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INDIA
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th September 2014
India, Australia seal nuclear deal, Abbott meets Modi
India and Australia sealed the long-awaited nuclear energy deal last week even as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he wanted first-rank relations with India. Abbott met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and finalized the deal to allow the export of uranium to India. Abbott said India and Australia were bound by "strongly convergent" trade and strategic interests on the last day of his
Continued from page 1 warned local governments, said the official. "This matter has been taken very seriously and an alert has been sounded," the official added. Indian security forces are usually on a state of alert for attacks by homegrown Islamic militants and by anti-India groups based in Pakistan. It was not immediately clear what additional steps were being taken. Until now there has been no evidence that al Qaeda has a presence in India. The timing and content of the video suggests rivalry between al Qaeda and its more vigorous rival in Syria and Iraq, Islamic State, which anecdotal evidence suggests is gathering support in South Asia. According to media reports, Islamic State pamphlets have been distributed in Pakistan in recent days. Zawahri's announcement also made two references to Gujarat, the home state of Prime
visit, which culminated with the deal to supply uranium to the energyhungry country. During the meeting, Abbott gifted a 'Nehru jacket' made of Australian wool to PM Modi, who in
return presented him a copy of the Gita. India and Australia kick-started negotiations on uranium sales in 2012 after Canberra lifted a long-time ban on exporting the valuable ore to Delhi to meet its ambitious nuclear energy programme. Australia, the world's third biggest uranium producer, had previously ruled out such exports to nuclear-armed India because it has not signed
the global non-proliferation treaty. But Abbott said that he was assured of India's commitment to peaceful power generation. "India has an absolutely impeccable non-proliferation record and India has been a model international citizen," he told reporters in Mumbai. Australia's decision to overturn its ban followed a landmark US agreement in 2008 to support India's civilian nuclear programme.
Minister Narendra Modi. Modi has long been a hate figure for Islamist groups because of communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which many Muslims were killed. "In the wake of this al Qaeda video, we will be on a higher alert. We will work closely with the central government to tackle any threat posed to the state," S K Nanda, a senior bureaucrat in the home department of Gujarat, said. Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression. Gujarat state shares borders with India's archrival, Pakistan. Assam is an state in India's far-flung northeast where religious tensions are high after massacres of Muslims by tribal populations in the past two years.
A senior intelligence officer in the state said security forces there were "well prepared" to face any threats. Kashmir, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan, has long attracted foreign mujahideen fighters as well as homegrown separatist militants. In June, al Qaeda released a video urging young radicals in Kashmir to draw inspiration from militants in Syria and Iraq and join the "global jihad". Intelligence sources in Kashmir said that they had so far detected no traces of al Qaeda in the Himalayan region that borders Pakistan and China. The appearance of Islamic State flags at recent protest rallies in Kashmir was the work of an individual and did not point to any involvement of the group there, one said. India has suffered several large-scale attacks by Islamist militants, most recently the 2008 Mumbai rampage by Pakistani fighters that left 166 peo-
ple dead. Smaller domestic militant groups regularly detonate small bombs, but have so far failed to launch a major attack. Earlier this year, Indian intelligence agencies said a handful of Indian men had joined the militancy in the Levant. At one of the world's most influential Islamic seminaries, Darul Uloom Deoband, in northern India, an official said that extremist groups routinely try to recruit young, uneducated and poor Muslim boys as militants. "We inform our students about the dangers faced by Islam, and rising militancy is one of the key subjects discussed in the seminary," said Ashraf Usmani from the seminary, which is known for its conservative Muslim thought. "I can say this with confidence that no student from Deoband can be recruited by al Qaeda or any other terror groups." Reports said Asim Umar, who has been linked to the Pakistani Taliban, would head alQaeda in south Asia.
many flooded parts to rescue residents huddled on rooftops and upper floors of their houses. Meanwhile, the pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district was on with over 25,000 people offering prayers since Monday. Efforts are on to restore helicopter services to the cave shrine, Das said. States offer aid: Bihar, Odisha and Uttarakhand governments announced financial aids to the floodravaged state of Jammu and Kashmir. Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi announced Rs100 million for relief works for the flood-affected people in Jammu and Kashmir, besides supply of dry ration and boats. “It has been decided to give Rs 100 million assistance to Jammu and Kashmir from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as token support to the disaster management in the flood-hit state,”
Manjhi said. “The state government will also rush dry ration and boats to the state for rescue and relief works,” he said. Similarly, announcing an assistance of Rs 50 million from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for flood ravaged state, the Odisha Government said trained personnel are ready with equipment to undertake rescue and relief operations in affected areas. Uttarakhand also extended its hand to the flood-ravaged state. The state government offered expertise, logistics and a financial assistance of Rs 100 million for the floodhit people of Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from the financial assistance, Uttarakhand is also providing rafts to J&K to rescue people from marooned areas and submersible pumps installed in its hydel projects to flush out water from submerged regions, an official said. Meanwhile, Sewa UK has sought donations to help the flood-affected people in Jammu and Kashmir. You may contact Bharat Vadukul, Secretary, for further details.
India on alert after al Qaeda announces local wing
Flood in Jammu & Kashmir
Continued from page 1 cutters and other equipment besides huge quantity of medicines and water bottles. Speaking about the rescue efforts, Army Lt Chetan said, “We are rescuing 10-15 people in every round we make per boat. We make 50-60 rounds per day. We have all equipment to rescue people. We will move out only after rescuing everybody”. Army Chief Gen Dalbir Suhag had said in Delhi on Monday that “Soldiers won’t return to barracks until last man is helped.” Army medical officer Jagdish Singh said, “We have set up medical camps and are treating 230-300 people everyday. “We have ambulances and surgeons. District hospitals and NGOs are also working with us,” he said. Lt Gen D S Hooda, General-OfficerCommanding of the Army’s Northern Command had said that the focus would now be on Srinagar. The heavy floods triggered by torrential rains have snapped Valley’s telecommunication links with the rest of
the country. BSNL has launched an operation on a war-footing with Army and IAF to restore mobile services through satellite network and the telecom network is expected to be partially restored soon, officials said. To provide relief to the displaced, 68 camps have been set up in Jammu. Seven helicopters have been pressed to ferry relief material to Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Mahore, Doda, Kishtwar belts, officials said. The Centre has rushed more NDRF teams equipped with boats and other flood relief equipment to Kashmir Valley. Naval commandos have also been deployed for the first time. Army, Air Force, NDRF and state agencies have so far rescued more than 25,000 people and lodged them in higher places in the Valley. Boats have been pressed into service in
In Brief
Women may overtake men in grabbing best jobs by 2020
London: Researchers say that by 2020 better qualified women may overtake men in grabbing better jobs. Men could struggle to get highly skilled jobs because women are increasing skills and qualifications at higher rates, say researchers. Two-thirds of such jobs could go to women by 2020, says the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. UKCES warns that men urgently need to improve their levels of expertise if they want to compete. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said she feared better skills might not lead to better pay and jobs for women.
Gunmen kill senior Pak military official
Multan (Pakistan ): Gunmen have killed three people, including a senior military official, at a mosque frequented by minority Shi'ite worshippers in the Pakistani city of Sargodha. "Brigadier Fazal Zahoor was shot by masked gunmen while taking part in a religious ritual at the mosque," said police official. "The gunmen arrived on motorbikes and burst into the mosque. They identified the brigadier and shot and killed him, his brother Fazal Subhani and a third man. The brigadier had received threats from the banned organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba, which says it want to expel Shi'ites from Pakistan.
UK offers to send old Nato security fence to France
London: James Brokenshire, UK’s immigration minister, has offered to send the high steel fences used to protect world leaders at last week’s Nato summit to Calais to help the French authorities to prevent illegal immigrants trying to reach Britain. More than 12 miles of fencing was set up to create a ring of steel around Celtic Manor in Newport, and summit venues in Cardiff, to protect President Obama and 150 other leaders from potential terrorist attacks. The nine-foot steel fencing is believed to be far stronger than the barriers currently in place in Calais, which the Home Office says are "too easy" to scale for illegal migrants attempting to cross the English Channel.
Pak Sikhs threaten to launch anti-govt protests
Islamabad: In the wake of growing number of attacks on Pakistan's Sikh community, the minority group has threatened to launch nationwide protests if the government fails to provide adequate security to prevent atrocities being committed against them. At least seven Sikhs have been killed in targeted attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and no arrests have been made in connection with the killings, Janmohan Singh, leader of the local Sikhs said. He added that the government had failed to take effective steps for providing the Sikh community security. Meanwhile, All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement chairman Haroon Sarb Diyal expressed concern over the targeted killing of Sikhs and said that the group was not satisfied with steps being taken by the government for their protection.
Indian-born scientist wins prestigious US award
Washington: India-born scientist Dr Thomas John Colacot grabbed the American Chemical Society's ACS Award in Industrial Chemistry, one of the top honours in the field. Colacot, who studied in Kerala and IIT, Chennai, is the first Indian to get the award in industrial chemistry. He also holds an MBA degree and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Currently Global R&D manager in the homogenous catalysis area at Johnson Matthey, a specialty chemicals company, Colacot directs research in US, UK and in Indian labs.
Saudi police issue rare apology for beating Briton
Riyadh: The Saudi religious police issued a rare apology for the beating by its personnel of a British man residing in the kingdom in a supermarket in the capital Riyadh. The Commission of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said it was reassigning four of its staff to administrative duty after a video emerged over the weekend of the men in a confrontation with a foreign man. The Briton, who has not been officially identified, was in a women-only checkout aisle at a supermarket in the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom when the officers approached him, in a spat which devolved into an assault on the man and his Saudi wife. "The commission apologises to the resident and his wife," the body said in a statement, saying the men overstepped their authority in accosting the couple and not contacting a superior.