Tremors after the Quake

Tremors are still felt here in India even as the worst terrorist attack of the country has ended about 30 hours ago. Two key personalities in the union government has offered to leave the post while in Maharashtra, where actual drama took place, state government seems on its way to ouster.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil Chakurkar, who was often derided for his inaction and insensitive approach towards the law and order situation in the country, put in his papers today. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, a trusted lieutenant of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has been appointed Home Minister in his place.

Patil had drwan too much criticism for his handling of internal security matters, especially after blasts in Delhi, Banglore and Surat. Chidambaram, 63, had briefly served as Minister of Internal Security under late Rajiv Gandhi in late 1980. But his prime credentials lie in Finance Ministry having consistently given balanced budgets.

Prime Minister will himself look after the Finance portfolio now even as the country is suffering from the ripple effects of the global recession. That way, Singh is returning to original ministry after 12 years. He had held the Finance portfolio for five years under late P.V. Narasimha Rao.

The appointment also came hours before the start of the all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister to discuss the Mumbai attacks and evolve a consensus on how to combat terror.

Meanwhile, National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan has offered his resignation also owing to the moral responsibility. There are conflicting reports as to whether his resignation has been accepted or not.

In the light of these developments, call are given for the resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil for his failure to control the situation. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is also under threat as pressure has been rising for him to vacate his place. The terrible episode and carnage on one hand, local media today is beaming the reports of how Deshmukh visited Hotel Taj with his actor son Ritesh and movie producer Ram Gopal Verma.
Patil had a meeting with Deshmukh today in afternoon. After the meeting, he refused to put in his paper. "When Akshardham was attacked, the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi did not resign and when the Parliament was attacked the then Union Home Minister L K Advani did not resign. Then why should I resign after the Mumbai attack? What morality is BJP talking about," Patil was shoen asking in front of news channels camera. But we, in media, are guessing that he will be ordered to abdicate his chair in a couple of days. Keeping in view nature of Sharad Pawar of Nationalist Congress Party, whom Patil follows, it is an obvious guess.

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SCIENTIFIC AUTO RICKSHAWS LAUNCHED IN PUNE

Pune tops the country in the number of trips by auto rickshaws which stands at 4.87 lakhs currently.The new system of Scientific Management of Auto Rickshaws, which was inaugurated in the city is expected to reduce congestion in the city and buildconfidence in the public.

This information was given by Union Urban Development Secretary Dr. R. Ramachandran. Speaking after the inauguration of the Project Scientific Management of Auto Rickshaws, he said under the new system biokryptic I.D. Cards are being given to auto drivers who register under the scheme which will help curb unauthorized autos in the city. He also said that this is a pioneering scheme in the country and the components of advertisement in it had good potentials for part funding of the project.

The Police commissioner Dr. Satyapal Singh said that30 per cent of auto rickshaws in Pune are illegal and Pune lacks any auto culture and discipline. Criticizing the operation of auto rickshaw drivers,he said only 20 to 30 per cent in Pune run on meter. Dr. Singh said no action can be taken against the auto rickshaw caught by them, as this power lies with the RTO authority who complains of staff shortage. The new system would bring in discipline, order and reduce the criminal elements.

Six auto rickshaw drivers were given the Insurance Policy and the I.D. Card at the function. About 2000 auto rickshaws have already registered for the scheme in Pune.

Introducing the details of the scheme the Chairman RTO, Pune and Divisional Commissioner Shri Nitin Karir said, Pune has about 50,000 auto rickshaws which move from point to point. This needs to change as dead mileage is very high and para transit is the need of the hour. Under the new Scheme a telephone call to a Centralized Control Room diverts the nearest auto rickshaw to the passenger. It also reduces the congestion at bus stops, railway stations and other crucial locations

Dr. Karir said it is a purely voluntary scheme under which the drivers will be provided training by the police and they would get a close user cell phone and the system can be integrated into BRTS system in place in the city. A number of operator welfare measures such as uniform, insurance, medical test and setting up of a corporate welfare a fund for their family is the part of the scheme. Dr. Karir said this is a nationally replicable model and positive response from auto unions could help in making the pioneering scheme successful in the city.

Social activist and Chairman of Auto Rickshaw Union Baba Adhav said the Union still has reservation about the scheme and certain aspects need to be clarified before unified response is given by Union. The Auto Drivers should not loose revenue on the advertisement they put up on their auto rickshaws. Once the financial equation of this scheme is cleared, the social security aspect is good part of it, all benefits need to be clarified since it is a 10 year contract. There is no provision for education of children of the drivers in the scheme he lamented. Roughly 30 per cent of the auto rickshaw drivers are very honest and disciplined. However, this fact is very rarely appreciated.

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Confusion Reigns Even Now

The drama taking place in Mumbai has not come to an end even after almost 48 ours. The unfortunate incident has started a new debate in the Indian debate as to what can be done to tackle terrorism. A sense of helplessness has engulfed each of us. The situation can be compared to that of the Kargil invasion in 1999 or attack on parliament in December 200.

Meanwhile, Indian National Security Gurads (NSG) could reclaim back the Nariman House in southern Mumbai. This is the second victory for the forces after they managed to kill terrorist in the Hotel Oberoi Trident. Before the last terrorist could be put to rest, there was a major blast and a portion of the Nariman House came down. But NSG commandos could hole up the terrorists, who were four all in all, on fourth floor. At about 7:30, we watched the commandos walking out of the building.

Meanwhile, according to Associated Press report, (Hostages said dead in Mumbai Jewish center) a Rabi and his wife were killed in the action. On the other hand, Indian forces continued to lose their men. Two NSG personnel lost their lives while serving the naiton. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, 31, was killed while engaging terrorists this morning at the Taj hotel, an NSG spokesperson told PTI. The officer hailed from Bangalore where his father works for the Indian Space Research Organisation. An officer of the Bihar Regiment, he was commissioned in the Indian Army in June 1999.

Commando Chander received fatal bullet injuries during gunbattle at Nariman House, the official said.

Israeli experts have criticized the handling of the entire episode by Indian forces. (Israeli experts say Indian forces acted prematurely in Mumbai) Moral of the stor:Confusion prevails!

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It is a War, not just an attack

This is the first of its kind attack in India. Strategic and defence experts in Pune say that this is the assymetrical war in the guise of terrorist attack. They also vouch that defence forces can not help each time and police force themselves have to brace themselves for fighting with these attacks.

Dr. Vijay Khare, reader in the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, University of Pune recently spent one month in Paris for his research work on ‘comparative study of Counter terrorism mechanism system of India and France.’ In his work Khare has visited to various universities and strategic think tanks. He said, “This is first direct asymmetric war on Indian Territory with external help and first time Indian Army, police force and paramilitary forces are working together. Terrorism issue is not between Hindu and Muslims, it is a asymmetric war against India. There is need to Unified single counter-terrorism mechanism for tackling this issue. There is also eed to understand psychology of minority community while conducting and operating counterterrorism operations.”

Us versus They

Khare also said that there is need to coordinatie various intelligence agency and paramilitary forces , police forces while conducting counterterrorism issue. If there was proper coordination among forces and anti terrorist squad then Hemant Karkare and other officers could have been saved. There is also need political consensus to tackling this terrorism issue. He said, “Unfortunately in India, common masses do not understand the roots of terrorism and it seems that there is conflict between majority vs minority. This real question among policy makers to how tacle terrorism issue.”

There is needed to get modern small arms in police forces and equipped

modern counterterrorism police force. Mumbai incidents are one tip of iceberg there is possibility of another attack on Indian Territory with weapons of mass destruction. 

Series of Strikes

Vice Admiral (Retd.) Om Bansal replied in an emailed message, “Terror attacks such as the one in Mumbai now and even earlier, the train blasts and ones in Delhi, Ahmedabad etc. is declaration of war. Only it is an unconventional war, where the target is a peace loving civilians and the actors are non state. Here the enemy is a terrorist who does not belong to any state so whom do we fight with, negotiate for peace with, destroy? Just because all wings of armed forces are involved in the present case can not be the reason for calling it a war, its a war anyways. Did not the US declared that they were at war after 9/11? But you will now see, as does the US, that their response of attacking Iraq and even Afganistan is not the answer. I think the answer lies in resolving the underlying reason for terror,  factors well known to every one.”

He says, “I do not really think it is a failure of any one a

gency and there are too many of them. So, its a systemic failure. it is impossible to search each and every boat at sea/ near coast. Above all suicide attacks are very difficult to eliminate, if attacker wants to die, how can one  stop him. Any agency which coordinates intelligence inputs, analyse

s these to make it usable input and then take follow up action will surely help. For such an agency to work, it should have legal sanction from parliament to have total control, so guarding own turf and trying to gain brownie points by keeping information or their assets to themselves. We need to have a single point responsibilities, with total cooperation from all agencies.”

Col. Ajay Mudholkar said, "The action in Mumbai can at best be categorised into 'Low Intensity Conflict". It is definitely not a war since it is an action against a faceless group of people. It can involve all the three services wings depending on the nature of operation. There is definitely a need to improve our maritime reconnaisance efforts. With a very long sea-coast with not exactly friendly neighbour we need to intensify the patrolling along sea routes. This is also essential from our economic interests such as oil wells in this region.  But with a lack of specific policy in this regard and the large mnumber of govt. agencies having a stake in the water it can not be termed as a failure but as as a lapse on part of concerned agency. The law-makers have to now wake to reality in this regard to formulate a formidable policy. All the sage politicians have been propagating these policies; but unfortunately, for the reasons unknown, no one has shown determination to bring these in existance. The necessity for the unified federal agency is a definite requirement of the day; especially in view of the technological advances which also give a diifferent advantage to the terrorist organizations also."

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a retird lieutenant general said, “These are the series of Fidayeen style terrorist strikes. A detailed analysis of the attack could be done only after knowing the motive of the attackers. Strenghthening of police forcem providing them the capacity of intelligence and capability to penetrate is necessary to prevent future incidents.”

(With Inputs from Nitin Brahme and Siddharth Gadkari)

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Mumbai Attacked Again

Mumbai was and is known as Bombay. The city has suffered much more attacks than any other cities in India. Yet again, terrorists have struck the city. Worse part is that everybody is confused as to what is happening.

Whatever outcome of this episode, it has brought to fore the vulnerabilities of the intelligence agencies in India. It is reported that the attackers had come for the sea. If it is true, then the incident puts marine intelligence of India in dock. I am still gathering the information and will write about it soon.

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The Trip To kolhapur

Just last month I, together with my family visited the city of Kolhapur. Kolhapur is known for the Mahalaxmi temple which is centuries old. It was also the city where one of the seat of Maratha empire was situated. I was very eager to visit this place and happy this time that I could eventually realize my dream.

The history of Kolhapur stresses to many centuries. In the ancient times, it was known as Karvirnagari. The Mahalaxmi temple, which houses the idol of Godess Laxmi is at least seven centuris old. It is built in the old Hemadpanti style of archtitecture. This temple showcases the most intrinsic style of designing as well as decoration. Surprisingly, even though Mahalaxmi is considered to be godess of money, her temple is bereft of the money extracting methods emloyed by most of the Hindu religious shrines all over India.

The city stands on the bank of river Panchaganga. It is known as "Dakshin Kashi" on account of the deity "Mahalaxmi" or "Ambabai". Kolhapur is archaeologically an important place in India due to the ancient temple of "Goddess Shri Mahalaxmi ". The place of "Jyotiba" is about 15Kms towards north of the city. The famous hill station "Panhala" is about 18 Kms towards North West of the town.

This city is also home to the palace belonging to Shahu Maharaj, who was a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji. Shahu Maharaj was a great administrator himself and he carried out various reforms in his tenure which paved the way for Dalits and backward classes to stake claim to the education as well as other opportunities. It is a well known fact that it was Shahu Maharaj who helped Dr. Babasaheb Amberdkar for his education.

Kolhapur has many places which stand witnesses to its glorious past. There are palaces built by Maratha kings. Panhala fort, a major tourist attraction is very near to the city. Also, Kolhapur is home to the Marathi films and shootings are still done at various places in and around the city.

The city is also famous for its wrestling tradition. Kolhapur city and its surrounding regions prominently come under the sugarcane belt where the sugarcane is main cash crop.

We could visit the temple and also see the Rankala lake which has become an icon for the city. The lake was built in the last leg of 18^th century. Its sorrounding as also nearness with Shalini Palace makes it a beautiful place. Many a romantic couple can be spotted here at any time in the day. We did the trip in a day. With the travel between Pune and Kolhapur only three and half hour, it was one of the most convenient trips that I have done.

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Pune Station on New Look Track

The Pune railway station is soon to wear a new look. The work for the renovation of waiting room, main building, platforms and entrance gate is heading to the completion. The reports say that one more entrance gate is to be added to the existing one keeping in view constantly growing number of passengers. 

Pune railway station is popularly known as Pune station. Built in 1925, the building is classified as a heritage structure. It was granted ‘model railwaystation’ status about 11 years ago and it handles about 94 mail and express, 28 passenger and 40 local trains every day. More than one lakh passengers (0.1 million) passengers come here or go form here. Pune-Mumbai railway network was the earliest networks in the country so it is not surprising that the Pune point was developed simultaneously with the establishment of Victoria Terminus (Mumbai). It was also due to the city’s importance from the military point of view.

 

However, it was in 1915 that the first design of the existing main building was created by architect P. Wilson and the project was implemented by British officers Colonel Kennedy and James Barkley. On July 27, 1925, the main building was inaugurated by the then Mumbai governor Sir Lesley Wilson and a special train was operated from Mumbai to Pune to mark the occasion. The station has since grown in operation to handle the existing number of trains and the high number of passengers. Electrification of the railway line in Pune was completed in 1929 and in the subsequent year, yet another Raj-era contribution came in the form of the Deccan Express. 

The renovation of this building is being done after too many years. Some work was done at the occiasion of Commonwealth Youth Games. Central government has decided to develop this station into a world class station.

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Tracing the French-Maratha Steps

· Chhatrapati Shivaji gave the territory of Pondhicherry to the French traders on annual lease of 10,000 Chachars (a South Indian currency prevalent in 17th century) on the condition of neutrality.

· The careers of the two nations in India i.e. the Marathas and the French ran concurrently. Chhatrapati Shivaji was crowned as King in the June 1674 while the French under the able leadership of Francois Martin founded Pondicherry in April 1674 as the capital of French India. The period 1690-1699 was the darkest period for both the nations as the Mughals overran the Maratha territory while the Dutch, capitulated Pondicherry. The period 1750-1754 brought the two to the zenith of there glory in India while both were crushed in 1761.

·  Shivaji’s son, Chhatrapati Rajaram offered to sale Pondicherry to French but the French representatives in India could not pay the required amount. That is why is was forced to pay the province to Dutch.

These are some of the interesting facts unearthed from an extensive research work done by a city based researcher. Umesh Kadam, senior lecturer in the history department of University of Pune has studied the relations between Marathas and French spanning over 150 years. Kadam, who is originally from Kolhapur had originally done the study for his thesis submitted over four years ago. After a stint in Shivaji University of Kolhapur and University of Pune, he made further research work in this direction. Now it is being published in book form very soon.

This is only the second attempt to study relations between Maratha empire and French and it has noted some very striking facts hitherto unheeded. Just take a look:

According to Kadam, the relations between the two were purely commercial on the side of the French and politically and commercially motivated on behalf of the Marathas. The commercial policy of the Marathas related to the Europeans clearly states that political issues of the state should be given importance and due recognition when ever there is a clash between the two policies. The French first came into contact with the Marathas in 1668. 

The Shivaji Connection

The French were granted permission by Shivaji to establish a factory at Rajapur. Shivaji was in constant conflict with the Siddi of Janjira and he needed arms and ammunition. He wanted help from the European nations and he was ready to give any place on the Konkan Coast to the nation which would supply him with arms and ammunitions. The English and the Portuguese preferred to remain neutral due to their relations with the Mughals and Bijapur, while the Dutch asked for Maratha help against the English in return for their co-operation. Shivaji at this point was not interested to arouse the English hence he turned down the Dutch offer. The French were the only nation which supplied Shivaji with guns and lead without and pre-condition. Shivaji in return gave them permission to settle at Rajapur. Shivaji with French arms was able to arm a notable fleet against the Siddi of Janjira and keep a check on the activities of the English and the Portuguese. 

Shivaji second son Rajaram had to flee to the south due to the Mughal invasion. As Marathas controlled both Jinji and Pondicherry the French came in direct day-to-day contact with the Maratha Court at Jinji. The relations between the two further worsened due to the prejudice of the French officers against the Marathas. The Marathas had demanded money, arms and ammunition, and French help against the Mughals, but the French preferred to remain neutral. The financial constraints of Rajaram forced him to sell Pondicherry. At first he gave priority to the French but they followed delaying tactics to have a better bargain. Finally Rajaram sold Pondicherry to the Dutch arch rivals of the French only because they were ready to pay a better price.

The policy of Dupleix to build a French Empire in the south of India with the help of puppet Princes brought the French in direct conflict with the Marathas. This conflict with the Marathas in real sense brought the downfall of the French in India. The French trade in Bengal was ruined due to the Maratha invasions in Bengal carried out by Raghuji Bhosale from 1741-1748. This paved way for British to establish their control in Bengal as the French evacuated their trade from Bengal and shifted their interest towards the trade on the Coromandel Coast.

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I Learned French for this work

Dr. Umesh Kadam has come from Kolhapur. After completing Master of Arts from Shivaji University, Kolhapur in 1998, he did his Ph.D. from Shivaji University, Kolhapur.

To complete my study in the relations between French and Marathas, he completed certificate course in French. He visited Biblitheque Nationale, Archives Nationale in Paris and British Library and India Office Library in London under Research Scholarships provided by Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, Masion de Sciences de l’Homme, Paris and Charles Wallace India Trust, London. 

After this work, he is working on a project titled “Relations between the French and the Marathas with special reference to the French diplomatic projects in India proposed during 1761 to 1818”.  

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Today we did a trip of Panshet. We were five of us. We went to the Panshet Boasting Club, which is very near to the actual dam. After reaching there at about 10:15 Pm on Saturday night, that is yesterday, we had a bonfire.

The food was very good (Mutton handi) we slept for the night. What pleased most was the exellent photo opportunities. I did click a lot of pictures. Here is the one of them. The rest are posted at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31440960@N06/sets/72157609813497500/

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Vihang Netra Soars to New Heights

(Photos: Yogesh Jadhav)

Vihang Netra, the spy plane made for the Indian army for surveillance purpose is going to be used for the radiation detection. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the premier atomic research centre in India is thinking in this direction. The spy plane will have to carry laser altimeter for this task to be performed.

On the occasion of Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) golden jubilee celebration an exhibition of various defence related products was inaugurated on Friday. Dr. Srikumar Banerjee, director, BARC inaugurated the exhibition at the Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), Dighi. While visiting all the stalls at the exhibition, Dr. Banerjee had a look at the Vihang Netra being displayed at the site.

After he was briefed about the plane, Dr. Banerjee asked how low can it fly? When he was told that it can fly at any height, he said, "We want the plane for the detection of radiation, a field wherein humans can not be deployed." He also enquired about the payload carrying capacity of the plane.

Vihang Netra
Vihang Netra is a unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by city based DEMA in association with Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) a DRDO laboratory. The plane has payload carrying capacity of 20 Kg which is mostly comprised of sensors and cameras. It can fly at 17,000 ft. altitude and has one way range of 10 Kms. Its maximum air speed is 100 Km/hour.
Dr. R. N. Sarwade, director, SASE informed Pune Mirror that the design of the next version of Vihang Netra is ready. Vihang Netra 2 will be able to fly at higher altitude and it will have more features in it.

Y. P. Jahagirdar of DEMA said, "The aeroplane can fly at any height but the problem is that normal altimeters show the altitude from sea level. Laser altimeter shows the altitude from the ground level according to the terrain of surface. If we fly the plane at very low and any obstacle comes in between, then accidents will happen. That is why we told Dr. Banerjee that laser altimeters are required."

(published in Pune Mirror on 8 Nov. 2008)

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