- IAF fighter plane crashes near UP-MP border in Kalda village of Chitrakoot district (UP), pilot ejects safely (ANI)
- At the undocking of ‘Kalvari’-India’s 1st ScorpeneSubmarine,atMazagon Dock with Hon Raksha Mantri
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Devendra Fadnavis Severe storm kills 24, injures over 50 in Bangladesh
A severe storm sweeping across Bangladesh killed at least 24 people and injured dozens more mostly in Bogra district in the northern part of the country, police and officials said on Sunday.
Women and children were among the dead who included some victims in the capital Dhaka, they said and more than 50 people were injured and admitted to hospitals around the country.
Shafiqur Reza Biswas, Bogra’s chief district administrator told reporters that at least 14 people were killed alone in his district, 228 kilometers (143 miles) north of Dhaka.
Several houses were damaged while trees were uprooted, he said, adding that power supply had been cut for several hours.
This was the first severe storm in the usual spring storm season, weather officials said.
Netanyahu for renegotiation of Iran nuclear deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday again denounced the agreement between Tehran and world powers as a “bad deal” that “endangers” Israel and will leave Iran with a large nuclear infrastructure.
An outline deal agreed in Switzerland on Thursday paves the way for Tehran to curtail its nuclear activity in exchange for relief from punishing economic sanctions.
“It doesn´t roll back Iran´s nuclear program,” Netanyahu told CNN, one of several US networks he appeared on to slam the deal Sunday.
“It keeps a vast nuclear infrastructure in place. Not a single centrifuge is destroyed. Not a single nuclear facility is shut down, including the underground facilities that they built illicitly. Thousands of centrifuges will keep spinning enriching uranium. That´s a bad deal.”
Israel´s government reacted angrily to the historic agreement, which aims for a June 30 deadline for a final deal, with Netanyahu demanding that Iranian recognition of the Jewish state´s right to exist be written into the agreement.
“If a country that vows to annihilate us and is working every day with conventional means and unconventional means to achieve that end, if that country has a deal that paves its way to nuclear weapons, many nuclear weapons, it endangers our survival,” the prime minister said.
“I´ll tell you what else will happen,” he added. “I think it will also spark an arms race with the Sunni states,” a reference to Gulf monarchies.
Saudi Arabia fears that if too much of Iran´s nuclear program is left intact, it will still have the ability to obtain an atomic bomb, and there are concerns that Riyadh could seek its own nuclear capability.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have had troubled relations in recent years after taking different sides in the Syrian civil war.
Terror machine
Netanyahu told ABC News that the money that will flow back into Iran as sanctions ease will not be used to help the population.
“It lifts the sanctions on them fairly quickly and enables them to get billions of dollars into their coffers,” he said.
“They´re not going to use it for schools or hospitals or roads… they´re going to use it to pump up their terror machine worldwide and their military machine that is busy conquering the Middle East now.”
Relations between Israel and its traditionally staunch US ally are at a low and were hugely damaged when Netanyahu took the unprecedented step of addressing Congress last month to attack the nuclear negotiations with Iran.
When asked if he trusts President Barack Obama, Netanyahu replied: “I trust that the president is doing what he thinks is good for the United States, but I think that we can have a legitimate difference of opinion on this because I think Iran has shown to be completely distrustful.”
One part of the complex deal would see Iran slash by more than two-thirds the number of uranium centrifuges – which can make fuel for nuclear power but also the core of a nuclear bomb – to 6,104 from around 19,000 for 10 years.
California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, also speaking on CNN, said Netanyahu´s comments could “backfire on him.”
“I wish that he would contain himself because he has put out no real alternative,” Feinstein said.
Ben Rhodes, the US deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said Netanyahu was wrong because no deal could be reached that involved Iran dismantling its nuclear program.
“Obviously that´s the preferable solution,” Rhodes told CNN. “But the fact is Iran was never going to agree to a deal in which they got rid of their entire nuclear infrastructure.”
Republican Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said it was too early to judge the deal.
“There´s a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge here. Many, many details are unknown at this point,” Corker told Fox News.
“I don´t know how anyone could really ascertain whether this is something good or bad yet for the American citizenry.”
media agencies
Brussels denial: Modi upbeat on trans-Atlantic tour
ASHOK B SHARMA
Brussels may not be willing to oblige India by inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it is perturbed over the delay in rendering justice to two Italian marines who allegedly shot down two Indian fishermen in the country’s waters. But France and Germany have taken a different view and are set to welcome the Indian Prime Minister.
Brussels’ denial, however, does not upset Modi’s calculus. The India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) is still under negotiation, to settle contentious issues relating to intellectual property rights among others. According to several trade analysts, watering down of Indian intellectual property regime and data exclusivity at the behest of the European Union is likely to spell doom for Indian pharma and agro-chemical industry in particular. The terms being insisted upon by the European Union are inimical to India’s dairy sector. EU wants free access to their subsidized skimmed milk powder and Feta cheese.
At the World Trade Organisation (WTO), India and other developing countries have consistently complained about highly subsidized European agriculture and protectionist barriers like high tariff regime, non-tariff barriers and politically motivated sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures (SPS). These European initiatives have placed farmers in the Third World countries at a serious disadvantage, denying them a level playing field in multilateral trade. While keeping their subsidy regime and protectionist measures intact, the European Union wants easy access to their farm products and also industrial products like scrap cars in the Indian market. It also wants elimination of export tax on raw materials exported to Europe.
The European Union has become more protectionist in trade following the global recession that followed the liquidation of Lehman Brothers in US in 2008. Again the blow of the sovereign debt crisis made Europe difficult to recover and return to its pre-recession growth rate. EU’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis further complicated the problem. EU had been a major destination for Indian exports which have experienced considerable shrinkage following recession in Europe. In such a situation it is unlikely that EU would make any major concessions to accommodate Indian exports. Rather it would be seeking more markets for its goods.
However, investment in enterprises is a different ball game altogether. India needs more inflow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) to facilitate growth. But unfortunately both trade and investment are clubbed together in BTIA which has made it difficult to reach a final conclusion. Yet there is scope for striking bilateral trade and investment agreements with several European countries which can be a better option. Hence it would be better not to harp too much on deal like BTIA with EU, but rather go ahead with inking mutually beneficial agreements with major European economies like France, Germany, and UK.
Though in aggregate terms the countries of the European Union (EU-15) are growing slowly at 1.2 per cent, Germany, UK and France have the potential to grow faster. Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit France and Germany in the second and third week of April and is expected to ink several bilateral agreements and seek investments from these countries. In the first leg of his visit he is scheduled to meet President Francois Hollande. The purchase of Dassault Aviation’s $12 billion Rafale fighter planes, Multi-crore Maitri surface-to-air missile system project – SR-SAM project are likely to figure in the talks along with proposals for strengthening defence cooperation. The two sides are expected to take up Jaitapur nuclear power project where the two countries are planning installation of six nuclear power plants in a phased manner.
On 6 December 2010, an agreement was signed for the construction of the first set of two third-generation European Pressurized Reactors and the supply of nuclear fuel for 25 years, in the presence of the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy and then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh. But in this year’s Defence Budget there is very small space for a big ticket purchases in the pipeline like $12 billion for medium multirole fighter jets, $1.2 billion for six Airbus A330 tankers, $1.1 billion for 22 Boeing Apache attack helicopters, $1 billion for 197 light utility helicopters, $833 million for 15 Boeing Chinook heavy lift helicopters, $600 million for light howitzer guns from BAE Systems, $200 million for 98 Black Shark torpedoes from WASS, $350 million for 1,418 Israeli-made thermal imaging sights for T-72 tanks, $250 million for 262 Barak missiles from Israel Aerospace Industries.
However, with a view to curtail defence imports, Prime Minister Modi is insisting upon co-designing, co-production and co-development of defence equipment and platforms in the country under the Make in India initiative. This is the time for him to discuss and finalise such initiatives with President Hollande. Also Prime Minister Modi may take the advantage to discuss cooperation in renewable energy and combating climate change ahead of the Paris talks.
As India is a partner country to Hannover Messe 2015, Modi’s visit to Germany is likely to centre round urging for more investment flows into the country. Apart from inaugurating the Hannover Messe along with Chancellor Angela Merkel, he will have bilateral discussions with Chancellor Merkel and other senior leaders. After the joint ‘Walk Through’ of selected Indian stalls in Hannover Messe, both leaders are scheduled to attend the inaugural session of the Indo-German Business Summit. More than 300 Indian companies and 100 CEOs of Indian companies are participating in Hannover Messe. About 12 state governments, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan and UP will exhibit their profiles in the State Pavilion adjacent to India Pavilion.
Germany is a leader in renewable energy and Modi expects to mobilise investments for not only renewable energy, but also for electronics and electricals, smart cities, Skill India, heavy industries and motion drive and automation and Digital India. He is also expected to appeal to the Indian diaspora in France and Germany.
Modi’s visit will not only be limited to these two European countries, but it will be Trans-Atlantic, covering Canada as well. In his scheduled visit in mid-April, he is expected to discuss with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and interact with the Indian community. It was Prime Minister Harper who cleared the deal for sale of Canadian uranium to India in 2012 for use in nuclear power plants. Apart from trade and investment issues, talks are likely to be on combating climate change and cooperation in renewable energy.
Thus Brussels’ denial to host Modi is unlikely to derail Indian strategy if bilateral agreements are carefully inked with France, Germany and Canada. Indian officials are quite confident of the success of the Prime Minister’s coming visit to France, Germany and Canada.
(Ashok B Sharma is a senior Columnist writing on strategic and policy issues in several Indian and international newspapers and magazines. He frequently writes in The Daily Observer of Bangladesh and The Diplomatist magazine. He can be reached atashokbsharma@gmail.com His mobile phone no 09810902204)
Saluting heroes of World War-I : Also glorify anti-colonial movements abroad
ASHOK B SHARMA
India is celebrating the centenary of World War I with a sense of pride that its soldiers participated in expeditions to defend the British Empire. The call to participate in the war effort was given by no less than freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak with the hope that the colonial rulers would grant home rule under Dominion Status after success in the war. Gandhi said: “If we would improve our status through the help and cooperation of the British, it is our duty to win their help by standing by them in their hour of need.”
While scholars in India and across the world are being encouraged to collect evidences of the participation of Indian forces, little is being done to bring to light the Indian nationalist anti-colonial movement that began in the heart of Europe in the same period. Indian nationalist revolutionary, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (affectionately called Chatto), led the network of Indian activists scattered across Europe, with Germany as the focal centre for their propaganda against the British Empire. The Indian activists received financial and diplomatic assistance from the then Kaiser-ruled Germany. The reciprocity between these Indian activists and Germany was an arrangement based on a mutual understanding to disturb the British war efforts. The Indian emigrants, therefore, had the chance for mobilizing the anti-colonial struggle.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Australia signed an agreement to jointly celebrate the centenary of the World War I in which Australian and New Zealand forces jointly fought German forces in the Pacific Ocean. True, we should be proud of our soldiers who valiantly fought the war in defence of the British Empire at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi and Tilak, but we should not ignore the sacrifices of the anti-colonial movement at that time.
As per reports, there are ample documents in German and Russian archives that can facilitate for research into the activities of the Indian anti-colonial movement led by Virendranath Chattopadhyaya. The Comintern Archive in Moscow contains a number of personal files of individuals involved in the Indian anti-colonial movement in 1914-18. Prime Minister Modi should take up this issue with Chancellor Angela Merkel when he visits Germany (being scheduled shortly).
Similarly he should take up this with Russian President Putin. Russia has several documents relating to the activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose during World War II.
The Modi government should launch a separate project to document the activities of anti-colonial movements of Indians abroad during the two Great Wars.
The decision to celebrate the sacrifices of Indian soldiers in World War I was taken by the erstwhile UPA government by launching the India and the Great War Centenary Commemoration Project. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, while inaugurating the Centenary Commemorative Exhibition of the First World War in New Delhi last Monday, said: “India contributed more soldiers to the war than South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Canada combined. Some experts have estimated that every sixth soldier that Britain sent out to fight was from the Indian Empire. These brave soldiers fought in alien climate and conditions far away from their homeland.” She noted that about 74,000 Indian soldiers died in war operation. “As many as 74,000 never returned home. For their families the wait never ended”, she said. But despite the death of thousands of Indian soldiers and many being injured in the war, the British failed to live up to their assurances of self-rule under Dominion status.
This led to the call for complete independence from British colonial rule. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 disappointed the Indian people who longed for greater constitutional changes in the direction of self-rule. Repressive laws such as the Rowlatt Act added insult to injury. Worst than non-fulfilment of the demand for self-rule, was the situation of de-mobilisation that left many Indian soldiers jobless. A combination of all these factors led to the call for complete independence.
Indian participation in World War I began after Britain declared war on Germany on August 4 ,1914, and continued till the war finally concluded on November 11, 1918. Britain’s former dominions which joined the war, such as Australia, Canada, Newfoundland (merged with Canada in 1949), New Zealand and South Africa – had self-governing status, but their foreign policy and defence were controlled by Britain. After the end of the war, these Dominions were subsequently given more powers. Sentiments across the Dominions led to the enactment of the 1931 Statute of Westminster which recast the British Empire as a Commonwealth of Nations. But India remained a British colony till August 15, 1947.
The weakening of the Ottoman Empire led to the fractured rise of nation-states in Europe, which resulted in the Balkan Wars. It is said that World War I began as the Third Balkan War which transformed itself into a European War on July 28, 1914. It was called the ‘Great War for Civilisation’ but came to be known as World War I after the Second World War. The war began between two opposing alliances – Britain, France and the Russian empire on one side and the Central Powers of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the other. Later Italy, Japan and the United States joined the alliance of Britain, France and Russia while the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
After the end of the war, four major imperial powers – the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires – ceased to exist. The Central Powers were defeated and the map of Europe redrawn with several nations regaining independence and new states created with arbitrarily fixed boundaries to serve the interests of the victors. In Asia and Africa, colonies changed hands and areas of influence were distributed amongst the victors. The United States rose as a world power. The League of Nations, formed to prevent future conflicts such as the World War I, died a natural death once it failed to prevent World War II, which erupted due to rabid European nationalism and the German feeling of humiliation after their defeat in World War I.
No detailed account is available as yet on Indian participation in World War I. Estimates of Indian participation are varying. India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the United Services Institution of India have jointly launched a project to gather details, pertaining to the issue, from various sources.
According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, about 1.1 million Indians participated in World War in France and Flanders (Belgium), Mesopotamia (Iraq), Egypt, Persia (Iran) and Palestine (as well as Israel). Smaller Indian contingents were deployed in Aden, East Africa, Gallipoli and Salonika. Indian troops were also deployed in Russia and even in China.
The semi-autonomous princely states in India also sent over 26,000 soldiers to join the war. The Royal Indian Marine transported troops and other war supplies to Egypt, Mesopotamia and East Africa.
According to the Rushbrook Williams Report, there were about 80,000 British army officers and men in India and about 230,000 Indian ranks, both combatants and non-combatants, during the outbreak of the war in 1914. In the war period, British India recruited 800,000 combatants and more than 400,000 non-combatants, raising the total number of Indians in the British army to 1.3 million. Of these, over 700,000 Indians were deployed in Mesopotamia, over 150,000 in France (including Flanders) and Egypt each, about 100,000 in Gallipoli, Salonika, Aden and the Persian Gulf and more than 50,000 in East Africa and the rest in other places, including India.
Ashok Nath of the University of Stockholm says that in August 1914, the Indian Army mustered a strength of 155,423 regular soldiers and, by the end of the war, the number swelled by 1,440,337. Santanu Das of Kings College, London estimates the total number of Indian soldiers at 1.5 million, including 900,000 combatants and 600,000 non-combatants, who served overseas during the war
According to available records 60,000 Indian soldiers died in the war. The first Indian to die was Naik Laturia, of poison gas from the Germans. He is commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres in Belgium. As per Montagu, 101,439 Indians sustained casualties. Indian soldiers earned over 9,200 decorations for gallantry including 11 Victoria Crosses.
Besides, India contributed Rs 4,575,000,000 to the war fund, and also contributed material such as foodgrains, oil, jute, cloth, blankets, iron, steel, timber, railway tracts, bridge materials, engines, vehicles, telegraphic and telephonic equipment, etc.
Both the Great Wars reveal the geopolitics of the times and the same hangover inherently remains today with certain modifications like the fragile integration of European Union, weakening of Britain and France, rise of Asian powers like China, India and economic powers in South-East Asia. This is an aspect students of Indian diplomacy should not ignore. Over and above the Modi government should launch a separate project to document the activities of the anti-colonial movement unleashed by Indians abroad and glorify these heroes.
(Ashok B Sharma is a senior Columnist writing on strategic and policy issues in several Indian and international newspapers and magazines. He frequently writes in The Daily Observer of Bangladesh and The Diplomatist magazine. He can be reached atashokbsharma@gmail.com His mobile phone no 09810902204)
Rama Pandey’s TV series ‘Jaane Apna Desh’ introducing Indian Culture & Heritage to every Indian home touches yet another milestone
Multi-faceted personality Rama Pandey also launches 2 books ‘Guhar’ & ‘Giraftari’
Montage Films’ ‘Jaane Apna Desh’ successfully completes 250 episodes
Rama Pandey, the multi-faceted personality who writes in poetry & prose and uses both the mediums of communications, Audio-Visual as well as the written, to share the rich Indian culture and heritage with generations has reached yet another milestone in her journey. Today, her company Montage Films has produced and aired 250 episodes of ‘Jaane Apna Desh’.
‘Jaane Apna Desh’ is a travelogue that has touched and covered many known and lesser known facts of India and its rich heritage and culture. She has been instrumental in introducing those hidden nuggets about Indian culture which has made her presence felt in each and every house of India. Her travel journey has constantly talked about youth and women empowerment which has inspired many.
To commemorate this milestone her friends organised a star studded evening at The Vivanta by Taj. Her well wishers and friends including Munawaar Rana, Piyush Pandey, Dr. Ashok Chakradhar, Dr. Namwar Singh, Najamus Saqib , Ila Arun, Prasoon Joshi, K. K. Raina, Shehnaz Hussain, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Malini Awasthi, Dr. Sonal Mansingh, Debu Choudhary and Asha Modi were present at today and shared their happiness on the occasion with Rama Pandey.
To mark the occasion, Rama Pandey also launched 2 of her recent books ‘Guhar’ and ‘Giraftari’. These books depict the literary side of her personality which has been overshadowed by her film direction, script writing and production of TV series. In ‘Guhar’ Rama Pandey brings to fore the various human emotions in the form of poetry while ‘Giraftari’ is poetic dramatization of Franz Kafka’s ‘The Trial’.
Some poems from her book ‘Guhar’ were also presented to the guests by singers Dhananjay Kaul and Mamta in the form of ghazal performance.
Talking about her journey of ‘Jaane Apna Desh’ and her new books, Rama Pandey says, “It’s been a pleasure that a TV series like ‘Jaane Apna Desh’ has been well received and appreciated by the people. My travelogue is not just about the journey but women empowerment and youth of the nation. My books ‘Guhar’ and ‘Giraftari’ also revolve around the same issues and societal problems.”
About Rama Pandey
Rama Pandey has an extensive career of 40 years in diverse fields like broadcasting, acting/theatre, teaching, writing, programme presentation, event management and film production / direction at national and international levels.
Right from her childhood, she had interests in the creative field and began her career as a child artist. Her professional experience includes working with DD India and BBC Hindi and her film industry experience includes acting in 8 art films, directing 300 TV films, including 4 35mm full length feature films.
She has worked with Doordarshan India as a Producer at a time when the channel was the only source of household entertainment and did some pioneering projects for rural audiences. At BBC Hindi Service at Bush House London, she simultaneously contributed regularly to BBC Asian Television and significantly towards some major field projects of the BBC in Asia.
She has an illustrious writing career with several serials, stories, programmes, films, documentaries to her credit. She has written, produced and directed several multi-episode serial programmes (including Shabash Begum, Suno Kahani, Jaane Apna Desh), and several hundred tele-films, news capsules and documentaries. She has written and published Faisle, a collection of true stories of underprivileged but courageous Muslim women who struggled and went ahead to live with success and dignity.
She has numerous laurels to her name. Some of her achievements include being India’s First woman Producer Director at BBC Radio, London (1981), becoming the First Cultural Ambassador of India to be sent to “World Trade Exhibition” held at Montreal, Canada in 1971, being the first Producer Director / Presenter of Indian Satellite Programs, “SITE” in 1972-73 and the first Presenter of “Yuv-vani”, Rajasthan. Apart from these, she produced and directed the longest running TV show with 250 episodes named “Jaane Apna Desh”, which showcases India’s rich culture and heritage.
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