In his first hard-hitting reaction after expulsion from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has said he was now a "sinner" in the eyes of the party, and asserted that he would see how far those spreading "canards" against him could go.
Chatterjee also promised to reply to the "canards" being spread against him "in a day or two".
"I am a sinner in the eyes of the CPI-M and not a gentleman. That's why they thought I deserved the summary expulsion," Chatterjee was quoted as saying in the Kolkata-based English daily The Telegraph Sunday.
The Bolpur MP has been the target of a vitriolic attack by the Left leaders, who have branded him a "traitor", a "bourgeois" and one who always hankered for posts, after he defied the party diktat to step down from the speaker's post ahead of the July 22 trust vote in parliament.
"Let them say whatever they are saying. I would like to see how far they can go," Chatterjee said.
On allegations that he had "sided" with the government on the day of the confidence motion, Chatterjee said, "I tried to fulfil my constitutional obligations impartially."
He also questioned the CPI-M's claim that it was compelled to come down hard on him as he remained stubborn on not resigning despite the party exempting him from the trust vote whip.
"If they were being so accommodating - to the extent of allowing me not to vote (against the government) - why were they goading me to resign?" Chatterjee told the daily.
The Speaker reiterated that he would visit Kuala Lumpur for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference Aug 1-10 and preside over the Hiren Mukherjee Memorial Lecture by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen in the Lok Sabha on Aug 11.
He said he was yet to decide on whether to continue in the post after Aug 11.
The CPI-M politburo expelled Chatterjee from the party's primary membership Wednesday, a day after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government won the trust vote with a comfortable 19-vote margin.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Ahmedabad in shock after blasts
At the swanky airport building there is no indication that Ahmedabad is under siege, despite the fact that, on Saturday, 17 bombs exploded within minutes of each other, killing dozens of people.
Four of those bombs struck hospitals in the city.
Only after driving into the city itself does one appreciate the enormity of what happened here.
Lorries full of paramilitary forces, police patrols and checkpoints are everywhere. It feels like the city is going to war.
Ahmedabad is in complete shock. Police vehicles are the main moving objects on its wide streets - residents are staying indoors.
But the city's hospitals bear the marks of the bomb attacks.
'A deafening sound'
The foundations of the Civil Hospital, one of the biggest government medical establishments in the country, were shaken on Saturday evening when two bombs went off in quick succession, killing 15 people on the spot.
In pictures: Ahmedabad aftermath
The deputy superintendent of the hospital, KN Meheria, is still shaken. He was inside the trauma ward attending to the wounded in the previous blasts when the two bombs exploded.
"I have never seen bombs going off in hospital," he says, shaking his head.
"There was a deafening sound from just outside the hospital, when I came out I saw flames leaping out of the vehicles parked just outside the trauma ward."
Laxman Dev Chudasma is one of dozens being treated for injuries following the blasts.
"I was carrying a man who was badly injured in the first round of blasts," he says.
"Just when I was entering the hospital gate there were explosions and then I saw people running away in shock.
"I lay on the ground, but I knew I had been hit by shrapnel."
Mr Chudasama does not know what happened to the man he was taking to hospital.
Bharat Bhai was badly burned in the explosions.
The relatives of the injured were angry, very angry. One of them said foreign hands were out to destabilise the country
"My clothes were on fire," he says, still writhing in pain. "I have burn injuries all over my body."
The wounded men and women have been put in a large hall, which is crammed with their relatives and friends.
Medical staff run from one end of the hall to the other depending on who needs more attention.
The relatives of the injured are angry, very angry.
One of them says foreign hands are out to destabilise the country.
He says Indian Muslims are being used to carry out the attacks but the plans are being made outside India.
His sentiments are echoed by many in the hall.
Fears of retaliation
There is palpable tension in some parts of the city.
Makeshift devices appear to have been hidden in everyday items
Six years ago it was in Ahmedabad that many Muslims were killed in violence which was seen as retaliation for the killings of about 60 Hindu pilgrims in Godhra, Gujarat.
Muslims now fear there might be retaliatory attacks against them.
But so far there are no signs of a backlash. State chief minister Narendra Modi and other leaders have appealed for calm and it seems people are listening.
The police headquarters look like a garrison. Units of the Rapid Action Force are on standby here.
The city's joint police commissioner, HP Singh, says they still did not know who was behind these blasts or their motive.
But investigators are working on leads, following the discovery that the registration numbers of the two vehicles used in the hospital attacks were fake.
Mr Singh confirms that an e-mail sent to some media outlets five minutes before the blasts originated in Mumbai (Bombay).
The anti-terrorism squad in Mumbai has since raided several places where they believe suspected militants could be hiding.
Four of those bombs struck hospitals in the city.
Only after driving into the city itself does one appreciate the enormity of what happened here.
Lorries full of paramilitary forces, police patrols and checkpoints are everywhere. It feels like the city is going to war.
Ahmedabad is in complete shock. Police vehicles are the main moving objects on its wide streets - residents are staying indoors.
But the city's hospitals bear the marks of the bomb attacks.
'A deafening sound'
The foundations of the Civil Hospital, one of the biggest government medical establishments in the country, were shaken on Saturday evening when two bombs went off in quick succession, killing 15 people on the spot.
In pictures: Ahmedabad aftermath
The deputy superintendent of the hospital, KN Meheria, is still shaken. He was inside the trauma ward attending to the wounded in the previous blasts when the two bombs exploded.
"I have never seen bombs going off in hospital," he says, shaking his head.
"There was a deafening sound from just outside the hospital, when I came out I saw flames leaping out of the vehicles parked just outside the trauma ward."
Laxman Dev Chudasma is one of dozens being treated for injuries following the blasts.
"I was carrying a man who was badly injured in the first round of blasts," he says.
"Just when I was entering the hospital gate there were explosions and then I saw people running away in shock.
"I lay on the ground, but I knew I had been hit by shrapnel."
Mr Chudasama does not know what happened to the man he was taking to hospital.
Bharat Bhai was badly burned in the explosions.
The relatives of the injured were angry, very angry. One of them said foreign hands were out to destabilise the country
"My clothes were on fire," he says, still writhing in pain. "I have burn injuries all over my body."
The wounded men and women have been put in a large hall, which is crammed with their relatives and friends.
Medical staff run from one end of the hall to the other depending on who needs more attention.
The relatives of the injured are angry, very angry.
One of them says foreign hands are out to destabilise the country.
He says Indian Muslims are being used to carry out the attacks but the plans are being made outside India.
His sentiments are echoed by many in the hall.
Fears of retaliation
There is palpable tension in some parts of the city.
Makeshift devices appear to have been hidden in everyday items
Six years ago it was in Ahmedabad that many Muslims were killed in violence which was seen as retaliation for the killings of about 60 Hindu pilgrims in Godhra, Gujarat.
Muslims now fear there might be retaliatory attacks against them.
But so far there are no signs of a backlash. State chief minister Narendra Modi and other leaders have appealed for calm and it seems people are listening.
The police headquarters look like a garrison. Units of the Rapid Action Force are on standby here.
The city's joint police commissioner, HP Singh, says they still did not know who was behind these blasts or their motive.
But investigators are working on leads, following the discovery that the registration numbers of the two vehicles used in the hospital attacks were fake.
Mr Singh confirms that an e-mail sent to some media outlets five minutes before the blasts originated in Mumbai (Bombay).
The anti-terrorism squad in Mumbai has since raided several places where they believe suspected militants could be hiding.
Microsoft: Stodgy or Innovative? It's All About Perception
When many people think of Microsoft, they think of a stodgy old corporation churning out boring PC software.
But is that image accurate?
Some analysts say no, and at Thursday's annual Microsoft analyst get-together they urged executives to do more to improve the company's image and to let the wider world know that it is developing great new products and services.
At the meeting, Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer, showed off a futuristic application for Surface, Microsoft's multitouch tabletop computer. He virtually entered an art gallery on a downtown Seattle street, browsing through items that he could pick up and spin around to look at them from all directions.
In another demonstration, he took a photograph of a street and his handheld computer identified it in real time and began displaying information about shops on the street, including information about table availability in a restaurant.
After the demo, one analyst commented to Mundie that the technology looked great but that the rest of the world doesn't get to see such demonstrations, and he urged Mundie to spread the word so that people will perceive Microsoft as the innovative company that it is, rather than as a legacy software vendor.
Mundie pledged to do just that. "That is a commitment I can make to you and to shareholders," he said. For years, he and Microsoft founder Bill Gates spent a lot of time on the road talking about Gates' vision of the future, he said. "Over the last few years, both of us got out of the habit of going out and talking about it. I think we share your observation that we haven't done a great job in recent years communicating about the tremendous things this company does."
As Mundie and others begin talking more about new innovations, however, the company runs the risk of being accused of marketing "vaporware," a criticism it has faced in the past. In fact, Microsoft has been accused of announcing its work on technologies very early as a way to discourage other companies from developing similar products in competition.
But Microsoft needs to address the perception problem, which runs deep and could have repercussions on sales of future products if the company doesn't manage to fix it. Executives showed just how real the problem is by running a brief video collected during a recent customer study conducted by the company. Microsoft chose people for the study who continue to use XP and who said that they weren't interested in upgrading to Vista because of its bad reputation. Microsoft offered to show the people the next version of the operating system to see if they might be interested in it when it comes out.
The people loved the future version and said they'd definitely upgrade. Then they learned that the software they loved was actually Vista, not some future version of the operating system.
Perhaps with that video containing the user comments in mind, another analyst at the meeting asked Microsoft executives how the company expects to be able to sell Windows 7, the next version of the operating system, when people have such a poor perception of Vista. Executives didn't have a great reply, beyond assuring the audience that the problems that plagued Vista at its initial launch are now fixed.
Vista initially had serious compatibility problems but SP1 largely fixed the problems, so with Windows 7, Microsoft "takes that issue effectively off the table," said Bill Veghte, senior vice president of the online services and Windows business group. Starting later this year, his team plans to spend a lot of time spreading the word about Windows 7 and explaining that it won't encounter the same issues that Vista faced, he said.
The perception problem stretches into the online services market, where Microsoft has struggled to attract users. Another analyst at the meeting asked executives if they planned to make changes to the company's online branding and offer a single place where end-users could discover that some of Microsoft's online tools are better than the competition. Currently, Microsoft offers a host of online services, including maps, blogs, e-mail and instant messaging. But the services are difficult to find, sometimes available under different brands including Live and MSN.
CEO Steve Ballmer assured the crowd of analysts that the company is working on streamlining its online brand and developing a single page where people can find all available Microsoft online services. The page will predominantly feature a search bar, since that's an opportunity for revenue, but it will also display content tailored for each user, he said.
But is that image accurate?
Some analysts say no, and at Thursday's annual Microsoft analyst get-together they urged executives to do more to improve the company's image and to let the wider world know that it is developing great new products and services.
At the meeting, Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer, showed off a futuristic application for Surface, Microsoft's multitouch tabletop computer. He virtually entered an art gallery on a downtown Seattle street, browsing through items that he could pick up and spin around to look at them from all directions.
In another demonstration, he took a photograph of a street and his handheld computer identified it in real time and began displaying information about shops on the street, including information about table availability in a restaurant.
After the demo, one analyst commented to Mundie that the technology looked great but that the rest of the world doesn't get to see such demonstrations, and he urged Mundie to spread the word so that people will perceive Microsoft as the innovative company that it is, rather than as a legacy software vendor.
Mundie pledged to do just that. "That is a commitment I can make to you and to shareholders," he said. For years, he and Microsoft founder Bill Gates spent a lot of time on the road talking about Gates' vision of the future, he said. "Over the last few years, both of us got out of the habit of going out and talking about it. I think we share your observation that we haven't done a great job in recent years communicating about the tremendous things this company does."
As Mundie and others begin talking more about new innovations, however, the company runs the risk of being accused of marketing "vaporware," a criticism it has faced in the past. In fact, Microsoft has been accused of announcing its work on technologies very early as a way to discourage other companies from developing similar products in competition.
But Microsoft needs to address the perception problem, which runs deep and could have repercussions on sales of future products if the company doesn't manage to fix it. Executives showed just how real the problem is by running a brief video collected during a recent customer study conducted by the company. Microsoft chose people for the study who continue to use XP and who said that they weren't interested in upgrading to Vista because of its bad reputation. Microsoft offered to show the people the next version of the operating system to see if they might be interested in it when it comes out.
The people loved the future version and said they'd definitely upgrade. Then they learned that the software they loved was actually Vista, not some future version of the operating system.
Perhaps with that video containing the user comments in mind, another analyst at the meeting asked Microsoft executives how the company expects to be able to sell Windows 7, the next version of the operating system, when people have such a poor perception of Vista. Executives didn't have a great reply, beyond assuring the audience that the problems that plagued Vista at its initial launch are now fixed.
Vista initially had serious compatibility problems but SP1 largely fixed the problems, so with Windows 7, Microsoft "takes that issue effectively off the table," said Bill Veghte, senior vice president of the online services and Windows business group. Starting later this year, his team plans to spend a lot of time spreading the word about Windows 7 and explaining that it won't encounter the same issues that Vista faced, he said.
The perception problem stretches into the online services market, where Microsoft has struggled to attract users. Another analyst at the meeting asked executives if they planned to make changes to the company's online branding and offer a single place where end-users could discover that some of Microsoft's online tools are better than the competition. Currently, Microsoft offers a host of online services, including maps, blogs, e-mail and instant messaging. But the services are difficult to find, sometimes available under different brands including Live and MSN.
CEO Steve Ballmer assured the crowd of analysts that the company is working on streamlining its online brand and developing a single page where people can find all available Microsoft online services. The page will predominantly feature a search bar, since that's an opportunity for revenue, but it will also display content tailored for each user, he said.
Reason behind political drama
For three decades, India has craved a nuclear energy deal that would bring prestige and advanced technology. Yet when the coalition government declared recently that it would move ahead with one, it triggered a crisis and a no-confidence motion in Parliament, which it had to scramble to survive.
Watching this drama unfold, the international community may be forgiven for feeling a little baffled. After all, the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal is immensely advantageous for India. It allows India to buy nuclear technology from the US in exchange for abiding by International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. It would give India's growing economy much-needed energy without endangering its strategic capabilities or influencing its sovereignty in foreign policy.
Simple fact
To understand the political anguish and hand-wringing in India over a nuclear deal with the US, one needs to understand a very simple fact. Unlike China, its rival rising power, India lacks a grand strategy or concept of its role in the world. India thinks it should be a great power but has no clear vision of its path. In contrast, China thinks it is a great power and expends a great deal of time and energy outlining its "peaceful rise" to itself and the world.
China's rise on the world stage is constantly discussed by Chinese academics, journalists, policy experts, political leaders, and the elite. This discourse emphasises that despite China's growing power and the need for resources and markets, it will not pursue militarisation and hegemony as Germany and Japan did before and during the Second World War.
Rather, it intends to rise peacefully and harmoniously. Simultaneously, this idea draws on the concept of tianxia ("all under heaven") which, simply put, promotes order over chaos and has been key to understanding governance in China for the past 2,000 years. With defined ideas of the world and their role in the world, China acts like a confident great power and pursues its international goals with single-minded zeal.
The last time India had a defined concept of its international role, Jawaharlal Nehru was the prime minister. Nehru made some notable foreign policy mistakes, particularly his disastrous Forward Policy that resulted in the 1962 war and bitter defeat at the hands of China.
But there is no doubt the man was a visionary. Designed by Nehru, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was a domestic and international triumph for India. It was poor, struggling to develop economically and militarily, but there was a sense of purpose and national pride that it had, at least, cornered the moral market in international relations and assumed the leadership of the developing nations.
Post Nehru and post Cold War, India failed to adapt or abandon NAM, even when it had little significance. Nor, unlike China after Mao, did any Indian leader articulate an alternate ideology of the world and India's role in it.
It is, therefore, not surprising that such bitter ideological divisions now exist in India. What is the way forward for India as a would-be great power? Does signing a nuclear deal with the US make its old antagonist its new best friend? Does it mean that even paying lip service to the long-obsolete idea of NAM is no longer possible? Or does great power mean, as the communists suggest, proudly rejecting the nuclear deal and thereby showing the international community who's boss?
Even as the nuclear deal steams ahead, unless India articulates a vision for itself and gains the confidence of a great power, such splits will continue to plague its international relationships and negotiations.
- Manjari Chatterjee Miller is
Watching this drama unfold, the international community may be forgiven for feeling a little baffled. After all, the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal is immensely advantageous for India. It allows India to buy nuclear technology from the US in exchange for abiding by International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. It would give India's growing economy much-needed energy without endangering its strategic capabilities or influencing its sovereignty in foreign policy.
Simple fact
To understand the political anguish and hand-wringing in India over a nuclear deal with the US, one needs to understand a very simple fact. Unlike China, its rival rising power, India lacks a grand strategy or concept of its role in the world. India thinks it should be a great power but has no clear vision of its path. In contrast, China thinks it is a great power and expends a great deal of time and energy outlining its "peaceful rise" to itself and the world.
China's rise on the world stage is constantly discussed by Chinese academics, journalists, policy experts, political leaders, and the elite. This discourse emphasises that despite China's growing power and the need for resources and markets, it will not pursue militarisation and hegemony as Germany and Japan did before and during the Second World War.
Rather, it intends to rise peacefully and harmoniously. Simultaneously, this idea draws on the concept of tianxia ("all under heaven") which, simply put, promotes order over chaos and has been key to understanding governance in China for the past 2,000 years. With defined ideas of the world and their role in the world, China acts like a confident great power and pursues its international goals with single-minded zeal.
The last time India had a defined concept of its international role, Jawaharlal Nehru was the prime minister. Nehru made some notable foreign policy mistakes, particularly his disastrous Forward Policy that resulted in the 1962 war and bitter defeat at the hands of China.
But there is no doubt the man was a visionary. Designed by Nehru, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was a domestic and international triumph for India. It was poor, struggling to develop economically and militarily, but there was a sense of purpose and national pride that it had, at least, cornered the moral market in international relations and assumed the leadership of the developing nations.
Post Nehru and post Cold War, India failed to adapt or abandon NAM, even when it had little significance. Nor, unlike China after Mao, did any Indian leader articulate an alternate ideology of the world and India's role in it.
It is, therefore, not surprising that such bitter ideological divisions now exist in India. What is the way forward for India as a would-be great power? Does signing a nuclear deal with the US make its old antagonist its new best friend? Does it mean that even paying lip service to the long-obsolete idea of NAM is no longer possible? Or does great power mean, as the communists suggest, proudly rejecting the nuclear deal and thereby showing the international community who's boss?
Even as the nuclear deal steams ahead, unless India articulates a vision for itself and gains the confidence of a great power, such splits will continue to plague its international relationships and negotiations.
- Manjari Chatterjee Miller is
India on alert after two days of bombings kill 46
India's major cities were put on high alert on Sunday, with fears of more attacks after at least 46 people were killed in two days of bombings that hit a communally sensitive western city and a southern IT hub
At least 16 bombs exploded in the Indian city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on Saturday, killing at least 45 people and wounding 161, a day after another set of blasts in Bangalore killed a woman.
Two more unexploded bombs were found in the city of Surat on Sunday, one of the world's biggest diamond-polishing centres, located in Gujarat state, police said.
A little-known group called the "Indian Mujahideen" claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad attack on Saturday. The same group said it carried out bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the western city of Jaipur in May.
It is unusual for any group to claim responsibility, but India says it suspects militant groups from Pakistan and Bangladesh are behind a wave of bombings in recent years, with targets ranging from mosques and Hindu temples to trains.
"The entire nation, including major metro cities in India, have been put on high alert and they have been asked to step up security in vital installations," a home ministry spokesman said.
In New Delhi, police used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets in crowded market places, warning people to watch out for unclaimed baggage and suspicious objects. Police guarded Hindu temples in the eastern city of Kolkata.
There were two separate series of bombings in Ahmedadad, the first near busy market places. A second quick succession of bombs went off 20 to 25 minutes later around a hospital, where at least six people died, police said. All were detonated with timers.
"I came with my two children to cheer up my mother admitted to hospital," said Pankaj Patel, whose son Rohan and daughter Pratha were killed at Ahmedadad hospital. "They were laughing when the blast occurred. Now they are dead."
Two doctors were killed in the hospital in a blast in which at least one bomb was tied onto a gas cylinder. Charred motorcycles and bicycles were shown outside. TV showed victims writhing in pain and covered in blood on hospital floors.
The other bombs were in Ahmedabad's crowded old city dominated by its Muslim community. Many of the bombs were packed into metal tiffin boxes, used to carry food, and stuffed with ball-bearings. Some were left on bicycles.
Police found two unexploded bombs in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The state government ordered the closure of all shops, cinemas and markets on Sunday and told people to stay indoors.
Ahmedabad is the main city in the communally sensitive and relatively wealthy western state of Gujarat, scene of deadly riots in 2002 in which 2,500 people are thought to have died, most of them Muslims killed by rampaging Hindu mobs.
Ahmedabad and Bangalore are in states ruled by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and are among the country's fastest-growing.
Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi is one of India's most controversial politicians, accused of turning a blind eye to the Gujarat riots.
MUSLIM BACKLASH?
Some analysts say there is evidence of local Muslim groups, for years seen as unaffected by the rise of global Islamist militancy, of taking up violence against India, where they are a poor and often neglected minority. They might be getting training and financial backing from Pakistan or Bangladesh.
"Over the last few years, the dissatisfaction among Indian Muslims has hitched onto the wagon of the global/regional jihad," said C. Uday Bhaskar, a security analyst and former director of New Delhi's Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
"If you have 150 million Muslims in India, only 0.01 percent of that figure would mean a militant nucleus of 15,000 people."
Police raided one house in Mumbai where they believe e-mails from the Indian Mujahideen were linked, local media reported.
India's home ministry said on Friday it suspected "a small militant group" was behind the Bangalore blasts, while some police officials suspected the attack could be the work of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India.
Some IT companies in Bangalore, known as India's Silicon Valley, were increasing security. Each bomb had a similar explosive force to one or two grenades.
The city is a prominent software development centre and is also home to a major outsourcing industry.
At least 16 bombs exploded in the Indian city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on Saturday, killing at least 45 people and wounding 161, a day after another set of blasts in Bangalore killed a woman.
Two more unexploded bombs were found in the city of Surat on Sunday, one of the world's biggest diamond-polishing centres, located in Gujarat state, police said.
A little-known group called the "Indian Mujahideen" claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad attack on Saturday. The same group said it carried out bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the western city of Jaipur in May.
It is unusual for any group to claim responsibility, but India says it suspects militant groups from Pakistan and Bangladesh are behind a wave of bombings in recent years, with targets ranging from mosques and Hindu temples to trains.
"The entire nation, including major metro cities in India, have been put on high alert and they have been asked to step up security in vital installations," a home ministry spokesman said.
In New Delhi, police used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets in crowded market places, warning people to watch out for unclaimed baggage and suspicious objects. Police guarded Hindu temples in the eastern city of Kolkata.
There were two separate series of bombings in Ahmedadad, the first near busy market places. A second quick succession of bombs went off 20 to 25 minutes later around a hospital, where at least six people died, police said. All were detonated with timers.
"I came with my two children to cheer up my mother admitted to hospital," said Pankaj Patel, whose son Rohan and daughter Pratha were killed at Ahmedadad hospital. "They were laughing when the blast occurred. Now they are dead."
Two doctors were killed in the hospital in a blast in which at least one bomb was tied onto a gas cylinder. Charred motorcycles and bicycles were shown outside. TV showed victims writhing in pain and covered in blood on hospital floors.
The other bombs were in Ahmedabad's crowded old city dominated by its Muslim community. Many of the bombs were packed into metal tiffin boxes, used to carry food, and stuffed with ball-bearings. Some were left on bicycles.
Police found two unexploded bombs in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The state government ordered the closure of all shops, cinemas and markets on Sunday and told people to stay indoors.
Ahmedabad is the main city in the communally sensitive and relatively wealthy western state of Gujarat, scene of deadly riots in 2002 in which 2,500 people are thought to have died, most of them Muslims killed by rampaging Hindu mobs.
Ahmedabad and Bangalore are in states ruled by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and are among the country's fastest-growing.
Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi is one of India's most controversial politicians, accused of turning a blind eye to the Gujarat riots.
MUSLIM BACKLASH?
Some analysts say there is evidence of local Muslim groups, for years seen as unaffected by the rise of global Islamist militancy, of taking up violence against India, where they are a poor and often neglected minority. They might be getting training and financial backing from Pakistan or Bangladesh.
"Over the last few years, the dissatisfaction among Indian Muslims has hitched onto the wagon of the global/regional jihad," said C. Uday Bhaskar, a security analyst and former director of New Delhi's Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
"If you have 150 million Muslims in India, only 0.01 percent of that figure would mean a militant nucleus of 15,000 people."
Police raided one house in Mumbai where they believe e-mails from the Indian Mujahideen were linked, local media reported.
India's home ministry said on Friday it suspected "a small militant group" was behind the Bangalore blasts, while some police officials suspected the attack could be the work of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India.
Some IT companies in Bangalore, known as India's Silicon Valley, were increasing security. Each bomb had a similar explosive force to one or two grenades.
The city is a prominent software development centre and is also home to a major outsourcing industry.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Rahul Gandhi visits village in Andhra Pradesh
: Continuing his tryst with the common man, Congress party general secretary Rahul Gandhi made a surprise visit to the backward Mahabubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday and interacted with some labourers.
Gandhi, who arrived here on a two-day visit, took everyone by surprise by departing from his scheduled programme to visit a village, about 100 km from here.
Soon after landing at the international airport at Shamshabad, about 30 km from the city centre, the young MP decided to undertake a surprise tour of a village instead of entering the city.
Though a large number of senior Congress leaders had turned up at the airport to receive him, he choose to go alone to the countryside to have first-hand information about labourers enrolled in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
The Congress-led government's flagship welfare initiative is aimed at ensuring 100 days of employment to the rural poor every year. The Congress leader en route stopped at a road-side dhaba (eatery) near Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district and had lunch.
He then reached Bhutpur village and interacted with a few labourers to know about the benefits of the scheme and their problems. He also attended a social audit programme of the scheme in a government building.
Officials were not ready to reveal the details of the closed-door interaction and the meeting. Villagers gathered to catch a glimpse of the Congress leader. A beaming Gandhi was seen waving at them and also gave autograph to a few people.
Earlier, Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in charge of party affairs in the state M. Veerappa Moily, state Congress party president D. Srinivas and several state ministers accorded a warm welcome to Gandhi at the airport.
M. Jannatham, an MP expelled from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for defying the whip to vote for the Congress-led government in Tuesday's trust vote, was also among the leaders who received him.
On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi will visit Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the Congress party here, and interact with the leaders and workers.
Later, he will participate at the Aam aadmi ke sipahi camp at Miyapur on the city outskirts. The party workers in the camp are being trained to conduct social audit for government schemes and to disseminate information to people
Gandhi, who arrived here on a two-day visit, took everyone by surprise by departing from his scheduled programme to visit a village, about 100 km from here.
Soon after landing at the international airport at Shamshabad, about 30 km from the city centre, the young MP decided to undertake a surprise tour of a village instead of entering the city.
Though a large number of senior Congress leaders had turned up at the airport to receive him, he choose to go alone to the countryside to have first-hand information about labourers enrolled in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
The Congress-led government's flagship welfare initiative is aimed at ensuring 100 days of employment to the rural poor every year. The Congress leader en route stopped at a road-side dhaba (eatery) near Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district and had lunch.
He then reached Bhutpur village and interacted with a few labourers to know about the benefits of the scheme and their problems. He also attended a social audit programme of the scheme in a government building.
Officials were not ready to reveal the details of the closed-door interaction and the meeting. Villagers gathered to catch a glimpse of the Congress leader. A beaming Gandhi was seen waving at them and also gave autograph to a few people.
Earlier, Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in charge of party affairs in the state M. Veerappa Moily, state Congress party president D. Srinivas and several state ministers accorded a warm welcome to Gandhi at the airport.
M. Jannatham, an MP expelled from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for defying the whip to vote for the Congress-led government in Tuesday's trust vote, was also among the leaders who received him.
On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi will visit Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the Congress party here, and interact with the leaders and workers.
Later, he will participate at the Aam aadmi ke sipahi camp at Miyapur on the city outskirts. The party workers in the camp are being trained to conduct social audit for government schemes and to disseminate information to people
India confident of wrapping up N-deal by Sept: Sibal
India is "hopeful" of getting the support of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and wrapping up its nuclear accord with the US by September, Science and Technology Minister Kabil Sibal said before leaving for Finland and Sweden.
"I will be going to Finland and Sweden tonight. The response is positive," Sibal said in an interview when asked about whether India was confident of getting the support of the 45-nation NSG for the deal which seeks to re-open doors of global nuclear business for India.
"Let's see what happens. We are hopeful they will support us," Sibal, who returned from Geneva on Friday morning, said when asked about his impression of skeptics in the NSG who have some reservations about the nuclear deal.
Sibal confirmed that the IAEA board was meeting on August 1 to decide on approving the India-specific safeguards pact and expressed confidence that the proposed pact will mass muster with the UN watchdog.
"The process is on. Beyond that I don't want to say anything right now," Sibal added on a cautious note.
"Hopefully, we should be able to," Sibal replied when asked whether India was confident of wrapping up the nuclear deal with the US by September as Washington indicated two days ago.
Sibal also underlined that India was hopeful of getting support of China with whom the country's relations have grown significantly over the last few years.
Every country counts in the NSG as it operates by consensus.
A couple of days ago, US ambassador David Mulford had said that the US was keen to convene the meeting of the NSG in the first week of August after the approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA board at its meeting on August 1.
The NSG process is likely to be completed in August so that the 123 agreement can be endorsed by the Congress in September before Washington and New Delhi ink the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
Sibal is among a handful of ministers and diplomats who have been deputed by the government to go to various NSG countries and allay their concerns about some aspects of the nuclear deal which they suspect will impinge negatively on global non-proliferation regime.
Sibal's brief is to convince two of the difficult countries in the 45-nation NSG -- Finland and Sweden -- which are known for strong non-proliferation sensitivities and have serious reservations about the very use of nuclear energy on safety and environmental grounds.
Sibal will underline India's impeccable non-proliferation record and its need for environmentally clean nuclear energy to convince his interlocutors about the merits of the deal.
With a tight timeline for wrapping up the nuclear deal in view of the looming US presidential elections, India has scaled up its NSG diplomacy to win over some of the skeptics like Ireland, Finland, Norway, Austria and Australia and New Zealand.
Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma headed to Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa Friday from Singapore after meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and foreign ministers of NSG countries like Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa is a former chair of the NSG. The other three countries are members of the IAEA.
"I will be going to Finland and Sweden tonight. The response is positive," Sibal said in an interview when asked about whether India was confident of getting the support of the 45-nation NSG for the deal which seeks to re-open doors of global nuclear business for India.
"Let's see what happens. We are hopeful they will support us," Sibal, who returned from Geneva on Friday morning, said when asked about his impression of skeptics in the NSG who have some reservations about the nuclear deal.
Sibal confirmed that the IAEA board was meeting on August 1 to decide on approving the India-specific safeguards pact and expressed confidence that the proposed pact will mass muster with the UN watchdog.
"The process is on. Beyond that I don't want to say anything right now," Sibal added on a cautious note.
"Hopefully, we should be able to," Sibal replied when asked whether India was confident of wrapping up the nuclear deal with the US by September as Washington indicated two days ago.
Sibal also underlined that India was hopeful of getting support of China with whom the country's relations have grown significantly over the last few years.
Every country counts in the NSG as it operates by consensus.
A couple of days ago, US ambassador David Mulford had said that the US was keen to convene the meeting of the NSG in the first week of August after the approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA board at its meeting on August 1.
The NSG process is likely to be completed in August so that the 123 agreement can be endorsed by the Congress in September before Washington and New Delhi ink the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
Sibal is among a handful of ministers and diplomats who have been deputed by the government to go to various NSG countries and allay their concerns about some aspects of the nuclear deal which they suspect will impinge negatively on global non-proliferation regime.
Sibal's brief is to convince two of the difficult countries in the 45-nation NSG -- Finland and Sweden -- which are known for strong non-proliferation sensitivities and have serious reservations about the very use of nuclear energy on safety and environmental grounds.
Sibal will underline India's impeccable non-proliferation record and its need for environmentally clean nuclear energy to convince his interlocutors about the merits of the deal.
With a tight timeline for wrapping up the nuclear deal in view of the looming US presidential elections, India has scaled up its NSG diplomacy to win over some of the skeptics like Ireland, Finland, Norway, Austria and Australia and New Zealand.
Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma headed to Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa Friday from Singapore after meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and foreign ministers of NSG countries like Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa is a former chair of the NSG. The other three countries are members of the IAEA.
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