National Disaster Relief Force unit was also rushed to the site.

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has expressed profound grief over the loss of innocent lives and described it as a tragic and unfortunate accident. He announced an enhanced ex-gratia payment of Rs. 2 lakh for the kin of deceased persons, Rs. 50,000 for grievous injuries and Rs.25,000 in the case of simple injuries. He visited the site as well.

Statutory inquiry into this incident has been ordered to be conducted by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), South Central Circle, Ram Kripal under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Earlier, Member Rolling Stock Railway Board Ravinder Gupta, Member Engineering Railway Board Aditya Kumar Mittal rushed to the site.

Stranded passengers of the affected trains were later cleared towards their respective destinations through the unaffected portion of the train from Kuneru to Bhubaneswar via Rayagada – Sambalpur and 13 buses for short distance destinations like Brahmapur, and Bhawanipatna. Due to this accident, the traffic on Rayagada – Vizianagaram Section has been affected and Railways had to divert, short-terminate and cancel certain trains passing through this Section which are being notified by the respective Zonal Railways.

Senior Railway officials including General Manager, East Coast Railway Shri Umesh Singh and Divisional Railway Manager, Waltair Division Chandralekha Mukherjee are camping at the site to monitor the relief and rescue operations. Helpline Numbers were setup at the important stations along the route of the train, the Ministry statement said. Vice President Hamid Ansari, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu have also expressed grief over the tragedy.”

“51P9W12HygL._SX315_BO1204203200_”” alt=””51P9W12HygL. SX315 BO1204203200 “” />The book “”MIDNIGHT’S FURIES — The Deadly Legacy Of India’s Partition”” dwells on the thinking and goings on in the minds of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan’s founder and Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Author Nisid Hajari is the Asia Editor of Bloomberg View whose painstaking research has facilitated putting into perspective the huge egos of Nehru and Jinnah which contributed in no small measure to the massacre of Hindus and Muslims.  Considering the trauma of partition, the attacks on Hindu settlements in Lahore and Muslim concentrated areas in Amritsar and Gurdaspur in Punjab were not only gruesome but blood curdling. The Quaid’s conspicuous absence at Pakistan’s first independence day celebrations had fuelled suspicion about his imminent demise. Meanwhile, a terribly unwell Quaid had been moved from Baluchistan to Quetta, the region’s capital. Liaqat Ali the Hyderabadi arrived to meet Jinnah and saw the anxiety on everyone’s face and compelled to return home empty handed.””It is a question of weeks”” Nehru wrote to Mountbatten on 23 August. Though no official announcement had been made about his deteriorating health, Doctors attending on Jinnah lamented that his smoke charred lungs had betrayed him at last. Before the inevitable, the Quaid had spent several weeks resting in the cool dry hills of Baluchistan as Karachi’s seaside heat was humid and wilting. When they returned to the government house, Jinnah abruptly dismissed his naval aide-de-camp. Looking back as the Quaid walked away, the aide-de-camp saw the frail form of Jinnah “”staggering towards his door.”” A few days later he and his entourage returned to Baluchistan to the old British Residency at Ziarat. Once again government business had to be conducted long distance. A succession of black dispatch boxes with the gold letters “”M.A.J,”” slowly made their way to him from Karachi. “”There is nothing wrong with me”” he protested to anyone who would care to listen including the London trained physician sent to examine him. Jinnah was 70 pounds in weight and his ashen complexion and shrunken frame told the Doctor otherwise. X-rays confirmed the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Two thirds of one lung seemed to be gone already, and a quarter of the other.  Jinnah forbade his doctors to reveal anything about his condition. “”I will tell the nation about the nature and gravity of my illness when I think it proper,”” the Quaid told everyone around him. Even when his Prime Minister Liaqat came to see him a few weeks later, the Quaid refused to admit he was dying. The members of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan involved in shuttle diplomacy in the region never once saw or spoke with Jinnah. In Kashmir the undeclared war between the two armies, no longer hidden behind Pakistan’s tribal proxies, continued on autopilot. Since May 1949 the two sides had pummelled each other with echoing artillery barrages. Indian and Pakistani troops battled fiercely for hilltops and ridges, and the front bulged and contracted. But neither side could land a decisive blow. By the end of July monsoon rains again made fighting difficult. Without Jinnah’s sanction, however, the Pakistanis seemed unable to commit themselves. Time had run out for Hyderabad amid threats that they would turn the area into a smoking wasteland if India attacked. The Razakar gangs had started marauding Hindu villages, dragging out Congress sympathisers and executing them. In one border crossing the Razakars sparked an hours long gun battle with Indian troops. The provocations gave the Indian leaders the excuse they needed. Nehru’s Home Minister Sardar Patel threatened to resign if the former did not order the Indian tanks to roll. As things were hotting up in Hyderabad, Nehru warned if Hyderabad tried to drag things out by involving the United Nations, “”We march.””  Around the same time amid great secrecy the Quaid in a new suit, tie and shoes was moved by stretcher in a Viking aircraft to Karachi. After spending an hour in the sweltering heat of the ambulance as his truck had broken down, he reached Government House. Whatever strength he had had ebbed away. Doctors tried to prop him up and tried to give him an injection but his veins collapsed. “”God willing you are going to live”” a Doctor told Jinnah at 9.50 PM. “”No I am not,”” Jinnah murmured. Half an hour later the Quaid was dead. No preparations had been made for his funeral. Jinnah was to be buried on the site of a planned mosque.  The author maintains there is little question that Jinnah was the most polarising figure in the partition drama. He is easy to blame. His forbidding personality made compromise difficult if not impossible. He was criminally negligent about thinking through the consequences of the demand for Pakistan. A vindictive streak ensured he was surrounded mostly by sycophants rather than independent minded subordinates who might have moderated his views.  Yet from the moment in 1937 that the Congress party rejected partnership with the Muslim League, Nehru — suave, sensitive, handsome — contributed nearly as much as Jinnah for the poisoning of the political atmosphere in the subcontinent. His attitude towards the Quaid — and by implication towards Jinnah’s millions of Muslim followers — was all too often arrogant and dismissive. Nehru misread he battle over Pakistan much as he later did the fight for Kashmir — as an ideological contest in which he and India were morally unimpeachable. For three decades before partition Nehru had seen himself as one of Gandhi’s non-violent warriors leading the assault on the British Empire. He did not seem to understand he was no longer battling a foreign power and that he needed to accommodate his countryman Jinnah as a statesman would: with pragmatism, generosity and an appreciation for the grey areas of diplomacy. Even now with Jinnah dead, Nehru would deliver one final blow in their decades long rivalry. As Pakistan’s founder was being laid to rest, Nehru gave his commanders the green light to advance into Hyderabad. India’s leaders were unsentimental about the passing away of their old adversary. Before dawn the next morning, Indian forces pierced Hyderabad’s borders at five different points. The Nizam’s forces held on for a little more than a hundred hours. India’s victory was too fast for the United Nations to even debate the matter, and it was total. Hyderabad’s quick collapse deeply rattled Pakistan. However emotionally devastating it had been to Nehru and Patel personally, the Mahatma’s assassination had not disrupted India’s political leadership. By contrast Jinnah’s death had left Pakistan confused and rudderless.Nehru’s long battle with Jinnah had ended. “”The rivalry they had bequeathed their nations, and the world, had barely begun.”” That is the hard reality which cannot be wished away. 

TR

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)
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Exiled Tibet spiritual leader and Nobel Laureate, the Dalai Lama has expressed the hope that the newly elected US president Donald Trump and the Russian President Vladimir Putin would come closer and work towards creating global peace. “”World is moving towards peace and non violence  as countries including Japan and  European Union are working towards peace and  nuclear disarmament as using force has become outdated worldwide.  

“”We should all develop inner value of compassion as all  religions in common teach us  cultivating love and compassion,  Although they advocate different philosophical views, their purpose is ultimately to support the practice of love and compassion. A third aspect is cultural and is often influenced by social customs. Where these are out of date, as gender bias and caste discrimination are today when everyone is considered equal, they should change. We need to focus on the oneness and equality of all human beings, recognising that thinking in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’ leads to conflict,” he said wduring an interactive session organized by FICCI Ladies Organisation. 

He called for the need to develop compassion and warm-heartedness to survive in the increasingly inter-dependent world. Since women are more inclined to be compassionate, their role is more important in creating the more peaceful society that the world aspires to achieve, he said.

“The world today needs leaders with compassion as compassion towards others builds trust and loyalty. Women, biologically, are more sensitive towards others that means the world needs more women leaders. We must take steps wherever necessary to improve educational opportunities with emphasis on secularism and hygiene for all especially women so that everyone lives a healthy life,”” The Dalai Lama said. 

“”Peace was not something external to us. It was something within our hearts; that destructive emotions like anger disturb our peace of mind and distract our ability to judge right from wrong. Love and compassion—the essence of all major religious traditions—are fundamental to human happiness. What we need is an education in warm-heartedness. To make the world a more  peaceful place, peace in the world will only come about through inner peace, just as global disarmament will only be achieved by beginning with inner disarmament,’’ he added.”

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India and the United Arab Emirates are expected to open a new chapter in their growing ties when the two sides will sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement during the visit of UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan who will be chief guest at the Republic Day parade  on January 26 where New Delhi will display its military might  and cultural and ethnic diversity at the majestic Rajpath.

The honour accorded to Sheikh Mohammed by inviting him for the Republic day function as chief guest signifies the importance India attaches to the Gulf region particularly UAE. The relationship between the two countries has witnessed an upswing and this is evident from the fact that since the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi  to UAE in August 2015, Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the Commander in Chief of the UAE armed forces, visited India in February last year and, in less than a year is paying another visit.

This is perhaps the first time India has invited a foreign dignitary to be the chief guest at the Republic Day function who is not a head of state. A marching contingent as well as a military band from the Emirates is also expected to participate in the Republic Day parade.

The two countries attach great importance and attention to issues of counter-terrorism, security, defence, trade and investment. Terrorism will definitely be high on the agenda of the talks during the three-day visit of Sheikh Mohammed, particularly in view of the recent killings of five UAE officials in a bombing in Kandahar in Afghanistan. India will also take this opportunity to expand counter-terrorism cooperation with UAE, once seen as a close ally of Pakistan.

Sheikh Mohammed’s visit is expected to send out a strong message against terrorism. The two sides will definitely find a common ground on issue of tackling the menace of terrorism. Ahead of Sheikh Mohmmad’s visit the two countries held the first meeting of their strategic dialogue  on January 20 in an attempt to finalise the cooperation agreement. The meeting was co-chaired by Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar and his UAE counterpart Anwar Gargash.

The two sides are expected to sign a number of agreements including one on “comprehensive strategic partnership” that encompasses all areas of bilateral ties with a thrust of security and counter-terrorism.

On the eve of the visit Gargash said in Abu Dhabi that UAE’ relations with India has nothing to do with India-Pakistan tie. “Our strategic relationship with India is above all since India is one of the most important countries on the globe.”

India is a rising regional power and its economy is booming. The UAE sees India as an important partner for the future. So it is only logical that this huge and commercial tie feeds into a political and strategic one that is attaining new heights. UAE and India enjoy strong bonds of friendship based on centuries old cultural, religious and economic ties and their relationship has received impetus from time-to-time with exchange of high-level visits.

The historic visit of Modi to UAE on August 16-17, 2015 marked the beginning of a new and comprehensive and strategic partnership. In the joint statement issued after the visit, both leaders agreed to work together not only to consolidate achievements in the existing areas but also to explore newer areas of cooperation.

During the Prime Minister’s visit, the two sides agreed to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. In one of the significant decisions apparently directed at Pakistan, the two sides had agreed to coordinate efforts to counter radicalization and misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred, perpetrating and justifying terrorism or pursuing political aims.

They strongly denounced and opposed terrorism in all forms and manifestations, wherever committed and by whomever, calling on all states to reject and abandon the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructures where they exist, and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice.

Within six months Sheikh Mohammed made a state visit to India, from February 10-12, 2016, and had wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest and reached a broad consensus. Several agreements including for technical cooperation in cyber space and combating cyber crime and exchange of information on trade and business opportunities were signed. The two sides reiterated their commitment to combat terrorism in all its manifestations.

India and UAE share centuries-old ties of commerce, culture and kinship. Today, the Indian community of over 2.5 million is a major part of UAE’s vibrant society and its economic success.

In recent decades, UAE’s economic progress has been one of the global success stories, transforming that nation into a regional leader and a thriving international centre that attracts people and business from across the world. India has emerged as one of the major world powers and its rapid growth and modernization, along with its talented human resources and large markets, make it one of the anchors of the global economy.

The dynamism of the two countries has translated into a rapidly expanding economic partnership. Both sides are striving to strengthen their growing economic and commercial ties for mutual benefits. At present India is UAE’s number one trading partner with total trade pegged at USD 60 billion in 2015—a huge growth since the 1970s when bilateral annual trade was at USD 180 million.

With respect to oil trade, UAE was the sixth largest source of crude oil import for India in 2014-15. Moreover, UAE is the second largest export destination of India with an amount of over USD 33 billion for the year 2014-15.

India’s exports to UAE are well diversified and major items include petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, food items, and engineering and machinery goods. India’s major import items from UAE include oil, copper, aluminium, ships and boats.

Today, as India accelerates economic reforms and improves its investment and business environment, and UAE becomes an increasingly advanced and diversified economy, the two countries have the potential to build a transformative economic partnership, not only for sustained prosperity of their two countries, but to also advance progress in the region and help realise the vision of an Asian Century.

UAE is at the heart of the Gulf and West Asia region and its major economic hub. India, with seven million citizens in the Gulf, also has major energy, trade and investment interests in the region.

(The writer is a former Editor of PTI. He has had a long stint as PTI correspondent for West Asia based in Dubai.)”

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Uttarakhand this time is poised for an interesting electoral battle as people wait to vote in a new assembly in the hilly State. When final results come on March 11, it will be fascinating to evaluate success and failures of turncoats. As many as two dozen turncoats are in the fray from the ruling Congress as well as the BJP, though latter bags a majority of them following a failed coup that could not dislodge Harish Rawat government in the state last year.

Early last year political uncertainty gripped the state for almost two months after nine MLAs of the ruling Congress deserted the party to pledge their allegiance with the BJP. They were later joined by one more MLA. Now all these 10 MLAs, along with Cabinet Minister and former Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya, are in the fray on BJP. Mr. Arya’s son Sanjeev has also been given by a BJP ticket.

Similarly, Congress also engineered defections of at least two BJP MLAs and also two BSP MLAs during its tenure and they all are now its nominees in these polls. Similarly, it has also given ticket to Cabinet Minister Harish Chandra Durgapal, who last time won as an Independent after rebelling from the Congress who later supported the Congress Government.

All these factors are much talked about as it hogged limelight in not only regional media but also national media. The issue of turncoats also got prominence as it was associated with the alleged corruption CD issue of last year involving Chief Minister Harish Rawat, which is now being investigated by the CBI.

However, there are several disgruntled leaders from both BJP and the Congress who have rebelled following the denial of tickets to them. From both sides there are several former MLAs and failed contestants from 2012 assembly polls who will be seen entering the fray. Though hardly one or two would taste victory, many others would turn out to be spoilsport for either BJP or the Congress. Post announcement of list of candidates, protests have started to emerge in both the parties with several disgruntled leaders switching sides, while many are preparing to enter the fray as Indepedent. This will continue for the next few days till the filing of nominations is over, after which the electioneering will gather steam.

In 2012, Congress had managed to bag just one more seat than BJP’s 31 in the 70 member state assembly, and later went on to form the government with the help of BSP and two Independent MLAs who were Congress rebel. A similar situation could emerge this time too in a keenly fought contest as many prominent rebels from both the parties have the influence in their respective constituencies to influence the mood of voters.

Going by the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP, which won all five Lok Sabha seats, bagged 62 of the 70 assembly segments. While in Nainital and Garhwal (Pauri) seats the Congress drew a blank, it won just two assembly segments in Almora, which is “home” constituency of Harish Rawat which he represented it in the 1980s. It was only in the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat that the Congress managed to win five assembly segments compared to BJP’s nine. In UPA-2 Haridwar was represented by Harish Rawat and in 2014 his wife Renika Rawat was in the fray.

Indian electoral politics is full of surprises and uncertainties. It is very hard to say whether BJP will be able to repeat its 2014 performance in Uttarakhand, particularly when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “charisma”, which the BJP encashed handsomely in 2014, will be on test again. Moreover, state and local issues will also shape the mood of electioneering in the days to come. Another factor that will have an impact on the poll outcome is the presence of BSP, particularly in the Haridwar region where it has been winning some seats in the last few assembly elections.  

(Sandeep Joshi, formerly with The Hindu, is Founder-Editor of Uttarakhand Panorama news portal.)”

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Preliminary investigation and intelligence inputs point towards a change in tactics of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI in abetting terror activities in India by keeping Pakistani nationals out of any direct involvement and instead tapping its sleeper cells to use criminal gangs and mafia in India to carry out such activities, including blasts and pumping of fake currency in India, particularly in Northern and Central parts of the country. Sources in security and police establishment say the tactic is a throwback to the early 1990s when ISI used mafia dons like Dawood Ibrahim to carry out subversive activities and terror strikes in the country. 

One such indication came when the police arrested three criminals who were linked to the planting of a bomb on the rail tracks in the border district of Raxaul in Bihar on October 1. This alerted the intelligence agencies who are looking into the possibility if the train derailment in Kanpur on November 21 could have been planned, financed and executed by anti-India elements, based in Dubai, at the behest of ISI. About 150 passenger were killed in the Kanpur train derailment. 

Media reports from East Champaran district of Bihar have flashed a warning signal about the network of anti-India elements, mainly criminal gangs, who were being paid by ISI to carry out disturbances, blasts and sabotage the rail tracks in India. The plan was to later blame Left Wing extremists for such activities. 

“”The recovery of an improvised explosive device on on Raxaul-Sitamarhi route near Ghorasahan railway station on October 1, which disrupted train services for more than 12 hours, was funded by a Dubai-based trader from Nepal named Shamshul Hoda,”” East Champaran SP Jitendra Rana was quoted in the newspapers as saying.  Ã¢Â€ÂœThere is a possibility that the derailment of Indore-Patna Express and the Shealdah-Ajmer Express were also carried out by these people. Efforts are on to find out more details from the ongoing interrogation,” he said. 

Recent newspaper reports from Bihar, quoting East Champaran district police official, said that three people arrested in Nepal – Brijkishore Giri, Muzahid Ansari and Shambhu – and two other men were active in this group. Giri, the kingpin, had paid money to these people to carry out blasts on rail tracks near Ghorasahan. Umashankar Patel, Mukesh Yadav and Moti Paswan, who have been arrested, had received the money and given the bomb planting task to two other men.

Moti Paswan, a criminal who is the main accused in the Ghorasahan case, and two others who were arrested have reportedly confessed to police that they were paid a “big amount” by Hoda to carry out blasts on rail tracks in north India. Police stumbled on the racket while investigating the murder of two Raxaul residents in Nepal. The police had been able to detect and recover the powerful Improvised Explosive and avert a major accident but the two men were killed for their failure. “They were taken to Nepal and brutally killed in a jungle there. Investigation into these two murders unravelled the sinister network,” Mr. Rana said. 

Intelligence agencies are also looking into the network which they believe is much larger with roots across the border. They believe that a Karachi-based mafia don, said to be working for Dawood Ibrahim, is also involved in supplying fake Indian currency notes of the denomination of Rs. 100 to the criminal gangs and smugglers in Nepal who then use the porous border along U.P. and Bihar to further give it to sleeper cells and their operatives. 

Sources say that there are enough indications to believe that the ISI-backed FICN printing modules in Peshawar and Karachi are now printing Rs. 100 notes after the November 8 ban by the government on Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 notes. In the forefront of the FICN racket is Peshwar-based trader Iqbal Kana and Dawood Ibrahim’s trusted man Aftab Batki who have been activated by the ISI. 

Security agencies have also passed on the inputs to the Indian para-military forces guarding the Indo-Nepal-China border to increase surveillance. Airlines operating from Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, UAE and China are also under watch. Most fake Indian currency is printed in Pakistan from where it is taken to transit points in Nepal and Bangladesh and even Dubai which have been used by traffickers to supply it to their agents in India. 

In 2010, India had joined the FATF, an inter-governmental body fighting money-laundering and terror financing. In 2014, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had ordered withdrawal of notes issued before 2005 as a first measure to tackle counterfeit currency and improve security features.”

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More than 5 million women in India this year will have an unsafe abortion because they lack access to safe, high-quality abortion care. These are women who want to avoid pregnancy but lack knowledge, agency and access to modern contraception and/or abortion. Death from unsafe abortions continue to be the third largest reason for maternal deaths in the country. Additionally many young girls and women risk serious injury undergoing a backstreet abortion process, a statement issued by Ipas Development Fund said.

President Donald Trump’s decision to reinstate the Global Gag rule, a harmful anti-choice and anti-reproductive  rights policy has huge implications on women’s health worldwide, including in India. The policy forces organizations to choose between receiving U.S. foreign assistance funds and providing comprehensive—often lifesaving—care. The policy restricts organizations that receive U.S. family planning funds from using private funds to inform or educate their government on safe abortion or to provide legal abortion services, the statement said.

Lack of access to contraception and safe abortion is a major public health crisis for women in the world’s poorest countries. But rather than addressing this crisis, the Global Gag Rule broadens restrictions already imposed by the Helms Amendment, which prohibits the use of U.S. funds for abortion-related work overseas. I believe this political move will endanger the lives and health of the poorest and most vulnerable women in our country by denying access and putting them at risk of unsafe abortion, says Vinoj Manning, Executive Director, Ipas Development Foundation (IDF), an NGO that works across the country with the objective of ensuring access to comprehensive abortion care for women in India.   

This decision shall result in immediate withdrawal of millions of doll ars aid committed for contraceptive access as well as comprehensive abortion care globally and it will have an impact on India too. While there is a global movement to invest in women’s rights and autonomy and their health, to prevent this move from being a real setback, this is the time for other bilateral agencies, private foundations and corporates to step-up and bridge the gap.

“”I believe that Mr Trump’s decision is another unfortunate instance of bad politics and personal prejudice trumping women’s reproductive rights.”” he said.”