mohan@sbcs.UUCP (Chilukuri K. Mohan) (11/28/85)
{News bulletin circulated by KAPUR%ge-crd.arpa@CSNET-RELAY on iitnet.}
11/23/85
Floods in Tamil Nadu
I. The city of Madras and its surrounding
villages were hit by torrential rains last week.
Over 250 people are feared dead. Heavy rains have
been lashing Tamil Nadu for last 15 days and
Madras is flooded. At least 300,000 people were
reportedly stranded. Rail, road, air and shipping
services were cut off. No cargo was handled at
Madras port. Most roads into the Madras city of 4.5
million people were impassable.
Governors Moved Around
II. Punjab's governor Arjun Singh has been
inducted into the central cabinet as the commerce
minister. Singh is reportedly rewarded for
his role in negotiating the Punjab accord.
Singh is replaced by Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma,
Governor of Andhra Pradesh. Kumudben Joshi, a
former central deputy minister, will be the new
governor of Andhra.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada
Patil has been appointed the governor of
Rajasthan. The Lieutnant Governor of Delhi Madan
Mohan Krishan Wali was replaced by a retired Air
vice marshal Harkishan Lal Kapur.
Police Kills 58 People in Bihar
III. Police sources claimed to have killed 58
people in the Bhojpur region
in Bihar on Nov. 14. No police casuality was
reported in what the police described as a major
pitched battle between the police and
the guerrillas belonging to a Naxalite group.
No further details are yet available.
There have been reports of clashes between the
landlords and landless peasants demanding higher
wages in this region. According to local civil liberties
organizations, activists of landless peasant
associations are frequently targets of attacks by
landlords and their sena, and the police;
these attacks have been justified by the police as an attempt
to wipe out Naxalite guerrials.
Nelson Mandela's Daughter Critizes West for its soft attitude towards Pretoria
IV. Nelson Mandela's daughter Zenani Dlamini
appealed to the Western world to take the same
steps as India was taking to support the freedom
struggle of the South African people against the
Apartheid regime. Dlamini was in India to attend
a nonaligned youth conference. She criticized the
attitude of the United States and Britain in not
allowing the United Nations Security Council to
impose mandatory sanctions against the racist
regime. Dlamini said the Nonaligned movement was
playing a positive, constructive and dynamic role
to ensure the black majority in South Africa was
judged by the content of its character and not
the color of its skin.
Air India crash Inquiry
V. A Canadian government pathologist testified to
one man commission headed by Judge BN Kirpal that
the autopsies on nearly half the bodies recovered
from the Air India jet that crashed off the Irish
coast, indicate that the plane disintegrated in
the flight. Dr. IH Hill also said that the
examinations failed to indicate what caused the
Boeing 747 to break apart on June 23, killing all
329 people aboard.
Earlier, another investigator had testified that
the examination of the wreckage lifted from the
seabed does not support the theory of bomb
explosion.
But according to Indian director of air safety,
Hoshiar Singh Khola, an explosion occcured on the
plane. He submitted his report containing this
conclusion to Judge BN Kirpal. According to
Khola, he based his findings on analysis of the
cockpit voice recorder and tapes from the
air-control tower at Shannon, Ireland. "There
were neither warning nor any emergency declared
until the time flight recorders stopped
functioning." Mr. Khola said in his 78-page
report, "circumstantial evidence strongly
suggests a sudden and unexpected disaster
occurred in flight."
It was based on Khola's understanding and
speculation that the government officials had
declared as early as July that the explosion was
caused by a bomb in the cargo area; this was
when following detailed investigation
of the debris, western experts had strongly
started doubting the theory of bomb explosion
causing the crash.
When questioned by Indian and Candian lawyers,
Khola however testified there was no evidence of an
explosion or fire in the plane's cockpit or
passanger cabin. He also added that his
examination of victims' clothes did not show any
explosive fractures or any sign of burning.
VI. Meanwhile, two Canadians of Indian origin who
were arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police on Nov. 6 in the Vancouver area for
alleged possession of explosives were set free on
bail by a Provincial court Judge. The Judge
released Talvinder Singh Parmarm, leader of
Babbar Khalsa group and wanted in India for
alleged murder, and Inderjit Singh Reyat on
their own recognizance.
RCMP Superitendent had told the press earlier
that the two were arrested because of
their suspected role in the Air-India jet crash
case and the explostion at the Narita airport
from a baggage in the Canadian Pacific flight.
However, the Judge said, "I think what I am being
asked to do here is to infer that there is
probably some connection with certain aviation
bombings and this case. I certainly cannot make
that inference."
VII. An independent team of doctors, scientists
and trade unionists have strongly criticized
official relief measures for the victims of the
poison gas leak from a Union Carbide plant
in Bhopal last December. The team visited
hospitals and badly affected areas of the city
and said on Nov. 15, that victims of the disaster
badly need better medical care.
The PTI quoted the All India Committee on Bhopal
Gas Tragedy as accusing local authorities of
attempting to "hoodwink the people with
exaggerated claims of relief and rehabilitation."
According to the committee, "the state
government's relief measures have been utterly
inadequate, exposing its callous apathy toward
such intensely suffering people."
Commitee Organizers PK Ganguly told reporters that
people affected by the gas still complained of
breathing problems, burning eyes, blurred vision,
and general weakness. Many are permanently maimed
and unable to work.
Over 2500 people were killed as a result of the
leak, over 50,000 seriously injured and 200,000
affected.
Sources: the New York Times, Albany Times-Union,
India Abroad, India Now.
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*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***mohan@sbcs.UUCP (Chilukuri K. Mohan) (02/11/86)
From KAPUR%ge-crd.arpa@CSNET-RELAY Tue Feb 11 03:18:20 1986 -------- Pope's visit Pope John Paul II's visit to India started with a subdued note, however he drew large crowds in Shilong, Goa and Trichur. When he reached Delhi last weekend, he went to visit Gandhi's samadhi to pay his respects. His public meeting in Delhi was disrupted because an enthusiast in the crowd threw a fire-cracker. In Shilong, over 200,000 people reportedly went to see the Pope. In Mangalore, he said before 400,000 people that he constantly prays for the victims of Bhopal. In Trichur, 300,000 people attended a prayer meeting. A crowd of people hoping for a glimpse of Pope surged into a metal wall and it collapsed killing one person and injuring 18. Spy scandal A Delhi court convicted an Indian businessman Rama Swaroop for running an espoinage network which passed secrets to United States, Taiwan, Israel, and West Germany. The CIA was also linked with it by Indian newspapers. A court document linked two ministers KP Singh Deo, Food and Supplies Minister, and Chandulal Chandrakar, Rural Development Minister, a former minister and Electronics Commission chairman MS Sanjeevi Rao, and other members of parliament, journalists, and retired military officers with Rama Swaroop and his spy ring. The two ministers reportedly resigned afterwards. Punjab problem Tension is once again rising in Punjab as extremists and moderates within the Sikh community are likely to have another confrontation. The head priests of Akal Takhat have called a world Sikh congregation on February 16 apparently in response to the meeting of extremists on January 26. The extremists had then excommunicated Akali leaders and head priests from the Sikh Panth and announced to take responsibility of running the gurdwaras. They also announced members of Damdam Taksal, Bhindranwale's gurdwara, to fill the posts of the head priests of the Golden Temple. Over 1000 Sikh youths belonging to the All India Sikh Students Federation have reportedly taken over the Akal Takhat in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The head priests, leaders of the Akali Dal as well as Barnala government in Punjab have denounced these moves of the extremists. Satwant not to appeal The High Court ruled that Judge Mahesh Chandra who presided over Indira Gandhi's murder trial, committed irregularities when he sentenced the three defendants. The two Judge panel which ruled on the petition said that it was up to a full appeals hearing to decide whether to annul the January 22 verdict and sentences. The Judges also ordered the authorities at Tihar jail to remove the convicted men from solitary confinement, issue them winter clothes, allow them to wear turbans and shoes, and stop shining floodlights on them at night. The joint petition by Kehar Singh and Balbir Singh who were convicted of conspiring to kill Indira Gandhi and sentenced to death by Judge Chandra challenged the legality of the death sentences on the grounds of sentencing irregularities and omissions by Chandra. Satwant Singh who was convicted of killing Indira Gandhi and condemned to hang did not want to appeal. According to his lawyer PN Lekhi, Satwant told him that an apeal would serve no purpose and it was a predetermined sentence. Hunger A cover article in the January 26 issue of the Illustrated Weekly indicted Indian government's development policies by exposing widespread hunger in India as it celebrated its 36th Republic Day. According to the article, at least 100 million people in nine states - Andhra, Gujarat, Himachal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, today were suffering from severe famines. 18 out of 19 districts in Karnataka, 17 out of 19 districts in Gujarat, 19 out of 23 in Andhra, 27 out of 45 in MP, 17 out of 30 in Maharashtra, and 26 out of 27 districts in Rajasthan were affected. Over 500 people were reportedly dead because of hunger in Orissa alone. The toll in livestock is reportedly very high; in Dhule district in Maharashtra alone, 25,000 cattle have died in December. According to the article, the Rajiv Gandhi government has remained cool to the famine and not taken any steps to channelize some of the excess stock towards scaracity hit areas despite repeated appeals by state governments. Republic Day Awards Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj, social worker Baba Amte who is known for his work among leprosy patients, and Dr. Avtar Singh Paintal of the Patel Chest Institute in New Delhi have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest honor on the 36th Republic Day. 15 people were named for Padam Bhushan and 30 were named for Padam Shri. Among them are social worker Ela Ramesh Bhatt, vocalist Ustad Aminuddin Dagar, flutist TR Mahalingam, Chandi Prasad Bhutt of Chipko movement, Avdesh Kaushal, Anil Agarwal, a journalist who has been advocating for concern of ecology and environment, Science and Technology historian Dr. A Rahman, novelist and social worker Mahasveta Devi, social worker Bunker Roy. Nikhil Bannerji Died A well-known sitarist Nikhil Banerjee died of heart attack in Calcutta on January 27. He was 55. A child prodigy, Banerjee learned music at first from his father and later from the late Ustad Allaudin Khan. He appeared in the All Bengal Music Conference at the age of 9. A L Bhasham Died Prof. A L Bhasham, a known historian on India, died in a nursing home in Calcutta on January 28. The 71-year old writer had skin cancer. His book "The Wonder that was India" won acclaim world wide. Author of 50 books and many articles, Bhasham was working on a 10-volume "Encyclopedia of Indology." Sources: the New York Times, India Abroad, and India Now. ----------------------------------------------------------------
mohan@sbcs.UUCP (Chilukuri K. Mohan) (02/23/86)
News Bulletin 2/15/86 [Sorry for delay in relaying - Mohan] Sarbat Khalsa in Amritsar Schools and colleges were ordered closed for the week in Amritsar by the authorities in anticipation of possible disturbance by extremists during the Sarbat Khalsa on February 16. The meeting of the Sikh community has been called by the head priests of the Sikh religion in response to recent stands taken by the extremist elements within the community including excommunication of the Akali leaders and head priests as well as the announcement by the extremists to take over the gurdwaras. Meanwhile, it is reported that hundreds of Sikh youth belonging to the All India Sikh Students Federation have been controlling the Akal Takhat inside the Golden Temple. Visitors to the Darbar Sahib have reported the atmosphere there to be very tense. There were also reports of shooting incidents inside the temple complex. Delhi protest against Price Rise India's capital New Delhi was virtually closed down on February 10 as a result of a 10 hour strike against government price increases in essential goods including cooking gas, rice and bread. The protest was organized by opposition parties with the BJP playing a major role. Over 400 people were reportedly arrested by the police. Call for a strike seemed to have an effect. Only 5 days after the government announced the price increases, it retreated and rolled back the prices of gasoline, kerosene, cooking gas, and diesel fuel. Press barred from Anti-Sikh riots investigation Indian government has banned the press coverage of the proceedings of the Justice Ranganath Mishra commission inquiring into the anti-Sikh riots that broke out after Mrs. Gandhi's assassination. The reason given by the government is that publication of the proceedings might "flare up sentiments between Hindus and Sikhs again." According to official accounts, over 2500 people were killed in Delhi alone in a period of 4-5 days and at least 15,000 were rendered homeless. The commission was reluctantly set up by Rajiv Gandhi's government after considerable pressure from the press and public. The setting of a commision was one of the preconditions by the late Akali Dal leader Sant Harchand Singh Longowal before any negotiations with the government. The commission recently started its proceedings on January 27; it held two sessions in camera. Most of the witnesses were widows whose husbands were killed in the riots; according to some reports, they told the commission that local Congress leaders were responsible for the looting and killings since they had organized large gangs of armed men who took the "poor, innocent Sikhs completely by surprise." Many victims told that they have not gone back to their homes because they are afraid of attackers and have taken shelters in gurdwaras. CDC deal Indian government reportedly signed a contract Owvalued at half-a-billion dollars with the Control Data Corporation to buy main frame computers and manufacturing technology. The agreement reportedly follows months of negotiations and interagency conflict within the US administration over whether the Indian government could be trusted not to divert such a high level of technology to the Soviet Union or other nations of the communist block. Certain sections within the Pentagon who held up the agreement for months, had sought assurances from the Indian government that the computers will not be used in India's nuclear program. Indian and US governments signed a memorandum of understanding last May in which the US agreed in principle to transfer high technology to India. Suit against Union Carbide Attorney General of India K Parsaran along with 4 officials from Bhopal including city's mayor and 7 victims of gas leak from the Union Carbide plant arrived in New York city last week to meet with Judge John Keenan. Judge Keenan is hearing the damage case against the Union Carbide by the Indian government and other lawyers on behalf of the relatives of victims and the victims of the lethal gas leak from UCIL's Bhopal plant. Keenan had expressed interest in meeting representative victims and residents of Bhopal. He also reportedly instructed the victims and lawyers not to discuss anything with the press. Judge Keenan is reportedly pressuring the two sides for an out-of-court settlement. He recently heard arguments for and against the site of the trial with Union Carbide lawyers arguing in favor of a trial in India and lawyers of the victims for a trial in the US. Keenan is apparently threatening to rule against the party who does not cooperate in arriving at the settlement. Untouchability in Bihar A survey conducted by the Lalit Narayan Institute of Economic Development and Social Changes recently revealed that 2/3 of the people in rural Bihar confirmed that untouchability was very prevalent there. Lower caste people were discriminated against at village wells, ponds, temples, eating places and social functions. The survey covered districts of Vaishali, Patna, Nalanda, Nawada, Gaya, Aurangabad, and Palmau. Per Capita Income Real per capita income in 1984-85 in India was reported to be around $64 compared with $63 in 1983-84. Using 1970-71 as the base year, the per capita income in 1984-85 was $194 at current prices. Dr. King Honored One of Calcutta's famous streets, Wood Street, has bee renamed after the black civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luthar King Jr. Greeting the Mayor and citizens of Calcutta, King's widow Correta Scott King said in a message that naming the street after her husband's name was a reaffirmation of King's "spritual affinity with India." Sources: India Now, India Abroad, and the New York Times. --------
sanjiva@tesla.UUCP (Sanjiva Prasad) (02/25/86)
> > Delhi protest against Price Rise > > India's capital New Delhi was virtually closed > down on February 10 as a result of a 10 hour strike against I wonder whether the government and people of India can ever think in terms of more constructive ways of interacting with each other. Any suggestions about an effective way to protest DEMOCRATICALLY and YET constructively against policies one disagrees with ? I do NOT consider it a great achievement in the democratic process if public property ( city transport, production apparatus etc. ) has to be destroyed to make your voice heard. > government price increases in essential goods > including cooking gas, rice and bread. The > protest was organized by opposition parties with > the BJP playing a major role. Over 400 people > were reportedly arrested by the police. > > Call for a strike seemed to have an effect. Only 5 days after the > government announced the price increases, > it retreated and rolled back > the prices of gasoline, kerosene, cooking gas, > and diesel fuel. > While the media criticized ( quite correctly ) the coverage of the price riots by Doordarshan, I was pained to see them justify the actions of the mobs as *the* right way to protest. Aggression works --- as in Gujarat, and with what *wonderful* consequences. > Press barred from Anti-Sikh riots investigation Will they never learn ? In most instances, blacking out news HASN'T worked in favour of the govt. Yet...... Granted, the newspaper media men are the most irresponsible bunch of guys --- A major pastime of several small time papers is to carry scandal and bruit rumours, to blackmail, and to make life difficult for several innocent people, but gags have never been successful in stemming the tide of rumour. > Suit against Union Carbide > > Judge Keenan is reportedly pressuring the two sides for ^^^^^^^^^^ > an out-of-court settlement. > Keenan is apparently threatening to rule against the ^^^^^^^^^^^ > party who does not cooperate in arriving at the > settlement. > JUSTICE !!!!!!! A rela FAIR trial !!!!!!