New iPhone 4G Leaked: 'iPhone HD' Revealed?

It seems eager Apple fans may not have to wait for Steve Jobs to take the stage to find out what will the next iPhone, dubbed the 'iPhone 4G' (or iPhone HD) will look like. Gizmodo claims to have gotten its hands on 'Apple's next iPhone'--and has posted extensive pictures and video to prove it.

According to Gizmodo, which disassembled and inspected the purported iPhone 4G, new features of the upcoming iPhone include: a front-facing video camera, flash for the camera, a better display, an improved camera lens, an aluminum side casing (instead of plastic), an additional 3 grams of heft, and a 16 percent bigger battery.

This (alleged) iPhone 4G was lost at a bar in Redwood City, California, and had been disguised to resemble an iPhone 3GS. Gizmodo says of the found phone, 'We're as skeptical--if not more--than all of you.

We get false tips all the time. But after playing with it for about a week--the overall quality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone--and disassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in its favor, that there's very little possibility that it's a fake.

In fact, the possibility is almost none.' Is this leaked iPhone 4G the real thing? Check out the photo and video below and tell us what you think.

Engadget has turned up additional photographic 'proof' of the iPhone 4G, which Daring Fireball's John Gruber lends credence to by pointing to a 2006 Apple patent filing.  

 
Via Gizmodo

No Compromise on Sovereignty: ULFA

Guwahati, Apr 19 : The military chief of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Paresh Barua, Monday took an ‘uncompromising’ stand on the outfit’s demand for ‘sovereignty’ for Assam, affirming that the ULFA still enjoys ‘complete support’ of the masses.

In an emailed statement to the media, Barua claimed that a plebiscite, held in a free and fair manner, will reaffirm the ULFA’s contention that the group still enjoys complete support of the masses in its struggle to ‘liberate’ Assam.

“ULFA’s demand for independence of Assam is based on historical premise and we will not relent from our armed struggle unless our objective is achieved,” Barua reiterated.

Welcoming the initiative of a group of intellectuals of convening a meet later this month to discuss the state’s ‘problems’, Barua demanded from the group of convincing the Indian authorities to sit for talks with the ULFA on the ‘sovereignty’ issue.

“The group of intellectuals must persuade the Indian government to talk on complete independence for Assam while seeking a political resolution to the India-ULFA conflict. Else, any resolution adopted in the proposed meet will not be a reflection of the people of the state and will not be acceptable to ULFA,” the ‘commander-in-chief’ of the outfit said.

He slammed the intellectuals for their ‘pro-India’ stand and criticized their role in seeking to find solutions to the state’s problems by stating that they are ‘slaves’ of the Indian Constitution – the constitution which has ‘deprived’ the Assamese of their ‘rightful liberty’.

“If they (the group of intellectuals) think that the ULFA will come for a resolution of the political conflict with India by bowing down to the Indian Constitution as they have done, they are mistaken,” the military chief said.

Claiming complete support from the masses to their ‘independence struggle’, Barua said, “The Indian government, which prides itself on its democracy, should hold a plebiscite on the sovereignty issue and see for themselves the mass support the ULFA has in Assam.”

The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was formed on April 7, 1979, by Bhimakanta Buragohain, Rajiv Rajkonwar alias Arabinda Rajkhowa, Golap Baruah alias Anup Chetia, Samiran Gogoi alias Pradip Gogoi, Bhadreshwar Gohain and Paresh Baruah at the Rang Ghar in Sibsagar (Assam) to establish a ‘sovereign socialist Assam’ through an armed struggle, the South Asia Terrorism Portal says.

The ULFA has a clearly partitioned political and military wing. Paresh Barua heads the military wing as the outfit’s ‘commander-in-chief’.

Top ULFA leaders, including ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa, ‘deputy c-in-c’ Raju Baruah and political ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain, are lodged in the Guwahati jail, with only a handful of top leaders, including Paresh Barua, elusive at the moment.

[via India Blooms News Service]

Cyclonic Storm Causes Havoc in Many Parts of Manipur

Imphal, Apr 19 : Over 100 houses in different parts of Manipur state were damaged following a cyclonic storm and heavy winds during the wee hours of Sunday.

The storm swept across the State and left a trail of destruction in many areas.

The gale, accompanied by hailstones, caused widespread damage in different parts of Bishnupur and Imphal West districts, however, there were no reports of human casualties.

"Yesterday, when all people were asleep at around 1.45 or 2.00 am, there were violent storms that occurred twice. The first one was a strong one and continued for a longer period. However, the second storm was stronger than the first one and continued for a short period," said Chaoba Nameirakpam, a villager.

Some of the houses were totally razed while tin roofs of many houses were blown away. The storm also uprooted many trees and electric poles, and led to snapping of wires.

More than 50 houses were damaged in Oinam Assembly constituency of Bishnupur district. The gale left a similar trail of destruction at Chajing Karam in Imphal West district as well.

Apart from the houses, the storm also razed down a school. Local residents here are faced with a lot of inconvenience, as fallen electric poles are still lying across roads.

ANI

Bombing Your Own People; The Use of Air Power in South Asia

By Sanjeev Miglani

(U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt jets, also known as the Warthog. File photo)

Pakistani army chief of staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani offered a rare apology at the weekend for a deadly air strike in the Khyber region in the northwest  in which residents and local officials say at least 63 civilians were killed.

Tragically for the Pakistani military, most of the victims were members of a tribe that had stood up against the Taliban. Some of them were members of the army. 

Indeed as Dawn reported the first bomb was dropped on the house of a serving army officer, followed by another more devastating strike just when people rushed to the scene. Such actions defy description and an explanation is in order from those who ordered the assault, the newspaper said in an angry editorial.

But the question really is wasn’t it coming? The counter-insurgency strategy that Pakistan has pursued to wrest control of its turbulent northwest along the border with Afghanistan has consisted of heavy use of air strikes and long range artillery barrages in the initial stages before putting boots on the ground.

It’s the steam-roller approach that Lord Curzon, the turn-of-the century British Viceroy of India, spoke about when confronted with a similar challenge in Waziristan – except that it relies on stand-off weapons like releasing bombs from the safety of a jet aircraft to keep military casualties down, taking a leaf from the U.S. playbook in Afghanistan.

Indeed it would appear that while the U.S. is trying to change tack after years of  deadly strikes in Afghanistan, and focus on avoiding casualties at all costs, the Pakistanis are relying on the classic counter-insurgency strategy of overwhelming force as Tim Foxley writes on the Afghanistan blog or the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

He calls it a mismatch in the way the war against militants is being fought on the two sides of the Durand Line separating Afghanistan and Pakistan, but if you looked elsewhere in the region, a heavy hand is increasingly the preferred course for security forces.

Sri Lanka conducted nearly daily air strikes and artillery barrages to crush the Tamil Tigers last summer at great cost to civilian lives. Some people in India are calling for a similar approach to tackling a strengthening Maoist insurgency operating deep in the jungles of central and eastern India. It’s the sort of option that New Delhi has balked at in half a century of fighting rebellions in its northeast and Kashmir in the last 20 years although it has thrown men and armor at the militants outnumbering them by a significant ratio.

But it takes quite a doing to bomb your own people in your territory and the only time New Delhi carried out air strikes were in the northeast state of Mizoram back in the 1960s when the separatist Mizo National Front almost overran the remote state.

We are not counting the raids in Kargil in the summer of 1999 because those were irregular Pakistan soldiers who moved into the Indian part of Kashmir, triggering a near-war between the two countries.

The gains from the air strikes in Mizoram are debatable. While they succeeded in pushing back the guerrillas, it left deep scars and probably pushed back a resolution of the insurgency by several years. (Mizoram is now one of the most peaceful states in the Indian northeast).

The use of air strikes almost always brutalizes an insurgency as B.Raman, former head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing writes..  ”Air strikes on one’s own nationals tend to aggravate an insurgency situation by causing casualties of civilians….. and driving more people to join the ranks of the insurgents,” he says. They also attract criticism from rights organizations, eroding international support even when you have a perfectly legitimate reason to take a tough but measured stance towards the insurgents.

It’s not that states are not using air power to help fight insurgencies. You can use planes  for surveillance, both in terms of aerial photography and for electronic monitoring of ground signals. But to carry out bombing runs is a significant escalation.

[ via Reuters ]

Tribal Culture, A Source of Strength in Manipur Culture

Imphal, Apr 19 : Manipur is home to different tribes who live together in perfect harmony.  Located nearly 70 kilometers from Imphal, the Machi Block in Chandel District is surrounded by green mountains and is completely cut off from the modern world.

The 72 villages in the area that have a population of 24, 000, is mainly inhabited by the Marin, Kuki and Khoibu tribes. They live in houses made of tin and bamboo.

Their main source of income is weaving and farming. Banana, pumpkin, and rice are the main crops, cultivated. “We go to a factory at Mao to get seedlings of passion fruits for Rs.2 each. Our forefathers have been growing bananas for a long time. We are just carrying forward the legacy of banana cultivation,”said Maenai, local of the Machi village.

A luxurious lifestyle is not for these people, but basic amenities are.  They want potable water, good healthcare, education for the children and better roads.

Recently, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, a central scheme was implemented in the region with the aim of improving connectivity.  Likewise, the National Rural Heath Mission programme is also providing better health facilities to the region.

Locals opine that the government is actively involved in development works. “The Government is helping us with developmental work in our village. Roads and drains are under construction. We are hoping for further development of our village after the district council election,” said Kapingam, of the Machi village.

“The Government has introduced various developmental schemes in our village. But their proper implementation in various far-flung areas as yet has not been achieved,” said Hopson, another resident.  The Machi Block has a school too, which caters to the educational needs of the people.
Hockey is the favorite game of children here.

There is hope for development and progress from the forthcoming Manipur District Autonomous Council elections, which will be held after a gap of 20 years. People in the region are happy with the decline in militancy.

Locals opine that the situation has improved in the state. “There has been much improvement in the law and order situation in the area. The governance or the reach of an ability to access the villages has sufficiently improved in last few years. There is more effective domination by forces particularly Assam Rifles and other forces in Chandel district. I am grateful to that,” said H Dilip Singh, District Commissioner, Chandel District.
Kukis are even supporting elections and actively participating in Government programs.

“UNC is against the election. Only Nagas are against it, not Kukis. They have some grievances,” said Hopson, a local, Machi village. The tribals in Machi Block have witnessed a change in their lifestyle with the ongoing development work.  And things will only get better with time.

Incessant Rains, Thunder Storms Disrupt Normal Life in Assam

Guwahati, Apr 19 : In Assam, normal life has been disrupted following incessant rains and thunder storms since last two days. In Guwahati city, traffic on several roads has been disrupted due to water logging.

According to MET office sources, the city experienced two point one (2.1) centimeter of rainfall during last 24 hours. The overall temperature has been plummeted to around 20 degree centigrade.

Guwahati Correspondent reports that the foul weather in several parts of the State played spoilsport in the on-going week-long Rongalee Bihu festivity, compelling the organizing committees to draw their curtains ahead of the schedule. The Met office predicted more rains accompanied by strong gusts of wind in parts of the State in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, with one more person died, the number of the dead due to cyclonic storm in Mankachar area of the Dhubri district in the State has gone up to five. Over five hundred thatched houses in Mankachar and South Salmara sub-divisions of the district have been damaged due to the impact of the high-speed storm.

Burma's 'Forgotten' Chin People Suffer Abuse

By Sam Bagnall

The Chin people are one of the most persecuted groups in Burma

With elections being held in Burma later this year the country's "forgotten people" are appealing to the rest of the world for help.

The Chin people, who number roughly 1.5m and live mainly in the hilly west of the country near the Indian border, are one of the most persecuted minority groups in Burma.

Yet their plight is little known in the rest of the world.

Filming for the series Tropic of Cancer, presenter Simon Reeve and a two-man BBC crew managed to visit the area.

Risking capture and arrest at the hands of the Burmese army, who have around 50 bases in Chin State, they trekked through the jungle to a remote village.

"It was an extraordinary journey," said Reeve. "The villagers I met gave me horrifying accounts of the abuses they suffer at the hands of Burmese troops."

These stories appear to confirm recent research by US organization Human Rights Watch.

If we don't speak up, if we don't tell the stories of the people under this repressive military regime, then no-one will know what's happening

Cheery Zahau, Human Rights activist

After interviewing Chin refugees in neighboring India their report concluded that the Chin are subjected to forced labor, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest and extra-judicial killings as part of a Burmese government policy to suppress the Chin people and their ethnic identity.

The BBC team was taken into Burma by Chin human rights activist Cheery Zahau.

Despite being on a Burmese army wanted list, Ms Zahau was prepared to run the risk of working with the BBC, which, like other western media organizations, is banned from entering Burma.

"If we don't speak up, if we don't tell the stories of the people under this repressive military regime, then no-one will know what's happening, and if they don't know they will not do anything," she said.

Christian persecution

The Chin are mainly Christians, having converted to the faith when the British ruled the area before independence after World War II.

The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India, but just because these abuses happen far from Delhi and Rangoon does not mean the Chin should remain 'forgotten people'

Human Rights Watch

The persecution of the Chin dates back to the military takeover of Burma in the 1960s.

According to the US State Department, Burmese troops and officials have tried to forcibly convert the Chin from Christianity to Buddhism.

They have also destroyed churches, and arrested and even killed Christian Chin clergy, who now often work undercover.

The Chin also suffer from acute food shortages.

The United Nation's World Food Programme believes that food consumption in Chin State is the lowest in Burma. In recent years food shortages have been further exacerbated by a plague of rats, which have devastated Chin crops.

There is little in the way of medical facilities in Chin State. The villagers said that they had not seen a doctor for 10 years.

The Christian NGO Free Burma Rangers is one of the few sources of medical aid.

They give training to local volunteers who take basic drugs and medical equipment to the remote villages. The danger of running into a Burmese army patrol is ever present.

Free Burma Rangers give medicines to the Chin in secret

"If they catch us they will kill us," one volunteer inside Burma said.

In the neighboring Indian state of Mizoram, Chin refugees receive little help from the Indian authorities or aid agencies.

Instead they face discrimination and hostility, and are often forcibly repatriated to Burma.

"The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India, but just because these abuses happen far from Delhi and Rangoon does not mean the Chin should remain 'forgotten people'," said Human Rights Watch in its report.

Burmese refugees from other persecuted ethnic groups who can flee from the south and east of the country into neighboring Thailand receive international help and assistance.

Human Rights Watch has called for better treatment for the Chin and for Chin refugees who arrive in India.

Burma's military rulers intend to hold an election later this year, but most opposition leaders are banned from taking part.

The most famous is Aun Sang Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the elections of 1990.

Burma's military leaders refused to accept the results and she has spent most of the last two decades in detention. The NLD says it will boycott these elections.

Amnesty International has warned that ethnic groups, like the Chin, face increased repression at the hands of the Burmese military.

The Burmese regime has previously denied repressing ethnic groups.

Tropic of Cancer is broadcast on BBC Two at 2000 BST on Sunday 18 April.

The writer is the Executive producer, Tropic of Cancer

Assam May Face Fresh Separation Demand

By R Dutta Choudhury

Guwahati, Apr 19 : If immediate steps are not taken to check growth of fundamentalist forces and unabated infiltration to Assam and other parts of North East, India may face fresh demand for separation within the next decade, warned former GOC of the 4 Corps of the Army, Lt Gen (retd) DB Shekhatkar.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Lt Gen Shekhatkar, who served in the Northeast as an Army officer in different capacities for about 20 years, said that though the fundamentalist forces are lying low at this moment, the region is virtually sitting on a sleeping volcano, which may erupt at any time and “one should not be surprised if a demand for separation comes up by the end of the year 2018.”

Lt Gen Shekhatkar pointed out that effective steps must be taken to prevent infiltration of foreigners to the region and a close watch must be maintained on the activities of the fundamentalist forces. He suggested that the suspected nationals should be denied voting rights and work permits should be issued to them. Stress should be given on education of the children of certain communities living in the backward areas so that they cannot be lured by the fundamentalist forces into their trap.

The former GOC of the 4 Corps of the Army pointed out that there have been demands for inclusion of the Northeast in East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh since the time of Independence and even today, the demand is raised from time to time. The fundamentalist forces and Islamic militant groups are now lying low but they have their “sleeping cells”, which can become active when they feel that the time is ripe for them to strike.

The militant groups backed by Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) are still active and there is no reason for the fundamentalist forces to use their manpower to create disturbance in the region at this moment. But they may strike whenever they gain enough strength and there is urgent need for keeping a close watch on the situation, he added.

Lt Gen Shekhatkar said that apart from Assam ,which is the worst sufferer to the problem of infiltration, Meghalaya may face serious problems as the state is rich in minerals, including Uranium and the anti-India forces would definitely try to set strong foothold in the state. Meghalaya is also vulnerable to infiltration as most parts of the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border are still not fenced, he said.

The former Army officer expressed the view that Pakistan would definitely try to create disturbance in the region by setting up bases in Bangladesh and in the past also, such attempts were made. Though the present Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina is inclined towards India, she is also under pressure from different quarters in her own country and the possibility of Pakistan creating trouble in North East through Bangladesh in the days to come cannot be ruled out.

From the security point of view, he pointed out that the North East region is connected to the rest of the country only by a 22 kilometer wide stretch and if the fundamentalist forces manage to establish strong bases in Bangladesh, they may try to cut off the region from the rest of India. In such a scenario, India will be in serious trouble as it will not be possible to move essential commodities as well as troops to the region by air and China may also try to take advantage of such a scenario, he warned.

There is no denying the fact that the demography of Assam changed alarmingly over the years due to infiltration of foreigners and the sharp rise in the number of voters in some constituencies is a matter of grave concern. If the matter is not dealt with immediately, a time may come when the situation in the Northeast may turn out to be worse than even Jammu and Kashmir, Lt Gen Shekhatkar warned.