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Two-headed boy born in Bangladesh

Puneet — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:43:18 +0000

A baby boy born with two heads in Bangladesh has been placed under police protection because of the curiosity his birth has caused among thousands of locals.

Rajaram is supposed to be the likely heir of BSP

Puneet — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:43:06 +0000

Rajaram, a Benaras Hindu university graduate of Uttar Pradesh, is likely to be the heir apparent of Bahujan Samaj Party supreme Mayawati, says a popular tabloid.

Threats to and from Iran

Puneet — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:56:46 +0000

AN EXERCISE by Israel\’s air force over the Mediterranean earlier this month ought to set off alarm bells around the world, for the refueling operations and evasive maneuvers suggested a practice run for an attack on Iran\’s nuclear sites.Whether Israel simply hopes to avoid an attack by threatening one, or whether the Israelis were getting ready for an impending attack, the lesson should be the same: The Bush administration and other involved governments must do everything in their power to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon - and keep Iran from bombed to prevent its becoming a nuclear power.Preventing both nightmares will require a deal, one that grants Iran a guaranteed supply of uranium for peaceful uses as well as other benefits. Iranian officials have hinted that the key requirement for any such deal would be a comprehensive agreement on regional security issues. For the regime in Tehran, this means a guarantee that it would not suffer the same fate as Saddam Hussein\’s regime did in Iraq.

Hang me if you can: Modi dares Congress

Puneet — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:09:00 +0000

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Sunday dared the Congress party to get him booked for sedition for his controversial remarks last week questioning the tax revenue sharing between the state and the central governments.

Hindu group to launch stir to ‘liberate’ temples

Puneet — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:14:29 +0000

The forum will organise congregations of devotees in 10,000 villages in October to mobilise the Hindu community in the state. All Hindu households will be told about the issue through pamphlets, Suresh said.

India and China: strategic partners

Puneet — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:46:57 +0000

India and China call themselves ’strategic partners’. They need each other, but this does not mean that traditional distrust has disappeared. This is the third report from India in our Looking for Mr Li series.

When India became independent 60 years ago, it inherited border disputes with China in the Himalayas. While India was embroiled in domestic problems, Communist China began gnawing away at the demarcation lines. As is so often the case in border issues, both the Chinese and Indian governments claim to have historic rights to the disputed land.

Access to the sea
In 1962, Chinese forces surprised Indian troops policing the status quo along the border in northeastern India. The incident didn’t lead to any significant clashes, and the Chinese immediately withdrew. However, China had already taken over another important area, Ladakh in northern Kashmir, giving it access to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan. The sovereignty of both regions is still contested. China also claims the whole of Arunachal Pradesh, which India administers as one of its federal states.

Geopolitics in Myanmar

Puneet — Sat, 10 May 2008 11:23:37 +0000

With over 80,000 people killed and almost two million left homeless, Myanmar teeters on the edge of collapse. The military junta that has ruled the country since 1962 has proved to be highly irresponsible, failing to inform people of the upcoming calamity. Now it refuses to accept foreign aid. But the junta’s incompetency is only part of the problem. Geopolitics is the other.

The maps of Asia clearly show that the geographical position of Myanmar (former Burma) is far from desirable. Squeezed between two regional giants – China and India – it would face total annihilation if one of them waged a war against the other. What is more, Myanmar also borders unstable Thailand, ruled by a military junta, and Bangladesh – a predominantly Muslim country carved out from Pakistan in 1971.

Many hurt in India farm clashes

Puneet — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:02:47 +0000

At least seven people have been injured in fresh clashes between supporters of the main ruling Communist Party and the opposition in West Bengal, east India.

The two sides have traded gunfire and hurled bombs at each other in the run-up to village council elections in the embattled enclave of Nandigram.

Nearly 600 people have fled their homes after Monday’s clashes.

Locals oppose plans for an economic zone. At least 40 people have died in clashes in the area this year.

Doctors said two of the seven injured were in serious condition after the clashes in the Satengabari and Jambari areas.

Glamour Bazaar: New face of changing India

Puneet — Sat, 03 May 2008 06:40:50 +0000

Young India is far more different from what is was even ten years ago. There has been a change in mindsets, in thought process and beliefs. CNN-IBN’s Amrita Tripathi discusses this new face of changing India on the show Glamour Bazaar.

To discuss the issue on the panel were, Shobhaa De, eminent writer, ad guru, chairman of the London school of corporate training, Alyque Padamsee, film critic Bhawana Somaaya and writer and journalist Sonia Faleiro. Features editor at ibnlive.com Jhoomur Bose also participated in the discussion along with the students who raised their doubts and expressed their opinions.

'It's time to negotiate with Naxalites'

Puneet — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:01:37 +0000

India should seek peace talks with Maoist rebels whose influence has spread to half the country and who threaten to undermine an economic boom, according to an internal report sent to the Government yesterday.

The report, a copy of which was seen by The Times, urges the reversal of the 40-year policy of refusing to negotiate with the Naxalites, as the Maoists are known, until they renounce violence.

It also criticises the Government for treating the insurgency as a law-and-order problem rather than addressing its underlying causes: poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, social injustice and the caste system.

“The first point is to talk to them - we just have to open the lines of communication,” said Santosh Mehrotra, a member of the panel that compiled the report for the Planning Commission, the Government’s internal think-tank.