War clouds over Korea

War clouds over Korea.

Korea was a Japanese ruled territory from 1910-end of Second world war. After surrender of Japanese, North Korea and South Korea was divided along 38 th parallel, US Military occupying the southern half and soviet military occupying the northern half.Korean War ( 1950-53) was fought between North Korea supported by China and South Korea supported by US.DMZ (Korea Dimiltarised zone ) was created at the end of war by an armistice agreement. DMZ is a 4 km wide fortified buffer zone between the two Korean nations.

Consequent to flying of stealth bombers by US over Korean peninsula, North Korea has been spitting venom and warnIng South Korea and US  saying  his forces were ready "to settle accounts with the US" . North Korea has also threatened to shut down a joint industrial complex with South Korea, localed at Kaesong 10 km norht of DMZ. he two Koreas have always technically remained at war because the 1950-53 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.The North had announced earlier this month that it was tearing up the armistice and other bilateral peace pacts signed with the South in protest against South Korea-US joint military exercises.The armistice was approved by the UN General Assembly, and both the UN and South Korea have repudiated the North's unilateral withdrawal.

Saturday's (30 Mar 2013) statement also warned that any military provocation near the North-South land or sea border would result "in a full-scale conflict and a nuclear war".

Source-Al Jazeera and Wikipedia

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Kim Jong-Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) at a meeting with army personnel in Pyongyang. — AFP

Cuban missile Crisis

Cuban missile Crisis

In 1961, USSR( Nikita Khruschev) in fear of US overthrowing Fidel Castro,President of communist rule Cuba, decided to convert Cuba into a Russian base. John F Kennedy, President of US ,ordered american warships to intercept any Russian ships moving towards Cuba. In October 1962, the situation was so delicate that t could have turned into nuclear conflict at any moment.Eventually, both sides showed prudence and Russian ships turned back . Thus Cuban Missile Crisis wa a high point of the Cold War.

SEATO

South East Asia Treaty Organisation

This alliance was formed to block soviet influence in South East Asia and was for collective defence.Also, known as Manila Pact, it was formed in 1955 and it ended in 1977.Other than Pakistan, East pakistan later Bangladesh, Phillipines and Thailand, US, UK , France Australia and Newzeland were its member( countries shown in green colour)

CENTO

CENTRAL TREATY ORGANISATION

It was formed by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan,Turkey and UK in 1955 and was dissolved in 1979.It is also known by 'Baghdad Pact ' and METO(Middle East Treaty organisation)

CENTO committed the nations to mutual cooperation and protection, as well as non-intervention in each other's affairs. Its goal was to contain the USSR. It was one of the least successful alliance of the cold war.

Kim Jong-Un

                                                            North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un talks to his top generals 


North Korea put its missile units on standby on Friday to attack US military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula .

Its leader Kim Jong-un signed off on the order at a midnight meeting of top generals and "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists in view of the prevailing situation", the official KCNA news agency said. It said North Korea and the United States could only settle their differences by “physical means”.
The threats, while not an indication of imminent war, are most likely aimed at coercing South Korea into softening its policies, to win direct talks and aid from Washington, and to strengthen young leader Kim's credentials at home.
The North has an arsenal of Soviet-era short-range Scud missiles that can hit South Korea, but its longer-range Nodong and Musudan missiles, which could in theory hit US Pacific bases, are untested. China, the North’s sole major ally, repeated its calls for restraint on the Korean peninsula at a regular Foreign Ministry briefing and made no criticism of the US flights. “We hope that relevant parties will work together in pushing for a turnaround of the tense situation,” ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

Tension has been high since North Korea conducted a third nuclear weapons test in February in breach of UN sanctions and despite warnings from China for it not to do so. — Agencies

The Tribune, Chandigarh,30 March, 2013

The Soyuz TMA-08M

The Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft blasts off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome on Friday,29 March 2013. — AFP

North Korea

Supporters of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un attend a rally in Pyongyang on Friday, 29 March. — AFP

Consequent to US flying stealth bomber in close vicinity to South Korea, ha put North Korea on alert . As North Korea keeps 80 per cent of its estimated firepower within 100 km of the demilitarised  zone including approximately 7,00,000 troops, 8,000 artillery systems and 2,000 tanks. Any spark or provocation may bring South Korea under strike. 

North Korea claim of hitting US bases may be far fetched as North Korea's long range missile are not yet tested.

Bosnia's 'Monster of Grbavica' gets 45 years

Vlahovic, sentenced on all 60 counts in his indictment, committed the crimes between May and July 1992 [Reuters]


Veselin Vlahovic,a former member of the Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces, dubbed the "Monster of Grbavica", was "found guilty of crimes against humanity and was  sentenced for 45 years in prison, for inflicting a reign of terror on Sarajevo civilians during the 1992-95 war.

"He killed 31 people, took 14 people who have still been considered missing, raped 13 women," prosecutor Behaija Krnjic said in a closing statement.

Bosnia's war claimed some 100,000 lives and created two million refugees, almost half of the country's pre-war population, some 20,000 to 50,000 women were raped,and over 2.2 million people were displaced, making it the most devastating conflict in Europe since the end of world war II.

Islami Andolan Bangladesh

Islami Andolan Bangladesh

Activists of Islami Andolan Bangladesh shout slogans as they take part in a grand rally in Dhaka March 29, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS


Jamaat-e-Islam is a conservative Islamist political party of Pakistan, which opposed liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.after assassination of Mujibur Rahman on 15 August, 1975 Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was founded. Most of the leaders are on trial for crimes committed during liberation war in Bangladesh in which , as per the Bangladesg Government 3,00,000 people were killed and 2,00,000 women were raped. Some independent estimates put the killing between 3-5 lakhs. Present Prime Minister Seikh Hasina is daughter of Seikh Mujibur . Two leaders of Jammat-e-Islami have already been convicted and others are on trial. Government says it is necessary to heal the wounds of 1971 wars. But, supporters of the party has started a Islami Andolan in which 94 people have  been killed . The clashes are linked to the trials. Since the war crimes court handed down the first of its verdicts in January over atrocities during Bangladesh’s separation from Pakistan, there has been clashes between the supportes of the Jamaat-e-Islami party and the Police.

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Good Friday

Good Friday

A Christian pilgrim re enacts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ along the path where Jesus had walked, now known as the ‘Way of Suffering’, on Good Friday in Jerusalem’s Old City. — AFP

Good Friday is a day commemorating crucification of Jesus Christ. Christians observe this as a holiday. 28 March was a gazetted holiday in India.

Kudankulam

Kudankulam

The Unit I of the controversial Kudankulam atomic power reactor in , Tirunelveli District,Tamil Nadu will become operational by April 2013. 

The atomic power plant has been opposed by villagers in and around Kudankulam who are protesting  against the commissioning of the project. The protests got intensified after the Fukushima disaster in Japan last year.

Unit 1 and Unit 2 are 1000 Mw capacity, built with Russian collaboration. On completion , two will produce 2 GW of power and will become largest nuclear power generation complex.Four more reactors are to be added later on.

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5th BRICS summit

5th BRICS summit

(L to R) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Jacob Zuma, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Fifth BRICS Summit in Durban on Wednesday. — PTI

Manmohan Xi at Durban: New Panchsheel

Manmohan Xi at Durban

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS Summit in Durban on Wednesday. — PTI 


In their first face-to-face meeting at the Zimbali beach resort on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Durban,Xi outlined five "solid steps to strengthen this very important bilateral relationship" with India.

These were:

1.Maintaining strategic communications and keeping bilateral relations between the two countries on track

2 Expanding cooperation in infrastructure and investment

3. Strengthening cultural ties and people-to-people contact

4. Increasing collaboration in multi-lateral affairs to tackle global challenges

5. Accommodating each other's core concerns and handling differences existing between the two countries.

India's Concern

1. Trade deficit of 20 billiondollars

2. china constructing dams on Brahmputra without notifying India. India suggested formation of joint commission for sharing of trans border water.

China's Concern

1. Tibet is China's core concern and hoped that India would maintain a responsible policy on this issue.

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Akash Missile

Akash Missile is a medium range surface to air missile which can target an aircraft upto 18,000 m and 30 km away. ITR was established in 1989 and it is spread over a length of 17 km along seacoast where number of electronic equipment are deployed to test the flight path. Akash system is fully mobile and can be launched from a wheeled or tracked (like tanks) platform and can provide protection to our vehicular and armoured columns from enemy aircrafts, while on the move.

Akash Missile being test fired from Integrated  Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Odisha 

Akash SAM based on a T-72 chassis.T-72 is a Russian origin tank, which is known for its mobility in all terrain.

New development bank by BRICS

New development bank by BRICS

India had mooted the proposal in the last summit at Delhi to create a development bank with a corpus of 50 billion dollars with contribution of 10 billion dollars from each member.

This bank will finance infrastructure and to create a $100 billion Contingency Reserve Arrangement to tackle any financial crisis in the emerging economies.


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Fifth BRICS Summit

BRICS leaders gather at the BRICS 2013 Summit in Durban, South Africa, on Wednesday. Heads of State of BRICS nations meet in the South Africa city of Durban for the two-day summit. AP

E Vidya

E-Vidya is an initiative launched by the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development. Gurdaspur is one of the four districts selected on pilot-project basis by NMEW in which 8,000 women will be empowered through basic computer skills.

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

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International Space Station

International Space Station

A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock.

International Space Station is the largest artificial body in low orbit(330 km ).It was launched in 1998.The International Space Station was intended to be a laboratory, observatory and factory in space and to provide transportation, maintenance, and act as a staging base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars and asteroids. Source -wikipedia



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The Soyuz TMA-08M

The Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft being transported to its launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhastan on Tuesday. The Soyuz will carry US astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin to the International Space Station on March 29. — Reuters


The International Space Station is a habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. It follows the Salyut, Almaz, Skylab and Mir stations as the ninth space station to be inhabited.Expedition 35 will carry the astronauts for a five and half month stay aboard the  International Space Station.

The 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 15 to 17 November 2013. CHOGM is a biennial summit meet of heads of governments of all commonwealth members.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has  strongly urged  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) because of Sri Lanka's war crimes and genocides committed in the end of the war.

“In the present context, holding such a high profile international event, which will be attended by heads of government from across the world would amount to endorsing the present regime in Sri Lanka, which stands accused of committing genocide, war crimes and ongoing human rights abuses against Sri Lankan Tamils. This regime, which continues to deny Tamils their legitimate human rights, equality and democratic freedom, far from upholding Commonwealth values, has clearly violated the central credo of the Commonwealth, which is democracy and human rights. Nations have been suspended from the Commonwealth for far less,” Jayalalithaa

Stop killing Muslims in Myanmar

A protester at a rally against the killings of Muslims in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. , 25 th March — Reuters



Anti muslim riots spread through  three more Budhist predominat towns. The civilian government headed by Gen thein Sein is doing its best by declaring emergency and deploying army and vowed to take action against those responsible, but somehow they have not been able to control the situation fully.

pic- CNN

US Ambassador to India

BJP president Rajnath Singh greets US Ambassador to India Nancy J Powell at his residence in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI


Nancy Powell's visit is significant , as the outcome of 2014 elections may bring new contenders to the power game. Rajnath registered his party's opposition to FDI. He also expressed his worries, as  after US withdrawal from Afghanistan, violence by Taliban may spill on Indian side. Mr Rajnath is BJP President, a principle opposition party.
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Sikkim Scouts

Sikkim scouts, first of its kind of infantry battalion,is being  raised on the lines of Ladakh Scouts. The jawans will be recruited from Sikkim so that they will be better suited for deployment on Chinese borders.

Ladakh scouts raised in 1948 has five battalions.The Dogra Regiment and Gharwal Rifles also have scouts battalions located in Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand, respectively. The Arunachal Scouts is a recent raising with one battalion being raised in 2010 and another in the process of being formed.(Source- The Tribune, Chandigarh)

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Analysis Xi' visit to Tanzania

                                                    first ladies of china and tanzania

Chinese President Xi Jinping (1st L) and his wife Peng Liyuan (2nd R) are welcomed by Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (2nd L) and his wife Salma Kikwete (1st R) upon their arrival in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 24, 2013. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Tanzania , the second country--after Russia--that the Chinese president have visited, after becoming the  president. It  signifies  how much the Chinese values relations with Tanzania.

Tanzania is rich in minerals, timber and natural gas and there are indications that oil could be discovered in the near future--all of which China would need for its industries.

Tanzania could benefit from China in financing building infrastructure and agro-processing industries.

The 1,800-kilometre Tazara railway, completed in 1975, is the greatest monument of Tanzania-China relations.This railway links Dar-es-salam to Zambia's central province Kapiri Mposhi.

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China Russia

Russia’s PM Dmitry Medvedev (right) and President Xi Jinping toast during a breakfast in Moscow on March 23, 2013. AFP 

Tanzania

Tanzaania is located in Eastern Africa bordering the Indian Ocean between Kenya and Mozambique. Tanzania gained independence from the British in early 1960. It merge with Zanjibar in 1964.Though among poorest countries of the world, it has achieved growth due to gold production and tourism.In 2008, Tanzania received the world's largest Millennium Challenge Compact grant, worth $698 million.

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Xi Jinping in Tanzania

(From left): Chinese President Xi Jinping with his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete, Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan and the Tanzanian First Lady Salma Kikwete being welcomed at Julius Nyerere International airport in Dar Es Salaam on Monday. Xi Jinping  will take part in the two-day BRICS Summit due to begin on Tuesday in Durban. — AFP

King Saka Airport, Durban

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after his arrival at King Shaka airport in Durban on Monday, 25 March. — PTI

eThekwini, the South African name for Durban, is the venue of fifth BRICS summit.

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BRICS at Durban, South Africa

PM Manmohan Singh with South African Minister of Justice Jeffrey Thamsanqa Radebe on his arrival in Durban on Monday.
— PTI

Afghanistan's Guantanamo' Bagram

Ahead of NATO  planned withdrawal in 2014, US  has handed over the Bagram prison to Afghanistan, though a ceremony of handover took place in Sep 2012. But Americans remained in control of the prison to decide the fate of certain dangerous prisoners.US Secretary of State John Kerry was also present.

Bagram jail has a badnaam reputation, having been at the center of a number of prisoner abuse allegations like Guantanamo prison.

President Karzai has recently ordered Americans to leave Wardak province.

Pakistan's caretaker PM Mir Hazar Khan Khoso

The election commission of Pakistan has picked a retired senior judge Mir Khoso as caretaker Prime Minister , when politicians failed to decide upon  a consensus candidate. Khoso belongs Balochistan province and considered least controversial.

Shale Gas

A hydraulic fracturing drill rig lit up near Troy, Pennsylvania. Shale gas exploitation has been blamed for environmental problems including water, ground and air pollution and leaks of methane. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Nearly 2m homes in the UK will be heated by shale gas from the US within five years, under a deal agreed on Monday that is likely to be the first time major exports of the controversial energy source are used in the UK.The first deliveries, by tanker, are expected in 2018.Source- Guardian UK

Flying Dinosour

Daisy Morris was just 5 when she discovered the fossil of a new species of flying dinosaur on a beach on the Isle of Wight in 2009. the dinosaur is now named after this girl , who is 9 years old now.The Vectidraco daisymorrisae is thought to have been the size of a crow. The Dinosaur dates back to 220 million years and ago it will be named Vectidraco daisymorrisae.

                                               Daisy Morris with her collection of fossils and shells. Reuters


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Peace Pipeline

It is  seven billion dollar project has faced repeated delays since it was conceived in the 1990s to connect Iran's giant South Pars Gas Field to India via Pakistan.US has imposed sanctions on Iran over nuclear issue and that is why India pulled out of the project in 2009 after signing nuclear deal with with US.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily on 24 March 2013 has  said that the Indian Government is in talks with Iran and the United States to discuss sanctions regarding the gas pipeline project.

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Shale Gas

Shale gas is natural gas produced from shale formations. Gas shales are organic-rich shale formations. In terms of its chemical makeup, shale gas is typically a dry gas primarily composed of methane.

US  has large deposit of shale gas and has developed technology to extract it.The technology  involves injecting water and chemicals to break rock formations and extract shale gas. the environmentalists are concerned about its potential to trigger earthquakes. 

India is shortly going to announce its policy regarding exploration of shale gas.

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Rohingya

The Rohingyas, numbering nearly a million and  constitute a significant portion of the 55 million population of Myanmar.  UN has recognised them  as one of the most persecuted ethnic minorities in the world. General Ne Win, former dictator Premier of erstwhile Burma (now Myanmar), stripped Rohingyas of Burmese citizenship in 1982.
Rakhine state is very close to Bangladesh. In British India, Rakhine province used to be administered from Chittagong and the Rohingyas moved freely between Bengal and Burma.

In the past Budhists Chakma refugees have migrated from Bangladesh to India( In Mizoram). Thsi has caused lots of tension in Mizoram.There is a possibility that Rohingya refugees may turn form camps in Banglsdesh North Eastern states such as Tripura , Mizoram.

While India is not immediately affected by the Rohingya refugee migration from Myanmar, it cannot be oblivious to the regional dimensions of such human migrations based on ethnic discontent. Earlier, the Buddhist Chakmas of Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, who had felt discriminated in that country, had migrated to Mizoram state of India. The Chakma presence had been a source of considerable local tension in Mizoram. Any diversion of Rohingya refugees from camps in Bangladesh to adjoining north-eastern states of India has potential of creating trouble for India.

                                          Traditional Rakhine Water Festival


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Violence in Myanmar

Violence in Myanmar

Associated Press/Khin Maung Win - A woman, injured during ethnic unrest between Buddhists and Muslims, receives medical treatment in a hospital in Meikhtila, Mandalay division, about 550 kilometers (340 miles)

6000 Muslims refugees have taken shelter im make shift camps, being safe guaraded by the military.President Thein Sein, a former general who vowed to bring democracy to Myanmar after half a century of military rule, imposed a state of emergency in the region. in 2012 also, ethnic Rakhine Budhists and Rohingya Muslims clashed which resulted in killing of hundreds of persons mostly Muslims and displaced over a lakh. The Rohingya are widely perceived as illegal migrants and foreigners from Bangladesh; the Muslim population of Meikhtila is believed to be mostly of Indian origin.

Occasional isolated violence involving Myanmar's majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities has occurred for decades, even under the authoritarian military governments that ruled the country from 1962 to 2011.

Reuters/Reuters - Riot policemen form up near a fire during riots in Meikhtila March 22, 2013. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

MEIKHTILA, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar declared martial law in four central townships on Friday after unrest between Buddhists and Muslims stoked fears that last year's sectarian bloodshed was spreading into the country's heartland in a test of Asia's newest democracy.

BURNING MOSQUE, ARMED RESIDENTS

Locals had complained there were too few police in Meikhtila to quell the unrest. It erupted after an argument between a Buddhist couple and the Muslim owners of a gold shop spiraled into a riot involving hundreds of people, said police.

Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country, but about 5 percent of its 60 million people are Muslims. There are large and long-established communities in Yangon and Mandalay, Myanmar's two largest cities, where tensions are simmering.

The United Nations warned the sectarian unrest could endanger a fragile reform program launched after Myanmar's quasi-civilian government replaced a decades-old military dictatorship in 2011.

In Meikhtila, at least one mosque, an Islamic religious school, several shops and a government office were set alight, said a fire service official, who declined to be identified. Reuters saw both Buddhist and Muslim homes burned.

(Writing by Andrew R.C. Marshall; Editing by Jason Szep, Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Ron Popeski)