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#ModiInsultsIndia trends on Twitter: Here's why

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Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diplomatic efforts with China turned sour on Tuesday with a leading Chinese government mouthpiece saying that not many foreign direct investments are coming to India.

According to the mouthpiece, “”For the moment, there is little evidence of success for foreign investments from private enterprises. Economy a dilemma for globe-trotting Modi. Relentless efforts at major power diplomacy. In the end, if any country tries to encourage investments to India, most of the programmes will be led by the government itself, with most of the private business sector skeptical about the whole idea.”

The Chinese media also pointed out that the daily hard-nosed assessment of the country stops investors from doing promising business in India.
The article also targeted disappointing power failures, lack of decent roads and ports for transportation.

“Labour unrest occurs from time to time. Attracting investments against such backdrop will prove to be a major problem,” it added.

The mouthpiece barely two days after Modi’s visit to the ‘Dragon Kingdom’ comes as a jolt to those Indians who are expecting much out of the foreign tour.

Meanwhile, it gives another issue to the opposition who has time and again targeted PM for spending much on his foreign tours.
The shaming act by Chinese act also led to a trend on Twitter with people adding remarks using hashtag #ModiInsultsIndia.

South east Asia’s migrant boat crisis is a global responsibility

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A Thai vessel provides supplies to Rohingya migrants on an abandoned boat. EPA/STR

A Thai vessel provides supplies to Rohingya migrants on an abandoned boat. EPA/STR

by Kirsten McConnachie, The Conversation

Thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants have been left stranded at sea, after a crackdown against people traffickers in Thailand prompted dozens of boat owners and crew to abandon their human cargo.

Those at sea have been left without food and water, and will certainly die if they are not rescued soon. Now that more than 2,000 people have been rescued or arrived at their shores, Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai authorities have united in refusing to rescue further boats and claiming that they will turn back any more arrivals.

Their refusal to accept Rohingya boats mirrors the early years of the Indochina refugee crisis, when Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand collectively refused to grant asylum to arrivals from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. After thousands of people had been pushed back by land and sea, that situation was eventually resolved with an agreement for permanent resettlement of refugees to western nations, primarily the US.

But that was a very different time, shaped by Cold War politics that are now a distant memory. Today, with the European Union showing little sympathy for boat arrivals on its own shores, a coordinated international response seems highly improbable.

Wrong answer

Thailand’s crackdown on migrant traffickers followed the discovery of a mass grave in a suspected trafficking camp in southern Thailand. But while trafficking is undoubtedly a very real risk, Rohingya migration is not only or even primarily an issue of trafficking, and pushing back boats is not the answer.

Many of those now stranded at sea are not voluntary migrants but refugees who face persecution if returned to Myanmar. As in the Mediterranean, ending boat migration in south-east Asia will require shifting the focus from smugglers and traffickers to address the drivers of forced migration. For the Rohingya, that means tackling statelessness and human rights violationsinside Myanmar, and discrimination throughout south east Asia.

This is obviously easier said than done. The crisis facing the Rohingya in Myanmar is an entrenched, intractable problem with few avenues for positive reform. Rohingya communities have been denied citizenship for decades and face draconian restrictions on travel, movement and marriage. This has been compounded recently by the cancellation of all Temporary Registration Certificates, the only identity document that most Rohingya possess, and a document required to vote in the upcoming elections.

Myanmar’s Rohingya fear for their survival. Those who have fled to Bangladesh have fared little better, with little or no access to education and health services and very restricted access to the UN and other international agencies. These conditions have forced migration to other countries: to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia but also to India, Nepal and even Saudi Arabia.

What can ASEAN do?

To stop the immediate humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Andaman Sea and Malacca Strait, and to develop a lasting regional solution, member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) need to step in.

Until now, ASEAN’s policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of a member state has prevented regional discussion of Rohingya statelessness and discrimination. The current crisis clearly shows that this is not a matter of Myanmar’s internal affairs but is affecting many other countries in the region. ASEAN members have a stake in resolving this situation and must cooperate in doing so.

Rohingya migrants in East Aceh, Indonesia. EPA/Hotli Simanjuntak

A meeting has been arranged in Bangkok for May 29 2015, but those at sea will certainly die if no action is taken before then. There is an urgent need to stop boat pushbacks and begin emergency rescue of those stranded.

In the longer term, the focus must be on improving the treatment of Rohingya people inside Myanmar. Full citizenship for stateless Rohingya is difficult to envisage in Myanmar’s current political climate, but there are other possibilities. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights have outlined a number of constructive suggestions, beginning with providing a mandate to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights to investigate the situation and officially monitor Myanmar’s response.

Practical action that should be taken by Myanmar includes improving basic living conditions of Rohingya communities in Myanmar by ensuring access to clean water, adequate nutrition and health care and appropriate shelter materials. Administrative and legal reforms should end discriminatory restrictions on Rohingya people (such as restrictions on movement and marriage) and reinstate the temporary registration cards that were recently withdrawn. Crimes of discrimination and hate speech should be prosecuted, not permitted to flourish as they have until now.

A global responsibility

ASEAN member states have a key role to play, but this is not solely an ASEAN responsibility. Many states have flocked to provide aid and assistance to Myanmar since a process of political reform began in 2011. Those states are now entitled to demand some return for their investment, in the shape of an improved protection environment for the Rohingya and for other ethnic groups inside Myanmar.

In the meantime, a massive humanitarian crisis is unfolding in south east Asia. Thousands of people remain stranded at sea, and they will certainly die if they are not rescued soon. But as in the Mediterranean, tragic suffering could still be averted if those with the power to act would only show some moral leadership and begin the required rescue.

Kirsten McConnachie is a Research Fellow in Refugee Studies at University of Oxford.

The Conversation

Arab diplomats held secret talks with Israel: report

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Israeli delegates reportedly met with Arab and EU diplomats in Jordan. (AFP/File)

Israeli delegates reportedly met with Arab and EU diplomats in Jordan. (AFP/File)

by Ma’an

A secret meeting between Israeli diplomats and diplomats from Arab countries that do not have open diplomatic relations with Israel was recently held in Jordan, Israeli radio station Voice of Israel reported Tuesday.

The broadcasting station added in a report on their Arabic-language website that representatives of the European Union and the United States had also attended the meeting.

The report alleged that several Arab diplomats said that countries in the region should be preparing for a new reality as the United States’ influence on regional security begins to retreat.

They also were quoted as saying that Sunni countries in the Middle East are interested in cooperating with Israel on security issues.

However, Voice of Israel added that political deadlock between Israel and Palestine has so far prevented cooperation between Arab countries and Israel.

In recent months, commentators have noted an increasing alignment between Israeli and Gulf security priorities.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a predominantly Sunni military coalition against allegedly Iran-backed rebels in Yemen since March and is one among several Gulf states believed to be funding Syrian rebels fighting Iran’s allies in Syria and Iraq.

Israel has long been a hostile opponent of Iran.

Both Israel and Gulf nations have expressed dismay over an Iranian agreement with world powers that would prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for an easing of crippling economic sanctions.

RCB, Royals face off in IPL Eliminator

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Royal-Challengers-Bangalore

Pune: A battle royale is on the cards when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lock horns with Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator to be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association International Stadium here on Wednesday.

The team which ends up second on the day will have to bid farewell to the eighth edition of the tournament and wait for another year to campaign for the coveted trophy.

The winner will face-off against the loser of Qualifier 1 — to be played in Mumbai on Tuesday — which will be either two-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) or 2013 winners Mumbai Indians — who have had an amazing turnaround in fortunes this season.

For both RCB and the Royals, the next game would be a distant thought as first they have to outdo each other in one of the fiercest contests of this summer with both teams boasting of immense firepower.

Speaking of batting, it came to the forefront for both teams in their last encounters of the league stage where the Royals had the better of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and RCB blasted away a formidable challenge from the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The last game for the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers against the Delhi Daredevils was a washout.

Against the Knights, it was Australian all-rounder Shane Watson who stood strong for the Royals, clubbing his way to an unconquered 104 off just 59 balls while it was Kohli and burly Jamaican Chris Gayle who stole the limelight in the game against Sunrisers as the Royal Challengers chased down 81 runs in barely six overs in a rain-curtailed tie.

Getting to the playoffs has not been a cakewalk for either, with both managing to win only seven of their 14 matches apiece — and in two cases each shared the spoils in rain-marred matches.

Nonetheless, the Royals will look to do a repeat of the inaugural edition where they clinched the title when most experts had written them off while RCB will look to holding aloft the trophy for the first time.

It is hard to separate the two outfits from their head-to-head encounters with each side pocketing seven of the 15 clashes between them.

It might just require a Herculean effort from the big guns to make a difference and clinch the contest on Wednesday night. Will it be Gayle, Kohli or AB de Villiers for RCB or will Watson and Steven Smith do it for the Royals?

Given the unpredictability of this format, it might also push up an unlikely hero in the form of a bowler like Mitchell Starc or Chris Morris.

(IANS)

China orders Muslim shopkeepers to sell alcohol, cigarettes, to ‘weaken’ Islam

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This photo taken on April 16, 2015 shows Uighur men praying in a mosque in Hotan, in China's western Xinjiang region. (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images)

This photo taken on April 16, 2015 shows Uighur men praying in a mosque in Hotan, in China’s western Xinjiang region. (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images)

by Simon Denyer, The Washington Post

Chinese authorities have ordered Muslim shopkeepers and restaurant owners in a village in its troubled Xinjiang region to sell alcohol and cigarettes, and promote them in “eye-catching displays,” in an attempt to undermine Islam’s hold on local residents, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported. Establishments that failed to comply were threatened with closure and their owners with prosecution.

Facing widespread discontent over its repressive rule in the mainly Muslim province of Xinjiang, and mounting violence in the past two years, China has launched a series of “strike hard” campaigns to weaken the hold of Islam in the western region. Government employees and children have been barred from attending mosques or observing the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. In many places, women have been barred from wearing face-covering veils, and men discouraged from growing long beards.

In the village of Aktash in southern Xinjiang, Communist Party official Adil Sulayman, told RFA that many local shopkeepers had stopped selling alcohol and cigarettes from 2012 “because they fear public scorn,” while many locals had decided to abstain from drinking and smoking.

The Koran calls the use of “intoxicants” sinful, while some Muslim religious leaders have also forbidden smoking.

Sulayman said authorities in Xinjiang viewed ethnic Uighurs who did not smoke as adhering to “a form of religious extremism.” They issued the order to counter growing religious sentiment that was “affecting stability,” he said.

“We have a campaign to weaken religion here, and this is part of that campaign,” he told the Washington-based news service.

The notice, obtained by RFA and posted on Twitter, ordered all restaurants and supermarkets in Aktash to sell five different brands of alcohol and cigarettes and display them prominently. “Anybody who neglects this notice and fails to act will see their shops sealed off, their businesses suspended, and legal action pursued against them,” the notice said.

Radio Free Asia, which provides some of the only coverage of events in Xinjiang to escape strict Chinese government controls, said Hotan prefecture, where Aktash is located, had become “a hotbed of violent stabbing and shooting incidents between ethnic Uighurs and Chinese security forces.”

China says Uighur militant groups based abroad are using the Internet to inspire local Muslims to take up violent jihad against the state. Critics say China’s long repression of Uighur rights and nationalist sentiment has pushed people toward Islam as the only permitted assertion of their community’s identity, and pushed a minority toward a violent form of Islam. Clumsy attempts to promote alcohol or forbid beards and veils may prove counterproductive, they warn.

James Leibold, an expert on China’s ethnic policies at Melbourne’s La Trobe University, said Chinese officials were “often flailing around in the dark” when tackling extremism. An acute lack of understanding leads them to focus on visible, but imprecise, perceptions of radicalism such as long beards, veils and sobriety, he said.

The result is often “crude forms of ethno-cultural profiling,” Leibold said.

“These sorts of mechanistic and reactive policies only serve to inflame ethno-national tension without addressing the root causes of religious extremism, while further alienating the mainstream Uighur community, making them feel increasingly unwelcome within a hostile, Han-dominated society,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Sulayman said around 60 shops and restaurants in the area had complied with the government order, and there were no reports of protests. But in an unrelated incident in neighboring Qinghai province on Friday, an angry crowd of Muslims smashed windows of a supposedly halal store in Xining city, after pork sausages and ham were found in a delivery van, according to the local government and photographs on social media

Philippines may open doors to Rohingya migrants

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Government indicates willingness to provide welfare for boat people, after other SE Asian nations reject new migrants.

Students in Indonesia have protested the government's policy to reject further Rohingya migrants [EPA]

Students in Indonesia have protested the government’s policy to reject further Rohingya migrants [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Manila: The Philippine government has said it is willing to open the country’s doors to minority Rohingya migrants who have fled Myanmar and Bangladesh, saying that it is committed to the United Nations pledge to protect asylum seekers and refugees.

“Let us not fall short of providing humanitarian relief and assistance that is asked of us, as we pride ourselves to be a compassionate and hospitable people,” Senator Paolo Aquino said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

“We call on the proper international agencies to process the legal issues immediately for the welfare of the boat people,” said Aquino, a cousin and political ally of President Benigno Aquino.

The statement came after Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Monday that the country has an obligation to admit and protect asylum seekers, even when the refugees do not have documents to prove their status.

“If there are boat people who come to us seeking the protection of our government, there is a process, there are existing mechanisms on how to handle these refugees or asylum seekers,” de Lima said in a statement.

The Philippine justice secretary’s remarks came after a spokesman of the president was earlier quoted as saying that the refugees could be turned away because they do not have the necessary documents.

The statements were issued as other Southeast Asian nations continued to reject taking in more migrants stranded on boats off Southeast Asia’s shores, despite growing international pressure.

Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia have been in high-level talks in an attempt to solve the refugee crisis after boats holding more than 2,000 migrants, including many Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis, landed in their countries in recent weeks.

UN agencies urged the three regional powers on Tuesday to step up their sea rescue operations and let desperate migrants reach land.

In a joint statement, joined by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the agencies called on the three countries to stop trying to push boats away from their territorial waters.

Authorities should “provide for effective, predictable disembarkation to a place of safety with adequate and humane reception conditions” and establish screening procedures to identify those in need of international protection as refugees, the statement added.

The Philippines has a long history of hosting refugees from other Asian countries, and as far as Europe.

During World War II, then Philippine President Manuel Quezon ordered the admission of 1,500 Jewish refugees fleeing from the Holocaust in Europe.

Following the war and the communist victory in the civil war in China, thousands of Chinese refugees also settled in the Philippines.

In the 1970s, as Vietnam was engaged in a civil war, the Philippines also provided sanctuary to Vietnamese “boat people” building a Vietnamese village in the western island of Palawan. Most of the refugees were eventually resettled in other countries, many of them in the US.

Yadav, Bhushan support Kejriwal in tussle with Delhi Lieutenant Governor

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Photo: Arvind Yadav, HT

Photo: Arvind Yadav, HT

New Delhi: Swaraj Abhiyan, a group formed by ousted AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, came out in support of Delhi dispensation in its tussle with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over appointments, saying the choice of a democratically elected government should be respected.

It, however, condemned dragging of bureaucracy in the “petty” political fight.

“In principle, Swaraj Abhiyan believes that the choice of a democratically elected government should be respected by Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor. But the politics of personal allegations, brinkmanship and dragging of the bureaucracy into petty political fights is unfortunate.

“Swaraj Abhiyan condemns it and believes that such a culture is not conducive to the health of democracy,” a statement from the group said.

The Delhi government has locked horns in a power tussle with Lt Govenor Najeeb Jung over appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary, which was opposed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The group also supported the AAP’s stand for full statehood to Delhi.

“Swaraj Abhiyan considers the demand for full statehood to Delhi as a genuine one. Parties like Congress and BJP have been adopting double standards and fooling the people on a critical issue. In the spirit of the democracy and benefit of citizens, we believe that important government decisions should always be taken with the elected government in confidence,” it said.

Swaraj Abhiyan hopes that both the sides show maturity, rise above ego-clash and petty political fights in order to break the deadlock so that the people of Delhi do not have to suffer, it added.

Just before Yadav and Bhushan were ousted from AAP last month, along with Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, the rebel leaders organised an convention called Swaraj Samvad, which was followed by formation of the group called Swaraj Abhiyan.

(Agencies)

Modi asks Korean companies to deepen India ties

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Narendra Modi South Korea

Seoul: With several hundred Korean companies already operating in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invited South Korean companies and asked them to help India achieve the economic success.

“We in India want to achieve a lot of what Korea has already done. That is why I, along with a large business delegation, are here,” Modi said here, addressing the India-Korea CEOs forum.

“The good news is that India-Korea bilateral trade has risen after signing of Korea-India CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or free trade agreement) in January 2010,” he added.

With hundreds of South Korean companies operating and the Korean investment zone in Rajasthan progressing well, Modi said there was still a lot of scope for further improvement.

“From IT and electronics to automobile and steel, Korea has given exemplary products to the world,” he said.

“Your steel-making capacity and our resources of iron ore can be put together. Your ship-building capacity and our agenda of port led development can become driver of our growth,” Modi added.

He said infrastructure and housing are the other fields where both countries can work together in a big way.

South Korea offered to provide $10 billion for infrastructure projects in India, including smart cities and railways, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with President Park Geun-hye here on Monday and the two countries decided to elevate their ties to a special strategic partnership.

(IANS)

Unable to bear male child, woman kills three minors in Punjab

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Children-assaulted

Kapurthala: A woman was booked for murdering three children, including her two daughters, over a period of two months allegedly under frustration for not being able to bear a male child, police said here today.

Accused Sarabjit Kaur, at village Mand Sarupwala in Sultanpurilodha area near here, murdered her six-year-old daughter by giving her poison and followed the same method to kill her two-year-old daughter also, police said. According to the police, the accused woman has also confessed to killing a relative’s two-year-old son by poisoning him, too, SP Jagjit Soraya said.

Police had registered a criminal case on April 11 against the woman on the complaint of her father-in-law who suspected her of the killings, the SP said adding, following which the post mortem of boy was done and his viscera sent for analysis.

Meanwhile the police also consulted psychologists and other experts and on the findings of post mortem report concluded that the accused had murdered the three kids in a frustration for not being able to bear a male child, he said.

Sultanpurlodhi Deputy SP Devinder Singh, when contacted, said police arrested the accused Sarabjit Kaur and was produced her before the local magistrate who remanded her to two days police custody.

During preliminary interrogation, the accused confessed murdering the three kids and a case under section 302 IPC against her, police said.

(PTI)

Dalit man marries Lingayat girl; father-in-law kills him

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caste

Raichur: A lower caste man was allegedly murdered by his wife’s father and relatives at Yermarus, about five km from here for marrying outside caste.

The deceased has been identified as Anand Sagar (28), a native of Yermarus.

According to the police, Anand, who belonged to Uppara community, married Basavarajeshwari, belonging to the Lingayat communtiy, in November 2014 against the wishes of their parents. The couple relocated to Ballari as they faced threats from her parents.

“The girl’s father, Virupakshappa Gowda, and others attacked on Sunday night him with cudgels and stones off Raichur-Hyderabad road at Yermarus. They smashed his head and killed him on the spot. All the accused are absconding. A case has been registered at Raichur rural police station,” Circle Inspector K. Basavaraj said.

A source in the Police Department revealed that Anand Sagar, soon after his marriage, approached the then Raichur Superintendent of Police M.N. Nagaraj and had orally sought his help against the threats.

The police officer had reportedly tried to convince the girl’s parents about the legally-valid marriage and had warned them not to disturb the couple.

(Agencies)

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