Posts

Showing posts from September 28, 2008

A BRUSH WITH HISTORY

Image
A BRUSH WITH HISTORY Jackie Pinto Source: Deccan Herald A miniature painting exhibition titled 'A hero for Modern India: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj', is on till October 5 at gallery G, Lavelle Road... Francois Gautier is a man on a mission. His Indian connection dates back to the 70s, when he came to Auroville as a young student. A writer and journalist based in India, he strongly believes that modern day leaders should learn from icons like Chhatrapati Shivaji, who was a great administrator and warrior. “Just as the French keep Napoloean’s memory alive and celebrate his life and achievements constantly, Shivaji can be a wonderful role model for present day politicians. He respected all faiths and was a just ruler.The chief of his navy and more than 25 per cent of his armed forces were Muslims. But not all know of his greatness. In fact some think of movie stars when I refer to Shivaji,” he said speaking at a miniature painting exhibition titled ‘A hero for Modern India: Chhat

Maoists blow up school building in Jharkhand

Indo-Asian News Service Ranchi, September 29, 2008 Source: HT Maoist rebels blew up a school building in Palamau district of Jharkhand, police said on Monday. Around 20 to 30 rebels of Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) surrounded a middle school in the Manatu block of Palamau district, around 190 km from Ranchi, late on Sunday night. The building was blasted using detonators. No person has been injured in the blast, police said. The school building was used by the security personnel while launching a combing operation against the rebels. Maoists cited that as the reason for blowing up the building. Maoist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts in Jharkhand. In the last seven years, more than 1,300 persons including civilians, Maoist rebels and security personnel have been killed in insurgency-related violence.

Why bother with news about blasts! Sreenivasan Raju Aiyer

Source: Rediff October 01, 2008 N ews relating to terror attacks no more attract my attention. I do not take note of such items be it over the television or the print media. You can say my feelings have become numb. This many killed or that many injured (which varies from place to place, or on the intensity of bomb to bomb), RDX was used or ammonium nitrate was used, these do not mean anything at all. We all know that when there is a bomb blast there has to be casualties. We also know who has planted those bombs. We all know prior to planting those bombs, they have already planted people sympathetic to their cause in vital places of political leadership, academia, print and visual media etc who would immediately pounce to justify these acts of terror. The act of terror which resulted in the death of so many innocent souls -- many of whom who happen to be women, children, sole bread-winners for their families -- does not mean anything either to those who perpetrated these acts or t

Blasts in Guj, Malegaon kill 8

Modasa Mirrors Mehrauli: Youths On Bike Throw Bag With Explosive: TIMES NEWS NETWORK Source: TOI Ahmedabad/Mumbai: In near simultaneous attacks across neighbouring states, two crude bombs hit Malegaon in Maharashtra, killing seven — including a 12-yearold girl — and injuring 30, and Modasa in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat, killing one and injuring 10 others. The Modasa attack mirrored the one last Saturday in Mehrauli in Delhi. In both cases, youth on motorcycles threw a plastic bag containing low-grade explosive, killing innocent bystanders. The blast in Modasa took place on the eve of Navratri on Monday at around 9.30pm, hours after the recovery of 17 crude bombs in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad. The Malegaon explosion took place around the same time in Bhikku Chowk area outside a building that used to house the SIMI office, leading to suspicion among authorities that it could be a retaliation to the Indian Mujahideen strikes in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Delhi. The blast in comm

New insights into Indian Mujahideen network

f Praveen Swami Source: The Hindu Also look at the List of faces of terror from NDTV SIMI leaders provided the foundations for Ahmedabad operation Most contentious part of network was a group of U.P. men centred around Atif Amin NEW DELHI: India’s intelligence and police services now believe that the Indian Mujahideen is not a terror group, but a loose network of Islamist groups tied together by a common cause and ideological affiliation. Based on a careful study of the mechanics of the July 26 serial bombings of Ahmedabad, investigators believe that the Indian Mujahideen is made up of three distinct elements: Students Islamic Movement of India volunteers, a group of Uttar Pradesh men with links to the Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami and the jihadist-linked crim

HATRED – Terror’s only religion Himanshu Shekhar

Image
Source: Zee News Himanshu Shekhar “What people in the West simply don’t understand is that we love death even more than they love life." - Osama bin Laden, November 1996 . It was 2002 when I was in first year of my college when an image released on Israeli television and published in leading magazines across the world hit me. The image titled ‘Hebron's Baby Bomber’ sparked a worldwide debate. A debate which still remains relevant. Which religion teaches one to engage an infant baby of hardly 18 months for killing others? Definitely not Islam. We are in times when the world is reeling under terror strikes which have a lasting impact and India is no exception. Terrorism is back in focus or perhaps it was never out of frame. That brings us to a simple question- why do some people love death more than life? As a modern civic society/ state are we prepared to counter the menace? It is a basic challenge

TIFFIN BOMB BLAST IN SOUTH DELHI KILLS TWO, INJURES 25. POLICE RULE OUT INVOLVEMENT OF INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN. SO, WHODUNNIT?

Image
TIMES NEWS NETWORK Source: TOI New Delhi: It was Black Saturday all over again. Exactly two weeks after serial blasts ripped through the capital, it was hit by a low-intensity crude bomb, which went off on Saturday afternoon in the crowded Sarai Market, near Aulia Masjid in south Delhi’s Mehrauli area. A nineyear-old boy, who innocently picked up a black polythene bag containing a tiffin box bomb, was killed on the spot as it exploded in his face. Twenty-five people were injured. According to late night reports from AIIMS hospital, a 60-year-old man succumbed to his injuries. Police have ruled out the involvement of the Indian Mujahideen. Six people were detained in connection with the blast as security was stepped up in the capital. Delhi Police was not willing to confirm that it had received warning of a strike from an anonymous caller in Faridabad or that it had received an email to that effect on September 24. According to eyewitnesses, the electronic goods market was packed w

Speak out and say Yes to Unity: Tarun Vijay

Source TOI Do we get bad leaders inspite of having good people ? If our people are great, why do we have leaders who fail? Where are the people if the leaders are not doing what we think they should be doing? A people so intensely under attack by the terrorists can’t claim to be brave by sitting silently and petitioning state clerks. Those who fear get what they fear. While China, having superbly completed the Olympics, sent a man for a space walk and Sarah Palin "delighted" our PM in the US with a handshake, India seems to be descending dangerously into communal polarisation, reinforced and powered by a secular lobby. In the process, the morale of the police and other security forces is being affected for they are facing the brunt from terrorists as well as the secularists in the government and the media who are running them down, doubting their intentions and integrity. Suddenly yardsticks for our judgment have changed. Opinions, morphed as judgments, are passed not on

blasts criss cross India to the east

Image
Bike bomb rides to east Source: Telegraphindia Agartala, Oct. 1: The lengthening train of blasts criss-crossed the country from the west to the east tonight, five explosions bloodying markets teeming with festival shoppers in Agartala and shrouding the Tripura capital in fear on the eve of Id. Witnesses said one of the bombs was dropped by helmeted motorcyclists — a tactic used in the Mehrauli and Malegaon attacks on Saturday and Monday. Three people were battling for life in hospital and 120 others were being treated for wounds suffered in the low-intensity blasts between 7.30pm and 10.30pm. All five bombs went off in the heart of Agartala. Another was defused after passers-by alerted police to a suspicious object inside a bag.

It’s Gandhi Jayanti, and Non-Violence Day. So, who better than Thich Nhat Hanh, tireless advocate of non-violence, to guide a Peace Edition?

Image
SPEAKING FROM THE HEART: Thich Nhat Hanh We hope his message will foster reconciliation and compassion TIMES NEWS NETWORK Source: TOI Midway through the news meeting on Wednesday, the grim news came in: Agartala had been rocked by serial blasts. All eyes immediately turned to Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, the Guest Editor for our special Peace Edition. As journalists, what should we do on a day like this? The Zen master, who has rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centres, resettled homeless families and for a lifetime advocated tirelessly the principles of non-violence and compassionate action, pondered for a while. When he spoke, it was with great clarity,‘‘Report in a way that invites readers to take a look at why such things continue to happen and that they have their roots in anger, fear, hate and wrong perceptions. Prevent anger from becoming a collective energy. The only antidote for anger and violence is compassion. Terrorists are also victims, who create

Quest For Peace In Troubled Times

Image
4 killed as serial blasts rip through Agartala, HuJI hand suspected Manas Paul | TNN Source: TOI Agartala: Four back-to-back terror strikes in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, which shares a 856-km porous border with Bangladesh, on Wednesday evening left at least four people dead and 76 others injured, several critically, according to hospital sources. The state police confirmed only one death but said the toll was likely to rise. The first explosion took place around 7.30 pm at Radhanagar bus stand. Minutes later, there was another blast at Maharajganj Bazar in the heart of the city. The two are about 2km apart. Two live bombs were found at Motor Stand and Colonel Choumohany near the palace compound. As the injured were being taken to Agartala Government Medical College hospital, another blast rocked GB Bazar, which is on the route of the ambulances taking the injured to the hospital. The fourth blast at 8.15 pm was near Kathiababa Ashram on the outskirts of the state capital.

Media coverage FACT SHIVAJI Exhibition Bangalore

Image
Gallery » PictureChief Minister B S Yeddyurappa (centre), FACT Trustee Namrita Gautier and founder Maini Sadan S K Maini take a look at the paintings displayed at an exhibition of 'A Hero for Modern India: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj' at Gallery G in Bangalore on Saturday. DH Photo Courtesy: Deccan Herald

Shivaji exhibition inaugurated by Sri Yaddityurappa, CM Karnataka

Image
The Karnataka Leg of Shivaji Exhibition was inaugurated by Sri B S Yedyurappa the Karnataka CM along with the Irrigation minister Mr Basavaraj Bommai and the founder of Maine Group of Industries Mr Sudarshan Kumar Maine . The inaugural programme started with Mr Sandeep Kumar Maine introducing the Gallery and welcoming the guests. Mr Francois Gautier and Mrs Namrita gautier Trustees FACT invited the CM and the minister on to the dias and introduced FACT the trust that they founded in 2003. The endeavours of FACT including exhibitions on Aurangzeb, Shivaji, Naxalism, Ahilyabai Holkar, Kashmiri Pandits, Bangladeshi Minorities, Sikhism as also the yet to be completed Gun History of India impressed the CM. The CM felicitated Mr Sudarshan Maine for his green endevour the REVA car and called upon the industry and business persons to follow such green initiatives and include them in their business models. The chief minister was impressed by the Art and History blended exhibition and promised a