Saturday, January 22, 2011

From Pak Press: Indian Border Security Force opens unprovoked fire

From Pakistan Observer
Saturday, January 22, 2011, Safar 16, 1432
Staff Reporter

Lahore—Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) opened unprovoked fire with heavy weapons at Sialkot working boundary.

According to a press release issued by Pakistan Rangers here on Friday, the BSF started fire in Bajwat sector on late night which continuous for an hour which created panic among the locals. On retaliation by Pakistan Rangers, the Indian BSF firing was stopped. However, no loss of life was reported.Wing Commander level meeting was called to lodge protest on the incident.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Rangers, Punjab deployed five coys in different cities of the province to avert any untoward situation during Chehlum processions and Majalis.
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=72383
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Friday, January 21, 2011

Pakistan violates ceasefire, BSF kill one intruder

From The Hindustan times
Indo-Asian News Service
Jammu, January 21, 2011
Indian border guards on Friday morning shot dead a suspected intruder trying to sneak into Indian territory from across the international border in Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir even as Pakistani forces also opened fire, defence sources said. Border Security Force (BSF) troopers noticed suspicious movement in Pargwal in Akhnoor sector along the international border, 40 km northwest of Jammu, at 4.15am.

Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers keep vigil at the western sector of India-Pakistan...
On being challenged, the intruders fired at the BSF personnel manning the Rapura post in the area, the sources said.
Pakistani Rangers manning the border on the other side also opened fire, which was apparently to provide cover fire to the intruders, the sources said, adding that the BSF retaliated.
The exchange of fire lasted for about half-an-hour. One intruder was killed, the source said.
The BSF is conducting searches in the area.

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Press Release:Gurudas Kamat Assumes Office as MOS (HOME)


Press Information Bureau 
Government of India
Ministry of Home Affairs 

20-January-2011 

Gurudas Kamat Assumes Office as MOS (HOME)

Shri Gurudas Kamat today assumed Office as Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs. He called on the Union Home Minister, Shri P.Chidambaram and later had interaction with senior officers of the Ministry.

Earlier, Shri Kamat was MoS in the Ministry of Telecom and IT. An LLB. and MBA, he is an advocate and agriculturist by profession. He represents Mumbai north-west constituency in the Lok Sabha and was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984.

*****
RS/-
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=69234
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Press Communique: The Cabinet


Press Information Bureau 
Government of India
Presidents Secretariat 
19-January-2011 20:22 IST

Press Communique 




The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has been pleased to direct the following allocation of portfolios among the newly appointed members of the Union Council of Ministers:-
CABINET MINISTERS
1. Shri Praful Patel                             Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
 2. Shri Shriprakash Jaiswal               Coal
3. Shri Salman Khursheed                Water Resources and additional charge of Minority Affairs                                                
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
1. Shri Ajay Maken                            Youth Affairs and Sports
2. Shri Beni Prasad Verma                  Steel
3. Professor K.V. Thomas                    Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
MINISTERS OF STATE
1. Shri Ashwani Kumar                      Planning and Parliamentary Affairs and Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
2. Shri K.C. Venugopal                       Power
The President, as advised by the Prime Minister, further directed that the portfolios of the following Ministers shall be changed as indicated below:
CABINET MINISTERS
1. Shri Sharad Pawar                         Agriculture and Food Processing Industries
2. Shri Virbhadra Singh                      Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
3. Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh                 Rural Development and additional charge of Panchayati Raj
4. Shri S. Jaipal Reddy                        Petroleum and Natural Gas
5. Shri Kamal Nath                             Urban Development
6. Shri Vayalar Ravi                           Overseas Indian Affairs and additional charge of Civil Aviation
7. Shri Murli Deora                             Corporate Affairs
8. Shri Kapil Sibal                              Human Resource Development and additional charge of Communications and Information Technology
9. Shri B.K. Handique                         Development of North-Eastern Region
10. Shri C.P. Joshi                    Road Transport and Highways
11. Kumari Selja                                Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and additional charge of Culture
12. Shri Subodh Kant Sahay               Tourism
13. Dr. M.S. Gill                                 Statistics and Programme Implementation
14. Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal            Parliamentary Affairs and additional charge of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
1. Shri Dinsha Patel                           Mines
MINISTERS OF STATE
1. Shri E. Ahamed                     External Affairs
2. Shri Harish Rawat                          Agriculture and Food Processing Industries
3. Shri V. Narayanasamy                    Parliamentary Affairs and Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Prime Minister’s Office
4. Shri Gurudas Kamat                       Home Affairs
5. Shri A. Sai Prathap                         Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
6. Shri Bharatsinh Solanki                 Railways
7. Shri Jitin Prasada                          Road Transport and Highways
8. Shri Mahadev S Khandela               Tribal Affairs
9. Shri R.P.N. Singh                            Petroleum and Natural Gas and Corporate Affairs
10. Shri Tusharbhai Chaudhary          Road Transport and Highways
11. Shri Arun Yadav                           Agriculture and Food Processing Industries
12. Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil       Coal
13. Shri Vincent Pala                          Water Resources and Minority Affairs

****
Rashtrapati Bhawan
New Delhi, dated January 19, 2011


HS/LV
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=69183
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India to Trial Advanced Version of Arjun MBT


From armytechnology.com
20 January 2011
India's indigenously developed advanced version of Main Battle Tank, Arjun MK-II will be ready for trials in June this year.
Arjun has a striking range of 8km, and will be equipped with laser range finders to help fire laser homing anti-tank missiles to protect it from enemy missiles and rockets.
The tank will be developed under phase II of the project and will be sent to the Army for trials by the end of 2012, according to the Press Trust of India.
The army has already deployed two regiments of the Arjun MK-I version in the Rajasthan sector and a further order for 124 tanks has been placed.
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Pvt airlines being used in wildlife smuggling, Ramesh told


From yahoo news
New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) Two major private airlines are allegedly being used in smuggling of endangered species, a high-level meeting chaired by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was told today.
An astonished Ramesh decided to write to Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi about the matter, sources said.
Amid concern over the menace of smuggling, Ramesh had called a meeting of various security agencies including the Intelligence Bureau, CBI, Delhi Police, CISF, Bureau of Civil Aviation and Security, ITBP, BSF, SSB, CBEC and the Enforcement Directorate.
An official, who attended the meeting, informed the minister that "smuggling is going through" two major private airlines and requested the minister to take "some measures," including the cancellation and suspension of their licences.
The Minister who directed the officials to "put this on record", said "I will write to the Minister of Civil Aviation" about the instances of private airlines being used in smuggling, the sources said.
"Take it up systematically," Ramesh told the officials in the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), which comes under his Ministry.
A top WCCB official, who was critical of the Bureau of Civil Aviation and Security, complained that the department officials face difficulties in getting passes at airports to check smuggling. The official suggested that a system should be in place at the airport as "in the developed countries" in regard to presence of wildlife officials.
"At the checking points, we are finding it difficult to ensure issue of passes" to them, the official said.
The meeting also discussed the alleged instances of smuggling of endangered species in the border areas including the Indo-Tibetan boundary and the border areas of Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal. "Wildlife smuggling is happening all across the border," an official said.
It discussed the issue of sensitisation of people living in border areas to check smuggling.
Ramesh suggested to the officials to find out the areas where focus is needed and recommended a "system" to share actionable information among various agencies about smuggling taking place in one sanctuary.
The minister also directed the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau officials to start a campaign to create awareness among public about wildlife-related crimes. It should launch a website to publish the photographs of "the wildlife smugglers who have been convicted, who are absconding and the most wanted," the minister said.
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India ready to help Bangladesh in nabbing Mujib killers

From msn news

21/01/2011

Dhaka, Jan 20 (IANS) India Thursday assured Bangladesh of full cooperation in apprehending two men who are said to be hiding in India after being convicted of killing Bangladesh's former president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The assurance came from Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai who called on Bangladesh's Home Minister Sahara Khatun. Pillai was here for two-day official-level talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Abdus Sobhan Sikdar.
Sheikh Mujib, the former president who is popularly known as Bangabandhu, was killed along with most of his family members in a military coup Aug 15, 1975.
The government of his daughter, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is pursuing the case vigorously. Five of the killers were convicted and hanged last year, while six are absconding.
After meeting Pillai, Sahara Khatun told reporters: 'We have information that two sentenced accused of Bangabandhu murder case - Risalder Moslem Uddin and Abdul Majed - are hiding in India.'
She said India was given 'red corner notice' to return them. 'India has pledged to provide wholehearted support in this regard,' she was quoted as saying by bdnews24.com, an online newspaper.
Pillai promised 'wholehearted support' to Bangladesh in its quest to bring the Mujib killers to book.
Of the two killers, Moslem Uddin was reportedly spotted by the police in West Bengal state bordering Bangladesh some years ago. However, he made good his escape before he could be nabbed.
Pillai reiterated India's commitment of 'zero tolerance' towards deaths of Bangladeshi civilians along the border.
Referring to the recent killing of Bangladeshi girl Felani, Pillai said a court of inquiry has been set up to probe the incident and action would be taken as per the recommendations of the body.
According to media reports here, the girl was returning home with her family from Delhi and was caught in the barbed wire fencing while the family was crossing the border during the wee hours.
The issue became contentious and Bangladesh lodged a strong protest before the officials began their talks.
Bangladesh accuses the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) of shooting down civilians. The BSF says its men fire in 'self-defence' as those crossing the border bypassing official entry/exit points are armed.
Pillai told a joint press conference with Abdus Sobhan Sikdar that the number of deaths in the frontier areas had decreased of late.
Sikdar said all the border and security related issues were discussed in the meeting and both the sides are working sincerely to resolve the ongoing problems within a shortest possible time.
The South Asian neighbours have a 4,300-km border along which smuggling of humans, cattle, arms and drugs is rampant.
©Indo-Asian News Service
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Airbus Military hopeful of going through with BSF planes deal


From msn news
21/01/2011

New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) European consortium Airbus Military says it is keeping its fingers crossed about the fate of a $300 million deal to supply two military transport aircraft for the Border Security Force (BSF) amid indications that India might cancel the tender over a forgery scandal.

Airbus Military's market development head Didier Vernet told a press conference here that though his company had read about the likely cancellation of the tenders, issued over a year ago, it was yet to officially hear about the fate of the contract from the government.
'We have heard something about that and have read the reports in papers here. But there has not been any communication in this regard from the government to us,' Vernet said in reply to questions about the tender.
Barbara Kracht, Airbus Military's vice president (media relations), said they were not aware where the rumours about the contract cancellation had come from, as the C-295 aircraft they were offering had fully complied with the service qualitative requirements laid out in the tender.
'So all these seem to be speculations. What is being rumoured is not correct,' she added.
The alleged forgery had come to light earlier this month when it was noticed that the signature of an Indian Air Force (IAF) official had been forged on the official documents relating to the tender. IAF was the nodal evaluating agency for the tenders to buy two of these transport aircraft for BSF.
Home ministry sources had indicated recently that the government was likely to cancel the tender in view of the forgery controversy.
They said the forgery most likely took place at the IAF headquarters. The signatures of an IAF officer dealing with the BSF planes tender files were forged on papers relating to the trial of the aircraft and the evaluation reports.
The IAF had instituted a separate court of inquiry into the incident, including the role of the supplier company in the episode. The probe report is yet to be out.
The aircraft deal was in their final stages of being signed when the BSF headquarters discovered that the signatures of the IAF official were forged.
The aircraft is required by the BSF to replace its Antonov aircraft for rapid troop movement and evacuation operations.
©Indo-Asian News Service
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B'desh-India agree to sort out all border problems soon


From rediff.com
January 21, 2011
Bangladesh and India agreed to sort out all problems related to the common border within the next two months, ahead of the planned visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the country later this year.
Bangladesh Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar, who held a crucial two-day talks with his Indian counterpart Gopal K Pillai, said all border and security related issues were discussed in the meeting and both the sides are working sincerely to resolve the ongoing problems in shortest possible time.
The two top officials discussed counterfeit Indian currency being pushed across the border, activities of extremists and terrorists, insurgency, human trafficking, repatriation of prisoners, border fencing, immigration issues and follow up of Joint Boundary working group meeting.
Speaking at a joint press conference after the end of Home Secretary-level talks, they expressed the hope that all issues related to the common border would be completed within one or two months, ahead of the planned Dhaka visit of Indian prime minister.
Asked about measures to ease the Indian visa regime, Pillai said that with the installation of online visa processing, the process has been speeded up in recent period, with 1,500 to 2,000 Bangladeshi applicants getting the official travel permit everyday.
He promised to further ease visa processing, particularly for Bangladeshis seeking medical treatment in India. Officials familiar with the meeting said casualties in cross-border firings dominated the talks between the top officials. With regard to the controversy of people being killed in cross-border firings, Pillai said New Delhi [ Images ] was "not comfortable" with the deaths of Bangladeshis. However, he said casualty figures had declined in the past 12 months when compared to the previous year.
Pillai said the death figure has come down to 31 in 2010 and even then we do not feel comfortable with this 31 deaths." "We are still committed to zero death on frontiers, he said. Pillai said 63 BSF men were injured in combating the criminal elements along the frontiers in 2010 while he sought the help of Bangladeshi residents and BDR, which is set to be renamed soon as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), in halting the illegal movement of people at night along the border.
India has asked Bangladesh to "sensitise" its people to follow legal routes for crossing their porous frontier. The Indian Home Secretary reiterated New Delhis regret for the killing of 15-year-old girl Felani in Kurigram border on January 7 and said a court of inquiry was underway to punish those responsible for it.

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

From China Press: Bangladesh, India stand close to resolve longstanding border issues


From China Daily
DHAKA, January 20 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh and India, two neighbors in South Asia, Thursday were optimistic to resolve their longstanding issues related to the common border within this year.
The high optimism was expressed at a joint press conference held here in Dhaka at the end of the two-day Home Secretary level meeting of Bangladesh and India.
Bangladeshi Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder and Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai led their respective delegations to the talks.
The issues which left unresolved over the decades include transfer of enclaves and adversely possessed lands between the two neighbors.
Another problem is killing of Bangladeshi civilians by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on charge of trespassing of the common border.
Bangladeshi Home Secretary Sikdar expressed the hope that all border related issues including the transfer of enclaves and adversely possessed lands would be settled within a couple of months.
About the killing of the Bangladeshi civilians at border, Indian Home Secretary Pillai reassured their commitment to zero death of innocent unarmed civilians as the Bangladesh side called for maximum restraint and halting the killing by Indian BSF.
The Indian side expressed regret for the killing of a 15-year- old girl by the BSF on January 7 as she was trying to return home from India where she was working. He said the court of inquiry already started investigation and guilty must be punished.
Pillai said the death figure in the killing at the border has come down to 31 in 2010 and "even then we do not feel comfortable with these 31 deaths. We are committed to zero death," he added.
A joint press release said the meeting discussed issues related to security, border management and increasing cooperation of law enforcement agencies to combat with smuggling of arms and narcotics drugs.
The meetings also discussed printing of fake Indian currency notes, activists of extremists and terrorists, insurgency, trafficking of women and children and repatriation of prisoners jailed in the two countries.
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