Anna Hazare to campaign against MPs opposing Jan Lokpal Bill in 2014 general election.

 Hoping to carry his anti-graft campaign forward, Anna Hazare on Sunday announced that he would travel across the country to educate the people about the various provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill and also exhort them to vote against the MPs opposed to their version of the legislation during the next general election. 

"The government Lokpal draft was fraudulent.Corruption would increase if a legislation is passed on the basis of government's draft,'' the Gandhian, who had in August undertaken a 13-day-long fast at the Ramlila Grounds in the Capital to press for the acceptance of the Jan Lokpal bill, told newspersons in his village, Ralegaon Sidhi, in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra at the conclusion of two-day meeting of his core committee members. "We will also see which member of the Standing Committee opposes the Jan Lokpal bill," Hazare said, adding that houses of such members would be gheraoed. The standing committee on law and justice, which is headed by Congress Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi, is presently studying the various versions of the Lokpal bill. "People should stage a sit-in in front of their houses and chant Raghupati Raghav Rajaram, he said, adding he would campaign against MPs opposing the Jan Lokpal bill in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. "I will tour constituencies where these MPs will seek re-election and urge people not to vote for them,'' Hazare said. Reiterating that that the second battle for Independence had begun, Hazare expressed confidence that, "eventually, victory will be ours." "It is not Hazare, but God who was behind the success of the anti-corruption agitation," he observed and urged his supporters not to let the torch of this anti-corruption agitation douse till the country is rid of corruption,'' he said. Hazare also announced that he will undertake a countrywide tour next month after his health improves. Talking about his fast at the Ramlila Maidan, he said, "There were five to six people in the UPA government to consider themselves as Prime Minister. During my 12-day fast, there was nobody to take decision. Sonia Gandhi had gone abroad. The government's position had become weird. Aiming at devising a strategy for passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament, the two-day meeting of the core committee of Team Anna began in Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday.


Key members of Team Anna -- including Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan and Manish Sisodia -- are present in the meeting, which is being described as the first formal engagement after Hazare's fast in New Delhi last month. The meeting commenced at 11:30 am. Before commencement of the meeting, Hazare told PTI that he core committee will discuss the outcome of the agitation and also decide on the future course of action.


"People must ask the parliamentarians about their role in the Jan Lokpal Bill movement. People must be careful while electing the MPs in future. Those MPs who are either against the Jan Lokpal Bill or passive about it must not be given a second chance. The fight against corruption would continue till India is freed from corruption," he said.


According to insiders, the meeting will also discuss ways to further mobilise public opinion in favour of the Jan Lokpal Bill to make it an instrument for achieving the goal of a corruption-free India.

Anna Hazare to tour poll-bound States.

A day after Anna Hazare strongly pitched for the Right to Reject clause in elections, the Gandhian has stated that he would tour all the poll-bound states. Many States are having assembly polls next year.

Prominent member of Team Anna, Arvind Kejriwal made an announcement in this regard while addressing the media in Anna’s village Ralegaon Siddhi on Sunday.

Kejriwal said core committee members of Team Anna would declare their assets on their website by October 15.

Diversifying Team Anna’s campaign against electoral reforms, Kejriwal had said on Saturday that Hazare will write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his views on having an annual performance audit of the MPs.

Hazare on Saturday also had urged people to 'gherao' houses of MPs opposed to the Jan Lokpal Bill. "We should gherao the houses of MPs opposing the Jan Lokpal bill. They should not be allowed to come out," the 74-year-old told a meeting of anti-corruption activists.

Meanwhile, Prashant Bhushan, another core committee member of team Anna, has slammed Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh by saying “Digvijay has a habit of making false accusations”. The senior lawyer said that they would take legal action against Digvijay Singh.

9/11 and terror: The war has to begin and end in Pakistan.

It is 10 years since that fateful morning when 19 terrorists took control of four aircraft, three of which struck the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. The attacks that left over 3,000 dead seemed to herald the beginning of the age of ‘super-terrorism’. The United States led by President George W Bush responded with a declaration of war on terrorism. The strategic doctrine that underpinned this ‘war on terror’ was a combination of defence and deterrence on American soil and attack and prevention overseas.


The contribution of each of these elements to American security is open to question. But it is clear that the offensive and preventive component of this strategy has pitched the US in prolonged conflicts with no easy end in sight. In Iraq, combat operations may have ceased but the political reconciliation essential for a stable peace has proved elusive. The war in Afghanistan continues to take its toll without an edifying end in sight. Meanwhile, the US finds itself involved in overt or covert operations in a range of other countries—Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria to name a few. On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the Obama administration is bound to talk up its major success in the war on terror: the killing of Osama Bin Laden earlier this year. The impact of Bin Laden’s death on the effectiveness of al Qaeda remains to be seen.


Preliminary assessments differ depending on the analyst’s views about the organisational nature and structure of Al Qaeda. Those who believe that al Qaeda is a centralised outfit plotting, coordinating and executing major terrorist attacks think that the death of Bin Laden is a severe blow. The attacks that left over 3,000 dead seemed to herald the beginning of the age of ‘super-terrorism’. Those who believe that al Qaeda is a flat, networked outfit operating with franchises claim that Bin Laden’s passing is not going to make much of an operational difference.


Neither of these views is entirely convincing, for they overlook the central contribution of Bin Laden to al Qaeda’s functioning. Osama shrewdly understood the diffused nature of power in a world of global communications. Contemporary conflicts are as much, if not more, about winning the battle of public opinion as about winning the battles on the ground. The ability to craft and disseminate convincing narratives—about the nature of the struggle, the stakes involved, the progress of operations and the eventual outcome—is a crucial dimension of warfare in the early 21st century. Bin Laden was an outstanding purveyor of the al Qaeda’s narratives—messages that drew and secured support for the outfit in its attempt to take on the US.


His death may or may not affect the operational effectiveness of al Qaeda, but it will certainly diminish its ability to appeal to new bases of support and approval.The Obama administration can also draw comfort from the fact that the ongoing upheaval in the Middle East has taken the form of popular, democratic protests. The al Qaeda’s message appears to have little resonance with the crowds that throng the main squares and thoroughfares across the Arab world.


To be sure, there are Islamist outfits of various kinds involved in these protests. But their ideology and politics is considerably different from that of al Qaeda. Set against these positive developments are more worrying trends. The most problematic of these is the conflict in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theatre. The elimination of Bin Laden has created the necessary political backdrop for an American withdrawal from Afghanistan. But the exit may not be all that smooth. For one thing, the insurgency has proven more resilient and adaptive than anticipated by American strategists. General David Petraeus’ much feted counter-insurgency strategy has not been as successful as the Pentagon would like us to believe. Claims about the ‘momentum’ of the insurgency being broken betray a serious misunderstanding of the nature of counter-insurgency warfare.


Control of territory, not momentum of operations, is the key factor in counter-insurgency—particularly when the insurgency has an external base. The US military’s performance on this score has so far been decidedly mixed. Equally dubious is the assumption about a smooth transfer of operational responsibility to the Afghan security forces. In the past year an additional 100,000 Afghan personnel have reportedly been recruited and trained. But their operational mettle is yet to be tested seriously.


Besides given the persistent problems over the availability of Western trainers, it seems unwise to rely too much on the capability of the Afghan forces. To be sure, there will be a residual American presence to shore up the Afghan forces. But the insurgency is also morphing in more dangerous ways. The last couple of months have seen a surge in the use of improvised explosive devices and in the assassination of senior Afghan leaders.


Efforts to reach out to the Taliban have been halting. The possibility of a negotiated settlement is made much more difficult by the fact that the Taliban is no longer a unified entity. There are several factions and associated groups that have considerable operational independence. The upshot of it is that the Americans will have to rely on all available partners to create a patchwork of small deals with these outfits.


The most important of these potential partners is Pakistan. But, as many American officials realise, it is the least reliable of partners. The challenge of dealing with Pakistan is compounded by the fact that Pakistan is also the main focus of America’s battle against the al Qaeda and its affiliates. (As far as India is concerned, Pakistan has always been the epicentre of terrorist concerns – whether it is 26/11 or the latest Delhi blast which is being laid at the door of HuJi – a Bangladesh outfit with links to Pakistan’s ISI. The US not only depends on Pakistan for cooperation on intelligence and covert operations, but is also concerned about the possibility of Pakistani nukes falling in jihadi hands. Washington does hold certain critical levers like economic aid to Pakistan. But the Obama administration believes that sanctions or conditions-based aid will not work. Figuring out how to deal with Pakistan is the single most important challenge in America’s struggle against terrorism. Unless the Obama administration takes a more realistic tack, the US might find itself embroiled in the region for another decade.

Delhi blast: The pillars of the Indian state are crumbling

On the face of it, a court where ordinary people flock for redressal of mundane disputes may seem an unlikely target for terrorists. No cause is meaningfully advanced by blowing to bits people who are just going through the timeless grind of the legal system. Yet, if there’s one overarching message from yesterday’s blast at the Delhi High Court, which killed 11 people, it is that it expands the range of the pillars of the Indian state that have now been targeted by terrorists. Bomb blasts and terrorist strikes in Mumbai have typically targeted commercial interests – the stock exchange, the diamond bourse and the teeming markets, among others. That’s because Mumbai is in many ways the engine of India’s economy, and targeting the money trail gets the terrorists more bang for their vile efforts.

Wednesday's blast at the Delhi High Court is the latest instance of terrorists targeting the symbols of the Indian state. But since Delhi is all about temporal power, it is the pillars of the state that are being targeted. The strand that connects yesterday’s blast with the high-profile attack on the Red Fort in 2000 and the Parliament complex in 2001 is that all of them are powerful symbols of a democratic state. With all its historical associations, the Red Fort represents the majesty of Indian executive authority. And Parliament is (despite the ongoing debate over whether its members are worthy of the privilege they are accorded) today the potent symbol of a working Indian democracy. If the targets in the past were the executive and the legislature, yesterday’s attack was aimed at the judiciary, the third pillar of the Indian state. Tragically, however, the blood price in every case is paid by ordinary folks who are unrepresentative of the might of the state, and in fact are themselves victims in their own way. The connection with the 2001 attack on Parliament is doubly reinforced by the purported reason for yesterday’s attack. The terror group that has reportedly claimed responsibility for yesterday’s blast, the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), is believed to have demanded the withdrawal of the death sentence on Afzal Guru, who has been convicted for the attack on Parliament. Faced with such an open and overwhelming challenge to its authority, the response of the Indian state – and, in fact, all the elements that go to make up the edifice of our parliamentary democracy – has been monumentally inept. For although the death sentence was handed down after due – and laborious – process of law, it has now become the subject of political back-and-forth. An effort is now on in the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly to pass a resolution to demand that the death sentence on Afzal Guru be commuted.

First, Parliament, one of the most powerful symbols of the Indian democracy, is targeted by vile terrorists; then the executive authority of the day is unable or unwilling to implement the verdict in the case handed down by the judiciary; to compound that, the entire political establishment plays political football with the judicial verdict. …It’s easy to see why terrorists have been emboldened into repeated attacks on the might of the Indian state: they know they can get away with it, given the ineffectual response of the executive and the natural inclinations of the political establishment across the spectrum to play one-upmanship games with the issue of terrorism.

HuJI or Indian Mujahideen?

Just a day after the Delhi bomb blast outside the High Court, investigating agency National Investigating Agency (NIA) has been confused as they received two emails from two prominent terror groups claiming the responsibility of the blast.


NIA started probing an email sent by Indian Mujahideen (IM) which on Thursday, Sep 8 claimed that they were responsible and masterminded the blast outside the court in the national capital.


The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official also informed, "Mail can't be ignored, we will investigate it." Indian Mujahideen is being parented by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).


Earlier Harkat-ul- Jehadi (HuJI) had claimed the responsibility of the blast. It has also been reported that HuJI had sent an email to a media house citing that this blast in the High Court was in retaliation to the death sentence pronounced on Afzal Guru, who has been convicted in the Parliament Attack case. 

Quake-prone Delhi lacks safety measures: Expert

With Wednesday night's earthquake still haunting many in north India, aNational Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) official said the tremor was just a reminder of the vulnerability of Delhi and neighbouring areas which lack safety measures.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the 4.2 Richter scale quake shook Delhi and neighbouring areas at 11.28 pm. The epicentre of the quake was in Sonepat in Haryana, about 90 km from Delhi.

The NDMA official said Thursday that Delhi was in a high-risk seismic zone prone to earthquakes measuring 7-7.5 on the Richter scale.

"If such a high intensity earthquake comes, we have no safety measures implemented,"the NDMA official, pleading anonymity, told IANS.

"The national capital is about 300 km from the Himalayan collision zone but the tremors there could have an effect here," he said.

The Yamuna river and the adjoining areas have a high risk of earthquake. East and northeast Delhi are the most vulnerable because the soil in these areas is alluvial (smooth and unconsolidated).

According to BR Vaidya, director, seismology department, IMD, a project was underway to identify the maximum risk areas.

“Usually the area along rivers is more vulnerable because of the loose soil... the water content in the soil also matters,” Vaidya said.

He said an earthquake above 5 Richter scale can cause major damage in the national capital.The NDMA official added that there was a need for a re-look at Delhi's town planning.

“After Gujarat earthquake in 2001, the town planning there has been tremendously changed but Delhi, which is prone to frequent mild tremors, is yet to learn its lessons,” he said.

"It is high time we constructed earthquake-resistant buildings. Not just the centre, but state governments should also bring in stringent building by-laws," he said.

"Senseless construction of buildings should be avoided and at least one foot distance between two building should be maintained. Multi-storeyed buildings are dangerous," the NDMC official added.

Delhi earthquake shakes city for a second time after deadly bomb blast

An earthquake struck New Delhi Wednesday, shaking the city just hours after a deadly bomb exploded outside the high court. It was a minor quake for the earthquake-prone city, coming in at 4.3 magnitude, but for the already-nervous populace, it rattled already frayed nerves.

A bomb blast struck the capital’s high court complex in the morning, killing 11 people and injuring at least 76. The violence was claimed by a terrorist organization seeking an immediate end to the prison sentence of Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri convicted for his role in a 2001 attack on India’s Parliament. At first, people reported on Twitter that the shake made them think a second round of violence had started. However, after the first shock wore off, people quickly turned to humor to downplay the scare.

The intensity was 4.2 and the epicentre was Sonepat," Shailesh Nayak, Secretary in Ministry of Earthsciences, and IMD Director General Ajit Tyagi, told PTI.

The quake sent shivers among citizens who ran out of the high-rise buildings.

There were no immediate reports of any casualty. The fire brigade and police said they have not received any immediate calls of casualty or damage.A report from Chandigarh said that tremors were felt in Panipat, Faridabad, Gurgaon among others towns of Haryana. People rushed out of their homes in Chandigarh and Sonepat. The tremor was felt very "sharp for some seconds" in Sonepat, witnesses said.

There were no immediate reports of any casualty, police said. Meanwhile, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan mentioned about the tremor on his Twitter page." The blast in Delhi in the morning and just now a 6.6 earthquake in Delhi.....just spoke to my daughter, it was horrifying but all safe," Bachchan said."Hearts and prayers for those who lost loved ones earlier today in the blast... and I do hope there has been no casualties