ULFA Weapon Case: Bangla Court Slams Slow Probe

The 2004 weapon haul case involved 10 truckloads of arms allegedly destined for ULFA hideouts in India's northeast.

Dhaka, Feb 24 : A Bangladeshi court hearing the 2004 weapon haul case involving 10 truckloads of arms allegedly destined for ULFA hideouts in India's northeast has rejected a prosecution plea for more time to probe the matter and slammed investigators for not being able to finish their job so far.

Metropolitan Session Judge AKM Shamsul Islam in southeastern port city of Chittagong blasted the case's investigation officers, questioning their competence as the prosecution sought more time for the 12th time to complete the "further investigation."

A visibly angry Islam on Tuesday rejected the plea and immediately summoned the case's chief investigation officer Muniruzzaman of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to the dock to explain the development of the probe process. "How dare you appeared in the court without the case docket (documents) ... what are you doing taking the extra time for the investigation," local media quoted the judge as telling the officer during the proceedings.

The court also criticised the state-appointed lawyer in the case for the delay after he apparently tried to defend the officer saying the extended time was needed as the prosecution and investigators required to proceed with caution because "very influential people of different quarters" were involved in the case.

"Like the Goddess Durga, this case too has 10 hands, which are very strong ... very influential quarters of the then (BNP-led) government were involved in it who are to be brought to justice with caution," chief prosecution lawyer Kamaluddin Ahmed told the court.

The court ordered appearance on March 30 of all the accused, including controversial former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar and two ex-army generals who earlier headed the apex National Security Intelligence (NSI).

An influential member of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's BNP-led government, Babar is a key suspect of the arms haul, when 10 trucks of weapons, believed to be destined to United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) hideouts in northeastern India, were "accidentally" seized.

CID officials, who were entrusted with the task of an extended investigation into the case, earlier hinted that they found clues about the involvement of several stalwarts of the past BNP regime, including Zia's now expatriate elder son and party's senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman, in the abortive weapon smuggling attempt.

Despite his exposure to several other criminal and graft charges, Rahman, however, was yet to be named in the case. Earlier media reports had claimed that he had meetings with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim at least twice in connection with the weapon trading.

The consignment of 10 truckloads of weapons was seized in April 2004 despite suspected efforts of certain "influential quarters" for its safe passage to "ULFA hideouts" in northeastern India through Chittagong, but the case was shelved for years after the apparently "accidental" seizure.

The seized weapons, which included over 27,000 grenades, 150 rocket launchers, over 11 lakh ammunitions and 1,100 sub machine guns, were unloaded at a government jetty belonging to state-owned Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Company Ltd (CUFL) to be reloaded in trucks allegedly destined for northeastern frontiers.

The subsequent military-backed interim government in 2008 ordered re-investigation amid allegations that there was a deliberate attempt on the part of the then administration under the BNP to suppress facts to weaken the case.

The reinvestigation process yielded the arrest of several high-profile intelligence officials including former NSI chiefs -- retired major general Rezzakul Haidar Chowdhury and ex-brigadier general Abdur Rahim -- and questioning of a number of senior officers including the then home secretary Omar Faruque.

The investigators also found that the weapons were manufactured at China North Industries Corporation or Norinco, known outside of China for its high-tech defence products, some of which are adaptations of Soviet equipment.

Officials earlier said ULFA leader Paresh Barua oversaw the abortive smuggling process in connivance with the influential people in Bangladesh.

Arunachal Has The Fastest Growth Rate in India

New Delhi, Feb 24 : The northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh clocked the highest economic growth rate in the country of 22.43 percent in 2009-10, followed by Mizoram and Goa, according to a government report.

Arunachal Pradesh's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) rose by 7.51 percent in 2008-09.

Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar informed the Lok Sabha that Mizoram and Goa registered GSDP growth of 13.95 percent and 13.03 percent, respectively, in 2009-10.

However, the GSDP growth performance of Rajasthan -- at 3.95 percent -- was the lowest among the 32 states and Union Territories in the country last fiscal.

The other two states where the pace of economic expansion was low were Andaman and Nicobar and Karnataka , at 4.39 and 4.99 percent, respectively.

Kumar also said in his reply that as many as 19 states and Union Territories recorded economic expansion at a rate over 8 percent during the year.

The country's overall gross domestic product growth during 2009-10 stood at 8 percent. The government expects the country to clock a GDP growth rate of 8.6 percent in the current fiscal.

Data for the states of Manipur and West Bengal was not available.

Malaria Biggest Enemy of Indian Border Guards in Northeast

Agartala, Feb 23 : Malaria poses a bigger threat than insurgents and smugglers to Border Security Force (BSF) men posted along India's northeastern border with Bangladesh, with many dying of the disease every year, say security officials.

'Our troopers are now battling malaria, with the disease turning out to be our biggest enemy in the mountainous border areas,' a senior BSF officer posted at the Tripura frontier said.

'On an average, five to six BSF personnel died of malaria every year on the Tripura border alone. No one was killed by insurgents during the past three years,' the BSF officer told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Comprising eight states, northeast India is a malaria prone zone, with the vector-borne disease claiming an estimated 500 civilian lives annually.

Four northeastern states - Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam - share a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, which is guarded by BSF troopers.

Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram share a 1,640-km-long border with Myanmar manned by Assam Rifles.

Most parts of the borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar are mountainous, densely forested and unfenced.

According to the officer, more than 2,360 BSF troopers posted along the 856-km-long Tripura-Bangladesh border were hit by malaria last year. The number of such cases since 2008 was a staggering 11,580.

The scenario is almost same in the other northeastern states that border Bangladesh and Myanmar.

'It is mandatory for all those posted in the border areas to carry mosquito repellent creams, besides wearing face masks and gloves all the time,' said a BSF commander at north Tripura's Khatlung post along the Bangladesh-Tripura-Mizoram border.

Among the most inaccessible and inhospitable terrains in the country, where even food supplies have to be air dropped, cerebral malaria is the disease BSF troopers fear the most.

'Our troops remain out for 15 to 16 hours on an average for guarding the borders, bracing inhospitable terrain, deadly and poisonous snakes and other venomous insects, wild animals, besides all types of mosquitoes,' he said.

They also battle smugglers.

On an average, various smuggled goods worth Rs.1.50 crore are being seized by the BSF troopers every month at different bordering areas of Tripura. The goods include various narcotics, saris, forest produce, a variety of garments, cattle, fish, machine parts and medicines.

The BSF has set up round-the-clock medical facilities with at least 10 small health centres for each battalion with anti-malaria drugs and diagnostic kits.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)

Aizawl Hospital Becomes First ISO Certified in Northeast

Aizawl, Feb 23 The Civil Hospital of Aizawl in Mizoram has become the first ISO 9001:2008 certified hospital in entire north-east amongst the government hospitals.

An announcement to this effect was made on Friday at a function by the Mizoram health minister Lalrinliana at a celebration held on Saturday in Aizawl.

The celebration for this purpose was held after a certificate received from International Organisation for Standardization (ISO).

In this connection, the state health minister expressed gratitude to the doctors and the hospital staff who made untiring effort for standardization of the hospital.

He also asked the staff to continue the same zeal and enthusiasm in future.

To get the certification of International Organisation for Standardization, the hospital constituted 11 member Internal Auditors 2 years ago.

Under the guidance of the Auditors, the doctors and Hospital staff made efforts for all round improvement of the Hospital.

The certificate was received on 16th December last year after inspection by Indian Register of Shipping and Indian Register Quality System but it was formally handed over to the Aizawl Civil Hospital on Feb 18th last.

(Unofficial) Facebook Shop in India

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Each manilla envelope, sheet of card stock, and ream of office paper comes with Mark Zuckerberg’s seal of approval "like." (Not really.)

Via TechGoss.

Website Crashes Under Mad Scramble For Final Tickets

By Pritha Sarkar

Mumbai, Feb 21 : The website selling just 1000 tickets for the Cricket World Cup final in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on April 2 crashed seconds after they went on sale on Monday sparking furious complaints from fans.

Tickets were put on sale at 0730 GMT via the International Cricket Council's (ICC) official ticketing partner Kyazoonga.com but the website buckled under the pressure of huge traffic.

Of the 31,000 seats at the Wankhede Stadium, only 4000 are available to the public -- 1000 online while another 3000 will be sold later for those who queue up at stadium box offices.

The rest are distributed among the ICC and clubs affiliated to the Mumbai Cricket Association.

An unnamed source at Yahoo said they were being inundated by complaints from hundreds of fans who were unable to log on to the official ticket agency through a link posted on the popular search engine's website.

With such a small proportion available to the general public in a cricket-crazy country where the population is more than a billion, it is little wonder that there has been a mad scramble for tickets.

With the Indian team living up to their favourite tag by walloping Bangladesh in the opening World Cup match, expectations are high of a home-team success come April 2.

Such is the desperation of fans, even media visiting the city have been under siege for tickets.

As soon as hotel staff, taxi drivers, security guards, corner shop owners and even road sweepers find out media are here to cover the tournament, the first question out of their lips is "Can you please get me a ticket to the final?"

When Reuters tried to log on to Kyazoonga.com more than an hour after the tickets went on sale, the website was still timing out.

"It's the first we've heard about it so we can't comment about it," an ICC spokesman said after being alerted about the problem by Reuters.

Earlier on Monday, ICC chief Haroon Lorgat acknowledged there was "an unbelievable demand for tickets which clearly outstrips the available supply.

"From the outset it was always going to be near impossible to satisfy the enormous demand for tickets," he said in a statement that was issued only minutes before the tickets went on sale.

"But the Central Organising Committee always wanted to provide as many cricket lovers as possible with an opportunity to experience the World Cup. That is why some tickets are now being made available online."

(Additional reporting by Madhu Soman, Editing by Jon Bramley)

Source: Reuters

Manipur to Get German-Made Weapons

Imphal, Feb 21 : After hovercraft, the state force will be equipped with the MP5A3 series sub-machine guns to fight insurgency.

The German-made sophisticated guns are being used by a special US Air Force military organisation Star Gate Command for urban warfare.

The ministry of home affairs would procure the weapons for the state police commandos as part of police modernization programme, sources said.

The ministry would be procuring 775 MP5A3 series guns this year, the source said adding that the state home department has also sent relevant documents to the ministry in connection with the matter.

Besides, the ministry would also provide 3500 AK series and 3000 Indian Small Arms System (Insas) rifles for the state police, the source added.

The move comes at a time when the Loktak Protection Force (LPF) set up by the state has been equipped with three US-made hovercraft to flush out militants from Loktak, the biggest fresh water lake in the northeast.

Security officials said rebels belonging to various organisations had put up at huts built on floating phumdis (thick bio-mass), deep inside the adjoining areas to the lake like the Keibul Lamjao National Park, which is home to the rare brow antlered deer, locally known as Sangai.

Three high-tech hovercraft landed in the Bishnupur district on Wednesday and are being kept at Toubul village on the banks of the lake.

Mizo Students Body Against OBC Status For Gorkhas

Aizawl, Feb 21 : The Mizo Students Union, on Saturday, met State Home Minister R Lalzirliana and voiced their opposition against granting OBC status to the Gorkhas in Mizoram.

''The Mizoram government seems to be in favour of giving OBC status to the Gorkhas in Mizoram even as the latter have intensified their long-standing demand for the same,'' the MSU leaders told the home minister.

''It is very insensible to include Gorkhas in the OBC category as that would enable them to enjoy more privileges than the Mizos, who are under Schedule Tribe, as per the All India Reservation Policy,'' the MSU observed.

Granting OBC status to the Gorkhas could also lead to a demographic invasion by the Gorkhas living in other states of India, the MSU expressed fears.

The Young Mizo Association, the apex Mizo organisation, had earlier voiced strong objection to granting OBC status to the Mizorams Gorkhas.

The YMAs opposition came in the wake of then Mizo National Front minister H Vanlalauvas remarks that the Mizoram government would do anything to ensure the inclusion of Gorkhas in the OBC category.