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India tests space launch vehicle, eyes global market

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GSLV Mark-III, India's largest rocket after lift-off from Sriharikota on Thursday. Photo: The Hindu

GSLV Mark-III, India’s largest rocket after lift-off from Sriharikota on Thursday. Photo: The Hindu

by Aditya Kalra, Reuters

New Delhi: India’s space agency successfully tested on Thursday its most powerful satellite launch vehicle that can put heavier payloads into space, and, it hopes, win India a bigger slice of the USD 300 billion global space industry.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) also checked the working of an unmanned crew module on the vehicle, which could give the agency the option of manned missions.

Once operational, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III will be able to put satellites weighing about 4 tonnes into orbit, almost doubling India’s current capability.

“The powerful launch vehicle … will change our destiny in placing various spacecraft into communication orbits,” said S. Somnath, project director of the new GSLV vehicle.

Prime minister Narendra Modi wants to develop India’s 50-year-old space program and the government increased funding for space research by 50 percent to almost $1 billion this financial year.

But ISRO’s growth has been stymied by a lack of a heavier launcher and the slow execution of missions. Between 2007 and 2012, it accomplished only about half of its planned 60 missions, government data showed.

Experts said the test of the GSLV took India a step closer to attracting more foreign business which would help Asia’s third-largest economy emerge as a stronger player in the global space race.

The experiment on Thursday also helped ISRO test the vehicle’s atmospheric stability and its design. It was powered by two engines while a third is under development.

“We still need to put a heavier third engine to ensure this vehicle can be used successfully for manned missions and heavier satellite launches,” said Mayank Vahia, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

In September, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission entered the red planet’s orbit, making India the first Asian nation to reach Mars on its first attempt. The mission was lauded for its shoestring budget of about USD 74 million.

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Robert Birsel)

Conversion row continues in Rajya Sabha

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Conversion Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The uproar over reported conversions and comments by MPs from the ruling BJP continued to rock the Rajya Sabha for the third consecutive day Wednesday, forcing several adjournments.

The opposition was also upset that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a comment on the issue at a meeting of the BJP’s parliamentary party, but did not come to the house.

“Does the prime minister need a visa to come to this house?” asked Trinamool Congress member Derek O’Brien.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi called the comment “unacceptable”.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, meanwhile, said: “When the prime minister is in parliament, why not accept opposition’s demand and come to the house.”

A discussion on incidents of communal violence was listed in the house. However, opposition members refused to take it up unless the prime minister came to the house.

The upper house saw repeated adjournments, angry exchanges, and charges and counter-charges as both ruling and opposition parties blamed each other for the continuous disruptions.

Chairman M. Hamid Ansari also banished Congress member V. Hanumantha Rao from the house for the day as he trooped near his podium and raised slogans.

The protests started as soon as the house met for the day, with Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Naresh Agarwal raising a point of order.

“We read in the papers that some policy decisions were made in the parliamentary party meet of thee BJP,” Agarwal said, referring to the prime minister’s warning to party members not to cross the “Lakshman Rekha” (limits) in their statements.

“If his ministers are making some mistake, it is his responsibility to say it in the house,” said Agarwal.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, rejected the charge that any policy decision was taken.

“PM has not made any policy decision in the meet. But I have a point of order. In the name of point of order, can Naresh Agarwal every day raise a point of disorder?” said the finance minister.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari again raised a point of order, on the same issue.

“We are just telling PM your people are creating disharmony in the country. If he is accepting some ministers are crossing Lakshman Rekha… let him tell which Lakshman Rekha is being crossed,” said Tiwari.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said he wanted to raise a “point of disorder”.

“I want to know if the prime minister will come to this house so that we can have a discussion. Will the prime minister be willing to come? Instead of addressing from outside the house, come and speak in the house and be responsible to the legislators,” said Yechury.

Congress leader Anand Sharma complained that opposition members were not being allowed to speak.

“Ruling party is disrupting the house whenever opposition leaders speak,” said Sharma.
As opposition members raised the pitch demanding the prime minister’s presence, treasury benches members too added to the din.

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the house till noon.

At noon, once again opposition members refused to allow the question hour to be taken up.

Agarwal urged the chair to accept his notice to suspend the business and take up the discussion. However, Chairman M. Hamid Ansari rejected the notice as “redundant” as a discussion on communal situation in the country is already listed in the upper house.

When Agarwal insisted, an angry chairman said: “Why should all the business of the house be suspended because you want something.”

He also reprimanded members leaving their seats.

With ruckus continuing, the upper house was adjourned twice for 15 minutes during the question hour.

Even as the chairman repeatedly said a discussion is listed, opposition members asked if the prime minister would come.

“Take care of you side, let them take care of their side… Government has collective responsibility,” said Ansari.

The opposition, however, refused to relent, and the house was adjourned till 2 p.m. Similar scenes continued when the house met again, and opposition members refused to take up the debate without the prime minister being present in the house. After nearly 40 minutes which saw angry exchanges from both ruling and opposition benches, the house was adjourned for the day.

The opposition has been protesting in the wake of recent reports of conversion of Muslims to Hinduism, and also BJP parliamentarian Yogi Adityanath’ comment supporting a mass conversion programme.

Adityanath reportedly said there was nothing wrong if people re-convert to Hinduism if they were doing it willingly.

Bharatiya Janata Party sources said Modi Tuesday warned party MPs at the parliamentary board meeting against crossing the “Lakshman Rekha” (limits) by making controversial statements.

(IANS)

Murali Vijay's 144 takes India to 311/4 on day one

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Murali Vijay celebrates after scoring hundred in Brisbane. © AFP

Murali Vijay celebrates after scoring hundred in Brisbane. © AFP

Brisbane: Murali Vijay scored 144 and shared a century stand with Ajinkya Rahane as India’s batsmen dictated terms to an Australian attack that fell short of expectations Wednesday on the opening day of the second Test.

Four days after losing eight wickets in the final session of a 48-run defeat in Adelaide, India dominated on day one in Brisbane to reach 311-4 at stumps.

Australia’s pace attack had been expected to exploit the extra bounce and pace that are characteristic of pitches at the Gabba, where Australia hasn’t lost since 1988, but the new-look bowling lineup didn’t get its length right and the fielding was sub-standard.

Rohit Sharma (not out 26) was batting with Rahane at the close of play.

Bush 3.0? Jeb to 'actively explore' presidential run

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Former Florida Governor gives strongest hint yet on impending campaign for 2016

Jeb Bush, son of former President George H.W. Bush and brother of former President George W. Bush, announced Tuesday he would "actively explore" a presidential run. (Photo: World Affairs Council of Philadelphia/flickr/cc)

Jeb Bush, son of former President George H.W. Bush and brother of former President George W. Bush, announced Tuesday he would “actively explore” a presidential run. (Photo: World Affairs Council of Philadelphia/flickr/cc)

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

Jeb Bush announced Tuesday morning that he will “actively explore the possibility of running for president of the United States.”

The former governor of Florida and son of former President George H.W. Bush made the announcement on social media, posting messages to Twitter and Facebook that he had made the decision after consulting with his family over Thanksgiving.

“As a result of these conversations and thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong leadership I think America needs, I have decided to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States,” Bush wrote in a Facebook post published Tuesday.

He continued, “In January, I also plan to establish a Leadership PAC that will help me facilitate conversations with citizens across America to discuss the most critical challenges facing our exceptional nation. The PAC’s purpose will be to support leaders, ideas and policies that will expand opportunity and prosperity for all Americans. In the coming months, I hope to visit with many of you and have a conversation about restoring the promise of America.”

Reaction among progressives on Twitter was dismissive if not swift:

In a mid-October ABC poll, Bush had roughly 13 percent of support among conservatives, putting him in the same league as former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who each received 12 percent support. He is a divisive figure in politics, even among Republicans, as David Weigel of Bloomberg points out. His legacy as Florida Governor is also punctuated by scandal and allegations of corruption.

Tuesday’s statement is not an official announcement of Bush’s candidacy, but a strong hint that he is planning on running. The New York Times writes:

The question that looms over yet another Bush candidacy, though, is if he can appeal to actual Republican primary voters as much as he does the party’s wealthy bundlers. Many of Mr. Bush’s would-be rivals are skeptical. So for them, Mr. Bush’s making such an early move is not entirely bad news. If it turns out that he cannot appeal to the party base or backs away from a run entirely, there will be time for them to make their move.

Boxer Sarita Devi banned for one year

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Sarita Devi

New Delhi: The International Boxing Association (AIBA) on Wednesday banned Indian boxer Sarita Devi for one year for refusing to accept the Asian Games bronze medal.

The world boxing body also handed down a two-year ban on India’s foreign coach B.I. Fernandez, while clearing national coach G.S. Sandhu.

Devi lost in the semifinals of the women’s lightweight competition at Incheon, and tried to give her medal to her opponent at the presentation ceremony.

Boxing India had hinted that Devi may get some sort of punishment from the AIBA but said that it was hoping for her to escape a long-term ban from the international federation so that her career is not affected much and she can compete in 2016 Olympics.

“AIBA has been very firm on violation of rules from the very beginning and it takes serious view of disciplinary code violations.” Boxing India secretary-general Jay Kowli had said.

“Our endeavour has been to soften AIBA and urge for a liberal view taking into account the circumstances and human side of the emotional outburst of Sarita so that her long term career is not affected,” he had said.

AIBA president Ching-Kuo Wu had hinted a strong penalty for the boxer.

“She will be heavily punished, there will be zero tolerance,” the AIBA chief had said. “If you accept being the winner, you have to accept being the loser. If everyone behaved like that, what type of competition will we have?”

U.S feels the heat on Palestine vote at UN

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US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Villa Taverna in Rome, Dec. 15, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/Evan Vucci)

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Villa Taverna in Rome, Dec. 15, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/Evan Vucci)

by Jonathan Cook

Nazareth: The floodgates have begun to open across Europe on recognition of Palestinian statehood. On Friday the Portuguese parliament became the latest European legislature to call on its government to back statehood, joining Sweden, Britain, Ireland, France and Spain.

In coming days similar moves are expected in Denmark and from the European Parliament. The Swiss government will join the fray too this week, inviting states that have signed the Fourth Geneva Convention to an extraordinary meeting to discuss human rights violations in the occupied territories. Israel has threatened retaliation.

But while Europe is tentatively finding a voice in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, silence reigns across the Atlantic. The White House appears paralysed, afraid to appear out of sync with world opinion but more afraid still of upsetting Israel and its powerful allies in the US Congress.

Now there is an additional complicating factor. The Israeli public, due to elect a new Israeli government in three months’ time, increasingly regards the US role as toxic. A poll this month found that 52 per cent viewed President Barack Obama’s diplomatic policy as “bad”, and 37 per cent thought he had a negative attitude towards their country – more than double the figure two years ago.

US Secretary of State John Kerry alluded to the White House’s difficulties this month when he addressed the Saban Forum, an annual gathering of US policy elites to discuss the Middle East. He promised that Washington would not interfere in Israel’s elections.

According to the Israeli media, he was responding to pressure from Tzipi Livni, sacked this month from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, triggering the forthcoming election, and opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog, of the centre-left Labor party.

The pair recently made a pact in an effort to oust Netanyahu. Their electoral success – improbable at the moment – offers the White House its best hope of an Israeli government that will at least pay lip service to a renewal of peace negotiations, which collapsed last April. They have warned, however, that any sign of backing from the Obama administration would be the kiss of death at the polls.

US officials would like to see Netanyahu gone, not least because he has been the biggest obstacle to reviving a peace process that for two decades successfully allayed international pressure to create a Palestinian state. But any visible strategy against Netanyahu is almost certain to backfire.

Washington’s difficulties are only underscored by the Palestinians’ threat to bring a draft resolution before the UN Security Council as soon as this week, demanding Israel’s withdrawal by late 2016 to the 1967 lines.

Given the current climate, the Palestinians are hopeful of winning the backing of European states, especially the three key ones in the Security Council – Britain, France and Germany – and thereby isolating the US. Arab foreign ministers met Kerry on Tuesday in an effort to persuade Washington not to exercise its veto.

The US, meanwhile, is desperately trying to postpone a vote, fearful that casting its veto might further discredit it in the eyes of the world while also suggesting to Israeli voters that Netanyahu has the White House in his pocket.

But indulging the Israeli right also has risks, bolstering it by default. That danger was driven home during another session of the Saban Forum, addressed by settler leader Naftali Bennett. He is currently riding high in the polls and will likely be the backbone of the next coalition government.

Bennett says clearly what Netanyahu only implies: that most of the West Bank should be annexed, with the Palestinians given demilitarised islands of territory that lack sovereignty. The model, called “autonomy”, is of the Palestinians ruling over a series of local councils.

The Washington audience was further shocked by Bennett’s disrespectful treatment of his interviewer, Martin Indyk, who served as Obama’s representative at the last round of peace talks. He accused Indyk of not living in the real world, dismissively calling him part of the “peace industry”.

Bennett’s goal, according to analysts, was to prove to Israeli voters that he is not afraid to stand up to the Americans.

Given its weakening hand – faced with an ever-more rightwing Israeli public and a more assertive European one – Washington is looking towards an unlikely saviour. The hawkish foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman used to be its bete noire, but he has been carefully recalibrating his image.

Unlike other candidates, he has been aggressively promoting a “peace plan”. The US has barely bothered examining its contents, which are only a little more generous than Bennett’s annexation option, and involve forcibly stripping hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Israel of their citizenship.

Lieberman, however, has usefully created the impression that he is a willing partner to a peace process. At the weekend he even suggested he might join a centre coalition with Livni and Herzog.

Lieberman is cleverly trying to occupy a middle ground with Israeli voters, demonstrating that he can placate the Americans, while offering a plan so unfair to the Palestinians that there is no danger voters will consider him part of the “peace industry”.

That may fit the electoral mood: a recent poll showed 63 per cent of Israelis favour peace negotiations, but 70 per cent think they are doomed to fail. The Israeli public, like Lieberman, understands that the Palestinians will never agree to the kind of subjugation they are being offered.

The Israeli election’s one certain outcome is that, whoever wins, the next coalition will, actively or passively, allow more of the same: a slow, creeping annexation of what is left of a possible Palestinian state, as the US and Europe bicker.

Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are “Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East” (Pluto Press) and “Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair” (Zed Books). His website is www.jonathan-cook.net.

A version of this article first appeared in The National, Abu Dhabi.

Iran warned Australia about Sydney attacker

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A policeman lays a floral tribute with thousands of others near the cafe where hostages were held for over 16 hours, in central Sydney, Dec. 16, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/David Gray)

A policeman lays a floral tribute with thousands of others near the cafe where hostages were held for over 16 hours, in central Sydney, Dec. 16, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/David Gray)

by Arash Karami, Al Monitor

Man Haron Monis, the gunman behind the 16-hour hostage standoff in Sydney, Australia, resulting in the deaths of two individuals and himself, was well known to Iranian authorities. The self-styled “sheikh,” who left Iran for Australia in 1996, had abused Australia’s political system to gain immunity from prosecution in Iran, where he was a wanted man.

According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham, “The psychological history and condition of this individual, who for more than two decades was a refugee in Australia, was repeatedly presented to Australian officials.”

Afkham did not elaborate, but Haron Monis’ history while in Australia paints a clear picture of him as unstable and a charlatan posing as a religious man.

Before changing his name, Haron Monis was Mohammad Hassan Manteghi. As early as 2008, the Australian Shiite community warned federal agents he was an imposter posing as a Shiite ayatollah (in fact, they said there were no ayatollahs in Australia at the time) and no one had ever heard of the two names he was using, “Ayatollah Borujerdi” and “Sheikh Haron.” He was, however, in the news at the time for harassing family members of soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan.

Before his conversion to Sunnism to take up the cause of the Islamic State group, Haron Monis had faced a number of legal battles, including numerous charges of sexual assault — under the guise of religious “healer” — and accessory to the murder of his ex-wife in Australia.

Fars News Agency reported that Iran had requested via Interpol that Haron Monis be extradited in 1996 for “heavy financial fraud,” but that the request was denied when Haron Monis claimed that he would be persecuted in Iran for his “liberal” views. He was eventually granted political asylum in Australia.

A search of Interpol did not bring up anyone by the various names he used, but foreign-based Persian-language Manoto reported that Haron Monis was wanted in a $200,000 fraud case. Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) also claimed that Haron Monis had been wanted by Iran. Interestingly, while most Western media outlets published images of Haron Monis dressed in traditional Shiite clerical garb, IRNA’s choice shows a man in sunglasses wearing a white jacket over a black shirt with white stripes and white pants.

Australian media outlets had long bought into Haron Monis’ branding of himself as “liberal.” In January 2001, Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National program profiled Haron Monis, before his name change: “While in Sydney, we talk to Ayatollah Manteghi Borujerdi, an Iranian cleric espousing a liberal brand of Islam — dangerously liberal, as his views have led to his wife and two daughters being held hostage in Iran.”

The Fars article, headlined, “The con artist who was not returned to Iran under the excuse of ‘political asylum,’” also criticized the Western media for emphasizing his Iranian nationality.

Christmas Day conversion: Hindu outfit calls off ceremony

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conversion-Aligarh

Aligarh: Satya Prakash Nauman, district president of the outfit, on Tuesday said over phone,”The proposed ‘ghar wapsi'(conversion ceremony) planned for December 25 has been called off”.

However, he did not elaborate the reason behind the outfit’s u-turn.

A controversy had erupted after the outfits announcement that it will conduct a mass conversion ceremony at a local college here on December 25– Christmas.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were clamped in the city two days ago.

BJP MP Yogi Adityanath had also announced his plans to attend the proposed ceremony, saying there was nothing wrong if people re-convert to Hinduism if they are doing it willingly.

However, BJP had adopted a cautious approach on the potential face-off between the district authorities and the other saffron organisations.

“We are not organising this ceremony but if the organisers including the Bajrang Dal seek our help on this score, we will certainly do whatever we can to help them,” BJP’s district president Devraj Singh had told reporters.

Pakistan school attack: years of inaction on terror led to this atrocity

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Protestors gather in the wake of the attack. EPA/T Mughal

Protestors gather in the wake of the attack. EPA/T Mughal

by Talat Farooq, The Conversation

The shock waves from a brutal terror attack that claimed the lives of more than 130 children in the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar are being felt around the world.

The Taliban assault, which began on Tuesday morning, has claimed the lives of at least 141 people. Across social media people expressed their horror and sympathy. From Pakistan to the UK, relatives of children attending the Army Public School were anxiously awaiting news.

The attack is being seen as one of the worst in nearly a decade of unabated violence in the country that has killed more than 55,000 Pakistanis – most of whom were civilians.

The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, has confirmed that it was responsible for the attack and said the school was hit in response to army operations that have been taking place in the tribal areas.

Background to the attack

Over the past six months hundreds of Taliban fighters have been killed since a full-fledged military operation called Zarb-e-Azbwas launched. This has involved bombing the North Waziristan and Khyber areas in a bid to stamp out insurgencies.

Zarb-e-Azb was launched on June 15 2014 after talks between the Taliban and the government failed and a terrorist attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi left 39 dead, including all 10 gunmen.

The operation has been regarded as successful so far. The main hubs of militant activity have been cleared from North Waziristan and Khyber. And last week, the army gave the go-ahead for civilian authorities to start returning more than one million displaced people to North Waziristan.

But while the military side of the operation has met its targets, the political contribution made by successive governments has been less than satisfactory. The Pakistan Muslim League, in power since 2013, has long argued that dialogue with the Taliban is the preferred option. But this has meant failing to take any real ownership of the war that was raging regardless.

Just days after Zarb-e-Azb started, protesters associated with the political party Pakistan Awami Tehrik were killed in a violent clash with the Punjab police in Lahore, setting the stage for major political turmoil.

The situation worsened as Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf party started to accuse the PML government of electoral fraud in the elections of May 2013. Since August 2014, the PTI has continued to carry out protests, sit-ins and shut-downs in major cities. For its part, the government has failed to seriously resolve the issue through meaningful negotiations.

Failure to act

There has been a consistent lack of sufficient political will and seriousness on the part of the government to fully implement Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws. Not a single convicted terrorist has so far been punished even though Pakistan carries the death penalty for such crimes.

According to experts, a backlog of cases, the absence of a proper mechanism to monitor religious schools, the proliferation of mobile phones in prisons, over-reliance on witnesses rather than forensics by the police and a lack of information sharing between civil and military intelligence agencies are just some of the major weaknesses and problems encountered in Pakistan’s anti-terrorism investigations.

Institutionalised corruption and political interference has also seriously undermined the capacity of civilian law enforcement agencies to tackle the terrorist threat. The government administrations have therefore proved to be poorly equipped to cope with the demands of unconventional warfare and have failed to systematically dismantle sleeper-cells within the country.

This attack is likely to have serious repercussions within and beyond Pakistani territory. At the domestic level the public – already fed up with perennial energy crisis and rising inflation – is bound to lose whatever faith it may have had in the government’s current approach to tackling internal security threats. None of this bodes well for the democratic process in a country that has had 32 years of military rule since its creation 67 years ago.

Talat Farooq is a Research Associate at University of Birmingham.

The Conversation

NHRC notice to Andhra Pradesh over assault on labourers

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labourers-Human-Rights

New Delhi: The NHRC has issued notice to the Andhra Pradesh government after some forest officers of the state brutally assaulted labourers from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, an official statement said Tuesday.

According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the victims were extremely poor and were felling trees in a forest situated on the border between the two states in order to earn a livelihood.

“The labourers were unaware that they had been hired by unscrupulous elements to acquire the high-value timber from the forest. The poor villagers were not aware of the legal consequences of their actions,” the NHRC said.

However, the Andhra Pradesh Police brutally assaulted the workers belonging to the border districts of Vellore, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri in northern Tamil Nadu, the commission said, adding that there was a video clip of the entire incident.

“The law enforcement agencies can exercise their powers only in accordance with the provisions of the law. The video clips display a dismal picture of unarmed workers who were made to strip and were brutally attacked by certain persons claiming to be forest officials of Andhra Pradesh,” said the NHRC.

A notice has been issued to the chief secretary and Director General of Police of Andhra Pradesh, calling for a report within four weeks.

(IANS)

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