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Inspired by US President Donald Trump’s decision to bar immigration from Muslim countries harbouring terrorists, Hindu youths have formed ‘Trump Sena’ to stop migration of Hindus from western Uttar Pradesh. ‘Trump Sena’ has also decided to support BJP in the state. To begin with, it started with a show of strength at BJP President Amit Shah’ rally on Friday today at Pilkhuwa, a town which falls under Dhaulana assembly seat in Hapur district from where BJP has fielded its four-time MP, Dr. Ramesh Chand Tomar. Hapur is barely 40 kms from the national Capital of Delhi. 

Incidentally, in his speech Amit Shah called as a strong President who has decided to fight directly all those supporting and harbouring terrorists mentioned. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also a strong leader and he will take all steps to safeguard Hindus. He said this while raising the issue of migration of Hindus from western Uttar Pradesh.

Dhaulana seat has been in the news after BJP MP and firebrand Hindutva leader Yogi Adityanath said in his rally in the constituency a few days back that Hindus are being forced to migrate from western Uttar Pradesh which is likely to convert west UP into second Kashmir. Same day Election Commission ordered FIR against Dr. Ramesh Chand Tomar for allegedly inciting communal tensions after he said that “he will not let Dhaulana assembly seat turn into Maulana assembly seat”.

According to ‘Trump Sena’ volunteers: “Trump Sena has been formed to end atrocities being committed on Hindus in western UP. Hindus are being forced to leave their properties behind and migrate. We are inspired by what US President Donald Trump is doing. We also support Yogi Adityanath for giving a call to end migration of Hindus from western UP. We understand Dr. Ramesh Chand Tomar’s concerns how demography of assembly segments in western UP is being systematically changed to suppress Hindu community. Therefore Trump Sena has been formed to stop all this.”

“Trump Sena volunteers will pan out in entire state starting from western UP and assure Hindus that we are with them. Anyone getting threats from anyone to migrate can contact us. We will stand behind them and given them full protection. A lot of youths are joining us every day and soon we will become a formidable force and not let atrocities committed on Hindus. We will mobilize youths and also start campaign against ‘love jihad’,” volunteers said.

Trump Sena volunteers, in their justification, also said when Maulanas can issue fatwas to support Muslim candidates, we also can ask people to support BJP and Hindu candidates. When Hindus are being threatened, we have all the right to stand for them. Only BJP can come out in support of Hindus and therefore we are supporting its candidates. We will travel to all parts of Uttar Pradesh and seek votes for BJP, volunteers added.”

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India has revised its target for eliminating Kala-azar from 2015 to 2017. Elimination would mean bringing down the number of cases so that it no longer poses a threat to public health and keeping it low. The target is to eliminate Kala azar from all the blocks by the end of this year. India accounts for about 50% of the global Kala-azar burden with 4,632 cases reported till August last year. Bihar is home to over 77% of the national burden of Kala-azar, reporting 3,563 cases until August 2016. Bihar and Jharkhand together account for over 90% of Kala-azar cases in the country.

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) or Kala-azar (KA) as it is called in South Asia, is a relatively rare communicable disease, usually affecting the poorest, that is characterized by prolonged fever and debility, and that usually kills unless treated.

Other than the Indian subcontinent, it is also found in Brazil in South America, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan in Africa in sizeable numbers.  It is considered one of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), in the sense that for a long time, there was little attention paid to the disease, and it remained poorly understood and addressed. Ever since a global effort began to eliminate it since 2005, it is receiving more attention.

Kalaazar is caused by a tiny, one-celled parasite called Leishmaniadonovani- examples of similar parasites are malarial parasite and ameba. The parasite multiplies in the spleen, liver and bones of the affected person to large numbers and causes a steady deterioration in the health of the person. The parasite enters the body when a sand fly containing the parasite comes looking for a blood meal and bites a person.

The sand fly picks up the parasite from a person suffering from Kala azar, the parasite grows and multiplies inside the sand fly for more than a week, and then the parasites get accidentally injected into the blood of the next person who gets bitten. If left untreated, it usually kills the infected person. Even before killing, the disease causes    severe debility, loss of ability to work and malnutrition. It spreads slowly but silently from person to person, and even after years of efforts to control it, thousands of cases still occur every year in India. Since it is rare, people take a long time to realize that they may have Kala azar, and in the meanwhile they themselves suffer, and continue to spread the disease

The disease is regularly found in the Indian subcontinent in 54 districts in India, 11 districts (Zila) in Bangladesh and 16 districts in Nepal. In India 33 districts in Bihar, 4 districts in Jharkhand, 11districts in West Bengal, and 6 districts in Uttar Pradesh are consistently affected. Additionally, Bhutan has sporadic cases, and occasional cases turn up in different states of India, usually in people traveling out of the affected areas.

Kala azar symptoms include fever that does not respond to usual treatment for malaria, typhoid, viral infections for two weeks or more, enlargement of the abdomen due to the spleen and liver becoming large. It is associated with tiredness, loss of appetite and loss of weight; and darkening of the skin. The disease is seen more among people living in villages in kutcha homes, sleeping on the floor and living close to cattle. These often belong to the economically weaker and vulnerable sections of society.

The sandfly is often found in places that have heavy annual rainfall, a mean humidity of above70%, a temperature range of 15-38°C, abundant vegetation, high subsoil water and alluvial soil. It is found in dark, damp places. Treatment of Kala azar is free of cost in government facilities and Accredited Social Health Activists are given an incentive for identifying a patient, bringing him/her to the health facility and ensuring that the patient completes the course. This is important since there have been reports of patients developing resistance to Kala azar medicines which is becoming a serious. 

In addition to free treatment in Bihar, patients are given a compensation of Rs.6,600 to make up for the loss of wages they may have suffered because of their illness and associated expenses. This is provided from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

The Government of India provides Rs 500 to every patient of Kala azar and Rs 2000 to every patient of Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL). This is a complication of the disease which primarily affects the skin that develops lesions—mostly small, pale lesions that do not itch or lose sensation. This results in cosmetic disfigurement. Though curable, it takes several years.

Certain kinds of skin lesions of PKDL contain a large number of parasites, and thus these cases are likely to be source of spread of the disease.

Researchers Piero L. Olliaro, Tushar A.K.M. Shamsuzzaman, Baburam Marasini, A.C.Dhariwal and others in a latest scientific paper “Investments in Research and Surveillance Are Needed to Go Beyond Elimination and Stop Transmission of Leishmania in the Indian Subcontinent,’’  have said that to maintain this target and stop transmission, it is necessary to re-evaluate whether the appropriate interventions are in place for surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, and vector control. In particular, it is important to decide whether current approaches should be reconsidered and whether new or modified interventions are required.

“”The current strategy in the Indian subcontinent is built around the early detection of symptomatic cases so that morbidity and mortality can be reduced and the source of infection is removed from the community,”” the paper points out.

Regardless of what treatments are available now and in the future, the paper says, perhaps the most important consideration is to ensure that treatments and diagnostic tests are available at all of the Primary Health Centres in endemic communities. This will require a greater number of PHCs with sufficient expertise to deliver the first-line treatment. Access to treatment locally, combined with increased knowledge in the community, will reduce the time from symptoms to treatment and, consequently, reduce the rate of transmission. This can be achieved immediately with the necessary commitment.

Finally, a vaccine to stop transmission would represent the best intervention. People who are cured of visceral leishmaniasis following treatment are immune against re-infection for life, which implies that a vaccine for leishmaniasis is possible. Due to the relatively low numbers of cases and high population, it would be necessary in the first instance to combine a vaccination programme with the elimination programme to deploy the vaccine in highly endemic areas and areas with new outbreaks during the maintenance phase. Any vaccine would need to be effective on both immunologically naive people and asymptomatic infected people if it is to be deployed in highly endemic areas, the paper says.”

“Former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s confident and `soul sister’, V K Sasikala was unanimously elected by the AIADMK MLAs as the legislature party leader, clearing her way to take over as new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. After Janaki Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, Sasikala would be third woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu which has been ruled for the past several years alternatively by AIADMK and DMK.Sasikala’s name to head the AIADMK legislature party was proposed by the Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam. She is likely to take over on February 9. Mr. Panneerselvam could become the number two as deputy chief minister in the Sasikala cabinet, reports emanating from Chennai said. The AIADMK legislature party’s official communication has to be handed over to Raj Bhavan as well as the resignation letter of Panneerselvam who earlier also remained a stop-gap chief minister when Jayalalithaa had been lodged in a prison in a corruption case. Sasikala took over the party as the General Secretary on December 29 last following her unanimous selection in the party general body meeting. Many AIADMK leaders had been urging Sasikala to become chief minister as well. Sasikala had been constant companion of former chief minister Jayalalithaa since mid-80s barring a brief period when she had fallen out.  It was Sasikala who remained with Jayalalithaa when she was hospitalised last year and till she died on December 5 last year. She performed her last rites as well. The main opposition leader in the state Assembly and arch rival DMK working president MK Stalin said the elevation of Sasikala will not gel with the people as she does not represent the popular choice. Sasikala, 61, is not an elected member of the assembly and had never held any post in the party. She is fondly called Chinamma (mother’s younger sister) by AIADMK supporters.”

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has congratulated India for launching one of the world’s largest vaccination campaign against measles, a major childhood killer disease, and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), responsible for irreversible birth defects. The campaign launched today to vaccinate more than 35 million children in the age group of nine months to 15 years with MR (measles and rubella) vaccine, once again demonstrates India’s commitment to improve health and well-being of its people by protecting children against vaccine preventable diseases, a statement issued here said. The first phase of the campaign is significant as it is expected to accelerate the country’s efforts to eliminate measles which affects an estimated 2.5 million children every year, killing nearly 49 000 of them. The campaign also marks the introduction of rubella vaccine in India’s childhood immunization programme to address CRS which causes birth defects such as irreversible deafness and blindness in nearly 40 000 children every year. India has made important efforts and gains against measles in recent years. Measles deaths have declined by 51% from an estimated 100 000 in the year 2000 to 49 000 in 2015.

This has been possible by significantly increasing the reach of the first dose of measles vaccine, given at the age of nine months under routine immunization programme, from 56% in 2000 to 87% in 2015. In 2010 India introduced the second dose of measles-containing vaccine in routine immunization programme to close the immunity gap and accelerate measles elimination. Nearly 118 million children aged nine months to 10 years were vaccinated during mass measles vaccination campaigns between 2010 and 2013 in select states of India. Simultaneously, India continues to further strengthen surveillance for measles and rubella, an important learning from India’s polio eradication programme that helped to identify infected and vulnerable areas and populations and enabled the programme adopt appropriate strategies to eradicate the disease.

India has already beaten smallpox, polio, maternal and neonatal tetanus and, very recently, yaws. Further gains in the battle against measles will help achieve a number of other public health priorities, the statement added.The campaign was formally launched at a function in Bengaluru and will extend to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Lakshadweep covering 35 million children. Following the campaign, MRV will be introduced in routine immunization, replacing the currently given two doses of measles vaccines, at 9-12 months and 16-24 months.The MR campaign targets 410 million children across the country, the largest ever in any country , covering all children aged between 9 months and less than 15 years of age with a single shot of MR vaccination irrespective of their previous measles/rubella status.The vaccine will be provided free of cost across the States from session at schools as well as health facilities and outreach session sites. Measles vaccine is currently provided under Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). However, rubella vaccine will be a new addition. Measles is a deadly disease and one of the important causes of death in children.

It is highly contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing of an infected person. Measles can make a child vulnerable of life threatening complications such as pneumonia, diarrhea and brain infection. Globally in 2015, measleas killed 1.34 lakh children mostly under-five years, killing 49,000. Rubella is generally a mild infection, but has serious consequences if infection occurs in pregnant women, causing congential rubella syndrome (CRS) which is a cause of public health concern. The CRS is characterized by congential anomalies in the foetus and newborns affecting the eyes, ears, brain and heart defects, causing a huge socio-economic burden on the families in particular and society in general.”

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Congress MP from Goa in the Rajya Sabha Shantaram Naik on Tuesday questioned the statement of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who had attacked India’s time tested policy of No First Use policy as in the matter of nuclear power. Mr.  Naik said, making his zero hour submissions, that Defence Minister said recently at the book launch of (Retd.) Brig Gurmeet Kanwal’s ‘The New Arthashastra: A security strategy for India’, that “”I wonder why we say that we don’t use nuclear weapons first.””  He went on to say that “”it doesn’t mean that India has to use nukes, but why rule out.””

In a press statement, Mr. Naik said that this is his thinking what Parrikar says but according to him there is no change in any government policy. Mr Naik said, “”If written down strategy exists or you take a stand on a nuclear aspect, I think you are actually giving away your strength in nuclear power.”” Defence Minister recently articulated his “personal” view which is contrary to India’s No First Use (NFU). This doctrine has come in for adverse comments from many strategists, Mr Naik said.

If defence ministry is for making aggressive postures then how was that the Government failed to ensure reciprocal visit by India when it permitted Pakistani delegation to visit Pathankot into sensitive areas, Mr Naik said. The strike that India made against the then Bangladesh under the occupation of Pakistan rendering the country into two pieces during Prime Minister Indira  Gandhi’s time, finds no mention by Defence Minister.

The Defence Minister of the country gives credit to RSS ideology for surgical strikes rather than giving credit to bravery of our soldiers, Mr Naik said. If India proposes to alter the policy on the use of nuclear strike, he has to put his proposal before Union Cabinet instead of making sou motto statement, which he is not entitled to make, Mr Naik said.”

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The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has equated six PG Diploma Programmes of the Pune-based Films and Television Institute of India with Master’s Degree. The Masters equivalence launches FTII into a new academic orbit and introduces a new dimension for students who can now leverage this attribute for higher studies, in India and abroad, an official statement said here.

These programmes are of 2 and 3 years duration and are in cinematography, editing, direction & screenplay writing, sound recording & sound design, art direction & production and acting. The FTII had been making efforts since 2011 for securing the Master’s Degree for its programs. Recently a four member Committee from Association of Indian Universities visited FTII and were briefed by the Heads of Department and Faculty members who gave detailed presentations before the AIU Committee. The committee also visited the academic locations as well as technical facilities and also met Student Representatives in the campus. Gajendra Chauhan, Chairman FTII, Pawan Manvi and Rajan Welukar, members of FTII Academic Council briefed the Committee on the strong credentials of FTII. Renowned FTII alumni Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Satish Shah, Tom Alter, Amitabh Shukla, Mahesh Aney, Bishwadeep Chatterjee and Siddharth Tatooskar were also present during the presentations.”

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Insisting that peace in Afghanistan is crucial for regional stability, Dr. Shaida Mohammad Abdali, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has spoken about Afghanistan’s changing strategic landscape, with regional powers forging new links and trying to outdo each other in what’s being seen as a new ‘Great Game’.

Dr Abdali was delivering a talk on ‘Afghanistan at the Crossroads: Implications for Regional Security’ at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) on Monday.  Terming Afghanistan as a lynchpin to regional stability owing to its geographic location, Dr Abdali said that Afghanistan should be mainstreamed into regional economic cooperation to bring about peace and security in Afghanistan and consequently in the subcontinent. The shifting regional alliances should avoid competition and promote a more inclusive approach towards stabilising Afghanistan and its neighbourhood, added Dr Abdali.

The global shift to multi-polarity and multilateralism can be an opportunity for Afghanistan as relationships with some regional powers that did not work earlier can now be aligned in a manner that can prove to be a win-win situation for all, added the ambassador.

Welcoming US President Donald Trump’s recent statement on his country’s resolve to eradicate radical forces, Dr Abdali said that this is the only way to combat terrorism. He hoped that the US government adopts this policy while engaging with the countries in the region.

Insisting that Afghanistan has long been suffering in the hands of global and regional players, Dr Abdali, called for the need for regional powers to interact with each other in a manner that would bring a positive change in the region.”

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Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday spelt out steps for making Indian Railways a profit earning entity. Such steps include measures for enhancing earnings on the one hand and controlling avoidable revenue expenditure on the other.

Revenue enhancing measures, inter alia, include targeting progressively higher traffic throughput, effective marketing strategies to capture more and more traffic, creation of additional capacity and optimum utilization of the existing rail infrastructure, enhancement in productivity and efficiency, improvement of passenger interface, periodic rationalization of fare and freight rates and focus on increasing the share of non-fare revenue sources in Railways’ earnings.

Expenditure control measures include strict economy and austerity measures, improved man-power planning, better asset utilization, inventory management and optimizing fuel consumption.”

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In multi-phase assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, there are two types of campaigns that are being run side-by-side. On one hand there are customary rhetoric touching the so-called agenda of development where talks revolve around education, health, civic infrastructure et al. And on the other hand it is all about polarization on communal lines.  

This is exactly what is happening in majority of the 140 seats in the 26 districts of western Uttar Pradesh that goes to poll on Friday (February 11). Leaders of three major political forces – BJP’s Narendra Modi and Amit Shah; Samajwadi Party-Congress combine’s Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi; and BSP’s Mayawati – all are harping on development planks, with occasional mentions of Hindu-Muslim polarization. But the entire contest now seems to be by polarisation on religious lines.

A major part of western Uttar Pradesh, directly and indirectly, bore the brunt of Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013. While some areas of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Meerut districts saw exodus of Muslims and Hindu communities post riots, communal tensions in the entire region has become a routine affair now. Examples of it are communal tensions in Bijnor, Masuri, Kairana and Bisada.

It is on these grounds that the elections in the western districts are being fought. In majority of places it is being done covertly, while in some places it is done overtly. The examples of latter are Sardhana, Thana Bhawan, Kairana and Dhaulana. From Sardhana and Thana Bhawan BJP has fielded its sitting MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, both Muzaffarnagar riots accused, while from Kairana Mriganka, daughter of sitting BJP MP Hukum Singh is in the fray. These two places were most affected in the riots.

But the peculiar example is that of Dhaulana assembly seat in Hapur district, which is just 50 kms from Delhi, where candidates and their supporters are openly seen seeking votes on communal lines and are banking on religious polarization to secure their win. Dhaulana will witness a three-cornered fight between BJP, SP and BSP where two Tomars, the dominant Thakur community of the region, are pitted against a Muslim, a local strongman.

BJP has fielded its four-time MP from Hapur, Dr Ramesh Chand Tomar, who came into limelight during the Ram Temple movement in the 90s, SP has given ticket to its sitting MLA, Dharmesh Tomar, while BSP is being represented by Aslam Choudhary, who was runner-up in 2012.

Alleging that ‘fatwa’ has been issued to Muslims to support BSP’s Aslam Choudhary, BJP candidate Dr. Ramesh Chand Tomar is openly appealing to ‘Hindu’ voters across various castes to vote for him and not to let Dhaulana seat go into the hands of a Muslim. An FIR has already been registered against him for giving inflammatory speeches. But this has not deterred him from seeking votes on communal lines.

What is happening openly in Dhaulana, is also happening in a discreet and hush-hush manner in other places across constituencies; be it a rural seat in places like Bijnor and Muzzafanagar or in so called modern sub-cities like Noida and Sahibabad. Significantly, division on communal lines is more where BJP nominees are pitted against Muslim candidates from either SP or BSP, or both, compared to assembly segments where there is the contest between all Hindu candidates from the three major parties.”

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Demonstrating its commitment to Make-in-India, BAE Systems will debut the Advanced Hawk, the latest development of the world’s most successful jet trainer, in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), at the 11th Aero India to be held from February 14-18 in Bengaluru. This fulfils the commitment made jointly by BAE Systems and HAL at the 2015 Aero India through signature of a Memorandum of Understand to explore future possibilities for the Hawk aircraft for India and export markets.

Clad in Indo-UK colours, the Advanced Hawk will be on display at HAL’s stand, together with a simulator showcasing the aircraft’s new capabilities. BAE Systems will also exhibit at the show with a number of displays spanning the breadth of its capabilities, technologies and platforms, according to a BAE statement in New Delhi. 

Building on the success of the Hawk Mk132, which recently completed 100,000 flying hours with the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy, the new features of the Advanced Hawk enable training activities currently performed on frontline fighter aircraft to be undertaken on the updated air platform.  

The Advanced Hawk will reduce training demands on more expensive frontline aircraft, creating additional capacity for operational tasks, whilst delivering fast jet training in a more cost-effective, structured and safer environment. High commonality with the existing Hawk production and support infrastructure in India enables the Advanced Hawk to be manufactured and supported with maximum reuse of facilities, equipment and skills.

Leading the Company’s participation at South Asia’s premier air show will be Alan Garwood, Group Business Development Director and Stephen Timms, ‎Managing Director, Defence Information, Training & Services.  BAE Systems India will be represented by Alistair Castle, Country Director and Nik Khanna, who has recently been named Managing Director.   

Stephen Timms, ‎ Managing Director – Defence Information, Training & Services said “The Advanced Hawk is a testimonial of our commitment to sharing technology, capability and knowledge to build advanced systems in India, for India, and from India. Together with HAL, we are looking forward to show this industry-funded demonstrator to the Indian and other Air Forces and seeking their feedback on the combination of features that will better prepare student combat pilots for the demands of frontline aircraft. ”

Alistair Castle, Country Director – India, BAE Systems said “Make in India is the cornerstone of our strategy and Aero India is an excellent platform for us to engage all our customers and wider industry to explore new ideas for partnerships, whilst strengthening existing ones, such as our association with HAL and Mahindra.”

Amongst BAE Systems’ displays is the Eurofighter Typhoon, the world’s most advanced new generation multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft available on the market, as well as the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS™). The full-colour Striker® II helmet-mounted display (HMD) and the BR90 Modular Bridging System are making their debut appearances at the Show along with a broad range of munitions. Striker II is a platform-agnostic, completely digital and now full-colour HMD that provides today’s combat pilots with remarkable situational awareness, night vision, target tracking and advanced audio technology – all in one visor-projected system.

BAE Systems recently received a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to provide 145 M777 ultra-lightweight howitzers to the Indian Army through a Foreign Military Sale between the U.S. and Indian governments.”