Infiltration bid foiled in Jammu and Kashmir, five militants killed - India

31   aug  2013

Infiltration bid foiled in Jammu and Kashmir, five militants killed

Srinagar: Army today foiled a major infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Kashmir, killing five militants.

Troops noticed movement of heavily armed militants near the LoC in Tangdhar sector in Kupwara district, 185 kms from Srinagar, during the intervening night of August 30 and 31, an army official said.

The infiltrators were challenged by the troops leading to a gunfight between the two sides.

"So far, five militants have been killed. The combing operation is in progress in the area as there were reports that the group comprised six militants," the official said.

The elimination of the infiltrators comes a day after security forces killed five top foreign militants of Hizbul Mujahideen, including district commander Qari Assadullah, in Kangan area of central Kashmir Ganderbal district.

Infiltration attempts by militants from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have increased over the past three months and more than 20 ultras have been killed during operations along the LoC.

After Maharashtra, Karnataka to enact law against black magic - India

27  aug  2013

After Maharashtra, Karnataka to enact law against black magic

New Delhi: Days after Maharashtra promulgated the anti-black magic and superstition ordinance, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said his government too will enact a law against practitioners of black magic, blind faith and superstition.

"We will study the proposed Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Bill prepared by Maharashtra government and bring it in Karnataka too", Mr Siddaramaiah told reporters in Delhi.

Karnataka government's decision comes a week after the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune.

Mr Siddaramaiah said there was a necessity to ban practitioners of black magic and those who practice inhuman rituals have been exploiting the people in the name of religious faith.

In Maharashtra, Mr Dabholkar had drafted the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Bill over a decade ago but it repeatedly failed to get through the state legislature.

The Bill had proposed that those indulging in black magic or preying on peoples' superstitions be jailed for up to seven years. The bill also sought to ban a range of practices including black magic, animal sacrifice and "magical" remedies to cure ailments.

Taking a strong position against a controversial ritual "made snana", which is performed in several temples in the state, the chief minister said such practices should be banned.

"Made snana" refers to devotees rolling over plantain leaves containing leftovers of the food served to Brahmins.

China provokes India again, its troops enter Arunachal Pradesh and camp for 3-4 days: reports - India

21  aug  2013

China provokes India again, its troops enter Arunachal Pradesh and camp for 3-4 days: reports

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Click to Expand & PlayFile pic: Indian Army personnel at the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh

New Delhi: In a repeat of the April incident in Ladakh, Chinese troops reportedly intruded into Arunachal Pradesh at two places last week. Army and police sources have confirmed that they camped for at least three to four days in one area, about 20 km within Indian territory.

The first intrusion in Arunachal Pradesh was discovered by the Indian Army on August 11 at Plam Plam, a high-altitude, sparsely-populated and very remote area. The second was a few kilometres away on the Hadig La pass, just two days ago.

News of these incursions comes as India landed a C-130J Super Hercules transport plane at an airstrip in Daulat Beg Oldie near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the site of the India-China stand-off in April, in a flexing of muscle before border talks.

Sources said when the Indian troops chanced upon the Chinese soldiers camped at Plam Plam, they made a tactical retreat to come back with a reinforced patrol. But before they did, the Chinese soldiers told them, through interpreters present in both patrols, that they were building a track to Kapatu, about 20 km into what India considers its territory.

They also said that they had been coming into the area for the last 12 years, since 2001.

The Indian Army launched a reinforced patrol on August 15, which went back to Plam Plam to find that the Chinese troops had withdrawn. But on August 19, they ran into a different group of Chinese soldiers in Hadig la. This group did not camp on Indian territory and withdrew immediately. As did the Indian troops. 
 
"We don't take up non-events in diplomatic practice. The Army has refuted it," said Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs.

However, the Army is tight-lipped and only said, "We patrol up to our area of perception, the Chinese troops patrol up to their area of perception."

China for many years claimed entire Arunachal Pradesh as its own territory. There have been intrusions in the past, but the Chinese have always gone back immediately. This was the first time a camp was discovered in recent times in Arunachal, much like the one in Ladakh in April, when the Chinese camped for 21 days in Depsang leading to diplomatic tension for days, which was de-escalated after many rounds of talks and tough negotiations.

Pakistan to free 367 Indian prisoners: sources - India

17  aug  2013

Pakistan to free 367 Indian prisoners: sources

Islamabad: Pakistan will release 367 Indian prisoners next week to send a positive message to its neighbour amid high tension due to firing on the Line of Control, Pakistani sources said today.

The two sides are trying to ease pressure on the LoC after about two weeks of ceasefire violations that started after five Indian soldiers were killed in an attack by Pakistani troops early this month.

"Yes, it is true that 367 Indian prisoners and fishermen are being released on August 24," a senior Foreign Office official told PTI.

However, the official requested anonymity as the decision has not been officially announced as yet.

Hundreds of prisoners are currently being held in jails on both sides.

Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry told a weekly briefing yesterday that both "diplomatic and military channels" were being used to normalise the situation.

He said a meeting between the Prime Ministers on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in September in New York would be an "useful opportunity" to build trust and consolidate ties.

British Indian dentist 'bullied and harassed' before suicide, says wife - India

11 Aug  2013

British Indian dentist 'bullied and harassed' before suicide, says wife

London: A British Indian dentist from Yorkshire committed suicide after allegedly being "bullied and harassed" by the National Health Service which threatened disciplinary action against him over keeping of records at his clinic, an inquest heard.

Dr Anand Kamath, 42, was under investigation by the National Health Service (NHS) over record-keeping at Rothwell Dental Surgery, which he ran with his wife and fellow dentist Dr Rajni Prasad in the city of Leeds.

An inquest heard last week that the father of three felt "bullied and harassed" and took his own life after receiving a letter from the NHS warning him that he could be reported to the General Dental Council.

"They behaved like bullies and drove a loyal NHS servant over the edge. He just couldn't take the anxiety," his 42-year-old wife told the inquest.

"When the letter came, that was the final straw. He gave everything to the NHS. His reward for caring for thousands of patients no other practice would take was to be threatened with the most severe disciplinary action over administrative matters which we agreed straightaway needed improvement," she added.

According to the Sunday Mirror, Dr Kamath and his wife had for 10 years treated only NHS patients in an area of Leeds where there were no other NHS government-backed dentists.

The couple had taken on 10,000 patients, four times that of the average practice, to help out patients who could not afford the high costs of private dentistry.

Rajni Prasad found her husband with his wrists cut at their home in Pudsey, near Leeds, in December last year.

The British Dental Association has called for an inquiry into the circumstances behind the suicide of Dr Kamath.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Wakefield coroner David Hinchliff said: "There had been a complaint and an investigation, not about his ability as a dentist, but in relation to record-keeping which had put him and his wife under an intolerable strain."

"It seems he was in grave danger of being removed from the list of practitioners which would have ended his career. It appears all of this just became too much and he had taken action to end his own life," he said.

Hinchliff added that unreasonable pressure exerted on Dr Kamath by the trust "pushed a good man over the edge".

Senior Pakistan official admits to presence of Dawood Ibrahim - India

10 Aug 2013

Senior Pakistan official admits to presence of Dawood Ibrahim, then does a U-turn

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim (File pic)

London: For the very first time, a senior Pakistani official admitted on Friday the presence of India's Most Wanted, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, on their soil.

"Dawood (Ibrahim) was in Pakistan but I believe he was chased out of Pakistan. If he is in Pakistan, he should be hounded and arrested. We cannot allow such gangsters to operate from the country," Shahryar Khan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special envoy for improving relations with India, had said.

But perhaps, worried about the ramifications, Mr Khan downplayed his statement just hours later.

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

"I have never, not in the past as foreign secretary, not now, have known where Mr Ibrahim lives. I was only reflecting what the Pakistani press has been saying. I have no knowledge nor is it my remit," he told NDTV in London.

Pakistan till now has denied the presence of Dawood on its soil, though Indian security agencies have repeatedly mentioned his name and details in dossiers handed over to Pakistani authorities.  According to reports, Dawood was based in Karachi, where he had fled after the 1993 Mumbai bombings in which 257 people were killed and over 700 injured.

Dawood is also wanted in numerous other terror and criminal cases in India. In 2003, the US government had designated him as a "Foreign Terrorist".

According to the chargesheet filed in the Indian Premier League spot-fixing case, Dawood was in Pakistan at least till late April. The Delhi Police had intercepted telephonic conversations between Dawood, his close aide Chota Shakeel and others in Dubai which show his location was in Pakistan.

In the chargesheet, the Delhi Police had attached a list of addresses suspected to be used by Dawood. In Karachi - Moin Palace in Clifton and 6/A, Khyban Tanzeem in defence housing area. In Islamabad, he is believed to have stayed in a house on Margella Road. 

Syed Akbaruddin, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said India has never closed the 1993 blasts case and now, with this information, the government will not rest until those responsible for the killings of Indian citizens in the attack are brought to justice.

This comes at a time when foreign policy experts are redefining redlines with Pakistan and talks between Prime Ministers of the two nations are under the cloud after the killing of five Indian jawans at the Line of Control earlier this month.

Princess Diana wanted to marry and move to Pakistan: Jemima Khan - India

03   aug  2013

Princess Diana wanted to marry and move to Pakistan: Jemima Khan

London: Princess Diana was so "madly in love" with Pakistani surgeon Hasnat Khan that she wanted to marry him and was even willing to move to Pakistan, according to Jemima Khan. Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's former wife, who was a friend of the late princess, has written a detailed account of their friendship in an article for the September issue of 'Vanity Fair' titled 'The Grandmother Prince George Never Knew'.
"Diana was madly in love with Hasnat Khan and wanted to marry him, even if that meant living in Pakistan, and that's one of the reasons why we became friends," she told the magazine. "She wanted to know how hard it had been for me to adapt to life in Pakistan," she added, in reference to her own marriage to Imran Khan, which took her to Pakistan.
Jemima disclosed that Diana visited her twice in Pakistan to help fund-raise for the hospital where her former husband a distant cousin of Diana's lover worked. "Both times she also went to meet his family secretly to discuss the possibility of marriage to Hasnat," she reveals. Diana made every effort to get to know Khan's family but for a son to marry an English woman "is every conservative Pashtun mother's worst nightmare", Jemima says in the article.

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Jemima disclosed that Diana went to Pakistan twice to meet her lover's family secretly to discuss the possibility of marriage.

The couple are thought to have discussed the possibility of marriage but Khan told police in an interview after her death in a Paris car crash in 1997 that he told her "it was a ridiculous idea" and that the only way they could have a normal life would be to move to Pakistan, where the press "don't bother you".
As her love affair with the doctor began to crumble, Diana began a new relationship with Dodi Al Fayed. The source of her apparent frustration with Khan his reluctance to marry was no longer an issue with Al Fayed, whom she reportedly believed was going to give her a ring.
She told close friend Rosa Monckton, the former managing director of Tiffany & Co, that the ring was "going firmly on my right hand". However, according to Monckton, Diana talked much more about Khan than Al Fayed and she still believes she pursued the relationship only to make the doctor jealous.