Sukma Collector abducted by Naxals !!

Do you remember  or recall the Indian diplomat - Ravindra Hareshwar Mhatre, whose life was cruelly cut short at  48 years  !!!

Now lot of google search is made on ‘Sukhma’ (I too made one only now) – it is a newly formed district of Chattisgarh in the South Bastar Region and borders Orissa and Andhra, reportedly a backward area and one of the most forested districts renowned for fresh water prawns in the river Sabri.  The district was born only this year on Jan 16^th and the man in news – its collector Mr Alex VF Paul Menon, is its First Dist Magistrate and Collector. 

The place has a cherished past and history as a place of abundant natural resources and ruled by Chalukya Vansh.  According to legend, Lord Rama travelled through the dense forests of Sukma.  The river that flows here – Sabri is named after the  woman Sabhari who offered fruits to the Lord.  This is believed to be the Dhandakaranya. 

This place is in news after Maoists pulled off an audacious kidnapping of the district collector of Sukma in southern Chhattisgarh on Saturday(21.4.12), killing two of his bodyguards when they tried to stop them. The collector, Alex Paul Menon, was meeting a group of villagers for a government outreach programme.

A 2006 batch IAS officer, Menon was tracked by the Maoists as he reached Manjipara village in tribal Bastar region on Saturday afternoon, according to the police.  Going by the reports, around 90 Maoists reached the spot and shot dead two personal security officers of the collector before taking him into the nearby forest.

Is the Nation really worried and more importantly, is there a Policy at all ?  - will the State continue to be soft to terror –or selectively soft !!  -  Will there be reaction only when politically it affects ? – Questions which deserve immediate answers.

This is not a solitary incident – only recently there was the spate of kidnaps in Odissa by Maoists and uncertainty still looms over the fate of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka - the Supreme Court  itself questioned the Orissa government on the release of Maoists from prisons in exchange of hostages.  Sadly, for a long period now, Maoists in Odisha have been keeping the state government on tenterhooks with their demands for the release of their comrades in return for the two hostages they hold.  Even when the Govt. capitulated to the ‘ransom’ demand, the Maoists raised the stakes, with demands for yet more releases.  First the Italians, and now an MLA. The Naxals are just getting bolder in Odisha. Thirty prisoners for an MLA  looks too lopsided swap, but to a government that is negotiating at gunpoint, no price is too high to secure the release of hostages.

Often the State portrays itself in poor light and buckles under pressure and years after experiences, no policy seemingly is in place.    When will the Home Ministry act and put in place stringent measures rather than political talks everywhere.    Every such incident remembers one of the surrender of the VP Singh Govt in 1989, which within days of coming to power was confronted by the embarrassing abduction of Union Home Minister PM Sayeed’s daughter Rubaiya Sayeed in Kashmir and release of terrorists !!  In the IC 814 debacle, the Press was pressurizing the Govt and goading the Govt into surrender !!

There will be commentators like Arundhati Roy who would justify Maoist violence and there would be human rights and others talking on the route cause and need for sympathizing with them – but will they ever spare a thought for those abducted and those killed – like the unfortunate two security personnel – don’t they deserve sympathy – they were serving the Nation and lost their lives and who would ever care for them !!!  -   Amjad Khan and Kishan Kujur — who were killed by the Maoists yesterday — were the only two security guards accompanying Sukma’s young 32-year-old collector into the forested area.

Personally, the collector was reportedly one keen on reforms and helping improvement of the the backward area.  He was reportedly in  the midst of 150 villagers and 40 government officials interacting with them as part of the government’s ongoing Gram Suraj Abhiyan program to reach out and address the problems of people in remote areas.   There is some reaction in local media as Alex menon hails from Tirunelveli – irrespective of the place of birth or domicile, the act needs condemnation and the Govt. needs to act tough.

First Post recalls the incident of Ravindra Mhatre – he was Indian diplomat at the Consulate in Birmingham,  who was abducted from a Birmingham neighbourhood that had a high Kashmiri-British population.  The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, which was waging a bloody separatist campaign with its base in Birmingham and its foot soldiers in Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, claimed responsibility for the abduction. As the price for Mhatre’s release, it demanded, among other things, the release of JKLF prisoners in India, including the group’s founder Maqbool Butt, then lodged in Tihar.  Butt, one of the most high-profile Kashmir separatist-terrorist leaders of that time, had been arrested in 1966 for leading an ambush of an Indian security patrol in Kashmir, but escaped to Pakistan by digging a tunnel from the Srinagar prison.

Arrested again in 1976, and facing the death sentence for his earlier crime, Butt filed a clemency petition, which was under consideration even until 1984, when the JKLF abducted Mhatra and demanded his release.  But two days after Mhatra was kidnapped, his body was found near Birmingham. Evidently Indira Gandhi had refused to negotiate with the terrorists, although that meant she and the country had to deal with the pain of seeing a senior diplomat killed.

Exactly three days later, Butt, the convicted terrorist, was hanged as his clemency plea was rejected. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

Presenting April 2012 issue of BLISS - voice of SYMA

Dear (s)

The Apr 2012 issue of SYMA Bliss is in your hands.  The issue  can be downloaded  here : - Bliss Apr 12

At SYMA we have futuristic goals planned with broad vision. Besides our various monthly projects, we have our regular ongoing projects which are running our Medical Centre and Tuition centre. We are also preparing for

succession plans and continuance of long term objectives. SYMA is democratically run and every year we have our Annual General Meeting attended by most members.

·        This year it is scheduled on 29th of this month.   We invite  you for the AGM and full details of the AGM are on page 4. 

·        This issue has details of pooja conducted by us praying for the good performance of our Students as also of the honour conferred to us by Yogakshema Vedic Trust. 

·        We have a Corpus Fund Scheme and the names of donors to this are being etched on the façade of our Medical Centre.  We thank profusely Mr AVM Saravanan (AVM Charities) for patronizing us for the third time in as many years.

·        Every one of struggle to ensure that students get good education. There are some schools, which by exhibiting their performance milk money.  AT Thiruvannamalai,  it came to light that Mount St Matriculation School has been organizing mass copy and was caught supplying printed answer sheets to all students.  How shocking – an article condemning this also appears.

·        Something on the ‘Asthma detection camp’ conducted by us

·        An article on SYMA’s active role in keeping environment clean

·        Blood donation is indeed noble but sometimes the donors are not properly treated by the relatives of the recipients.  An article on the need for respecting blood donors also finds a place.

And for reading further………… please type ‘txv2Ab’ ; ‘prairaie’  -  sure you would  use lot of web based applications and often you would have encountered being asked to reproduce distorted letters of what you see on screen.  Do you know what they are called ? and that is this months Q in BLISS

Thanks and as usual do keep sending your feedback to the Editor  @ -  srinivasyoungmensassociation@yahoo.co.in.

Yours Truly

S. Sampathkumar

News of Boeing paying Air India for delay of Dreamliner

The name itself is alluring – the Dreamliner - Boeing's most-anticipated passenger jet - the 787 Dreamliner aircraft.  I had earlier posted about the dream aircraft’s maiden visit and landing at the Capital of India on 13th July 2011.  Read my post : http://sampspeak.blogspot.in/2011/07/boeing-787-dreamliner-lands-at-delhi.html  That was a flight to provide Air India of  first-demo trials on the aircraft.   Air India was to be  amongst the first in the world to receive the modern passenger jet in the fourth quarter of the year.  The dreamliner is from the stables of Boeing - The Boeing Company  is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington.  Boeing is among the largest global aircraft manufacturers.

Boeing boasts of a  long tradition of aerospace leadership and innovation. Boeing is headquartered in Chicago and employs  more than 170,000 people across the United States and in 70 countries.   The touted aircraft,  Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It seats 210 to 290 passengers, depending on the variant. Boeing states that it is the company's most fuel-efficientairliner and the world's first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction. According to Boeing, the 787 consumes 20% less fuel than the similarly-sized 767. Its distinguishing features include a four-panel windshield, noise-reducing chevrons on its engine nacelles, and a smoother nose contour. The 787 shares a common type rating with the larger 777 twinjet, allowing qualified pilots to operate both models, due to related design features.

The aircraft's initial designation was 7E7, prior to its renaming in January 2005. The first 787 was unveiled in a roll-out ceremony on July 8, 2007, at Boeing's Everett assembly factory, by which time it had reached 677 orders.  Boeing had originally planned for a first flight by the end of August 2007  however, in Sept 07, Boeing announced a 3 month delay; in Oct, a second 3 month delay to its first flight.  In Jan 2008, there was announced further delay and in Apr 2008, officially a fourth delay shifting the maiden flight to the 4th Q of 2008. 

In Dec 2009,  Boeing conducted the Dreamliner's maiden flight with the first 787-8, originating from Snohomish County Airport in Everett, Washington and landing at Boeing Field in King County, Washington.   On July 4, 2011, All Nippon Airways began a week of airline operations testing using a 787 in Japan and in the same month the airline visited Delhi. 

Earlier,  Indian Carrier, Air India was to be  among the first to get delivery of the long-range Dreamliner.  The national carrier  was reported to have ordered 27 Dreamliners as part of total orders for 111 planes, split between Boeing and Airbus. The dream is not yet true and the aircraft has not been delivered as yet, the delay is attributed to technical snags in developing the aircraft.  There were to be further delays and AI is now expected to get aircraft in May with reports that further delay in delivery of the aircraft would bring the compensation to just under $1 billion.

Some newspaper reports in India reported that Boeing had agreed to pay Air India a $500 million compensation for the four-year delay in delivery of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft. There was also the news that  the US company said the announcement was news to it.  Dailies had quoted Govt Joint Secy  (civil aviation),  as telling  journalists after the inauguration of the India Civil Aviation Air Show in Hyderabad that the US company had said it would pay the amount on the long delay in delivering the 27 Boeing 787’s the government carrier had ordered.   The denial of Boeing, broadcast on the internet, too, put a stop to calculations on how the amount would come very handy in staunching the government carrier’s flow of red ink.   There are further reports that negotiations for the compensation have been on for quite a while and the government was learnt to have pressed for $1 billion. AI had placed an order for 27 Boeing 787s and was to get these from 2008. Boeing had then committed to delivery in October-December 2011, but that didn’t happen, too.  AI is in a severe financial crisis and is still awaiting the government’s permission to induct these planes. One argument within policy circles is that it would be better to cancel a large part of the number ordered, given the cash crisis of both AI and the government.

It is also read that the total of global orders of Boeing for Dreamliner are 868 and only 5 have been delivered till date all to Tokyo based ANA.

So Dreamliner serving Air India in near future looks a pipe-dream, atleast as of now.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

20th April 2012.

Out of Court settlement in Enrica Lexie killing and situation thereafter

On the ill-fated day of 15^th Feb 2012,  two fishermen, Gelastine (45) and Ajesh Binki (25), were brought to Neendakara harbour late on the night of 15 February and were taken to the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, for post mortem. Subsequently, Gelastine's body was taken to Kollam and buried on the morning of 17 February, while the body of the Ajesh Binki, was taken to Erayammanthurai in Tamil Nadu's Nagercoil district and buried. The Kerala government announced a solatium of Rs. 5 lakh (Rs. 5,00,000) to the families of each of the victims, while the Tamil Nadu government announced a solatium of Rs. 5 lakh to the family of Ajesh Binki.  Generally such deaths of fisherfolk would have appeared in an obscure column of newspaper and forgotten.

This was not to be – as they had been shot dead  by Italian naval guards from aboard oil tanker Enrica Lexie, and has been in the news all through these months.  Now there are reports that Italian authorities have come forward to settle the compensation claims. Initial reports indicate a compensation of Rs one crore for each victim's family.   The two  were allegedly shot dead by Italian marines of the Reggimento San Marco, Marina Militare.  The incident sparked a major diplomatic row between Italy and India, with Indian police immediately opening a murder enquiry and later arresting two members of the Italian Navy security team over the shooting.  According to the Indian Coast Guard, Indian government sources and the crew of the fishing boat Saint Antony, the incident happened at approximately 16:30 IST when the fishing boat was returning from a fishing expedition. After the fishing boat reported the incident to the coastal police at Neendakara in Kollam district, the information was conveyed to the Indian Coast Guard which launched search operations by deploying two Offshore Patrol Vessels ICGS Samar and ICGS Lakshmi Bai in addition to a Dornier Do-228 maritime surveillance aircraft to intercept the Enrica Lexie.  The Kerala Police charged two Italian marines aboard the Enrica Lexie, who were identified as Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, with murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and on 19 February took them into custody for interrogation.

What was to be an issue of Admiralty Laws and Marine Statues, took many other turns and there were reports of religious heads and priests from Italy  arriving at Kollam to participate in the negotiations.  Father Mark and Joseph reached Kollam and visited the families of the deceased fishermen. Priests of Kollam held talks with the priests from Italy. The victim Valentine Jalastine’s wife told the media that the priests stated that they hoped to settle the matter peacefully and amicably. For the past few days, a team consisting of the Italian defence minister and officials of that country's foreign affairs department had been in talks with counsels representing the dependents of the two fishermen, Valentine Jelestine and Ajeesh Pink, who died in the incident. Italy, incidentally, still claims that its marines were trying to thwart an attempted piracy attack off Kollam coast on February 15.

Newspaper reports suggest that the first offer from the Italians was a compensation of Rs 70 lakh each. However, the dependents expressed their unwillingness to settle the claim, following which the offer was raised to Rs one crore each.  If the settlement goes through, the families would withdraw their civil complaint for compensation against the marines and withdraw requests for criminal action to be initiated against the ship’s captain,  according to the lawyers.   Italy’s Defence Minister is quoted as confirming that Italy had agreed to give the families money, but declined to say how much and insisted on calling it “a donation, an act of generosity,” which entailed no legal quid pro quo.

At a different level, a special leave petition is before the Apex Court of India against Kerala High Court order detaining Italian ship M.T. Enrica Lexie.  A single judge of the High Court had directed the police to permit the ship to continue its voyage on furnishing a bond for Rs.3 crore and an undertaking before the Deputy Conservator, Cochin Port Trust, that the vessel, master, and the crew would be produced as and when required by the authorities concerned. However, a Division Bench acting on appeals filed by a legal heir stayed that order.  The SLP said the High Court had committed an error in entertaining an appeal from the legal heir of the deceased who was not a party to the proceedings.

The SLP filed by M.T. Enrica Lexie against Doramma & others as respondents came up for hearing before Hon’ble Mr Justice R.M. Lodha and Hon’ble Mr Justice H.L. Gokhale.  Upon hearing the counsel the Court issued notice returnable on April 20^th 2012.  

Reports quoting Italian Minister Giampaolo Di Paola,  state his comments  that the out of court payment has “nothing to do” with the judicial procedures in progress. He pressed Italy’s position that the incident happened in international waters and insisted that Italy would “go to bat with force” to have its position recognized that jurisdiction for the case belongs to Italy.  Similarly, the settlement is between the petitioners representing the deceased and the vessel and should in no way affect the Govt’s criminal case against the two marines

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.