News and Events - AUGUST 2009

[hit&run]

India entred clone age.

India's cloning glory

Enjoy:113::sun_bespectacled::clever66:

 

[Daredevil]

War hero dies in penury, bravery counts for nothing

War hero dies in penury, bravery counts for nothing

Hemender Sharma
CNN-IBN


WAR HERO: Radhe Shyam Tiwari received seven bravery awards including the Mention-in-Dispatch.
Bhopal: Radhe Shyam Tiwari fought three wars for India, winning seven bravery awards, but died in poverty with his family scrounging around and appealing to friends for money to perform the last rites of the 75-year-old war hero.
Tiwari received seven bravery awards including the Mention-in-Dispatch award from the President of India died in Madya Pradesh's Mandsour on Friday.
All the bravery and service to the nation, however, failed to get him any dignity, not even in death.
He could be cremated only after friends, relatives and well wishers donated money.
Post his retirement, Tiwari lived, and died in penury.
By the time he retired, he had fought three wars for India, sustained injuries in the 1971 war against Pakistan and was decorated with seven bravery awards.
"He fought for the country but was given nothing in return, People usurped his land and he was left to fend for himself. No one came to his rescue when he needed help against those who had occupied the land given by the government," a relative BL Tiwari.
Tiwary was given 12 bigha land by the government, but most of it was illegally occupied even before it was allocated to him.
In his last years, cancer killed his wife, before turning to Tiwari himself. But this was one war the veteran couldn't win.
"My father was a fighter. He fought for the country; he never got the land that he was allocated, mother died from cancer. The medals that he got ultimately were of no use," his son Ajay Tiwary said.
The Indian state by conferring a Mention-in-Dispatch Award in 1974 ensured that his name was mentioned in a gazette notification but could do little else.
Neither his medals, nor the government helped him in his battle for survival. Even his last journey was made on borrowed money.
***************

Very sad to see the way the govt. treat our war heroes and armed forces people.

 

[Daredevil]

Obama administration complains to WTO about China

Obama administration complains to WTO about China

China's being unfair to U.S. steel producers by restricting access to raw materials, the U.S. says. The complaint is the first to be filed after Obama promised aggressive action in his campaign.
By Jim Puzzanghera

8:56 AM PDT, June 23, 2009

Reporting from Washington — The Obama administration today demonstrated its intent to be tougher on major global trading partners, filing a complaint against China for restricting access to raw materials important for U.S. producers of steel, aluminum and chemicals.

The request to the World Trade Organization to begin dispute resolution talks is the first trade complaint by the administration after President Obama promised more aggressive action on such issues during the campaign. It accuses China of placing unfair export restraints on nine materials that it is a major producer of, including coke, a key component to making steel.

The restrictions have driven up the prices of those materials for U.S. manufacturers while reducing the costs to Chinese companies, said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

"China's policies on these raw materials seem to be a giant thumb on the scale in favor of Chinese producers. It's our job to make sure we remove that thumb from that scale," Kirk said at a news conference. "Today's action is proof of our commitment to level the playing field in this area."

The European Union also filed a WTO complaint against China today on the same issue.

Kirk said the U.S. decided to act after talks with China during the past two years over the issue failed to lead to the removal of the export restrictions.

Those talks were largely conducted by the Bush administration, which had opted against filing a formal complaint with the WTO, which governs global trade among nation's who are members. Since China joined the WTO about 10 years ago, the United States has filed 7 cases against the country. China has filed four cases against the United States during that time.

Kirk said that ensuring countries do not impose unfair trade practices is crucial as the United States tries to emerge from the severe recession.

"Now more than ever trade is essential to keeping America's economy afloat," Kirk said.

As an example of the impact of China's trade practices on the materials, Kirk cited coke, which is a key component to producing steel. In 2008, China was the world's leading producer, with 336 million metric tons. But export duties the reached 40% limited annual exports to 12 million metric tons, he said. The restrictions meant that the world price for coke in August of 2008 was $740 per metric ton while in China it was only $472 per metric ton.

China has said WTO rules allow it to place the restrictions on the materials, which also include zinc, magnesium and yellow phosphorous, because they are exhaustible natural resources of the country.

 

[I-G]

Kandhamal rape case: Nun identifies the third accused

Kandhamal rape case: Nun identifies the third accused
23 Jun 2009, 2052 hrs IST, PTI

BHUBANESWAR: The catholic nun, allegedly raped during the Kandhamal riots, on Tuesday identified a third person in an identification parade and a
charge sheet is now likely to be filed against the three people.

Seventy persons were today produced at the second Test Identification Parade (TIP) held at Choudwar jail in Cuttack, official sources said.

Earlier during the first TIP on January 5, the nun had identified two persons, they said.

"With identification of three persons, police will now file charge sheet against them," a senior crime branch official said, indicating that its search for accused persons had ended as all the three persons allegedly involved in the incident had been identified by the victim.

The nun was forcibly taken to a room where she was allegedly raped during Orissa bandh in the aftermath of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati's killing on August 23 last year.

While one person actually raped her, two others helped the rapist, the official said, adding the second TIP was held almost six months after the first TIP following the arrest of seven more persons during the period.

Kandhamal rape case: Nun identifies the third accused - India - The Times of India

 

[Singh]

Govt to spend 1100 crores to restore Srinagar's Dal Lake

Govt to spend 1100 crores to save Dal Lake​

Srinagar: The ailing Dal Lake, famous for its colourful shikaras, majestic houseboats and splendid floating gardens, is set to get a fresh lease of life.

After the Centre announced a Rs1,100-crore project to restore the water body's pristine glory and rehabilitate the 10,000 families staying in villages along it, work to turn the lake into the dream destination that it once was has gathered steam.

The central help is timely, as the lake is shrinking fast due to the enormous pressure of inhabitation. Waste disposal by the increasing human population around it is turning the water body into a land mass and it desperately needed help.

"Dal is a not a lake, it is an ecosystem. It has many wetlands. It is in fact a social system because 10,000 families live in the Dal," Jairam Ramesh, Union minister of state for environment and forests, said.

The 'Save Dal Lake' project will be completed in two phases - conservation and rehabilitation. "In Phase 1, we will focus on cleaning the lake, setting up sewage treatment plants and a draining system. This will cost Rs300 crore. Forty per cent of the work has been carried out and the remaining will be completed by March 2010," Ramesh said.

The state is procuring heavy-duty de-weeding machines from Finland to clean the lake in express time.

"In Phase 2, Rs800 crore will be spent on rehabilitation of Dal dwellers. "CM (Omar Abdullah) and I have agreed that resettlement should not mean giving plots only. It shall involve offering houses/dwelling units to people to be relocated from the Dal," Ramesh said.

"I have promised the CM to take up the funding with the PM and finance minister. Finance commissions are visiting Kashmir next week and I will recommend a special grant for the historic project," he said.

The Houseboat Owners Association is happy. "It is a positive step. Knowing his (Ramesh's) capabilities, we are sure he will complete the project," chairman Mohammad Azim Tuman said.

See Dal in its full glory next year

 

[Singh]

A £180m weeding job: The lake that has shrunk to half its original size​

Kashmir's Dal Lake is dying, choked by algae that thrives on pollution. But a plan to clean it up threatens the livelihoods of local people

Every day, amid the early morning mists that sit low over the water of Dal Lake, a remarkable piece of theatre is played out. Emerging from the islands and the alleyways of reeds, men paddle traditional wooden boats to an area of the lake that is heavy with weeds. There, using nets fixed atop willow branches, they haul the weeds into their boats. With their vessels partially submerged by the weight, they then paddle slowly away, to use their bounty as fertiliser for crops.

On Kashmir's Dal Lake – whose tranquillity has lured everyone from Mughal emperors to George Harrison and Ravi Shankar – there is no shortage of boatmen and no shortage of weeds. Indeed, despite more than a decade of efforts to arrest its spread, the clogging, spinach-green algae appears to be everywhere.

This week, in what might underline a new determination to try to rescue the lake, the Indian government announced £180m to fund a new clean-up of the Dal and another of the state's iconic lakes, the Wular, one of the largest freshwater bodies in Asia. "This conservation effort is the first serious fully-funded effort," announced the Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh.

The slow death of Dal Lake, which less than 30 years ago measured at least double its current size, is a story of tawdry neglect that has played out against the backdrop of Kashmir's separatist insurgency. Once a favoured spot for both the elite of the British Raj and backpacking hippies who escaped the crushing heat of India's plains by relaxing on the lake's famous houseboats, the Dal is now polluted with litter, rubbish and thousands of tonnes of sewage that are pumped into it untreated. The increased nitrogen in the water gives rise to the growth in algae and weeds which choke the lake's aquatic life.

Yet for all that, the lake's majesty is still obvious and the tragedy of its decline all the more sad.

Pushing off his wooden shikhara from a shoreline shaded by huge chinar trees and alive with the song of wakening birds, boatman Lassa Dar gave a tour of his world. His paddle angled in the weed-filled water, he remembered the days when the water used to be much cleaner and people swam in it. "The weeds have got much worse," he said. "It is all the run-off that enters the lake."

On the east of the lake boatmen were hauling out weeds on behalf of the local authorities. On this side, however, the boatmen gathering the dark-green algae were farmers collecting it for their own use. Mr Dar, 62, who has been working as a boatman for 50 years, paddled to one of the lake's numerous floating gardens where, on a buoyant "field" made of reeds and composted weeds, the farmers raise a variety of crops.

"I grow tomatoes, melons, cucumbers and marrows," said Gulam Hassan, who was gathering weeds, leaning with all his weight on the supple willow pole to lever his dripping green haul from the water.

It is estimated that there are around 40,000 farmers such as Mr Hassan living on islands dotted around the lake who make their living in this way. As part of the plan for the Dal drawn up by the state and federal authorities, all will be forced to relocate to new homes in Srinagar, the state's summer capital that sprawls around the southern end of the lake. Many of these farmers are angry about the plan, saying it will mean an end to their livelihoods.

Although the new money to clean up the Dal has come from Delhi, much of the energy behind the effort belongs to Jammu and Kashmir's youthful Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah. He has made restoring the lake one of the top policy priorities. In an interview, the Chief Minister said that for decades people had considered the Dal a refuse dump where sewage could be pumped. "We did not wake up to the fact that it was going to fill up and catch up with us. A very concerted effort is now needed to clean it up," he added. "I am sure that we can rescue it. Without the Dal, Srinagar is just another town in the hills."

In addition to the shifting of the lake's residents, the two-year clean-up plan involves the building of new treatment works, a halt to deforestation and the purchase of heavy-duty de-weeding machines from Finland. Houseboat owners will also be required to fit septic tanks.

Some observers have expressed the hope that now the militant violence that has killed at least 70,000 people appears to have paused, more focus can be put on the Dal. Yet the authorities may also wish to consider the need for greater oversight. Talk of corruption abounds in Srinagar. Earlier this year it was reported that 50 officials with the government's Lakes and Waterways Development Authority had been cited by the state's top anti-corruption body.

Though such allegations might breed a degree of cynicism among the people of Kashmir, the public desire to save and restore the Dal is overwhelming. Earlier this year, Kashmir's most famous playwright, Mohammed Amin Bhat, produced a play, April Fool, to highlight the plight of the lake. It was performed to enthusiastic reviews. "For us, it's not just a water body," said Bhat. "It's a symbol of our culture and our heritage. That is why we are so possessive of it."

A £180m weeding job: The lake that has shrunk to half its original size - Asia, World - The Independent

 

[Singh]

US :Coming to a Car Dealer Near You: Pickups from India

Dramatically weakened by recession, U.S. automakers in the next few years are likely to be challenged on their home turf by car manufacturers from the developing world. But while the Chinese were expected to be the first to land in North America, it now looks like India will beat China to the U.S. market — and not with cars, but with light trucks.

By the end of the year, Mumbai-based conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra — best known outside India for manufacturing tractors — plans to launch two-door and four-door compact pickups that would compete with established brands such as the Toyota Tacoma, the best-selling compact truck in the U.S., and the Ford Ranger. Powered by clean-burning diesel engines and tailored for U.S. buyers, prices for the as-yet-unnamed pickups will range from $20,000 to $30,000, says Pawan Goenka, president of Mahindra & Mahindra's automotive business. The company also plans to launch two SUVs, called the Scorpio and the Bolero, in the U.S. next year.

Mahindra & Mahindra, which has annual sales of $6.3 billion, is the third largest tractor company in the world and India's largest SUV maker. The company is no stranger to North America — it's been selling tractors in the U.S. since 1995 and has assembly plants in Texas, Georgia and California.

By launching vehicles aimed at American consumers, the Indian company is wading into a market that has been decimated by higher fuel costs and plunging sales amid a recession that has driven General Motors and Chrysler to restructure under bankruptcy-court protection. U.S. sales of gas-guzzling SUVs have fallen from a peak of 2.84 million in 2003 to just 1.26 million last year, according to J.D. Power and Associates. SUVs accounted for 17.1% of U.S. auto sales in 2003; in the first five months of 2009, SUVs made up just 7.8% of the market.

Goenka, however, says Detroit's woes create opportunities for new brands to gain a foothold in the U.S., which remains the top market in the world for light trucks. "The automakers' struggles have definitely given us an opening," says Goenka, who spent 14 years in GM's research and development division. For one thing, Chrysler, GM and Ford are steering away from trucks and SUVs and toward smaller cars, leaving room for newcomers. And as the Big Three shed hundreds of dealerships, Mahindra & Mahindra, along with its U.S. partner Global Vehicles of Alpharetta, Ga., is finding it easier to establish a sales network. Global Vehicles, an auto importer and distributor, has signed up 336 dealers, some of them former outlets for GM, Chrysler and Ford, in 50 states, says John Perez, the company's CEO.

Although Chinese carmakers like Geely Automobile Holdings and Chery Automobile have announced plans to break into the U.S., so far none have been able to secure distribution networks.

Despite the weakened state of U.S. automakers, Mahindra & Mahindra will face a tough battle convincing consumers to switch truck brands, analysts say. "The pickup market is one of the most challenging to enter, since the loyalty to Detroit products in this segment is high," says Colin Langan, an auto-industry analyst for UBS Financial Services in the U.S. "A lot depends on pricing, brand recognition, reliability and consumer acceptance," says Darius Lam, associate editor of Autocar Professional, a Mumbai magazine.

Mahindra's truck will be powered by a 2.2-liter engine, which uses clean-diesel technology that complies with California's stringent emissions requirements. Diesel could give the Indian truck an advantage: it offers better fuel efficiency than that of rival gasoline-powered pickups. "Most [competing] vehicles do not offer diesel, which gives better fuel economy, making the Mahindra pickup unique," says Langan. "It may appeal to cost-conscious businesses."

Perez notes that the Mahindra pickup, while capable of getting 30 m.p.g., will have a payload capacity of 2,700 lb. In comparison, the Toyota Tacoma has a payload capacity of 1,570 lb. and delivers 26 m.p.g., he says. "Once Americans see that their neighbor has a pickup which gives 30 m.p.g., they'll say, 'Maybe I should look at that,' " Perez says.

But U.S. consumers have in the past shunned diesel-powered vehicles, and it's unclear whether the Mahindra trucks will have a clear advantage when it comes to sticker price. Mahindra says the price, which analysts expect to be about $20,000, will be divulged closer to the December launch date. Perez says the trucks "will not be cheap, but will be reasonably priced." Competitors have base models starting at about $15,000. "Mahindra will have to tread the thin line between cheap and value," says Mohit Arora, J.D. Power's senior director for India. "Too cheap will affect quality perceptions, while a higher price will alienate buyers."

Mahindra will also have to contend with skepticism surrounding the made-in-India tag. Indian companies are recognized by Americans for outsourcing and call centers, not for manufacturing prowess. The most famous Indian manufacturer today may be Tata Motors, which garnered international recognition earlier this year when it launched its $2,000 minicar, the Nano. Tata plans to start selling the Nano in the U.S. in 2011.

To create brand awareness for its pickups and SUVs, Mahindra is expected to spend about $20 million on Internet and print advertising leading up to the trucks' debut. The vehicles will be imported from India; the company has no immediate plans to build pickups in the U.S.

Mahindra and its U.S. partner have been working closely to design trucks that suit American tastes. Whenever newly minted U.S. dealers have visited Mahindra's production and research facilities in India, they have come armed with cups from McDonald's and Starbucks to test the size of the cup holders. Even the seats will be larger than those on Mahindra vehicles in India. "We are big guys with big butts," says Perez.

Coming to an Ex-Car Dealer Near You: Pickup Trucks From India - TIME

 

[I-G]

Pakistan SC rejects Indian prisoner Sarabjit's mercy petition

Pakistan SC rejects Indian prisoner Sarabjit's mercy petition
24 Jun 2009, 1028 hrs IST, PTI



ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a review petition filed by Indian national Sarabjit Singh and upheld the death entence
given to him for his alleged involvement in the Lahore bomb attacks in 1990.

A three-member bench led by Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed dismissed Sarabjit's review petition on merit and upheld the death sentence awarded to him by an anti-terrorism court in 1991. The apex court gave its verdict after his counsel failed to appear in court.

Sarabjit's counsel had failed to appear in court for the past few hearings, including the last one on Monday. Rana Abdul Hamid, the lawyer who was representing Sarabjit, had been unable to appear in court after he was last year appointed an additional advocate general by Punjab province.

Sarabjit has been on death row since he was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in 1990 that killed 14 people. His family insists that he was wrongly convicted for the bombings.

Sarabjit was set to be hanged on April 1, 2008 though Pakistani authorities put off his execution indefinitely after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened in the matter.

Following an appeal by Sarabjit, the Lahore High Court had upheld his death sentence in 2003. The apex court too had upheld his death sentence in August 2005. Former President Pervez Musharraf dismissed Sarabjit's mercy petition last year.

Sarabjit's execution was initially deferred for 30 days by Musharraf last year. This was done so that the Pakistan People's Party-led government, which had just assumed power at the time, could review his case following India's appeal for clemency.

In October last year, then Pakistan law minister Farooq Naek met Sarabjit at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore to examine his case so that President Asif Ali Zardari could decide whether to pardon him. There has been no movement in this matter since then.

Naek, who is now chairman of the senate or upper house of parliament, had pointed out that only the president has the powers to pardon or remit Sarabjit's sentence as his mercy petition has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Pakistan SC rejects Indian prisoner Sarabjit's mercy petition - Pakistan - World - The Times of India

 

[Pintu]

SC rejects Sarabjit's plea; Zardari to decide his fate

SC rejects Sarabjit's plea; Zardari to decide his fate

Islamabad, PTI:
Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a review petition filed by Indian national Sarabjit Singh and upheld the death sentence given to him for his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990.

The fate of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh hung by a slender thread as Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed his review petition challenging the death sentence handed out to him in 1991, leaving him at the mercy of a presidential pardon by Asif Ali Zardari.

Sarabjit's conviction for alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in 1990 that killed 14 people in Pakistan by an anti-terrorism court in 1991 was upheld by a three-member Supreme Court bench led by Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed.

The bench dismissed 43-year-old Sarabjit's review petition after his counsel again failed to appear in the court and he was convicted as there was nobody to defend him.

Sarabjit's counsel had failed to appear in the court for the past few hearings, including the last one on Monday.

Rana Abdul Hamid, the lawyer who was representing Sarabjit, told reporters after the verdict, "I cannot be present in the court as I'm a government lawyer".

"Other lawyer, who was to represent him, was in some other court and before he could have reached there the petition was dismissed," said Hamid.

The sole hope left for Sarabjit, whose trial evoked much public and media hype on both sides of the border, is a pardon by President Zardari.

His review mercy petition is now pending in the President's office.

"I cannot really comment on this now," Presidential spokesman Farhattullah Babar said when asked to comment on the court order.

Sarabjit's lawyer Hamid said he had been unable to appear in the court after he was last year appointed as an additional advocate general by Punjab government.

Sarabjit was set to be hanged on April 1 last year though Pakistani authorities put off his execution indefinitely after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened in the matter.

Following an appeal by Sarabjit, the Lahore High Court had upheld his death sentence in 2003. The apex court too had upheld his death sentence in August 2005. Former President Pervez Musharraf dismissed Sarabjit's mercy petition last year.

Sarabjit's execution was initially deferred for 30 days by Musharraf last year. This was done so that the Pakistan People's Party-led government, which had just assumed power at the time, could review his case following India's appeal for clemency.

In October last year, then Law Minister Farooq Naek met Sarabjit at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore to examine his case so that President Zardari could decide whether to pardon him. There has been no movement in this matter since then.

Naek, who is now Chairman of the Senate or upper house of parliament, had pointed out that only the President had the powers to pardon or remit Sarabjit's sentence as his mercy petition had been dismissed by the Supreme Court.

 

[Flint]

Seems that the previous guy who was released, and later admitted to being a spy when he reached India, had embarassed the Pakistani establishment.

 

[johnee]

Seems that the previous guy who was released, and later admitted to being a spy when he reached India, had embarassed the Pakistani establishment.

Was that previous guy telling a truth or merely boasting or lost his mind?

 

[Daredevil]

Monkey urinates on Zambian president

Monkey urinates on Zambian president

Reuters

MONKEY BUSINESS: Several monkeys play around the grounds of Banda's residence and his office.
Lusaka: A monkey urinated on Zambian President Rupiah Banda as he spoke to journalists at a news conference on Wednesday.
Banda softly shouted, "You (monkey) have urinated on my jacket," and paused as he looked up to see the animal playing in a tree just above his chair.
"Perhaps these are blessings," he said continuing his address amid laughter from the audience of journalists and diplomats at the State House presidential offices.
Several monkeys play around the grounds of Banda's residence and his office.
There are also many species of antelope and birds in the State House grounds.

 

[I-G]

Burney to file fresh mercy petition for Sarabjit

New Delhi, June 24: Human Rights Activist Ansar Burney will file a fresh mercy petition tomorrow to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on behalf of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian facing the gallows in that country.

Singh's petition to review his death sentence was rejected by Pakistan's Supreme Court today.

"Now, I am going to file a fresh Mercy petition before the President of Pakistan tomorrow, June 25, and from my side I am confident that I will not allow Pakistan Government to hang an innocent person only on the basis that he is Non-Muslim or Indian national," Burney said.

Sarabjit, 43, has been on death row in Pakistan since he was convicted for his alleged involvement in four bomb blasts 18 years ago.

The blasts, which took place in 1990, killed 14 people but Sarabjit's family insists that he was wrongly convicted.

Burney, former Pakistani federal minister for human rights, condemned the decision of the Supreme Court on the review petition.

Sarabjit was to be hanged on April 1 last year but the mercy appeal by Ansar Burney Trust put off his execution indefinitely, the activist said.

"How a court, if there is any justice in that court, can punish a person to hang without providing him any lawyer and in a case where the prisoner already spent 18 long years in a death cell that is more than a life sentence?" Burney questioned.

An Expert Advisor on human rights in the United Nations at Geneva, Burney said that the apex court treated Sarabjit Singh not as prisoner but as Non-Muslim (Kafir) and Indian national, and that "is a murder of justice".

Burney to file fresh mercy petition for Sarabjit

 

[youngindian]

Federal Bureau of Investigation Awards Lockheed Martin Biometric Card Scanning Servic

Federal Bureau of Investigation Awards Lockheed Martin Biometric Card Scanning Service Contract




WEBWIRE – Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Rockville, Md.- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a five-year, $47 million contract to continue managing the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division’s Card Scanning Service (CSS) program. The contract covers the conversion of paper fingerprint, palm print and photo records into high-quality electronic records for the FBI.

Records processed through this program are submitted by state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies and used to populate the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) database, a national fingerprint and criminal history system maintained by the FBI CJIS Division. With this new contract, the FBI will also be able to automatically process paper fingerprint records submitted by foreign law enforcement agencies.

“We’re proud to continue our decade-long partnership with the FBI on the Card Scanning Service program,” said Barbara Humpton, vice president, Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services. “Having secure, accessible records is a vital element in the Bureau’s ability to take quick and decisive actions for citizen safety. This new system will significantly improve how the FBI accesses traditional fingerprints as well as palm print and photo records.”

"This card scanning service contract will aid the FBI in establishing a more complete and up-to-date criminal history record in support of law enforcement and criminal justice efforts, while creating employment opportunities in West Virginia" added FBI CJIS Division Acting Assistant Director Jerome M. Pender.

Operations for the program will take place primarily in Fairmont, WV, with support from several small business partners across the country, including West Virginia-based IMTS; Communications Resource, Incorporated (CRI), a woman-owned small disadvantaged business located in McLean, Va.; Massachusetts-based Aware, Inc.; and BancTec, headquartered in Dallas, TX.

Eventually, the records processed through the CSS program will populate the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) program. NGI will further advance the FBI’s biometric identification services, providing an incremental replacement of current IAFIS technical capabilities while also introducing new functionality. Lockheed Martin is the lead industry partner on the NGI program.

 

[I-G]

Dalit kids cannot use school loo but have to clean them

Dalit kids cannot use school loo but have to clean them
25 Jun 2009, 0330 hrs IST, Akshaya Mukul, TNN


“In Bihar, teachers complain to the Dalit parents that their children wear dirty clothes and they smell in the classrooms”


“During a school visit in Rajasthan, while asking who gets beaten up regularly and why, children immediately pointed out to a student. He was a Dalit”

“Teachers don’t give proper attention to us. We have to sit on the ground. It’s very difficult...The quality of food (mid-day meal) is also very poor. We also get very little food in lunch as we are served the last, our stomach does not fill” — a Dalit girl student in Bihar

In UP, Dalit girls are seldom allowed to use the toilets in schools

NEW DELHI: These are some of the findings of a study on caste-based discrimination of Dalit children in schools. The study conducted by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights-Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan and supported by UNICEF shows that discrimination of various kinds plays a big role in the high dropout of Dalit children from schools. The report was given to UNICEF on Wednesday.

The study conducted in 41 primary schools, 36 middle schools and 17 secondary schools in Nalanda district of Bihar, Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Beed in Maharashtra examined various facets of discrimination, right from going to school, in the classroom and in the mid-day meal.

The report says physical access to schools is the biggest problem for Dalit children. In Bihar, UP and Rajasthan, most of the schools are situated in the dominant caste localities and Dalit children have to travel on an average half-an-hour to reach school. In the case of middle and high schools, Dalit children have to travel almost 3-4 kilometres in all the states. It is only in Maharashtra that Dalit children do not have to travel that far. But here too, the schools are located in dominant caste areas.

Asked why they came late to school, Dalit children gave various reasons including household chores, school distance, inability to keep track of school time and also the fact that they had to wait for other friends to go in a group due to fear from dominant caste children. In the school, it was found that participation of Dalit children was minimal. The morning assembly was invariably always conducted by upper caste children. In the class, Dalit children were made to sit at the back and in some schools of Bihar on the barren floor while mats were given to upper caste children. Even the notebooks and homework of the Dalit children were not checked by teachers.

As per the report, Dalit children in UP were also assigned menial caste-based tasks like cleaning the yard, filling up water buckets and cleaning the toilets. This led to other children treating them badly and considering them inferior. And what was shocking was that Dalit girl children were seldom allowed to use toilets. Dalit children are kept out of even functions like Independence Day.

In Maharashtra, the dalit children look up to B R Ambedkar as their role model but schools do not have his photograph though there are photos of other national leaders.

In secondary and higher secondary school, the survey found that teachers promote private coaching. But many Dalit
children dropped out as they could not afford private classes. The report said that many Dalit children were beaten up because they were always late and ‘don’t behave properly’ in the class.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ut-have-to-clean-them/articleshow/4699387.cms

 

[Energon]

How disgusting. Any "teacher" who cannot seem to understand the realities of modern life and chooses instead to perpetuate archaic and inhumane customs of the dark ages isn't worthy of being paid to "teach" anything. How anyone could behave this way toward children is truly beyond me.

The unfortunate reality however is that there really isn't any governmental policy that can instantaneously change this horrible phenomenon that is endemic to significant portions of the Indian consciousness. I have nonetheless always hoped to see a social phenomenon (not political or religious) headed by urban elites who have had the benefits of experiencing the advantages of modernity and wish to pass it down the social order because eventually it benefits everyone.

 

[Singh]

Having interacted with many of my friends working with rural NGOs, I would believe such actions to be the rarest of the rare, exceptions to catch our attention to a malaise that has still not been uprooted in some(backward poorer) parts of India.

 

[I-G]

US to help in 'every possible way' to settle Kashmir

25 Jun 2009, 1901 hrs IST

ISLAMABAD: The Obama administration will help in "every possible way" to settle the Kashmir problem and to resume the stalled Indo-Pak dialogue, a top US official said here today responding to Islamabad's request for assistance in resolving the "core issue" with New Delhi.

"The US government would help in every possible way for the resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India and for resolution of the core issues like Kashmir dispute and water distribution between the two countries," visiting American National Security Adviser James Jones was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Prime Minister's House here.

The statement came after a meeting between Jones, who arrived here on Wednesday following a brief visit to Afghanistan, and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

During the meeting, Gilani called on "the world at large and the US in particular to play their role towards resolution of the core issue of Kashmir as well as the water issue between Pakistan and India."

He explained to Jones that US assistance in settling outstanding issues with India "would help Pakistan focus on fighting against extremism and terrorism on its western border to ensure peace and stability of the South Asian region."

Last week, US President Barack Obama had firmly ruled out any US mediation on the Kashmir issue, saying that dialogue between India and Pakistan is the best way to reduce tensions between them.

New Article - India - The Times of India

 

[Daredevil]

US can help India by cutting-off aid to Pakistan and at least by bombing Pakistani Army.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

they can start by having pakistan remove their terror infrastructure, without this first step any talks are a waste of time.