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Rashtriya Janata Dal celebrates good show in Bihar by-polls

September 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Patna, Sept 20 (ANI): The activists of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) here celebrated the party’s good show in the by-election for 18 legislative assembly seats.

The RJD-Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won eight seats in the by-election for 18 legislative assembly seats, a major set back to ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U).

The JD (U) bagged three seats while its ally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won two seats.

The activists burst crackers and distributed sweets to celebrate the win at the party office.

RJD leader Lalu Prasad termed the results as referendum on the ruling government.

“It is not possible for the Bihar Government-led by Nitish Kumar to return. The RJD alliance will return to power. The people of Bihar have welcomed us with open arms,” said Yadav.

The RJD failed poorly in Lok Sabha election in April-May this year, winning just four seats out of the total 40 in Bihar. (ANI)

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Shiv Sena-BJP alliance confident of victory in Maharashtra assembly polls

September 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, Sep 19(ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena on Saturday expressed confidence about emerging victorious in the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.

“It is 45 years since Shiv Sena came into being. And this first day of Navaratri happens to be a red-letter day in the history of Shiv Sena that has crusaded for the cause of Samyukta (unified) Maharashtra. Considering all these aspects, I feel it is an auspicious timing (of) declaring the seat arrangement and we are confident of our combine emerging victorious,” said Uddhav Thackeray, Executive President of Shiv Sena party.

Leaders of both the parties confirmed that there was no bargaining for seats between the two allies.

“Today, is the first day of Dussera and we have arrived at the figures of seat sharing. Yes, it is 169 and 119. The 169 in favour of Shiv Sena and 119 for BJP and it will be interesting to note that both the figures end in 9, a lucky number; 169 and 119. And now onwards we will work on joint strategy. There is no clash of interests and now onwards we will devote to the selection of suitable candidates,” said Gopinath Munde, senior BJP leader.

In the 2004 elections, Shiv Sena had contested for 171 seats while BJP had contested for 117 and jointly they had bagged 119 seats in the legislative house of 289 members.

The alliance of Congress and regional National Congress Party (NCP) had emerged victorious in the 2004 polls. (ANI)

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Congress – NCP to finalise seat-sharing formula on Saturday

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 19 (ANI): The crucial meeting of the Congress Party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders will be held here on Saturday to give the final shape to the seat sharing agreement for next month’s Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The Election Commission issued notification for the assembly polls in Maharashtra, which is to be held on October 13.

On Thursday it was reported that both parties had broadly agreed to a formula of 174: 114 seats for the Congress and the NCP respectively.

The Maharashtra Assembly has 298 constituencies.

Poll management leaders of both the Congress and the NCP met their respective party chiefs on Friday after three days of negotiations.

They had earlier held a series of discussions in Mumbai to give final shape to the seat sharing process.

If the current formula gets the stamp of approval of both parties then the NCP would settle for ten seats less than what it contested the last time.

Meanwhile the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – Shiv Sena alliance settled on a seat sharing, for 119 for the BJP and 169 seats for Shiv Sena (ANI)

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Rashtriya Janata Dal celebrates good show in by-polls in Bihar

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Patna, Sep 18 (ANI): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) celebrated its good show in state by-election on Thursday.

The RJD-Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won eight seats in the by-election for 18 legislative assembly seats, a major setback to ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U).

JD (U) bagged three seats while its ally Bharatiya Janata Party won two seats.

RJD activists gathered at the party office and burst crackers and distributed sweets to celebrate the win.

Rabri Devi, leader of opposition in Bihar legislative assembly, termed the results as referendum against the ruling government.

“Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar is fooling the public. The people of Bihar have understood it and that’s why they have rejected the ruling party. I congratulate the people of Bihar. I am sure that people will keep on voting for Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance,” said Devi.

RJD failed poorly in Lok Sabha election in April-May this year, winning just four seats out of the total 40 in Bihar. (ANI)

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Mamata Banerjee hits out at Leftists

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sept 16 (ANI): Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee hailed the good showing of Trinamool Congress in civic polls in Darjeeling district as victory over state-sponsored terrorism.

In the 47-member district council, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress combine bagged 15 seats each. The Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxists) won 17 seats.

“I think this is a victory of democracy against state-sponsored terrorism, the autocracy and every day they are making conspiracy against the United Progressive Alliance and the central government and the central ministers also. This is their habit. This fort was absolutely the red fort and you know how Darjeeling … it is a prestigious district. It is a very prestigious victory,” Banerjee told reporters in national capital New Delhi.

Banerjee also accused the State Government of not helping the Central Government’s efforts to curb Maoists.

“P. Chidambaram is very correct. He said he was trying his best but he was not getting any help from the State Government. When the Central Government is trying to do something, then the state police are giving information to the Maoists that the Central police are coming. They did not allow the Central police to come to the actual area where they exist,” said Banerjee.

Maoists have formally been labelled as a terrorist group by the Central Government. (ANI)

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British troops far from defeating Taliban, says Brit Defence Secretary

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.16 (ANI): British troops are a long way from winning the battle against a resilient Taliban in Afghanistan, and the conflict in the country could lead to “major shifts” in military spending, said British Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth.

“We are facing a resilient enemy which we are far from succeeding against yet,” he told an audience of defence experts at King’s College London.

“I reject the proposition we are not making progress. I also reject the proposition a reduced military presence will lead to less Taliban success,” The Telegraph quoted Ainsworth, as saying further.

A leading thinktank warned earlier that the presence of large numbers of foreign troops in Afghanistan made it harder to achieve a political settlement to the conflict.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies said western forces in Afghanistan needed a “more cunning” strategy if they were to achieve their aims.

Ainsworth said a military failure in Afghanistan would have “profound consequences for our national security” and “undermine the Nato alliance”.

He also called for an open debate about future defence policy and how money for the military should be spent before the government publishes a defence review green paper in advance of next year’s general election. (ANI)

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Chidambaram says Maoists seeking alliance with north-east insurgent groups

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 14 (ANI): Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that Maoists are seeking an alliance with northeast insurgent groups.

Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day conference on internal security threats, Chidambaram said the Maoists have been sought alliances with secessionists and insurgentse also said that terrorist groups, including the LeT and the JeM, are persisting with their endeavours to launch terror attacks.

“The Communist Party of India-Maoist besides targeting inimical forces was laying a greater emphasis on targeting infrastructure like roads, bridges,” he added

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will address the conference on Tuesday. He will also present police medals for meritorious services.

The conference provides an interactive platform for senior police professionals and security administrators to freely discuss and debate diverse national security related issues, as also the various operational, infrastructural and welfare related problems faced by them.

Its deliberations would also include formulation and sharing of professional practices and processes in tackling challenges relating to crime control and law and order management.

The conference offers opportunities for generation and exchange of new ideas on capacity building for the police in respect of manpower, training, logistics and advanced technology.

The Intelligence Bureau organised the first ever conference of IGPs in India in 1920 and since then, these conferences have been held regularly at New Delhi in the post-independence period. The first conference was organised in 1950.

To begin with, it was a biennial event, but after 1973, it became an annual meeting for the Heads of Police Organisations in the States/Union Territories and of the Central Police Organisations. Director, Intelligence Bureau, is the ex-officio Chairman of the conference. (ANI)

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Congress to decide over alliance with NCP on Sunday

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 12 (ANI): Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that the decision on alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls would be taken by Sunday.

Speaking to the media after a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Deshmukh said the party will take a decision on the continuation of alliance by Sunday.

On Friday the Congress High Command appointed Deshmukh as the chairman of party’s poll management committee and Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde as the chairman of campaign committee for the Maharashtra polls.

Both Deshmukh and Shinde held an hour-long meeting with the party’s central leadership.

He said, Sonia Gandhi had asked him to coordinate party’s election work by taking everyone into confidence.

Earlier, the Congress Party asked the Sharad Pawar led NCP to accept new ground realities during seat sharing. (ANI)

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New WHO data sheds light on two leading causes of pneumonia

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 12 (ANI): New World Health Organization data has highlighted two leading causes of pneumonia, which claims the highest number of lives of children under age 5, both globally and within developing countries like India, Pakistan and Kenya.

The findings could serve as a clarion call to developing country governments to invest in pneumonia prevention programs.

According to the studies, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae type b [Hib] infections take the lives of an estimated 1.2 million children under age 5 each year.

Although safe and effective vaccines exist to provide protection against both diseases, use of Hib vaccine has only recently expanded to low-income countries and pneumococcal vaccine is not yet included in national immunization programs in the developing world.

In developing countries, children bear the highest risk for pneumonia and that is where most pneumonia-related child deaths occur.

“Our findings underscore the urgent need for prevention efforts throughout the developing world. The need for vaccination and improved treatment is particularly urgent in Africa and Asia, which together account for 95% of all pneumococcal deaths,” Kate O’Brien, primary author of the pneumococcal study, said.

The ten countries with the greatest number and greatest proportion of global pneumococcal cases were in Asia and Africa, and taken together account for 66 percent of cases worldwide.

These countries include India, China, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and the Philippines.

“In areas of the world where access to quality care is limited, the use of pneumococcal vaccine is particularly necessary to limit disease and save lives. Implementing pneumococcal vaccine is critical if developing countries are to achieve United Nations Millennium Development Goal 4 for child mortality reduction,” said Thomas Cherian, Coordinator of the WHO Expanded Programme on Immunization.

Through the GAVI Alliance, low income countries can access existing and future pneumococcal vaccines with only a small self-financed contribution of as little as 0.15 dollars per dose.

“If fully rolled out in GAVI-eligible countries, the pneumococcal vaccine could save the lives of more than 440,000 children by 2015. We encourage all developing countries to apply for this support as an important first step to saving children’s lives,” said Dr. Julian Lob-Levyt, CEO of the GAVI Alliance.

Just like pneumococcal disease, the greatest burden of Hib disease lies in Asia and Africa.

The ten countries with the highest estimated number of Hib deaths in 2000 include India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Angola and Niger.

“The burden of Hib disease is substantial and almost entirely vaccine preventable. Expanded use of Hib vaccine could reduce the global burden of childhood pneumonia and meningitis and reduce child mortality,” said James Watt at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The World Health Organization and the GAVI Alliance, which is supporting the Hib Initiative, have been working to expand supplies of Hib vaccine, reduce vaccine cost and assist countries with vaccine introduction.

The WHO data will be published in the upcoming edition of the Lancet. (ANI)

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Top Brit doc backs call to ban alcohol ads

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 11 (ANI): A leading British doctor is in full support of the BMA’s call to ban alcohol advertising, as he feels that such publicity campaigns do have damaging effects on young people.

“(It is) a logical recommendation to attempt to reverse the all embracing pro-alcohol culture that has grown up in a period of deregulation and liberalisation over the last quarter of a century,” says to Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians and Chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance.

Writing an editorial for bmj.com, he has even stressed the need for more public conversation about people’s attitudes to alcohol as a society.

“The problem is not just about drunk, misbehaving adolescents. We can no longer ignore the many millions of people in the UK who are quietly over-consuming cheap, readily available, and heavily promoted alcohol, storing up major problems for the future,” he concludes. (ANI)

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Microsoft India announces strategic alliance with TCS

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 8 (ANI/Business Wire India): Microsoft India and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – a leading IT services, consulting, business solutions and outsourcing firm today announced a strategic alliance between the two companies to launch Microsoft-TCS virtualization Center of Excellence (CoE) in Chennai.

Designed to help customers experience the right approach to applying and managing virtualization across IT architectural layers (namely server, machine, application and desktop) in their business environments – the CoE will leverage best of breed Microsoft technologies (such as Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008) to showcase virtualization scenarios to customers.

The Microsoft-TCS virtualization CoE is a joint initiative by the companies to accelerate the adoption of virtualization technology in India.

“Virtualization is one of the most disruptive technologies in the world today. Though there is adequate knowledge on the benefits of virtualization – only 5% of the world’s servers are virtualized today! There is a clear gap between awareness and adoption of this technology – which has emerged from the lack of guidance among customers around actual implementation of this technology and their inability to demystify the conceptual transition from physical to virtual environments. Through our partnership with TCS to launch the virtualization CoE, we will address this crucial market need and help customers land the benefits of virtualization technology in accordance with their business requirements”, said Rajan Anandan (Managing Director, Microsoft India).

“We are always looking to enhance the services we provide to our customers. Virtualization has clearly emerged as a revolutionary technology with wide reaching implications for global as well as Indian businesses – one that our customers are showing a great deal of interest in. Due to its key benefits such as improved performance, reduced total cost of ownership and increased availability of IT infrastructure – virtualization is increasingly being viewed as an imperative technology by customers, specifically in these challenging economic times,” said P. R. Krishnan (Vice President and Global Head IT Infrastructure Services, TCS).

“The Microsoft-TCS virtualization CoE is an initiative aimed at enabling our customers rapidly realize the advantages of this revolutionary technology. Based on robust virtualization solutions from Microsoft – the CoE will leverage best of breed technologies that are best suited to help our customers stay ahead in today’s competitive market environment”, added Krishnan.

The Microsoft-TCS virtualization CoE will deliver a heightened user experience that will help customers demystify Virtualization: migration from physical to virtual environments, user experience and performance, management of physical and virtual infrastructure from a single console – and experience how virtualization technology deployment in the datacenter can enable improved performance, higher availability and lower cost of ownership of IT infrastructure.

With a holistic approach to virtualization, Microsoft addresses its customers’ end-to-end virtualization requirements – with technologies and solutions spanning across the datacenter to the desktop, and from implementation to management (both virtual and physical resources). (ANI)

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Suicide car bomb blast kills two at Kabul airport

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kabul, Sep 8 (ANI): At least two civilians were killed and six others were injured when a suicide car bomb exploded near Kabul’s military airport on Tuesday.

The windows of the city center were rattled due to the blast.

The car bomber rammed the main gate of the airport’s military base and exploded, reports BBC quoting the Afghanistans’s interior ministry sources as saying.

According to an eyewitness, the car bomb exploded near a NATO military convoy.

NATO-led alliance forces fighting the Taliban militia have an Air Force base at the Kabul airport, which is used for both civilian and military purposes.

The BBC also said that there were unconfirmed reports that members of Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were among the casualties.

“It was a suicide attack outside the main gate of the military base at the airport,” Nato officer Colonel Koziel Bart said.

The airport has been targeted in the past by suspected Taliban militants – in 2007, killing one civilian.

Tuesday’s attack follows a massive suicide car bomb last month on ISAF’s Kabul headquarters that killed seven Afghan civilians on the spot. (ANI)

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Sonia Gandhi to visit Hyderabad on Thursday morning

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.2 (ANI): Congress President and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will visit Hyderabad on Thursday.

Sonia called up Reddy’s wife on Wednesday evening and is believed to have expressed concern with the family over the missing incident of Reddy.

A high-level search operation is on to trace out the missing CM.

Army’s 300 special Commandos (especially trained in jungle warfare), 5,000 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and State’s anti-Naxal Force personnel have been engaged into the seach operation.

Reddy has gone missing since 9.35 a.m. of Wednesday morning. (ANI)

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BJP- Shiv Sena finalises seat sharing for Maharashtra assembly polls

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, Aug 31 (ANI): Though the party’s top leadership is struggling to set the house in order, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra unit has finalised the seat sharing agreement with the Shiv Sena on Monday for the upcoming assembly polls in the state.

According to BJP sources the talks with Shiv Sena are almost over and an official announcement would be made in a day or two.

Both the parties agreed for the existing 171:117 formula for the 288 Assembly seats, sources added.

In the 2004 Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had allotted seven seats to Shetkari Sanghatana led by vetern farmer’s leader Sharad Joshi. As Joshi’s party is no more a partner of Sena-BJP combine, both the parties are expected to share these seats.

BJP is claiming the Chindwada seat, as the sitting legislator of that constituency joined the party.

The poll managers of the saffron alliance are confident of achieving seat matrix despite trouble faced by the BJP central leadership.

Meanwhile, the ruling Congress – Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine is still not sure on maintaining the alliance. Also the strategy of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is not yet clear.

The MNS is holding its cards close to the chest as to go alone or ally with one of the two major political groups, or opt for the Third Front. (ANI)

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No alliance with Congress for Haryana polls, says Chautala

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Chandigarh, Aug 28 (ANI): Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Om Prakash Chautala has said that his party would not tie up with Congress party for the ensuing provincial polls in Haryana despite ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) snapping ties.

The BJP recently severed ties with INLD over a seat-sharing row.

Chautala asserted that parting ways with the BJP does not mean that they would tilt towards the Congress.

“Ideologically we are against the Congress and to give it a total defeat we shook hands with Congress’ opponents many a times. We never stabbed anyone rather we have been betrayed,” Chautala told reporters in Chandigarh on Thursday.

This is the second time the two parties have parted ways in the last five years.

Haryana was due for provincial polls in March next year, but state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda recommended to the Governor dissolution of state assembly, calling for early elections. (ANI)

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Global Standard for testing capabilities gains momentum

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 26 (ANI/Business Wire India): Experimentus (www.experimentus.com), the software quality management consulting firm, announced that they have partnered with Edista Testing Institute (www.edistatesting.com), a 100 per cent subsidiary of QAI Global (www.qaiglobal.com) to implement TMMi (Test Maturity Model integrated) all across the Asia Pacific region.

TMMi is the de facto standard that organisations can use to measure and enable them to improve Testing and Quality related activities.

The partnership between ETI and Experimentus, offers access to accredited TMMi training and Assessments to QAI and ETI clients.

As a part of the alliance, Experimentus, using their team of accredited TMMi Foundation appraisers will offer a 1 day Overview Program on TMMi, a 3 day Program on TMMi, Assessment Services for TMMi. ETI will provide follow on consulting activities.

Experimentus, with it’s accredited in house assessment method and consultants, has obtained global recognition for the work it has been doing with the Test Maturity Model integrated and has helped many organisations clearly understand their level of risk across the development lifecycle, reducing cost and improving software quality.

ETI is fully focused on Operational Excellence and Workforce Development with specific focus on Testing Organizations.

ETI Currently works with over 54+ and has trained over 3000+ professionals across India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE, UK and USA.

Julian Clarke, Director of Sales and Marketing at Experimentus, said, “We are delighted to be working with ETI and QAI to promote TMMi across the Asia-Pacific region.

Delivering IT projects to market on time and of an acceptable level of quality is even more paramount to the business in the current climate. Testing is all about Risk Mitigation, validating the level of quality achieved in development before a software application goes live.

The cost of rework, loss of benefit to a business as well as the potential damage to an organisation’s brand can have significant commercial ramifications. This is even more so in today’s “dog eat dog” environment. Therefore, ensuring that Testing is effective and efficient is a must for corporate survival.”

Commenting on the partnership, Pradeep Chennavajhula, CEO of ETI said, “Testing is a critical function, and a growing business area for many IT service providesr in India.

Many of the Asian IT service providers, and Independent Testing service providers are in need of a structured framework for improving efficiency, and continuously improve their testing process. TMMi will play a crucial role in filling this gap. Just like CMMI for Software Engineering, TMMi will act as a key differentiator for winning large scale contracts with customers from UK and USA.” (ANI)

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Congress announces list of candidates for Bihar Assembly by-elections

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.23 (ANI): Congress party on Sunday announced the list of seven candidates for the upcoming State Assembly by-elections in Bihar.

The party has decided not to get into any alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) during the by-elections and decided to go it alone.

According to an official release issued by the Central Election Committee in-charge Oscar Fernandes on Sunday, Pheku Ram will contest from Bochaha assembly segment in Muzaffarpur and Noor Alam from Aurai seat in the same district.

The other candidates are Mukund Kumar from Kalyanpur, Anita Ram from Warisnagar, Parshuram Tiwari from Ramgarh in Kaimur, Shah Nawaj Khan from Chainpur (Kaimur) and Murari Prasad Gautam from Chenari in Rohtas.

During last Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party contested the polls alone and won two of the 40 seats in the state.

Over a dozen assembly seats in Bihar fell vacant following the election of sitting MLAs as MPs in the last Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress Party, meanwhile, has also announced name of Tilottama Sharma as its candidate from the Dwarka assembly seat in Delhi.

The seat fell vacant as the sitting MLA Mahabal Mishra was elected to the Lok Sabha from Delhi West parliamentary constituency. (ANI)

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Ex-UK Special Forces commander to work on reconciliation with Taliban

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug.21 (ANI): A former British special forces commander has been appointed to mastermind a program of reconciliation with members of the Taliban, General David Petraeus, the US military chief, said overnight.

Lieutenant-General Sir Graeme Lamb, who retired recently from the British Army, was personally requested by General Stanley McChrystal, the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, to take on the role, which is considered crucial to reduce the impact of the insurgency.

General Lamb would work at “local level reconciliation and reintegration”, General Petraeus said at a briefing at the US Embassy in London.

General Petraeus, the commander of US Central Command, which embraces Iraq and Afghanistan, was full of praise for General Lamb, a former Director Special Forces, when he worked with him in Baghdad. He played a similar role there, persuading Sunni insurgent leaders to give up fighting.

General Petraeus said NATO forces had faced a tough time before the election overnight, especially in Helmand, where British troops had lost many soldiers in the last two months. “Our soldiers have shed blood side by side,” he said.

According to The Australian, he refused to predict how long he expected British and other NATO troops to be engaged in fighting the Taliban, but said that the alliance needed to maintain a “sustained and substantial commitment”.

There are about 62,000 US troops in Afghanistan, with another 6,000 to be deployed by the autumn. (ANI)

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President hosts “At Home” on Quit India movement’s 67th anniversary

August 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.9 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil hosted the customary “At Home” on the occasion of 67th anniversary of the Quit India Movement at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, Defence Minister A.K.Antony, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Tejender Khanna, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson and Congress party President Sonia Gandhi were among the distinguished guests on this occasion.

About 200 freedom fighters, which included the individuals from National Capital Region (NCR) Delhi, Karnataka, Manipur, Meghalaya, Daman and Diu, and Pudducherry, also had the opportunity to attend the “At Home” at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

President Patil sat among the freedom fighters for a while and listened to their requests during the occasion.

The Bharat Choro Andolan or, the Quit India Movement was a civil disobedience movement launched on August 8, 1942 in response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call for immediate independence. (ANI)

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Taliban infighting could benefit both US, Pak: NYT

August 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug.9 (ANI): An American counter-terrorism official has said that the infighting within the Taliban could provide an opportunity for both the United States and Pakistan to exploit the rivalries to their respective advantages.

According to the counter-terrorism official, one of those opportunities, from the American point of view, would be the ability to focus its fleet of drone aircraft on attacking militant leaders who were involved in the Afghan war, or on Qaeda leaders planning attacks against the West.

That has been a source of tension between the Americans and Pakistani officials, who had viewed the Mehsuds as the most urgent threat.

One Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the fighting could create an opening for the Haqqanis, another group that has close ties to Al Qaeda, to intervene in resolving the leadership issue.

Sirajuddin Haqqani is the point man in Pakistan for the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Details of the fighting were spotty on Saturday.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, confirmed reports of a shootout at a meeting in South Waziristan and said one of the commanders had been killed but did not say who it was.

“The infighting was between Waliur Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud,” Malik said, adding “We have information that one of them has been killed. Who was killed we will be able to say later after confirming.”

Reports received by government officials on Saturday indicated that Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud – a member of Baitullah’s tribe but not a close relative – argued over succession at a tribal meeting at Sara Rogha in South Waziristan.

A shootout ensued, killing Mehsud and wounding Rehman, officials said.

A senior government official in Peshawar was quoted by the New York Times, as saying that Baitullah Mehsud’s father-in-law, who had been at the meeting, was now in the custody of an opposing faction.

Beyond being a succession struggle, the infighting may also represent a deeper conflict over the goals and direction of the Pakistani Taliban.

A resident of the area who spoke by telephone on Saturday said foreign militants favored Mr. Rehman while local Mehsuds wanted Hakimullah to be their new leader.

The alliance between Al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban leaders goes back years in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas, where local Pakistani militants helped ferry Arab operatives back and forth across the border from Afghanistan. More recently it has surfaced in the attacks on Pakistan’s major cities, far from the war-torn western tribal areas.

“They are interconnected,” a Karachi counterterrorism official said, referring to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. “They depend on each other.”

Clear evidence of that alliance, counterterrorism officials say, was the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

The bomber was an Afghan, trained by Taliban fighters in Mohmand Agency, part of the tribal area where the Mehsuds operate. But it was a Qaeda operative of Kenyan origin, Usama al-Kinni, who planned and financed the attack.

In an added complication with serious implications for security in Pakistan, the handlers and facilitators in that attack were from Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous and strategic province, which itself has been the target of a series of suicide bombings and commando-style attacks since March. (ANI)

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