Indian defense spices things up

By Sudha Ramachandran

Red-hot chili peppers could soon come to India's defense. The country's defense scientists are working on using the world's hottest chilies in hand grenades for use in counter-insurgency operations and riot control.

An important ingredient in Indian cooking, hitherto chilies have been confined to kitchens. They seem poised now to storm another bastion. If ongoing field trials are successful, chilies will soon make a grand entry into India's defense armory.

The plan is "to harness the pungency value of chilies to make hand grenades that can be used in riot control and counter-insurgency situations", R B Srivastava, director of life sciences in the government-run Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), told Asia Times Online.

Unlike its explosive-filled counterpart, the chili grenade is non-lethal. It works quite like tear gas. While it will not kill, it triggers tears and could put the victim in a semi-conscious state. "It will be useful in forcing militants out of their hideouts," he said.

Even ordinary chilies cause severe itching and burning of the eyes. The chili that the DRDO is thinking of using - the bhut jolokia - is no ordinary chili.

Grown in India's northeastern region, it is a thousand times more pungent than the hot chilies used in Indian cooking. The word bhut means ghost and those who have eaten it say that the chili was aptly named. It would scare even a spirit away. When you bite into a bhut jolokia, it bites back at you. Eating a bhut jolokia is an all-out assault on the senses.

The hotness or pungency of a chili is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHUs), that is, the amount of capsaicin (a chemical compound that stimulates nerve endings in the skin) present. Thus a bell pepper, which contains no capsaicin, would have a SHU rating of zero, while commonly used varieties like jalapeno or Italian peperoncino would log in less at than 5,000 SHUs. Until recently, it was the fiery hot Red Savina Habaneros developed in the United States with a rating of 350,000–580,000 SHUs that was regarded the king of the chili world.

Then in 2000, the DRDO's Defense Research Laboratory (DRL) at Tezpur in the northeastern state of Assam claimed they had discovered a chili with a pungency of 850,000 SHUs. That claim was met with much skepticism abroad.

In 2005, Paul Bosland, a professor at the New Mexico State University in the US, decided to test the claim. He found that the DRL was wrong. It had underestimated the pungency of the bhut jolokia. Its pungency, he found, measured a scorching 1,001,304 SHUs. Bhut jolokia had toppled the Red Savinia to emerge as the hottest chili in the world.

It is this heat that India's defense scientists are looking to harness for a variety of purposes.

Besides using chili grenades to deal with rioters and terrorists, India's scientists are exploring the chili's pungency for use on other enemies, some of them more formidable than terrorists.

Elephants have for long posed a huge threat to the Indian army's camps in the northeast. Many of the camps are situated near reserve forests and wildlife sanctuaries and elephants routinely storm the camps.

Army officers say they have tried every trick in the book to keep elephants away. But every one of them has failed. They even put up electrified fences around army camps hoping a mild shock would keep the elephants away. The elephants simply knocked down the poles, bringing down the fences. But recently, scientists discovered that the mammoths are scared of the smell of chili.

Preliminary investigations by the DRDO's DRL at Tezpur indicate that "elephants are scared of the bhut jolokia and they stay away from it", said Srivastava. "We are thinking of applying a coat of bhut jolokia paste on nylon ropes along the boundary walls of army camps."

This little chili is expected to help the army keep the mighty elephant away. If the experiment in Assam succeeds, the army is planning to deploy the bhut jolokia to fight elephants at bases situated near elephant habitats in other parts of the country.

The bhut jolokia is also expected to help soldiers combat extreme cold in high altitude terrain. It raises body temperature and is likely to become a part of their diet to help them keep warm. For soldiers deployed in the icy heights of the Siachen Glacier, the world's highest battlefield, where temperatures drop to minus-40 degrees Celsius and blizzards touch speeds of about 300 kilometers per hour, the bhut jolokia will provide some respite.

Only Votes can Clean Politics of Criminals

By Joginder Singh

An executive engineer of the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) was beaten to death in Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh, on December 25, allegedly by a history-sheeter MLA of the Bahujan Samaj Party, his supporters, and allegedly, two PWD engineers. The engineer was reportedly killed because he refused to cough up Rs 50 lakhs for the birthday celebrations of chief minister Mayawati on January 15, 2009. The state government and Ms Mayawati have denied this allegation.

The accused Shekhar Tiwari, since arrested, has several cases pending against him. In 2001, he was also booked under the Gangster Act and remained behind bars for several months. In June 2008, two state ministers, one from Uttar Pradesh and the other from Assam, were removed from their offices and arrested. The Uttar Pradesh fisheries minister Jamuna Nishad was arrested for allegedly killing a police constable while leading a mob protesting police protection for an accused in the rape of a girl belonging the Nishad community. The education minister of Assam, Ripun Bora, was arrested and later sacked for trying to bribe CBI officials with Rs 10 lakhs so that they would go soft on him in the murder investigation against him.

According to the Election Commission, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar account for at least 40 MPs and 700 MLAs who have faced criminal charges that include murder, dacoity, rape, theft and extortion. Some leading lights include Pappu Yadav (convicted of murdering a Left party legislator) and Syed Shahabuddin. Both are in jail. Union law minister told the Rajya Sabha the in 2008 that there were over 1,300 cases pending against sitting MPs and MLAs in various courts. The CBI was investigating 65 of these. There is a regional concentration in terms of criminal cases. Bihar, UP, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh comprise 28 per cent of all MPs but account for over 50 per cent of MPs with high-penalty criminal cases. The party-wise position of MPs is that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leads in the proportion of criminal cases (43.5 per cent).

In respect of criminal cases with severe penalties (five or more years’ imprisonment), RJD tops the list with 34.8 per cent of MPs, BSP with 27.8 per cent and the Samajwadi Party with 19.4 per cent. Congress MPs in this category account for 7.6 per cent of their total number in Parliament. For BJP it is 10.9 per cent.

A former chief minister, when asked about the 22 ministers in his Cabinet with criminal antecedents, said, “I don’t bother about the ministers’ past. After joining the government they are not indulging in crimes and want to help suppress criminal activities. Ask the people why they have elected them”.

On July 9, 1993 the Government of India constituted a committee, under the chairmanship of home secretary, with secretary, Raw, Director, Intelligence Bureau, Director, CBI, Special Secretary (Home) as members, to take stock of all available information about the activities of criminal syndicates and mafia organisations which had developed links with and were being protected by government functionaries and political personalities.

Director CBI told the committee that all over India crime syndicates have become a law unto themselves. In smaller towns and rural areas, musclemen have become the order of the day and hired assassins are a part of these organisations. The nexus between criminal gangs, police, bureaucracy and politicians has come out clearly in various parts of the country.

The existing criminal justice system, essentially designed to deal with individual offences/crimes, is unable to deal with the activities of the mafia. The provisions of law with regard to economic offences are weak and there are insurmountable legal difficulties in attaching or confiscating property acquired through mafia activities.

When pressed further to know what action had been taken to end criminalisation, the then Union home minister S.B. Chavan had said that he had forwarded the committee’s reports to the state governments for necessary action. That was the end of efforts to prevent criminalisation of politics and society.

Political power has flowed from the barrel of the gun in states where in criminals have adorned elective offices of not one but all political parties.

No politician or a political party is in the business of politics for dharma-karam and politicians are quick to seize all opportunities for electoral gains. The caste card is unabashedly played to drum up support. Whenever a question is put about how they intend to eliminate criminalisation of politics, the standard response is that political parties must arrive at a consensus. Politicians will have consensus only when it suits their interests and it will never suit them to have a person with a clean record whose electoral victory might be doubtful.

After all what matters in politics are numbers, whether they are procured by hook or crook, temptations of pelf or power. Middle class people talk about criminalisation and they are the ones who do not go out to cast their votes on the ground that either it is too cold or too hot or they have another engagement or they do not want to stand in a queue. As countrymen we get a chance once in five years to elect our rulers. Instead of lamenting about the sorry state of affairs, why don’t we go out and discharge our duties as citizens and elect the best possible candidate? This is the only way to end criminalisation in politics. Especially since our governments aren’t just unable to end criminalisation, they are simply unwilling to do so.

It is worthwhile to quote what former US President Ronald Reagan said: “Politicians may think prostitution is a grim, degrading life. But prostitutes think the same of politics. Getting a lecture on morality from a politician is like getting a lecture on chastity from a whore”.

Assam Teacher Teaches 'Hanging' Lesson In Practical

By Mishti Vemur | Dispur

A primary school teacher in north-central Assam’s Sonitpur district has allegedly used a noose on Class 4 students to explain how freedom fighters were hanged to death during the British rule.

The district administration has ordered a probe into his ‘dangerous’ practical approach. “District elementary education officer Ashim Chetia has been asked to probe the incident. Action will be taken on the basis of the report he submits,” Lalit Gogoi, deputy commissioner of Sonipur, said.

Villages Disappear As Rivers Change Course In Arunachal Pradesh

A number of hamlets in the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh and upper Assam have disappeared under water in the last few decades with climate change causing rivers to migrate from their route, experts say.

Many such cases of inundation were initially described as flash floods by the administration, but gradually it has emerged that rivers like Bikram, Ranga, Bogi, etc, originating from the Arunachal mountains have actually changed their course due to long spells of high intensity rainfall.

A number of small villages like Hatkhola, Kapisala, Tenga, Bango and Vikram Chapori in Assam’s Lakhimpur and Dhemaji district and Papum Pare district in Arunachal have been among the worst affected as a number of settlements have gradually submerged under water, this visiting correspondent found.

An analysis of geological data shows that in some places the rivers have changed their course by 300 metres while in other areas the change was as high as 1.8 km in between 1963 and 2009.

“As a result, parts of some villages have gone under water while in other cases the entire villages have simply vanished,” points out geologist S K Patnaik of Arunachal’s Rajiv Gandhi University.

A study under climate change fellowship by the New Delhi -based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) shows that this has not rendered hundreds of people homeless but also damaged agricultural fields and the rich biodiversity of this north-eastern state.

Although the total rainfall hasn’t changed much all these years, yet there has been an unprecedented increase in the duration and intensity of rainfall as well as cloudbursts in the Eastern Himalayas, explains Dr Prasanna K Samal, scientist in-charge at the G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development in Itanagar.

Modi Has Plans To Upstage Manmohan Singh On I-Day

By Sanjay Singh / Delhi

Lalan College versus Lal Qila, Modi versus Manmohan. India’s 67th Independence Day promises more political excitement, with Manmohan Singh planning what could be his last speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort (Lal Qila) and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi planning his own counter for the day.

For Singh, tomorrow’s I-Day speech will be his 10th consecutive one – a feat no one outside the Nehru-Gandhi family has managed – but the BJP’s undeclared Prime Ministerial candidate does not want to give him a free run. Soon after the PM finishes his speech, Modi will make his address at Lalan College in Bhuj in Kutch.

Muslims In India: What Are Political Parties Fussing Over?

Snatches of information from the religion census, that was compiled in 2011, have started to surface in the mainstream media.

Though the complete findings are yet to be revealed, a report states that the Muslim population in India has grown by 24 percent between 2001 and 2011. Though Muslims now form 14.2 percent of the country's population (as opposed to 13.4 in the last decade) , the rate at which the population has been growing has shown a definite slowing down compared to the decade before that, says the report.

Will 'Telangana' Gamble Pay Off For The Congress Party?

By Likha Veer | INNLIVE

SPECIAL REPORT The Congress finally manages to ram the Telangana Bill through. But will the gamble pay off. For all those who fought for Telangana, a 45-year-old struggle has finally borne fruit. More than 900 families had lost a loved one to self-immolation in the name of the cause and each one of them know that the new state could have been formed under better circumstances. 

Everyone wishes that their demand for a separate state had been addressed on its own merit as opposed to what the Congress has pulled off — a cynical move with an eye on elections, delivered with an utter lack of grace.

How BJP Duped EC With White Lotus, Varanasi On Polling?

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

EYE OPENER When the Election Commission finally filed an FIR against Narendra Modi on 30 April for waving a white lotus around while addressing a press conference, it wasn't like the BJP, its prime ministerial candidate and pretty much every party hadn't already been making the most of loopholes in its model code of conduct. 

The case that was finally lodged against Modi was under sections 126- 1(a) 126- 1(b) of the Representatives of People's Act for holding up the party symbol while addressing a press conference. He now faces a maximum punishment of up to 2 years in jail or could be let off with a rap on the knuckles and a fine. 

BJP Politics: Has Recent Poll Victory Made Things Difficult For Amit Shah In Gujarat?

By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE

With Anandiben now showing a rare belligerence, the BJP president’s plan to replace the Gujarat CM before the 2017 Assembly poll seems to be in trouble.

Amidst the exhilaration over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide victory in Assam, the party leadership has begun to absorb an uncomfortable truth. BJP president Amit Shah’s strategy may have sizzled in Assam, but his plan to replace Anandiben Patel as chief minister before the 2017 Assembly elections in his home turf of Gujarat may be thwarted by a renewed vigour acquired by the chief minister following a by-election victory in the state.

Sat-Tagged 'Amur Falcons' Of Nagaland Tracked Over Sea

By Sanjay Taluqdar | Kohima

Amur falcons Naga and Pangti, which were satellite-tagged in Nagaland, were on Thursday tracked flying over the Arabian Sea, the most difficult stretch of their migratory routes, after passing over Bangladesh, the Bay of Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra towards their final destination in South Africa.

The third falcon, Wokha, was tracked flying over the Bay of Bengal.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and head of the Forest Force, Nagaland, M. Lokeswara Rao told INN Live that the tracking began soon after the three birds were released on November 6 after satellite tags with an antenna and solar panel, weighing five grams, had been fitted on their back by a team of scientists.

INDIA GENERAL ELECTIONS 2009 NOTIFICATION ANNOUNCED

By Kajol Singh

Lok Sabha polls will be held in five phases from April 16 to May 13, the Election Commission announced on Monday.

The five phased polls will be held in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh while Bihar will have four-phased elections, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami told a press conference in New Delhi.

Maharashtra and West Bengal will witness three phased polls while Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Punjab will have elections in two phases.

Remaining 15 states and seven union territories will have one-day polling.

The counting of votes will take place on May 16 and the 15th Lok Sabha will be constituted by June two.

In the first phase, 124 constituencies will go to polls on April 16. 141 constituencies will witness balloting in the second phase on April 23, 107 seats in third phase on April 30, 85 seats in fourth phase on May 7 and 86 constituencies in the last phase on May 13.

Elections to Assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

Photo electoral rolls will be used for the first time in 522 out of the 543 constituencies, Gopalaswami said.

499 constituencies have been redrawn in the delimitation exercise.

Delimitation could not be undertaken in Andhra, Assam, Jharkhand, Manipur and Nagaland, Gopalaswami said.

At least 71.4 crore will be the number of eligible voters, an increase of 4.3 crore over the 2004 figure of 67.1

The Commission will be using around 11 lakh electronic voting machines for the exercise to be held in eight lakh polling stations.

Around 40 lakh civil staff and 21 lakh security personnel will be deployed for the smooth conduct of elections, Gopalaswami said.

The dates were finalised taking into account aspects like school board examinations, local holidays, festivals and harvest, said Gopalaswami, who was flanked by Election Commissioners Naveen Chawla, whose removal he had sought for alleged "misconduct", and MY Qureishi.

On government's advice, President Pratibha Patil rejected the CEC's recommendation paving the way for Chawla to become the next head of the poll panel. Gopalaswami retires on April 20.

The poll schedule was worked out after series of meetings with political parties, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police and Railway Board officials starting from February three, the CEC said.

Exclusive: Bizarre UPA-Era Figures Revealed 70% Of Delhi Used For Organic Farming In 2012 And Records Can't Explain Where 100 Crore Subsidies Gone?

Believe it or not, almost 70 per cent of the national Capital was used for organic farming in 2011-2012, according to National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF), which comes under the Ministry of Agriculture. 

While the total geographical area of Delhi is 1.48 lakh hectares, NPOF data shows 100238.74 hectares (almost twice the size of Mumbai) was used for organic farming during that period. 

What smacks of data fudging and a gigantic scam took place between 2009 and 2012 when the Sheila Dikshit government was in power in Delhi and the Congress-led UPA ruled at the Centre.

INDIA GENERAL ELECTIONS 2009 NOTIFICATION ANNOUNCED

By Kajol Singh

Lok Sabha polls will be held in five phases from April 16 to May 13, the Election Commission announced on Monday.

The five phased polls will be held in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh while Bihar will have four-phased elections, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami told a press conference in New Delhi.

Maharashtra and West Bengal will witness three phased polls while Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Punjab will have elections in two phases.

Remaining 15 states and seven union territories will have one-day polling.

The counting of votes will take place on May 16 and the 15th Lok Sabha will be constituted by June two.

In the first phase, 124 constituencies will go to polls on April 16. 141 constituencies will witness balloting in the second phase on April 23, 107 seats in third phase on April 30, 85 seats in fourth phase on May 7 and 86 constituencies in the last phase on May 13.

Elections to Assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

Photo electoral rolls will be used for the first time in 522 out of the 543 constituencies, Gopalaswami said.

499 constituencies have been redrawn in the delimitation exercise.

Delimitation could not be undertaken in Andhra, Assam, Jharkhand, Manipur and Nagaland, Gopalaswami said.

At least 71.4 crore will be the number of eligible voters, an increase of 4.3 crore over the 2004 figure of 67.1

The Commission will be using around 11 lakh electronic voting machines for the exercise to be held in eight lakh polling stations.

Around 40 lakh civil staff and 21 lakh security personnel will be deployed for the smooth conduct of elections, Gopalaswami said.

The dates were finalised taking into account aspects like school board examinations, local holidays, festivals and harvest, said Gopalaswami, who was flanked by Election Commissioners Naveen Chawla, whose removal he had sought for alleged "misconduct", and MY Qureishi.

On government's advice, President Pratibha Patil rejected the CEC's recommendation paving the way for Chawla to become the next head of the poll panel. Gopalaswami retires on April 20.

The poll schedule was worked out after series of meetings with political parties, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police and Railway Board officials starting from February three, the CEC said.

CJ REPORT: 'VOTER CARDS' GET TO MAKE-OVER IN COLOR SOON

By CJ Seema Singh in New Delhi

The Election Commission is considering changing the laminated voter identity card into a driving license-like hard plastic card which is more durable.

“At present, the laminated Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) is made of paper with the elector’s photograph. Now we are considering changing it at the pan-India level to a hard plastic card, something like a driving card or a credit card,” Deputy Election Commissioner Alok Shukla said today.

The new voter card with colour photos will be first issued in Assam and Nagaland, he told an Interactive Session here.

Nearly 95 per cent voters are covered with EPIC except in Assam and Nagaland. The current card costs about Rs 10-12 and the new EPIC will incur an expenditure of less Rs 50.

However, the Commission will charge a fee, which will be less that Rs 50, from the voters holding the present EPIC to convert them into hard plastic cards. The choice to opt for the new version will be that of the voter.

The Commission has already held meetings with representatives of various organisations — both private and state-owned– for price negotiations for the new card that will carry colour photos and will be long lasting as compared to the present ones.

But the new card will not be a smart card unlike a driving license, EC officials said.

Special Report: Worshiped Inside Temples, But Mistreated Outside: The Fate Of Captive Elephants In India

WEEKEND KA TADKA: I recently visited a popular south Indian Lord Ganesha temple, Kottarakara Sree Maha Ganapathy Temple. What struck me besides the scorching summer heat, was the horde of devotees thronging the sanctum sanctorum with fervour. Murmured chants and prayers lent an other worldly feel to the atmosphere. Having sought my share of the Lord’s blessings, I ventured outside to explore the premises of the temple.

Outside the main entrance stood an elephant tethered to a tree, flapping its ears serenely, munching palm leaves and bananas. It was a majestic creature, easily the largest I had ever encountered, with its long trunk and gleaming tusks. A small crowd of excited onlookers watched with awe and took pictures from all possible angles.

Alarming Scenario: 'Brahmaputra Glaciers Are Vanishing'

Glaciers in the upstream basin of the Brahmaputra, a 2,900-km-long river that originates from Tibet and flows into the Bay of Bengal, are likely to reduce alarmingly by the middle of the 21st century, according to an international body which also warned that the overall flow in the river was likely to increase.

"Hydrological modelling was carried out in the upstream areas of the Brahmaputra, which indicate the glaciers are likely to reduce by 20 to 55 percent by 2050," Nand Kishor Agrawal, programme coordinator for the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), told INNLIVE.

How The Congress Imploded On National Arena?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Will Congress wither away in India? Two years back, this question looked quite improbable. It was really audacious on the part of the BJP to raise a slogan like 'Congress-free India' during the Lok Sabha elections.

Today, Congress has lost two more states- Assam and Kerala. At present, Congress is in power in six states only. It looks like we are already moving towards a "post-Congress era".

Inside The 'Gandhi War Room', Priyanka Pulls The Strings

By Sanjeev Singh | Delhi

TRENDING STORY Rahul Gandhi may appear to be the man in total command of the Congress, playing the role of the whip master and agent of change as well as the party’s chief campaigner for the upcoming polls, but when it comes to strategy, his sister Priyanka's role is as crucial. 

She is not confined to planning out campaign schedules for Sonia and Rahul in Rae Bareli and Amethi – this is what senior Congressmen would have everyone believe. Instead, she is the powerful backroom manager involved in many important decisions of the party. 

As the campaign reaches its peak, Priyanka is playing a more involved role in the strategic affairs of the Congress party, say Congress sources on condition of anonymity. She has stepped in as Rahul remains busy traveling across the country to canvas for party candidates.

Why Cyclone Phailin Failed?: Political Planets 'Wrong Acts'

By M H Ahssan / INN Live

After a long, long time it seems as if we have got our disaster management act right with Odisha’s Phailin cyclone. Loss of life was in the low 20s, thanks to the proactiveness with which the Naveen Patnaik administration moved people out of harm’s way and thanks also to the support of the centre in terms of logistics and rescue operations. 

Actor & Politician Raj Babbar Appointed As A New Congress Chief In Uttar Pradesh: A Close Look At His Political Career

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

Fortune favours the brave, goes the adage. And how befitting it is to veteran actor Raj Babbar, who was appointed as the Congress chief of Uttar Pradesh, ahead of the state's Assembly polls in 2017. Not too long ago, Babbar was a star campaigner in the Assam Assembly election this year, which saw the end of the 15-year-old rule of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, making way for the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in North East India.