Daily News (In Short)-3-September-2015

#* China marks Japan WWII defeat, pledges to cut 300,000 troops from the army

Beijing: Tanks, missiles and troops in lock-step filed past Beijing's iconic Tiananmen Square in a massive parade Thursday commemorating Japan's World War II defeat 70 years ago and underlining President Xi Jinping's determination to make China the pre-eminent Asian power.
To underline China's position that its rise is peaceful and poses no threat to neighbors, Xi pledged to cut 300,000 troops from the 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army, the world's largest standing military. Helicopters zoomed overhead in an array forming the number 70.
Chinese President Xi Jinping,  talks with former Chinese President Jian Zemin. APChinese President Xi Jinping, talks with former Chinese President Jian Zemin. AP
Xi kicked off the proceedings with a speech at the iconic Tiananmen Gate in the heart of Beijing, flanked by Chinese leaders and foreign dignitaries, including Russian leader Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
"The experience of war makes people value peace even more," Xi said. "Regardless of the progress of events, China will never seek hegemony, China will never seek to expand and will never inflict the tragedies it suffered in the past upon others."
Xi then drove past the assembled troops in a Chinese-made Red Flag limousine, standing up through a sunroof with four microphones mounted in front of him, calling out "Greetings, Comrades" every few moments, before the troops started their marching.
The spectacle involved more than 12,000 troops, 500 pieces of military hardware and 200 aircraft of various types, representing what military officials say is the Chinese military's most cutting-edge technology.
The parade is part of commemorations packaged to bolster the ruling Communist Party's self-declared role as the driving force behind Japan's defeat 70 years ago and savior of the nation, though historians say the rival Nationalists did most of the fighting. The events also minimize the role of the U.S., Britain and others.
Most leading democracies kept high-level representatives away, reflecting concerns over the parade's anti-Japanese tone and China's recent aggressive moves to assert territorial claims. The U.S. sent only its ambassador to observe. In Washington, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bill Urban said that the U.S. maintains such commemorations should be about reconciliation and that a "large military display would not appear to be consistent with this theme."
Under Xi, who took power as party leader in late 2012, Beijing has sent ships to confront Japan's coast guard near disputed islands in the East China Sea, blockaded Philippine island outposts and constructed whole islands from reefs, topping them with airstrips and other military infrastructure.
China usually holds lavish military parades only every 10 years to mark the anniversary of the founding of the communist People's Republic in 1949. By holding an additional one now, Xi ensures that he'll preside over at least two of the prestigious events during his decade-long tenure in power ending in 2023.
The parade panders to a prickly strain of nationalism in a Chinese public constantly reminded by state propaganda of China's past humiliations at the hands of foreign powers, especially Japan, which is widely despised for its perceived failure to properly atone for invading China.
While a hit at home, such sentiments heighten fears abroad about China's intended uses of its newfound power, frustrating Beijing's attempts to market itself as a responsible member of international society committed to the common good.
"In domestic terms, it's certainly a plus for Xi. But in foreign policy terms, it's controversial. It doesn't enhance China's soft power. It doesn't help China's image as a force for peace, stability and development," said Joseph Cheng, a retired academic and political analyst in Hong Kong.

#* Who killed Sheena? What's the motive? Here is what cops asked Peter Mukerjea during probe

Inching ahead in the Sheena Bora murder case investigation, Mumbai police on Wednesday recorded the statement of former media tycoon Peter Mukherjea, the husband of prime accused Indrani Mukherjea.
Peter was brought from his Worli residence to the Khar police station around 10.30 am and grilled for nearly nine hours on various aspects of the murder case.
Peter Mukerjea. PTIPeter Mukerjea. PTI
According to official sources, among the aspects on which Peter was questioned was his knowledge of the relationships between his wife Indrani and her children Sheena and Mikhail, with Peter's son from a previous marriage, Rahul Mukherjea, with Indrani's ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna, and whether Peter had any inkling of the murder plan being hatched.
Police officials close to the investigation said Peter was initially given a written questionnaire containing 25 questions. He was later questioned orally. "We will record his statement again on Thursday to find out if there are any discrepancies," a police officer said talking to Times of India.
The same set of questions given to Peter was also given to Indrani, who was brought in from the Bandra police lock-up and made to sit in an adjoining room. Their replies were matched late Wednesday evening.
Peter was questioned extensively about his family, including his stand on Rahul's engagement to Sheena. He was also asked if he was aware that Indrani was in constant touch with her ex-husband Khanna, reports TOI.
Other questions included who did he think killed Sheena and what could be the motive? And why did he not suspect foul play in Sheena's disappearance?
The TOI reports that the police team also sought to know if he was aware that his marriage with Indrani was her third and whether Indrani had told him about her ex-partner Siddhartha Das and the two children - Sheena and Mikhail - she had from him.
Peter was also grilled on certain financial aspects concerning the family as police attempt to unravel a money angle to deduce the exact motives behind Sheena's killing, which has eluded the investigators so far.
While the accused were being quizzed, a police team reached Peter's home, 5 km away from the police station, at around 3 pm and searched his and Indrani's bedrooms.
The investigators impounded a laptop and a few documents belonging to Indrani from there, but no official comment on the developments was available.
Shortly after his wife Indrani was arrested on 25 August, Rahul made the sensational revelation that Sheena was actually the daughter, and not the sister of Indrani, as was previously believed.
Meanwhile, criminal lawyer Abha Singh has termed the police action of searching Peter's home as "very late" and demanded that he be treated as a "suspect".
"Why did the Mumbai police give him nine days to wipe out all the incriminating evidence against him? Why he kept mum despite knowing all the deeds of Indrani?" Singh asked.
Peter, who has been married to Indrani for 13 years and set up a media company with her, had first said he was unaware that Sheena was his wife's daughter as she had been introduced to him as her sister.
However, a few days after Indrani's arrest, Peter amended his version to say Sheena did inform him that she was his step-daughter, but he had no reasons not to believe his Indrani's denial of that claim though he found it "difficult to digest".
In a related development, a Mumbai police team reached the Kolkata residence of Siddhartha Das, the ex-partner of Indrani.
Das, who has admitted that Sheena and her brother Mikhail were born to him and Indrani out of wedlock, has expressed willingness to cooperate in the murder probe.
However, it was not immediately clear whether Das would be arrested or brought to Mumbai for questioning.
During the probe on Wednesday, Indrani was reported to have told police that she was opposed to the incestuous relationship between Rahul and Sheena, and also had apprehended that the duo (Sheena-Rahul) could harm her professionally.
However, so far, police have not brought the accused trio - Indrani, Khanna and the driver Shyamvar Rai - face-to-face yet or confronted them with Peter or any of the other family members like his brother Gautam Mukherjea, Mikhail and Rahul.
Peter was questioned on three occasions last week, as also his son, Rahul, besides Mikhail, who arrived her from Guwahati and provided certain evidence to Mumbai police which were being verified.
Police have also taken cognizance of Mikhail's claim that Indrani was conspiring to kill him and a fresh charge to this effect has been added in the remand application filed before the Bandra magistrate court on Monday.
A Criminal Investigation Department team visited the forests near Gagode village in Raigad district, around 95 km south of Mumbai, where the accused trio burnt and disposed of Sheena's body on the late evening of 24 April, 2012.
Over three years later, Mumbai police on Wednesday traced out a vendor in south Mumbai from whom Indrani and driver Rai bought two suitcases, one of which was allegedly used to dispose of Sheena's body in Raigad, and the other was kept for Mikhail.
Rai took the investigators to a roadside vendor in Dadar area on Tuesday evening, from whom they had bought in 2012 the two suitcases worth Rs 5,000.
The statement of the vendor - who is likely to be made a police witness - who recognised Rai, will help reinforce the police charge of a preplanned conspiracy hatched to kill Sheena and later Mikhail.
Presently, Indrani, Khanna and Rai are on an extended police custody till 5 September.
Police are awaiting the DNA tests and forensic reports of the purported remains of Sheena's body recovered from Raigad which could be major clincher, though the motive behind her killing remains a mystery.

#* 1 army jawan, four militants killed during gunfight in Kupwara in J&K

Srinagar: An Indian Army soldier and four militants were killed in a night-long gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, an official said on Thursday.
Representational image. Image courtesy: ReutersRepresentational image. Image courtesy: Reuters
"Security forces, including troops of the army's para regiment, Special Operations Group of state police (SOG) and CRPF, surrounded Vilgam (Handwara) village late Wednesday following information about a group of militants hiding in the village," a police officer told IANS here.
"When they were challenged they resorted to firing at the security forces triggering the encounter in which four militants and an army soldier were killed," he added.
He said search operations were still on in the area, adding that the identity of the militants was being estsablished.
It must be recalled that an army soldier and a separatist militant were killed on Wednesday in Ladoora village of the same district.

#* Internal security, religion-based census, quota stir on agenda for Day 2 of BJP-RSS brainstorming meet

New Delhi: The second day of meeting between the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) is likely to focus on the Internal security and education policy of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. It is also likely to take up for discussion key issues like the Patel quota protest, religion based census and Ganga cleanup plan.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda have arrived for the meeting.
The government would be given a feedback over the issues but it would not be any threadbare analysis of any specific programme or policy.
#BJP #Manohar Parrikar #Narendra Modi #One rank one pension
On the first day of the meet on Wednesday, the RSS expressed concerns that GDP growth had fallen to 7% in the first quarter. RSS leadership urged the Centre to address inflation and problems of farmers. The RSS also discussed how govt has been unable to implement reform agenda.
This is the first of its kind interaction after Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister in which the top brass of the RSS and its affiliates, the government and the BJP are coming together to deliberate on key issues. The contentious 'One Rank One Pension' on which an early resolution was favoured has also been taken up for discussion.
There was a feeling among the participants in the meeting that the contentious OROP issue should be resolved at the earliest, considering that it is an issue dear to the Sangh Parivar. The view at the meeting assumes significance in the context of hectic back-channel parleys that are going on regarding the defence veterans' demand.
BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who has been deputed by the RSS to the party said there would be no discussion on the OROP issue, adding that the government is seized of the matter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the event on its last day on Friday. Sources said government would be given a feedback over the issues but it would not be any threadbare analysis of any specific programme or policy.

#* Syrian migrant boat capsize: Image of toddler sparks outrage on social media; 12 dead

An image of a drowned toddler washed up on the beach in one of Turkey’s prime tourist resorts swept across social media on Wednesday, after at least 12 presumed Syrian refugees died trying to reach the Greek island of Kos.
The picture showed a little boy wearing a bright red t-shirt and shorts lying face-down in the surf on a beach near the resort town of Bodrum. In a second image, a grim-faced policeman carries the tiny body away. The hashtag “KiyiyaVuranInsanlik” – “humanity washed ashore” – became the top trending topic on Twitter after the picture was retweeted heavily.
The two boats, carrying a total of 23 people, had set off separately from the Akyarlar area of the Bodrum peninsula, a senior Turkish naval official said.
The body of a young man is covered as it lies on the shores of the city of Bodrum. AFPThe body of a young man is covered as it lies on the shores of the city of Bodrum. AFP
The confirmed dead included five children and one woman. Seven people were rescued and two reached the shore in lifejackets. The official said hopes were fading of saving the two people still missing. Television images showed the lifeless body of a small boy dressed in a red t-shirt and blue shorts lying face-down on the sand in Bodrum, one of Turkey’s most popular beach resorts.
Tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war in their homeland have descended on Turkey’s Aegean coast this summer to board boats to Greece, their gateway to the European Union.
The official said almost 100 people in all had been rescued by Turkish vessels overnight as they tried to reach Kos.
Aid agencies estimate that, over the past month, about 2,000 people a day have been making the short crossing to Greece’s eastern islands on rubber dinghies.
A ship bringing about 1,800 migrants and refugees from one of the islands arrived at the port of Piraeus near Athens on Tuesday night, the Greek coastguard said.
Thousands of people, mainly Africans, have also been trying to reach Europe via boat from Libya to Italy. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said four bodies had been pulled from the central Mediterranean on Tuesday and 781 migrants rescued, mostly from Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
So far this year, more than 2,500 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, the UNHCR said.

#* Indian Railways opens locomotive plant bids

Indian Railways opened bids this week for the electric locomotive factory at Madhepura and the diesel locomotive at Marhoura.

"Contracts to build the two factories will be awarded this year after all the proposals are scrutinised by a departmental committee," IR officials said.

Alstom, Bombardier, and Siemens submitted bids for the Madhepura factory, while GE and EMD vied for the Marhoura contract.

Both projects will be implemented as PPPs, with the IR equity share being placed at 26% of the project cost. The Madhepura factory is estimated to cost Rs 13bn, while Marhoura will cost Rs 10bn. Production must begin at both plants within four years of the contract being signed.

According to the terms of agreement, the Marhoura factory will supply IR with 700 3.35MW and 300 4.47MW locomotives over an 11-year period. IR will purchase the initial 100 units outright.

Madhepura will build at least 800 8.9MW electric locomotives over 11 years and the winning bidder will also be responsible for maintaining 500 of these units for five years. Only the first five units will be purchased outright by IR.
In addition to the locomotives for IR, both plants will be permitted to manufacture locomotives for export to any other country.

IR will provide land for both facilities and this will be handed over to the winning bidder within 90 days of contract signing.

#* Thai prime minister says main suspect in Bangkok bombing arrested

BANGKOK –  Thai authorities arrested a man they believe is part of a group responsible for a bombing at a shrine in central Bangkok two weeks ago, the prime minister announced Tuesday. He said the suspect resembles a yellow-shirted man in a surveillance video who police say planted the bomb.

"It would be great if he were (the bomber). Then we will know who they are, where they came from, who's behind this," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.

Prayuth said authorities plan to check fingerprints and conduct DNA tests to establish whether the man is the bomber. Police say they obtained the bomber's DNA from a motorcycle taxi and a three-wheeled tuk-tuk taxi that he used.

Prayuth said officials knew from their investigation that people involved in the bombing were about to flee the country and had traced the man to Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo, a major crossing point to Cambodia. The prime minister described the man as a piece in a jigsaw puzzle that would connect various parts of the case, which also included a bomb that exploded harmlessly in a river next to a busy pier in Bangkok the day after the shrine blast.

Prayuth warned against speculating about the arrested man until more information is learned.

"Don't say just yet it's about this and that. It could affect international affairs," he said. "We have to do a lot of tests, fingerprints. If he is the guy, he is the guy."

The blast at the Erawan Shrine was unprecedented in the Thai capital, where smaller bombs have been employed in domestic political violence over the past decade, but not in an effort to cause large-scale casualties.

Security officials on Saturday arrested a man during a raid on a Bangkok apartment that contained some bomb-making materials, and Thai military authorities have been interrogating him. He has been linked to the shrine bombing, but the authorities have not yet released his name or nationality.

Arrest warrants were issued Monday for two more suspects, a Thai woman and a man of unknown nationality, after a raid Sunday on a second apartment found more bomb-making materials. Relatives of the woman who had rented the second apartment told authorities that she is innocent and is now in Turkey, married to a Turkish man.

No one has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, sparking an array of theories about who might be behind it. Police have suggested that the suspects were part of a people-smuggling group who held a grudge against Thai authorities.

Speculation has grown that the suspect might be part of a group seeking to avenge Thailand's forced repatriation of ethnic Uighurs to China in July. Prayuth on Monday linked the two theories, suggesting the bombers might have been involved in smuggling Uighurs out of China.

Uighurs are related to Turks, and Turkey is home to a large Uighur community. The Erawan Shrine is especially popular with Chinese tourists, feeding the idea that it could be a target for people who believe the Uighurs are oppressed by China's government. Beijing says some Uighurs are Islamist terrorists, and among them is a group that has been smuggled out of China to join ISIS fighters in Syria.

The suspect arrested Saturday had a Turkish passport, though Thai authorities say it was fake. At his apartment, they seized at least 11 passports that appeared to be Turkish, among more than 200 passports in all.

#* Bharat bandh: Unrest in West Bengal; TMC, CPM workers clash in Murshidabad

West Bengal witnessed sporadic cases of violence in the first few hours of the nationwide strike called by Left-affiliated trade unions on Wednesday. Over 15 crore people from 10 trade unions are expected to join a nationwide one-day strike that is underway since morning. 

In Murshidabad district's Berhampore, Trinamool Congress supporters allegedly pelted stones on CPM supporters leaving several injured. Left leader, Moinul Hassan and seven others, including two women were seen attacked by Trinamool Congress supporters. They were seriously injured in the brick batting and are admitted to the local hospital.

#* Ratan Tata on Investment Spree, Backs Food Startup Holachef

Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, has made a personal investment in food startup Holachef. The amount invested has not been undisclosed.

Holachef is food-ordering online platform which brings cuisines from different chefs.

Currently, Holachef services are operational in Mumbai and Pune and available through the company's website, and its app. Holachef was launched in September 2014 by Saurabh Saxena and Anil Gelra.

Ratan Tata in his personal capacity has been aggressively investing in startups, ranging from e-commerce firms to cab aggregators. He has invested in companies like Snapdeal, Kaaryah, Urban Ladder, Bluestone, CarDekho, Xiaomi and Ola.

Holachef had raised a first strategic round of funding (Series A) of Rs 20 crore in a round led by Kalaari Capital in June 2015.

Anand Lunia's India Quotient also participated in this investment.

Earlier, Holachef had raised a seed fund of Rs 2 crore from India Quotient in February 2015.

#* India’s internet user base stands at 352 million; over 60 percent mobile web users

India has added 52 million Internet users in first six months of the year, taking the total user base to 352 million as on June 30, 2015, industry body IAMAI today said.

Interestingly, 213 million (over 60%) users accessed the worldwide web through mobile devices.

“Internet (in India) has reached an inflection point. The consolidated numbers affirm the fact that Internet in India has now become inclusive, which augurs well for the industry and society at large,” the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) said in a statement.

The number of Internet users has grown over 26% from 278 million in October 2014. The number of mobile Internet users has also grown about 40% from 159 million users in October last year.

“The Internet in India took more than a decade to move from 10 million to 100 million and 3 years from 100 to 200 million. However, it took only a year to move from 200 to 300 million users. Clearly, Internet is mainstream in India today,” it said.

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