Central Intelligence Agency: Inter Service Intelligence has ties with militant

The CIA has confronted Pakistan with new evidence about ties between the country’s spy service with some militant groups responsible for rising violence in Afghanistan, possibly including suicide bombing at the Indian Embassy in Kabul earlier this month.

A top official of CIA has secretly travelled to Islamabad this month and confronted Pakistan’s senior officials with new information about deepening ties between the ISI and the militants operating in tribal areas, the New York Times reported quoting American military and intelligence officials.

The secret visit of CIA’s deputy director Stephen R. Kappes, to Pakistan on July 12, along with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, was described by several American military and intelligence officials in interviews to the daily, They made it clear that they welcomed the decision by the CIA to take a harder line toward the ISI’s dealings with militant groups.

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Chiru: I’ll win 225 seats

The suspense over actor Chiranjeevi’s political entry seems to have come to an end.

The actor announced on Tuesday at an informal gathering of a few select reporters that he will launch a political party soon.

“After August 15, the announcement will be made,” the star said.

Talking to a few media persons at his film production office in Jubilee Hills, Chiranjeevi was confident that his party will win 225 seats on its own in the General elections.

He said that the media speculations about his political career since 1999 made him consider entering politics. He evaded questions on his party’s name, flag and agenda and said that he would meet the media very soon to reveal all that. He disclosed that there were around 20 names under consideration for his party.

Chiranjeevi indicated that he would announce the party through a media conference and there would a public meeting in Hyderabad and Tirupati after that.

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Andhra Pradesh man held for serial blasts

n a major break through, a resident of Sirivaram village in Rajampet mandal was picked up by the Rajasthan police for allegedly being involved in the serial blasts.

A team from the Bhavaneswar Kotwal PS arrested him on suspicion.

G. Rajendra Yadav alias Azad, 24, was picked up on Tuesday under Section 109 CrPC for concealing presence with a view to commit a cognizable offence.

Yadav is currently being interrogated for his alleged role in the serial blasts that rocked Jaipur, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

According to the Rajampet rural circle inspector of police, Mr Ravi Kumar Reddy, the accused was holding a fake passport in a Muslim name.

“People from here often go to the Gulf with fake passports. Yadav went to Kuwait four years ago. His family said they have no idea about his where abouts. Yadav was in touch with his family only for a year and since then he was missing.

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23 bombs were to explode key suspect

Gujarat on Sunday, a day after the Ahmedabad serial blasts, as two cars with live bombs and explosives found in Surat. The death toll rose to 45.

The police believes the two were part of a total of 23 bombs that were intended to explode on Saturday evening. Several among them were high-intensity explosives.

“It seems the bombs that exploded in Ahmedabad on Saturday were part of a number series. And a few bombs from the series are still missing,” a police officer said.

According to him, the 2.5kg live bomb that was defused in the Hatkeshwar area of Ahmedabad on Sunday morning had 4 written on it. According to the police, the bomb was attached to a timer device that was set to explode at 6.30 pm.

Interestingly, the bomb found on Saturday night at Khatrej in Kalol had 23 written on it. The official tally of 16 blasts and three live bombs recovered still does not add up to 23. This could mean that if the bombs were numbered up to 23, four bombs still remain untraced. However, this is only a theory and the police has no substantial evidence to state that all the bombs were numbered.

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2-day power cut for industry

The state government has decided to ask the industrial sector to observe total shutdown for two days a week because of the worsening power crisis.

A fortnight ago, power officials had asked industries to down shutters for one day in a week.

But with the power situation continuing to be grim, the industries are set to get forced holidays for two days a week.

Thanks to official power cuts and emergency load shedding, industries across the state are already struggling to maintain the production targets.

It is estimated that the power cuts have brought down production in the cement, steel, ceramic and chemical industries in the state by around 30 per cent.

The production is set to come down further with the increase in the duration of power cuts.

These power cuts would be implemented in rotation, so the electricity system would get the required relief. “We had asked for additional 700 MW power to cater to increased demand in and around Hyderabad city but it has not materialised,” said Mr Ravinder Reddy, Director of Central Discom.

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Schools to be bandh-proof

Schools have been affected by 10 bandhs called by political parties in 35 working days since June.

Most schools have announced postponement of their first unit tests from July-end to August. Teachers have complained that they are unable to complete the syllabus.

The government, prodded by a Supreme Court judgment and directions of the State Human Rights Commission, plans to pass a law to insulate schools from bandhs. The law will exclude schools from bandhs, on the lines of essential services like hospitals.

Several schools had approached the State Human Rights Commission urging it to direct the government to ensure that schools are not disturbed during bandhs. The commission served notices to government, prinicipal secretary and director of school education and police department to take immediate steps in this regard.

“We have received the notices sent by the commission. The government is very much in favour of implementing the directions of the commission,” said Mr P Bhanu Murthy, director, school education.

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275 Prime Minister Nukes them all

The two-week long political stalemate ended on Tuesday after a resounding victory for the Manmohan Singh government in the crucial trust vote in the Lok Sabha, which saw a realignment of political parties, heated debates and allegations of money power. In the end, the government won by a comfortable margin.

The victory, which put the Prime Minister firmly in the saddle, will not merely push the country towards the nuclear club, but also enable the government to move ahead with economic reforms.

In his moment of glory, the Prime Minister targeted the Left. “They wanted me to behave like a slave,” his reply to the Lok Sabha debate read.

Though the stalemate began from July 9 after the Left withdrew support to the government, the process of instability had started much earlier, after the government made it clear that it was not backing off from the nuclear deal with the United States.

At the end of the day on Tuesday, the UPA raced ahead in the numbers game. Those in favour of the motion stood at 275, and those opposed it numbered 256. The government won by 19 votes. Altogether 10 members were either absent or abstained from voting.

There were also indications that, in a major blow to the saffron camp, at least nine NDA MPs defied the whip to vote for the motion.

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Oracle: No rains due to sin, greed

The oracle at the annual Rangam refused to bless people with bountiful rains this year at the historic Mahankali temple in Secunderabad.

Interestingly, the oracle put the temple officials in a fix by asking for the sacrifice of a four-legged animal. Sacrifice of animals is banned in temples.

Swarna Latha, the oracle of Ujjaini Mahankali temple, told a huge gathering of devotees that the goddess was unhappy over the “sins” committed by the people and “decline in devotion.” She said a sacrifice of an animal would make the goddess happy.

“We are surprised at the demand. I am sure she will bless us even without a sacrifice,” said Mr K. Mahesh Kumar, member of the festival committee.

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Of dinners to win trust

The UPA and NDA both tried to test their strength before the July 22 trust vote in the Lok Sabha through dinner diplomacy on Sunday evening.

Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh hosted a dinner for government supporters at the Ashok Hotel while the BJP’s Mr L.K.Advani hosted his event at the Parliament Annexe.

The cuisine at both the feasts was of course completely desi.

Mr Advani’s dinner was served by the catering service of the Indian Railways. Leaders of the third front — including BSP’s Mayawati, TDP’s N.Chandrababu Naidu, CPI(M) boss Prakash Karat — thrashed out strategy over lunch.

The head count at the UPA feast looked virtually complete. The expected abstention was of Mr Kuldeep Bishnoi, a rebel Congressman.

Saffron camp watchers were surprised by the conspicuous absence of four NDA MPs — two from JD(U), one from Shiv Sena and one from the BJP itself.

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Singh has history on his side

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, will create history when he moves a motion of confidence in Lok Sabha next week.

If he wins, it will the first ever confidence motion won by a Congress-led coalition and if he loses, it will be the first time the grand old party has lost a confidence vote.

No Congress ministry has ever lost a trust vote or got defeated by a no-confidence motion in the 55 years of the Lok Sabha.

Successive Congress governments have faced 23 no-confidence motions and survived all of them.

The Congress ministry led by Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao faced a confidence motion without commanding a majority on July 15, 1991. Still, it won. Not only that, Rao also survived three no-confidence motions.

As he nears the D-day, the Prime Minister can hark back to his predecessors to see their strategies.

It was the National Front, BJP, and the United Front governments which had to quit after losing confidence motions.

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24 cops killed in blast

At least 24 Special Operations Group and Orissa State Armed police personnel were killed when suspected Maoists blew up their van using an improvised explosive device at MV-126 village in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, 600 km from here.

The explosive went off when the police was trying to clear a tree trunk placed on the road by the Maoists. A fierce encounter ensued at the spot.

The police was returning to Balimela after a combing operation in MV-79 village where Naxalites had launched an attack on Monday. The victims included two inspectors and six SOG jawans.

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Late rains hit water

The weak monsoon has started affecting drinking water supply in many towns and municipalities of the state.

All major reservoirs except Nagarjuna Sagar have stopped releasing water after levels plummeted to below minimum draw down levels.

The Krishna and Godavari basins have also dried up as the monsoon did not yield expected rains and water level in the crucial Srisailam reservoir has reached the lowest in last four years.

Last year, Srisailam reservoir had 227 TMC ft water at 882.2 ft level, but it has dwindled to an alarming 808.60 ft now with only 56 TMC ft water in store.

With no inflows into the reservoir, power generation has been stopped and outflows have been completely halted.

Similarly, the Jurala reservoir has water levels of 40.47 TMC ft against last year’s 100 TMC ft.

At Nagarjuna Sagar, the water level plunged to 540 ft against 590 ft Full Reservoir Level (FRL). But it remains the only source for the Krishna Basin with about 50 TMC ft water available for drinking needs.

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Travails of travelling: Not a private affair

More than 500 private buses operate from the city every day without a proper bus stand or parking facility.

The transport department, which provides permits to vehicles, is not bothered about providing facilities for private bus operators to park their vehicles.

The ‘profit motive’ of private bus operators and lack of coordination between government departments are compounding the problem.

Thousands of passengers travelling in private buses are forced to wait by the roadside at Kukatpally, Ameerpet, Lakdikapul, Kothapet and other parts of the city.

“We have no other go except to depend on private buses since APSRTC operates buses only from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station,” said Mr G. Raghunandan, a passenger. “The operators and government should do something to help poor passengers.”

Even women children and old people are forced to wait on the roads. They have neither waiting rooms nor bathrooms.

“Old people and children are forced to run through busy roads to get into buses since the vehicles are not allowed to idle on the roads,” said Ms R.Kalyani, another passenger. “Travel in private buses has become a nightmare.”

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Rushdie now woos Riya?

Speculation is rife that India-born British novelist Sir Salman Rushdie has been wooing Bollywood actor Riya Sen whom he met at a nightclub in Mumbai earlier in 2008.

The 61-year-old novelist has also invited her to New York where he has been spending much of his time after the end of his three year marriage to actress and model Padma Lakshmi in 2007, the Daily Mail reported.

According to the report, the pair have been exchanging emails on a regular basis since January when they met in India through a common friend, and the author is also “pursuing” the 27-year-old starlet.

“We get on really well but we are just friends. I met him through a family friend. I have spoken to him a few times,”Sen was quoted as saying.

She further said, “I think when you are Salman Rushdie, you must get bored with people who always want to talk to you about literature. We did not talk about any of that.”

She has also confirmed that she was invited to New York but insisted, “No really, we are not an item.” The controversial author of The Satanic Verses, who has been married four times, recently said that he did not think that marriage “is necessary”.

“It’s strange, given that I’ve been married four times but I actually don’t think marriage is necessary.

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Has rain god ditched Cheif Minister?

The delayed monsoon is giving the jitters to the ruling Congress especially because of the possibility of early Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

If the rains continue to play truant, the party will have to fight Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in a State reeling under drought, a prospect it does not relish. Andhra Pradesh has 42 Lok Sabha seats which may turn out to be crucial in the numbers game.

The only comforting factor for the Congress is that the opposition is in disarray and not in a position to cash in on the failure of the monsoon.

Leaders are leaving Telugu Desam in hordes, the Telangana Rastra Samiti has been marginalised, and the parties of actor Chiranjeevi and T.Devender Goud are yet to be launched.

Politically, the Congress still holds the trump card.

“We are still hopeful of good rains,” said the agriculture minister, Mr N.Raghuveera Reddy. “But a drought during election year will certainly affect the government.”

Asked if the rain gods had withdrawn support to the state government after four years, Mr Raghuveera Reddy quipped: “Absolutely not. They are with us and will always be with us.” Ever since the Congress government returned to power under the leadership of Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, the state has had good rains.

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Bush is all praise for Prime Minister: ‘I respect India’

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, battling climate change at the G-8 in Japan and back home, told US President George W.Bush in a meeting early on Wednesday morning that their relationship had evolved into a “genuine strategic partnership” while Mr Bush said they “talked about the India-US nuclear deal, and how important it is for our respective countries.”

“And I am very pleased with the state of our relationship, which has truly acquired the characteristic of a genuine strategic partnership,” Dr Singh told Mr Bush at the 50-minute meeting a day after the Left finalised its decision to withdraw support to the UPA government at the Centre. He also told Mr Bush that there had been progress in all areas, including “nuclear cooperation, space coordination” and “defence cooperation”.

The meeting at Toyako stood out for the bonhomie between two leaders struggling to leave behind a legacy that will last beyond their terms. President Bush described the meeting with the Prime Minister, which lasted some what longer than scheduled, as “a typical conversation between friends” and time and again employed the word “respect” to outline his feelings about American engagement of India. It is this cordiality that may become a sharper weapon in the hands of the Left parties, which oppose the nuclear deal with the US.

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Toy train listed as world heritage site

One of the oldest and perhaps the most endearing memory from anyone’s vacation in the Shimla Hills – the 104 Kalka Shimla Railway is now a world heritage property duly inscribed in UNESCO’s growing list of natural and cultural marvels.

The 96-kilometer long, narrow gauge, mountain railway, which has long been viewed as a marvel of early 20th Century engineering given that it traverses a most difficult Himalayan terrain through a maze of tunnels and multiarch galleries, was officially acknowledged at the World Heritage Committee’s 32nd session in Quebec on Monday.

Hugely elated with the committee’s decision, Indian Railways executive director, Rakesh Aggarwal who helped prepare the detailed dossier on the Toy Train from the days of the British Raj, said that he and his team were “expecting” the recognition. “We had taken all possible steps to ensure KSR’s inscription through a combination of maps, diagrams and audiovisual depictions,” he said.

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4 Indians die in blast at embassy in Kabul

four Indians killed in what was the deadliest suicide bombing in Kabul ever and the first major attack on an Indian diplomatic mission overseas were expected to be airlifted here late on Monday night.

An IAF aircraft, which ferried a team of foreign ministry officials, to the Afghan capital earlier in the day, was flying home with the bodies of India’s defence attache Brig. Ravi Datt Mehta, diplomat V.Venkateswara Rao and two Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel Ajai Pathaniya and Roop Singh.

At around 8.15 am on Monday, a man rammed an explosives-laden car into a vehicle that would have dropped Brig. Mehta and Rao safely inside the compound. The two officials and their driver, an Afghan named Niamatullah, died instantly.

The blast claimed at least 40 lives, mostly civilians waiting for Indian visas, and injured close to 140 others.

For a people to whom suicide attacks are not uncommon, Monday’s attack was unlike any they had seen or heard of. The blast could be heard for miles. The Indian Army on Monday reacted with shock to the killing of India’s defence attaché in Afghanistan, Brig. Ravi Datt Mehta, in a bomb blast on Monday. Officially, the Army stated that Brig.

Mehta “was martyred in a dastardly act of terrorism”.

Brig. Mehta is the most senior officer of the Indian Army to be killed by terrorists in recent times.

Army sources said it was a distinct possibility that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI along with the Taliban had planned the attack on the Indian defence attaché to instil fear with the purpose of curtailing India’s influence in Afghanistan.

Brig. Mehta was commissioned into the Army in 1976 in the Intelligence Corps and is survived by his wife and two children. One of his children is an Indian Air Force officer of the rank of Flight Lieutenant. His wife and children are currently in Afghanistan on a visit. Brig. Mehta had assumed the office of Indian defence attaché in Afghanistan in February this year.

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Body Mass Index Scale for cabin crew

The directorate general of civil aviation has directed that “body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio be taken as parameters for grading and assessing obesity in civil air crew, rather than height-weight tables.”

In a circular on July 3 on gauding obesity parameters in flight crew, the DGCA also said the “patient’s risk status should be assessed by determining the degree of overweight or obesity based on BMI, the presence of abdominal obesity based on waist circumference, and the presence of concomitant cardiovascular disease risk factors.” It said crew could be classified as being at high absolute risk for obesity-related disorders if they have any three of six multiple-risk factors, which include smoking and hypertension.

The DGCA said, “the implications of obesity are more a concern for the employer than the regulatory body... in view of the nature of the disability and its ability to cause incapacitation.” It added: “The medical department of the airline will have the responsibility of advising air crew about methods to achieve recommended weight.”

It also has recommendations on blood sugar testing and the frequency of conducting “lipid profile” of air crew depending on the BMI.

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Braver Congress challenges Left

After getting the Samajwadi Party on board, an elated Congress on Friday virtually dared the Left and the Opposition to topple the government.

The meetings of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday were a turning point for the UPA. Their proclamation of backing the controversial nuclear deal with the US divided the anti-BJP and anti-Congress forces and boosted the morale of the Prime Minister’s supporters.

The SP is now ready to seek its price for supporting the Manmohan Singh government for a few months. Shortly after the Left released a letter to external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee asking him to convey the govern ment’s decision by July 7, parliamentary affairs minister Vayalar Ravi and AICC media department chairman M. Veerappa Moily claimed separately that the UPA government was stable and enjoyed a majority.

“Government has the numbers, we are ready to prove it in the Lok Sabha,” Mr Ravi said.

The Congress said Mr Mukherjee would reply to the Left’s ultimatum but remained non-committal about the timing. Rejecting suggestions of an “unholy alliance”, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, “The SP and the Congress have never been mutually untouchable in the same sense as the Left and the BJP or the Congress and the BJP.”

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