Daily News (In Short)-22-August-2015

#* Prospects of NSA talks dim as Pakistan rejects Indian advisory

Dawood Ibrahim, the prime accused in the 1993 bomb blasts and wanted in other crimes, has long been on top of the list of India’s most wanted criminals. But despite India's claims that the gangster was being housed in Pakistan, the neighbouring country has always denied it and cited lack of evidence. That might now change.  A Hindustan Times report has cited fresh evidence to prove that the gangster is in Pakistan.
Image courtesy: ibnliveImage courtesy: ibnlive
A telephone bill and a passport form the documentary evidence which indicate that Ibrahim and his family are in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, the report said.
Indian security agencies are said to be in possession of a telephone bill issued in the name of Mehjabeen Shaikh, Dawood’s wife. The bill mentions D-13, Block 4, Karachi Development Authority,  Sch 5, Clifton, as the address, and is issued by the Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited.
The passport has a recent image of Dawood, which shows him now to be clean shaven and with a receding hairline. He is said to be 59 years old now.
The HT report says that if the meeting between the two countries’ National Security Advisors takes place as scheduled on Monday, India is likely to confront Pakistan with this evidence.
However, there are doubts over whether that will happen given reports that the NSA-level talks may not take place after Pakistan said that it wished to speak with Hurriyat leaders ahead of the talks. India has advised Pakistan not to allow its officials to meet separatist leaders in Kashmir as it would “not be in keeping with the spirit” of the understanding reached after the talks in Ufa.
While 1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon was executed last month by India, sections of people opposed to his hanging had pointed out that Dawood Ibrahim, one of the alleged masterminds of the attack, continued to be out of reach of Indian authorities.
A controversy broke out in May this year after minister of state for home Haribhai Chaudhary had said in the Lok Sabha that Dawood’s location was not known. However, the government later clarified that although his exact address was not known, authorities knew that he was in Pakistan.

#* As Kim Jong-Un threatens to go to war, South Korea remains on top alert 

outh Korean troops stood at maximum alert on Saturday with North Korea threatening to go to war unless Seoul meets a looming deadline to halt loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border. The North Korean People’s Army (KPA) said on late Friday that its frontline troops had moved into a “fully armed, wartime state” in line with the wishes of leader Kim Jong-Un and ahead of the 5:00 pm (0830 GMT) deadline on Saturday. The international community has long experience of North Korea’s particularly aggressive brand of diplomatic brinkmanship and, while there is concern over the potential for escalation, many see the situation as another exercise in attention-seeking by Pyongyang.
“Given their past negotiating style and tactics, the likelihood that they will follow through with their threat of a military action is low,” said James Kim, a research fellow at the Asan Institute think-tank in Seoul. At the same time, Kim acknowledged that second-guessing Pyongyang’s game plan was always risky, and the possibility of a North Korean strike of some sort could not be ruled out. “If so, South Korea must have a firm, strong, and timely response to signal its resolve that it will not be intimidated. Anything less would be an invitation for further provocation,” he said. For the moment, there has been little sense of panic among ordinary South Koreans who have become largely inured over the years to the North’s regular- and regularly unrealised- threats of imminent war. Technically, the two Koreas have been at war for the past 65 years, as the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a ceasefire that was never ratified by a formal peace treaty. The last direct attack on the South was in November 2010 when North Korea shelled the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, killing two civilians and two soldiers. Kim’s order on Saturday to move to a war footing came after an exchange of artillery fire on Thursday that claimed no casualties but triggered a dangerous spike in cross-border tensions. Tensions were already running high over some mine blasts earlier this month that maimed two South Korean border soldiers, and the launch last Monday of an annual South Korea-US military exercise that infuriated Pyongyang. Despite Pyongyang’s subsequent denials, South Korea said the North was behind the blasts and responded by resuming propaganda broadcasts across the border- a practice both Koreas had ended by mutual consent in 2004. The move outraged the North, which eventually issued its 48-hour ultimatum for the South to turn off the loudspeakers by Saturday afternoon, or face military action. 

#* Kumbh Mela: In the eternal pop-up city

Ash smeared sadhus standing on one leg or lying on a bed of nails while subsisting on leaves; pilgrims who immerse themselves at the Sangam to wash away their sins, attain moksh and be free of the wretchedness of repeated rebirth; unfortunate stampedes that kill hundreds; colour, vibrancy and a desperate yearning to reach out to the Unknowable… the Kumbh Mela, held every 12 years at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna at Allahabad, is all that. 

It's also, in the words of Rahul Mehrotra, who has co-edited the excellent Kumbh Mela; Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity, "a pop-up megacity". A 20 sq mile-marvel, the nagari shelters about 70 million visitors on the dry flood plains for the duration of the Kumbh, after which everything is disassembled and the site returns to being rich agricultural land.
The product of a multi-year multi-disciplinary research project focussed on the 2013 Kumbh Mela coordinated by the Harvard University South Asia Institute, the book includes superb photos by Dinesh Mehta and Giles Price and illuminating essays on the significance of the Kumbh from the religious, architectural, public health, government and infrastructural perspectives. Both scholarly and accessible, it's stuffed with the kind of information that would induce salivation in fans of the BBC quiz show, Mastermind. 

Like, did you know the site covers 1,936.56 hectares, that it has 99 parking lots, 30 police stations, 50 fire stations, 14 allopathic hospitals, 22,000 street lights, 35,000 individual toilets - that's probably more than the number of toilets in the capital - and that an estimated 200,000 people were lost at the last event? 

But more important than the thrills it affords to the hoarder of statistical trivia is the fact that this work and the research projects out of which it grew will provide many insights to those pondering about the big questions to do with public health and rapid urbanisation. Can some of the dynamism evident in the building and administration of the Kumbh nagari be replicated in India's emerging cities? Could some of the methods of the megacity that vanishes almost completely - except, sadly, for the mounds of waste it leaves in its wake - be used to improve conditions in refugee camps? What are the public health lessons that could be implemented at other mass gatherings, both religious and secular, across the world like the Haj and the Olympics? Could the methods used at the last Kumbh to track the spread of cold and flu and the digital cataloguing of complaints at clinics - Sachit Balsari of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights,who co-authored the essay on Health and Safety reckons the Kumbh is an epidemiologist's nightmare "in terms of disease transmission" - be replicated at other pilgrimage spots across the country? We already have the answer to the last question: medical students from Allahabad, who worked with the Harvard team in 2013, are now screening pilgrims at the ongoing Nasik Kumbh for hypertension, diabetes and oral lesions.

The book's strength lies in how well it explains both the spiritual and the temporal aspects of the world's largest gathering. 'Understanding the Kumbh Mela' by Diana Eck and Kalpesh Bhatt discusses the religious and mythic aspects of the event, explains the concept of tirtha, quotes Hsuan Tsang who, back in 643CE, already described the great mela as an "age-long festival", examines the politics of the akharas, and ruminates on the many-layered concept of sacrifice at Prayag -"the foremost place of sacrifice" in the words of a contemporary sadhu.

If you have any complaints about the book, it's to do with references to units of measure like hectares and miles instead of metres, and the naivety of the suggestion that a nominal ticket price be charged: "If the Kumbh Mela is to last and thrive in Allahabad for twelve, twenty-four, forty-eight or 1,200 more years, as India grows and as the rivers get more and more stressed, something like this may be implemented". The Kumbh existed for millennia before the modern Indian state came into being and it'll continue to exist long after we are gone. To a civilization that believes a "day of Brahma" is equal to 4.32 billion years, the idea of an impending environmental doomsday - even if it's entirely probably - seems absurd… as is the idea of charging for a dip at Sangam - even if it's entirely necessary. But these are mere quibbles about a book that is undoubtedly a fine achievement.

#* Maruti hikes prices across models by up to Rs 9000, newly launched S-Cross spared

New Delhi - The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India has hiked prices of all its products by up to Rs 9,000, except that of newly launched premium crossover S-Cross, citing changes in dealer margin.
The average hike in the ex-showroom prices, with effect from 11 August, across models ranges from Rs 3,000 to Rs 9,000, a Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) spokesperson said.
The price revision is on account of changes in dealer margin and a minor calibration in prices, the spokesperson added.
ReutersReutersThe company, which has a share of over 45% in the domestic market in the passenger vehicle segment, currently sells a range a vehicles starting from entry-level car Alto 800 to premium crossover S-Cross, priced between Rs 2.52 lakh to Rs 13.74 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The auto major, however, said that the prices of S-Cross, launched earlier this month, would remain unchanged.
MSI in January this year increased prices by up to Rs 31,600 to adjust impact of hike in excise duty. Before that, the company had hiked prices by up to Rs 10,000 in October 2013 mainly due to depreciation of rupee.
Rival Hyundai Motor India has already announced a hike across all models, excluding that of sports utility vehicle Creta, by up to Rs 30,000 from this month in view of rising input costs.

#* Mamata shown black flags at Presidency University, V-C gheraoed

On a day when chief minister Mamata Banerjee threw her weight behind the agitating students of Pune’s Film and Television Institute of India, at home, the stir at Presidency University acquired an ugly twist with the pupils showing black flags during the CM’s visit to the campus on Friday. Mamata was forced to cut short her programme at the varsity and beat a hasty retreat to avoid an embarrassing situation while education minister Partha Chatterjee exited through a back gate.

Clearly, Mamata’s grant of Rs 160 crore to the university’s coffers failed to put a lid on the stir by students who have been agitating for the past few months over a variety of demands.

Recently, some top professors of Presidency who were roped in from abroad with the intention of turning this educational institution into a centre of excellence quit alleging political interference and that the atmosphere was not right for quality education to flourish.

Soon after the CM slipped out of the campus, the students gheraoed vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia. At the time of going to press late at night, the gherao was still continuing with the V-C and other teachers locked up in the room.

Reacting to the developments, higher education minister Partha Chatterjee told HT: “I cannot say that all the students are bad. But what I understand is that a lot of cheap politics is going on. If this happens, no good student will come into politics.”

Late at night some Jadavpur University students joined their counterparts in Presidency to strengthen the gherao.

Friday’s campus protest comes within a few months of the state government’s prolonged confrontation with the students of Jadavpur University who dug in their heels from September 2014 to January 2015 and succeeded in removing V-C Abhijit Chakrabarti who had ordered a police crack down to quell student unrest.

On Friday, the anger of the students was triggered by a number of factors — no punishment of the ruling Trinamool Congress supporters who attacked the Presidency campus on April 10, 2012, exit of professors from the institution, tranfer of teachers on lien by the government and even inadequate hostel facilities for the students.

Friday’s visit was the first one by the chief minister. The students were also peeved at the CM addressing only first year students in the campus. “If she is so much in love with the university, why doesn’t she punish her partymen who vandalised the heritage Baker laboratory,” said Trisha Chanda, general secretary of the students union.

#* U.S.: ISIS chief Baghdadi’s deputy killed in airstrike

Hajji Mutazz, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)’s second-in-command, was killed in a U.S. military airstrike on August 18, the White House confirmed on Friday.

“Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, also known as Hajji Mutazz ... was killed in a U.S. military air strike on August 18 while traveling in a vehicle near Mosul, Iraq, along with an ISIL media operative known as Abu Abdullah,” White House spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

“Al-Hayali’s death will adversely impact ISIL’s operations given that his influence spanned ISIL’s finance, media, operations, and logistics,” Price said, referring to the group by an acronym.

The White House said the dead leader was a “primary coordinator” for moving weapons, explosives, vehicles, and people between Iraq and Syria. He was in charge of operations in Iraq and helped plan the group’s offensive in Mosul in June of last year.

The United States and its allies stage daily air strikes on ISIS targets in the group’s self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria. A drone strike last month killed a senior Islamic State leader in its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.

Hayali - also known as Abu Muslim al-Turkmani - was reportedly a former Iraqi officer under Saddam Hussein and had served time in a U.S.-run prison before becoming “the right hand man” of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

One counter-terrorism specialist cautioned that the impact of the killing on ISIS could be short-lived. 

“My experience in looking at the Islamic State suggests they have demonstrated  an ability to move people up into positions” when high-ranking operatives are killed, said Seth Jones, a former Pentagon official now at the RAND Corporation.

Jones said how much territory ISIS controls was more important in determining the group’s power. “The key issue is territorial control,” he said.

#* SLFP to join national govt. in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday initiated the process to strike a deal between his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) for forming a “national government.”

Nandimithra Ekanayake, senior SLFP leader and State Minister for Culture and Arts, told The Hindu that Mr. Sirisena had asked the party to form a six-member committee to work out the modalities for the national government.

He indicated that former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga might head the panel, which would include S.B. Dissanayake, Sarath Amunugama, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Susil Premajayantha, Nimal Siripala de Silva and Reginald Cooray.

This was decided at a meeting of the Central Committee of the party. The arrangement is likely to last at least a couple of years.

According to Article 46 (5) [inserted in May through the 19 Amendment] of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the term ‘national government’ means “a government formed by a recognised political party or an  independent group which obtains the highest number of seats in Parliament together with other recognised political parties or independent groups.” 

Mr. Sirisena has requested the newly-elected lawmakers of the SLFP to prepare a report, which will consist of proposals of the party to be part of the national government.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the United People’s Freedom Alliance (in which SLFP is the largest constituent) in the elections, is said to have told to his colleagues that he would not like to be the Leader of Opposition. The post could be held by a senior member, he said.

Mr. Sirisena will swear in UNP leader Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister on Friday morning at his office.

#* Police chief in charge of Bangkok blast probe oversaw 'bungled' investigation into Koh Tao tourist murders

The investigation into a deadly bombing in Bangkok’s tourist heartland is led by a US-trained officer with close ties to Thailand’s powerful military, who oversaw a high-profile tourist murder case in which the conduct of Thai police was questioned.

Chakthip Chaijinda was chosen as the country’s next police chief on August 14, just three days before a blast tore through the crowded Erawan Shrine in the Thai capital, killing 20 people, mostly foreigners. The current chief retires next month.

Meanwhile, Chakthip is running an investigation which, four days after the Erawan blast, seems no closer to determining who attacked the shrine and why.The prime suspect is an unidentified young man spotted on CCTV apparently leaving a backpack at the scene.

But police and military have issued confusing and sometimes contradictory statements about the suspect’s appearance, the number of accomplices he may have had and the likelihood of foreign involvement.

As deputy police chief, Chakthip has been the public face of other tourism-related cases in which concerns have been raised about the professionalism of the Thai police.

They include the murder of two British backpackers on the island of Koh Tao in September 2014. Two migrant workers from Myanmar are now on trial amid allegations that police failed to properly seal off the crime scene – a criticism also levelled after Monday’s shrine blast – and bungled DNA evidence.

#* Final guidelines for reinsurers in October : IRDA chairman

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) said it is working on the final guidelines for reinsurers, which will come out by October.

"About 7 to 8 global and domestic reinsurance players have shown interest for licence to begin operations in the country so far. We are working on the guidelines. We will come up with the final guidelines by October," Irda chairman T S Vijayan said.

Talking about management control after the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit was hiked to 49% from the previous 26%, the regulator said Irda will come up with the guidelines in this regard soon and will put it under corporate governance structure.

#* Now, Get Delhi Traffic SMS Alerts on Your Mobile

Now you can get information about the city's traffic situation like congestion points, rallies, political and religious processions and diversion updates on your mobile phone as Delhi Traffic Police Friday launched free SMS service to help people plan their travel in the city.

The Delhi traffic police's SMS alert service can be subscribed to by sending an SMS to 9811452220. The police will then send you information about traffic jams due to vehicle breakdowns, water logging, accidents, road blocks, or traffic diversions. To unsubscribe send to the same number.

The Delhi Traffic police already has highly successful Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp interfaces.

"The Prime Minister of India, in his address to DGsP/IGsP of states, had called for introduction of SMART policing.

"The Traffic SMS Alert service is yet another initiative by the Delhi Traffic Police in this direction in which the registered users will get alerts via SMS regarding traffic situation like congestion points, water logging, rallies, political/religious processions, Dharnas/Strikes, traffic restrictions/directions, accidents/breakdown of vehicles etc," said the press statement issued by the Delhi traffic police.

It further said that this is being launched in association with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology who have provided bulk SMS service free of cost to the Delhi Police for this purpose, initially for a period of one year, under the Mobile Seva initiative of the government.

This service was run for a few months on trial basis in 2012 also through a private company to test its viability.

The Traffic SMS Alert service was launched by Delhi Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi.

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