The Hindu Imp. News Jan.25th 2012

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A goal is a dream with a deadline. Page 1

THE HINDU

Imp. News

Jan. 24th

2012

Page-1

Protest pulls the plug on Rushdie's video show:

In a rather unbecoming finale of an international event propounding freedom of expression and

universal brotherhood, the five-day Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) abandoned the much-talked about

videoconference hosting eminent author Salman Rushdie here on Tuesday.

Man held for 13/7 is a police informer, admits Home Secretary:

The Bihar man held by the Maharashtra police on the charge of playing a key role in organising the July

13, 2011serial bombings in Mumbai was a Delhi Police and Intelligence Bureau informant, Union Home

Secretary R.K. Singh told journalists on Tuesday.

Naquee Ahmed Sheikh was an informer in a particular operation in which he was supposed to lead

these people [the police and Intelligence Bureau] to a location. He led them to a location where some

people were going to come, Mr. Singh said.

Delhi Police and Intelligence Bureau officials say they have no evidence of Mr. Sheikh's involvement in

the bombings. The Mumbai Police, however, insist he concealed evidence from their counterparts, and

say they have evidence linking him to the purchase of two stolen scooters used to plant explosivedevices in the city.

Hafiz Saeed threatens' India:

Hafiz Saeed, the suspected mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror bombings, is being feted in

Pakistan as a hero attracting thousands of people as he criss-crosses the country at the head of a

radical road-show targeting India and calling for jihad.

Mr. Saeed, founder of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), said he wanted to send a message to India,

America and NATO forces that the defence of Pakistan was his main priority.

BSF SI, Army jawan killed in avalanche:

A BSF Sub-Inspector and an Army jawan were killed and five security personnel went missing when an

avalanche struck near the Line of Control in Kupwara district of Kashmir on Tuesday.




Page 2

Military might for one and all to see:

The Parade will begin with Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra winners marching down Rajpath,

followed by the mounted cavalry troops, mechanised column and three advanced light helicopters. The

Army will display the T-72 main battle tanks, Agni-4 missile and advanced light helicopter.

The Navy this year is showcasing a Delhi-class destroyer, a UAV positioned atop a globe and IL-38

reconnaissance aircraft.

For the first time, a woman officer, Flight Lieutenant Sneha Shekhawat, will command the IAF marching

contingent. It will be followed by tableaux of C-130J Super Hercules aircraft and Mi-17 choppers.

Tableaux from Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and eight other States will highlight

their culture, art and craft this year. However, Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh will not be

represented.

Page- 7

Writer-intellectual Sukumar Azhikode dead:

Sukumar Azhikode, award-winning writer, scholar and probably the most influential Gandhian

intellectual in Kerala, died at a private hospital here on Tuesday.

Professor Azhikode, who would have turned 86 on May 12, had been fighting cancer for nearly a year.

Law Commission's new draft wants khap panchayats on marriages declared illegal:

Rejecting the government's proposal to amend Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code to include honour

killings' within the definition of murder on the ground that the existing provisions are adequate to take

care of the situations leading to such killings, the Law Commission has drafted fresh legislation that

seeks to declare such panchayats unlawful.

Marriage, according to the draft law, includes a proposed or intended marriage. The Collector or the

District Magistrate has been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the persons

targeted in case any illegal decision is taken by the khap panchayat and he/she shall take necessary

steps to prohibit the convening of such illegal gatherings.

Pointing out that the same gotra marriages are not prohibited by law, whatever may be the view in oldtime, the Law Commission says the Hindu Marriage Disabilities Removal Act, 1946 was enacted to dispel

any doubts in this regard.

Olive Ridleys' nesting site under threat:

Shifting of river mouth and erosion have changed the terrain of the nesting beach of Olive Ridley turtles

near the Rushikulya rookery in Ganjam district of Odisha. In the recent months, the Ruhsikulya river




mouth has shifted towards the north. This has completely eroded the long sandy nesting beach near

Kantiagada village, where most of the turtles laid their eggs last year. At present, no sandy beach

remains in the area and the sea is touching the casuarina forest on the coastline. This shifting of the

river mouth has also led to the formation of a 500-metre-long sandbar of more than 200 metres inside

the sea.

Following the mating season, a large number of female turtles are waiting for nesting. Males have

started to return. Even after mating, female Olive Ridleys at times do not lay eggs if the environment is

not conducive for nesting. While some experts say the turtles can keep the fertilised eggs inside their

body for two to three years, others are of the view that the females can keep the sperm in their body

and opt for fertilisation of eggs whenever they want, said Mr. Jena.

Zoologists say female Olive Ridleys can also absorb fertilised eggs in their body if the nesting situation is

not favourable. However, the nesting habit of Olive Ridleys still remains a mystery. In 2007, there

was no mass nesting on the Rushikulya rookery coast, while in 2006, there was mass nesting on two

occasions.

Census records rise in vulture count in Panna:

The results of the vulture census in the Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) will definitely provide wildlife

enthusiasts with a reason to cheer. The count in the third annual estimation exercise that concluded on

Monday has registered an increase of 39 per cent over the last year's figures.

While the maximum vulture population this year stood at 1797 (as against 1340 in 2011), the minimum

number was 1054 (814 last year) while the average count recorded was 1510 (1079 last year).

Vultures were found in 38 of the 39 sites earmarked for counting, as against 21 of 25 sites last year.

The PTR is home to seven vulture species long-billed, white-backed, Egyptian, red-headed, Eurasiangriffon, Himalayan griffon and cinereous. The first four are permanent residents of the park while the

last three are migratory.

Because of the difficulty in distinguishing between the long-billed vulture and the Himalayan griffon

vulture, 97 birds could only be identified as unknown by the observers due to lack of technical

expertise, PTR Field Director R.S. Murthy told The Hindu .

The use of the banned diclofenac for cattle around the Patori village and the cutting of the Arjun tree,

which serves as a good nesting site for the white-backed vulture, are two areas of concerns we have

identified as threats to vultures. Efforts are needed to stop such activities, Mr. Murthy said.

EDITORIAL

The RBI's balancing act:

The Reserve Bank of India has managed a delicate balancing act in the third quarter review of monetary

policy 2011-12 unveiled on Tuesday. The reduction in cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 0.50 percentage point

to 5.5 per cent will somewhat ease the tight liquidity conditions in the money market, while the decision




to leave interest rates unchanged sends a clear signal that the apex bank is still not comfortable with the

overall picture on inflation. However, the central bank has done its bit to encourage credit off-take by

infusing liquidity (Rs.32,000 crore) through a reduction in the CRR. Despite the RBI's open market

operations injecting Rs.70,000 crore over the past two months, money remained scarce, affecting credit

flow to borrowers.

Nigeria under siege:

The series of bombings in Kano, Nigeria's second-largest city, which have killed 178 so far and for which

the extreme Islamist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility, reveal many interconnected

problems. The attacks were mainly on police buildings, with a view to freeing members held for violent

offences; an unspecified number of detainees escaped. Boko Haram killed 510 people in scattered

attacks in 2011. The latest episode shows more planning, with police stations, government buildings,

and churches being particularly targeted. In Hausa, Boko Haram means western education is sinful',

In response, President Goodluck Jonathan says his government will not rest until the terrorists are

wiped out. Kano is under dusk-to-dawn curfew, and various northern states remain under emergency

law. Mr. Jonathan's Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) did very well in the north. While it makes short-term sense to treat the Kano attacks as primarily a security issue, the President needs to find effective

ways of leveraging these qualities of Nigerian society into an effective political weapon against Boko

Haram's deadly violence.

Lessons from the coup that failed:

The year 2012 began with a new promise for Bangladesh's secular democracy: the Army on January 19

said it had foiled a coup attempt to topple the democratic government by a group of serving and retired

army officers. Making the announcement, its spokesman, Brig. Gen. Muhammad Mashud Razzak,

flanked by senior army officers, said 14-16 mid-level army officers might have been involved in the bid.

This was the first time such an announcement was made by the Army, even though the country had

seen many abortive and successful coups in the past. The spokesman said retired officers Lt. Col. Ehsan

Yusuf and Major Zakir had been arrested. A Major General was now under investigation.

The founding father of the country, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of his family members,

was assassinated in August 1975. The tragedy reverted the nation's normal course from secular

democracy, which was the guiding force of the 1971 War of Liberation.

Three policy decisions

Three fundamental policy decisions are responsible for the heightened animosity: first, the Hasinagovernment, with a three-fourths majority in Parliament, was determined to return the nation to its

secular pro-liberation spirit; second, it took bold steps to improve relations with the neighbour which

supported Bangladesh's historic Liberation War, and concluded progressive accords, addressing India's

security concerns by taking a firm stand against its northeast insurgents; and thirdly, the government

took the bold step of trying the perpetrators of the worst atrocities against humanity who collaborated

with the marauding Pakistani army in the 1971 war. The landmark trial, now in progress, has already

raised concern in the Khaleda Zia-led camp which wants to frustrate the trial.




Page 9

Not much of a sea-based deterrent:

Just when the Russian nuclear-powered Akula-II submarine joins the Indian Navy as INS Chakra on a 10-

year lease at a cost of over $one billion, the moot question is: does it contribute to India's sea-based

nuclear deterrence?

To put matters in perspective, India in 1988 had procured the Soviet Charlie I class nuclear attack

submarine, renamed INS Chakra on a three-year lease. The vessel came without strategic weapons, with

the sole purpose of familiarising naval personnel on training and maintenance of nuclear-powered

submarines.

While the promised assistance to the ATV ( Advanced Technology Vessel) programme which culminated

in the launch of 80MW nuclear reactor S-2 vessel (to be called INS Arihant on commissioning) by Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh on 26 July 2009 came in fits and starts, the technology of the 6,000 tonne

vessel is between first and second generation vintage. By comparison, the U.S. has ninth generation

nuclear-powered subs which do not require refuelling throughout their lifetime.

The Russian Akula sub, given the same name, INS Chakra comes with similar purpose and rules of

engagement. Like the earlier deal, the undisclosed understanding this time is that it is part of the

Gorshkov package (INS Vikramaditya)

Chakra, the filler of strategic space:

A strategic posture of a nation is a declaration, more by deed than articulation, of its orientation, will

and intent. It purports to mould and shape a future that would benefit its larger objectives. The process

is fraught with the hazards of conflicting interests and therefore it demands the weight of the nation's

comprehensive power both soft and hard.

In an era when the face of soft power is that of an Assange and its voice, that of Gandhi, Gibran, Che and

Osama; a critical instrument to uphold posture is the State's military power and the talent to distinguish

between the maintenance of armed forces and their use.

The nuclear attack submarine (SSN) being completely independent of air for propulsion frees it from the

need to surface frequently, the enormous power generated permits a bigger hull to operate at high

speeds with large payloads for durations that is limited by human fatigue and replenishment of

consumables only (reactors require refuelling at intervals of 25 years). In real terms, it is critical to

understand what the Chakra represents. Working the submarine to our operational challenges and

demands is just the tip of the iceberg, training and building a bank of specialised personnel; creating thenecessary infrastructure to maintain nuclear submarines.

Pushing Iran to the brink:

T he EU has decided on oil sanctions that T ehran has long said would represent

a decl arat ion of w ar. What will follow?




The decision to impose a European Union oil embargo on Iran, agreed on Monday, by European foreign

ministers, sets a potential bomb ticking, timed to detonate on July 1.

On that day, according to the measures on the table in Brussels, Europe will stop importing oil from Iran,

about a fifth of the country's total exports. At about the same time, U.S. sanctions targeted at the global

financing of Iran's oil trade will kick in. Iran could still export some oil to Asia, but at big discounts.

The threat of an immediate clash appeared to recede over the weekend when the USS Lincoln aircraft

carrier and its task force, including the British frigate HMS Argy ll , travelled through the Strait of Hormuz

without incident. This was despite warnings from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

that it would oppose the return of a U.S. carrier to the region.

The Strait of Hormuz is the kink in the hose of the Gulf's oil supply to the world. A small amount of

pressure can have a disproportionate effect, sending crude prices soaring and starving the world's oil-

dependent economies.

At its narrowest point, the strait is 20 miles wide, but the channels down which more than a third of the

world's ocean-borne oil flows 17m barrels are just two miles wide in parts.

The U.S. has made clear that interruption to sea traffic in the Gulf would trigger a military response in

which Iran's nuclear facilities would be on the target lists. Until now the costs of a war with Iran

outweigh the gains of setting the nuclear programme back. But if the U.S. were going to war over oil,

that cost-benefit analysis would change.

The last time Iran and America played chicken in this stretch of water, in 1988, a missile cruiser shot

down an Iranian Airbus, killing 290 civilians including 66 children. There is no doubting the firepower at

America's disposal.

The Iranian military looks puny by comparison but it is powerful enough to do serious damage tocommercial shipping. It has three Kilo-class Russian diesel submarines, which are thought to have the

capacity to lay mines. And it has a large fleet of mini-submarines and thousands of small boats which can

pass undetected until very close. It also has a martyrdom tradition that could provide willing suicide

attackers. In 2002, the U.S. military ran a $250m exercise called Millennium Challenge, pitting the U.S.

against an unnamed rogue state with lots of small boats and willing martyr brigades. The rogue state

won, or at least was winning when the Pentagon brass shut the exercise down.

One U.S. naval response has been to develop a new kind of fighting vessel, the littoral combat ship (LCS).

The LCS is sleek, small and agile with a shallow draft and high speeds, allowing it to operate along island-

pocked coastlines.

Ehsan Mehrabi, an Iranian journalist specialising in military and strategic issues who recently left the

country, wrote on the Inside Iran website: I recall an Iranian idiom that was popular among the military

officials: If we drown, we'll drown everyone with us.' If attacked by a western power, the war would not

be contained within the Iranian borders.

Even if Washington and Tehran remain determined to avoid all-out war, with every passing month there

is a rising chance of one breaking out by accident.




Page- 11

Jallikattu: Irish group calls for tourism boycott-

A leading Irish animal rights group on Tuesday announced plans to launch a Europe-wide campaign for a

tourism boycott of India to protest against Jallikattu,' describing it as a cruel bull-abusing contact

game.''

The campaign by the Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) would be called Incredible Cruelty, a play

on the Ministry of Tourism's Incredible India campaign.

Panel on Mullaperiyar to submit report to court by third week of February:

Tamil Nadu wants it to maintain that dam will continue to serve its purpose

The Surpeme Court-appointed Empowered Committee indicated on Tuesday that it would submit a

report on the Mullaperiyar dam to the court in February third week. At a meeting here, it discussed

various technical reports on the dam's safety and strengthening measures.

The former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand, heads the committee. The other members are: Justice K.T.

Thomas, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Kerala; Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, retired Supreme

Court Judge representing Tamil Nadu; the former Secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources, C.D.

Thatte; and D.K. Mehta, retired Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission.

Page 12

Car bombs kill 14 in Baghdad:

A wave of car bombings on Tuesday hit the Iraq capital, killing 14 people and wounding more than 70 asviolence surges in the country amid an escalating political crisis a month after the U.S. military

withdrawal. At least 170 people have died in attacks since the beginning of the year, many of them

Shiite pilgrims attending religious commemorations.

30 injured in Sichuan violence:

About 30 Tibetans injured after Chinese police fired into a crowd of protesters in a restive southwestern

region were seeking shelter on Tuesday in a monastery while military forces surrounded the building,

said a Tibetan monk.

BUSINESS

RBI cuts CRR to spur growth:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday cut the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points from 6 per

cent to 5.5 per cent with effect from January 28, which would release Rs.32,000 crore into the financial

system.




Cairn-Vedanta deal gets final approval from Cabinet:

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Tuesday gave its final approval to the London-

based mining group Vedanta Resources Plc's acquisition of a majority stake in Cairn India Limited for

$8.48 billion.

The CCEA, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cleared the deal at a meeting of the Cabinet on

Tuesday. Fresh approval was necessitated in view of the Home Ministry pointing to alleged cases of

serious human rights violations, default of payment, environmental damage in its mining and metal

projects in India and abroad.

Sibal to take a final call on spectrum pricing:

Those who met Mr. Sibal included Bharti Airtel's Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Mittal, Reliance

Communications Chairman Anil Ambani, Vodafone India's CEO Marten Pieters and Idea Cellular

Managing Director Himanshu Kapania. These top telecom sector leaders had also met the Minister in

November last year on similar issues and other challenges being faced by the sector.

Last year, the Telecom Commission, the DoT's decision-making body, had recommended levy a one-time

charge for extra spectrum beyond the contracted limit of 4.4 MHz for GSM players and 2.5 MHz for

CDMA operators, which could fetch the government around Rs.17,000 crore. The Commission has also

cleared a uniform licence fee of 8 per cent as against the current rate of 6-10 per cent, while the

industry has been demanding a lower licence fee.

Page 18

Eunuchs have equal right to protect their dignity: court

Eunuchs have an equal right to protect their dignity and lead their life, the Bombay High Court said onTuesday while hearing a petition that sought steps to ensure their fundamental rights.

Sun hurls storng geomagnetic storm:

The strongest geomaganetic storm in more than six years was forecast to hit earths maganetic field on

Tuesday, and it could affect airline routes, power grids and satellites, said the U. S. Space Weather

Prediction Center. A coronal mas ejection, a big chunk of the Suns atmosphere, was hurled towards

Earth on Sunday, driving energised solar particles at about 2,000 km per second, about five times faster

than solar particals normally travel, said the centres Terry Onsager.

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The Hindu Imp. News Jan.25th 2012