MUMBAI HEADACHE: Another ship grounded at Mumbai's Juhu beach!

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PTI / The Hindu / MUMBAI, August 1, 2011.

Panama-flagged vessel m.v. Pavit, which has a capacity to hold 1,000 tonnes of cargo, ran aground near the Juhu beach in Mumbai early on Sunday morning. In June, m.v. Wisdom got stuck on the beach and was salvaged after about three weeks. Photo: Shashi Ashiwal.

In a repeat of the m.v. Wisdom episode, a much-smaller cargo vessel ran aground near the Juhu beach in north-west Mumbai on Sunday, officials said here.

The Panama-flagged vessel M.V. Pavit, which has a capacity to hold 1,000 tonnes of cargo (as against m.v. Wisdom's 10,000 tonnes) ran aground near Seven Bungalows in the morning and was suspected to have drifted from the Persian Gulf, they said.

M.V. Wisdom had got stuck on Juhu beach in June, and could be salvaged after about three weeks.

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2311514.ece

GOVERNMENT'S PAIN IN THE NECK: Don’t cage CAG by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta!

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Have you read, “Mayhem of the Miserables!” available @ http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52075

June 21, 2011 / DC.

The Union minister for human resources development, Mr Kapil Sibal, has called for a debate on the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. This suggestion has come in the wake of recent findings of the CAG that have embarrassed the government considerably. The government would be making a huge mistake if, in the name of a debate on the role of the CAG, the prestige of this body were sought to be diminished merely because the auditor of the country’s public finances has done its job diligently.

Even as supporters of the ruling regime seek to deny that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, (in his capacity as the finance minister) had turned a blind eye to the 2G spectrum scam by passing on the blame to disgraced former telecom minister A. Raja, the leaked draft of the CAG highlighting how the ministry of petroleum and natural gas allegedly favoured Reliance Industries Limited, among other companies, while putting together a contract to extract natural gas found in the Krishna-Godavari basin, has added to the government’s discomfiture.

On November 16 last year — ironically on the day the CAG’s report on the 2G scam was tabled in Parliament and a day before Mr Raja was arm-twisted into putting in his papers — Dr Singh delivered a speech to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the office of the CAG, in which he stated that the authority’s reports were taken “very seriously” not just by the media, but also by the public, the government and Parliament.

If we allow Mr. Sibal a free hand he would want to abolish Judiciary, Parliament and the Electorate!  

He and his intolerance to the constitutional institutions are wellknown!!

Should we take him seriously, please remember he is the same gentleman who gave clean chit to A. Raja and certified that there was 'Zero' loss to the exchequer on account to 2G Spectrum Scam?

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/don%E2%80%99t-cage-cag-650

Pak Cauldron: Pakistan's Kashmiri problem!

Have you read, “Mayhem of the Miserables!” available @ http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52075

PRAVEEN SWAMI / tHE hINDU.

Even if a military offensive against jihadist leader Ilyas Kashmiri's bases in North Waziristan materialises, Pakistan's prospects of crushing the jihadist movement are bleak.

Eleven years ago, Muzaffarabad newspapers carried photographs of a grinning jihad commander carrying the severed head of Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar of the Maratha Light Infantry, a macabre trophy of a raid across the Line of Control.

Last week, the man in the photograph was reported killed in a United States drone attack. In the years since it was taken, Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri had emerged as the head of Brigade 313, a feared al-Qaeda linked group that draws its name from the number of followers of Prophet Muhammad who defeated the numerically stronger armies of pagan Mecca. Even though media reports that Kashmiri was connected to the 2008 Mumbai attacks are erroneous, he was responsible for a string of attacks within Pakistan, including the recent strike on a naval base in Karachi. Brigade 313 is also alleged to have jihadists plotting attacks in Europe last summer, and has been linked to the 2009 Pune bombing.

There is still contention over Kashmiri's fate — Rehman Malik, Pakistan's Interior Minister, said he was “98% certain” that Kashmiri was dead, while the United States military says it has no confirmation. But reports have come amongst renewed debate over a possible Pakistani offensive against his bases in North Waziristan, the epicentre of the country's jihadist movement.

Forces loyal to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-linked Afghan warlord, are reported to have relocated to adjoining Kurram in anticipation of an attack, and Mike Mullen, the United States' military chief, fuelled rumours that an attack was imminent, saying the operation was “very important.”

Its a true 'vicious circle' in which the Pakistan is entangled, now, but it has to solve this debilitating problem with resolve if, it is to hope to bring peace into this region and as well pursue the Socio-Economic Development of its people. 

Full Analysis  at,

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2094016.ece?homepage=true