Commentary: AAP’s Antics May End Up Boosting Moditva

By Prem Shankar Jha (Guest Writer)

Kejriwal’s party is playing with fire and chances are it will get out of control. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is riding a wave. Ever since it hurled the Congress out of power in Delhi and chipped away a sizeable chunk of the BJP’s vote, it has been making the headlines every single day. 

To its leaders, nothing seems impossible — they are confident of enrolling 1 crore members across the country and talk openly of replacing the Congress as the second tent-pole of Indian politics. To the millions of ordinary people, living harsh lives in our congested cities, who are queuing up to join the party, it has become a beacon promising to guide them to a better future.

Delhi Elections 2015: Why BJP May Not Win Delhi Polls?

It could not have got murkier than this and it could not have been more entertaining. The Delhi election campaign has all the masala associated with a ‘C’ grade Bollywood thriller — gimmicks, midnight exposés, political chicanery and below-the-belt attacks.

If certain poll surveys are to be believed, then the Aam Aadmi Party can easily be expected to cross the magic figure of 36 in the 70-member Delhi Assembly and stake claim to form a government in the city-state.

AAP Can Turn Out To Be The Game-Changer In Poll 2014

By Newscop | INNLIVE

ANALYSIS A group of activists that used to take up issues of public interest and worked mostly as pressure and interest groups had come together to form a party one day which transformed them from being activists to politicians!

The issue-specific workers now had bigger a aim to pursue a much clearer objective. The bunch of greenhorns, mostly young enthusiasts, aged between early 20s to late 30s, worked hard to make an indelible markon the political platform.

Kejriwal’s Lokpal Battle: On Principle Or Premeditated?

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

AAP’s Jan lokpal bill finds itself in the middle of a massive constitutional controversy, with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal threatening to resign if the bill is not passed on 16 February. What is notable is that the Kejriwal government had already set up this confrontation from the very moment the bill passed the Delhi cabinet. 

Kejriwal at the time of announcement of the bill already struck a preemptive defiant note, declaring that he would not seek the recommendation of the LG before introducing the bill in the Legislative assembly, which is a departure from practice.

Rural distress, urban greed: Interview with Gandhian Anupam Mishra

By M H Ahssan

Gandhian and environmental activist Anupam Mishra has watched closely the ability of local communities to build and sustain ingenious systems for life-support and resource management. He has also watched the state usurping those resources. In this interview, he discusses what happens when, in the race to modernity, the autonomy and rights of the people are abandoned, the rights of ownership are vested only with the government or corporations, and all resources become capital to be exploited

Anupam Mishra, who has spent decades in the field of environment protection and water conservation, analyses the collapse of our water management systems, the growing rural-urban divide, and the failures of government policy on water. Winner of the Indira Gandhi National Environment Award, Mishra has been associated with the Gandhi Peace Foundation since its inception. He has authored two books on traditional water management and water harvesting systems in India, titled Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab (Ponds are Still Relevant) and Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boonde (The Radiant Raindrops of Rajasthan). Here he talks about the relevance and need for a community-driven water management system.

You have spent so many years working on water management at the grassroots. What do you consider the most daunting problem in the water sector today?
Acute shortage of water is the most daunting problem facing both rural and urban populations today. Nature still gives us as much water as it always did, but in the last 10 years our water management system has collapsed. We have stopped collecting water.

In rural areas, traditional methods of collecting water in talaabs (reservoirs) could have helped the situation, but the problem has been compounded by the fact that today there is greater water usage. Therefore, greater demand for water. We have changed our cropping patterns and introduced crop varieties that require more water.

When urban areas first came up they were self-sufficient and able to meet their own water needs. It is said that Delhi once had 350 big talaabs and many smaller ones that recharged groundwater during the monsoons. There were also 17 streams in Delhi, all of which recharged the Yamuna. Today, these streams have become nullahs (drains).

The problem started when land began gaining importance over water. Waterbodies were filled up and replaced by housing complexes and shopping malls. Out of the 350 talaabs, we are left with only five or six today. Whatever little water we once got from surface runoff has gone. All the roads in urban areas are paved; we don’t even leave enough space around trees! As a result, groundwater recharge rates have dropped drastically.

Today, both urban and rural areas suffer water shortages. But if there is a water shortage in a metro like Delhi people can afford to buy water. If there is a shortage of water in rural areas, or if waterbodies become polluted because of industries, villagers have to travel 10-15 km from their villages to access water. Most of Delhi’s migrant population constitutes villagers from Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan who have been uprooted from their homes because of acute water shortages.

What should be the policy on water distribution in rural and urban areas?
Nature dictates such policies. Our lifestyles should be based on the amount of water we have. For example, because the Konkan belt is water-rich it can afford to grow rice. Similarly, water-stressed areas should grow jowar and bajra -- crops that are discarded these days as they are considered the poor man’s diet.

The Bhakra dam was built in the hope that it would change the face of agriculture in our country. But it will only last for around 100-200 years, after which it is bound to silt up. When that happens the people of the state will have to once again shift from growing rice and wheat to growing bajra and jowar.

Nature keeps sending us reminders that what we consider to be development may not after all be development in the real sense. For example, Mumbai was considered a developed city until rains lashed the city in July 2005. Before that happened, people were not even aware of a river named Mithi in Mumbai. Now that it has wreaked havoc in the city we all know about it.

Similarly, there were once around 17-18 streams in Delhi, something that no one knows about today. High-rise buildings and malls have taken their place. It will take something like the Mumbai floods to bring back the memory of these streams.

Technological advances made in the recent past only help us distribute water, not collect it. Water will always have to be collected traditionally. Even a city like Mumbai relies on talaabs to meet its water needs. These talaabs are not located within the city but in the surrounding areas. Had there been a few talaabs within the city much of the floodwaters would have drained into them.

We have very few options. Demand for water in a populous city will be greater, so more spaces should be left for groundwater recharge. If this space cannot be accommodated within the city then politicians must ensure that space is made available in the surrounding areas.

Are the poor being deprived of their water rights?
Government policies seem to suggest that only the poor pollute. Slum evictions at Yamuna Pushta were carried out with this as the reason. Documentaries on pollution in the Yamuna all carry vivid pictures of dhobis washing clothes by the river. But the dhobis are washing the clothes of the entire city! It is not just the poor dhobi who is polluting the Yamuna, it is the entire city. Water from affluent colonies like Vasant Vihar in Delhi is probably more polluted, if not treated, than water from slum areas. Although there are treatment plants in Delhi they either do not function at all or do not work to full capacity.

The slums at Yamuna Pushta are now being replaced by the Akshardham temple and the Commonwealth Sports Complex. These development projects will pollute the Yamuna far more than the slum-dwellers ever would have.

There is a growing trend towards drawing water from water-rich areas of the country and making money out of it. Tankers go into these areas, lure residents with monetary benefits, and install tubewells in their localities. The tanker operators get maximum benefit out of such ventures; the residents lose out on their water resources only after a while. All the tankers that operate in Delhi have their water sources in the surrounding areas.

What are the grassroots reactions to vested interests in the water sector?
Today the reaction is one of surrender, not resistance. For years now our agricultural policies have been such that farmers are encouraged to sell their agricultural land to industrialists. In rural areas that border cities, vast tracts of agricultural land are being sold for short-term economic gain. For example, areas around Delhi like Noida and Ghaziabad were once agricultural areas. Urban expansion has always taken place on agricultural land.

Who suffers and who gains as a result of this?
In the long-term it is the farmer who suffers because his livelihood is taken away. The industrialists and builders gain in the short-term. Builders can build high-rises but they do not have access to any permanent source of water supply. The water that is available today for a small rural population will have to meet the needs of an expanding urban population with a much greater demand for water. A time may come when this water may no longer be available to anyone. After all, water that has been harvested in rural areas cannot match urban greed.

Can you suggest ways to counter this?
The paradox of our times is that when the government tries to save the environment, it ends up plundering it. For example, all industrial units operating in Delhi were asked to close down and were relocated to the surrounding areas. These are areas where farmers have invested in their talaabs for years to meet the needs of the villages. When industries are relocated to these areas they draw water from the talaabs, thereby depleting and polluting the water resources.

The Tarun Bharat Sangh has done some very good work in rainwater harvesting in Alwar district, Rajasthan. But land in those areas is now being sold to upcoming industries. Soon the government will designate it an industrial area. We can already see evidence of this in Bhiwani (Alwar), where water that was harvested for use by the villagers will now be drawn by industrialists and housing complexes. There is no doubt that the relocation of industries in Delhi will improve Delhi’s environment, but what about the environment of the surrounding rural areas? A comprehensive policy must be evolved so that both urban and rural areas can co-exist in a healthy environment.

Is privatisation of water distribution systems an option?
The government seems to have become resigned to the view that the tasks it has been incapable of performing will be better performed by private institutions. A good example of this is the privatisation of Delhi’s bus fleet. The private buses that were introduced did not serve the people any better. If anything, commuters face harassment every time they board a bus. They have no option but to accept these buses as their only means of transportation.

If this incompetence and inefficiency is reflected in water supply, the situation will become worse. I do not feel confident that there will be no flaws or fallacies in water privatisation.

What according to you is the alternative to privatisation of water utilities?
There was a time in our country when the ability and sensibilities of the people served to build and furnish ingenious and pragmatic life-support systems and systems for resource management; the lives of the people were fully integrated in them. But with the passage of time, the state usurped their resources. In the race to modernity, the autonomy, self-reliance and rights of people were abandoned. Ownership of resources and the rights of ownership were vested only with the government, and all resources became capital to be exploited.

There is an example of the time when there was hardly any distance between state and society. The Chandel kings once ruled Bundelkhand (part of present Uttar Pradesh). From 219 AD-1105 AD, 22 generations of kings built 22 big talaabs. Jagatraj, son of King Chattrasal, heard about some buried treasure, which he got dug up. When his father learnt of this he was extremely annoyed. But the deed was already done. So the king decided to use the treasure to do good. He ordered his son to renovate the old talaabs built by the Chandel kings before him. Also, to build some new ones. It took 22 generations to use up all the treasure. These 22 talaabs in Bundelkhand are testimony to the good fortune of a society that used its fortune to make its people fortunate.

If the government today is incapable of managing the country’s water resources or distributing it efficiently, it will only be a matter of time before private companies claim their own stake in this market. After all, no society can function in a vacuum. But if governments can evolve an effective water management system by involving resident welfare associations and making bhagidari systems more meaningful, then the power to manage water may well remain in government hands. Should the government fail to do this, private companies will play their role in the water market, leading to serious conflicts in urban areas.

How can community participation help ensure an efficient water management system in the country?
Community participation is important not only to ensure efficient water distribution but also at the decision-making level. At this level it is the communities that know what their requirements are and what needs to be done.

There is an ancient story about four brothers -- Kuran, Buran, Sarman and Korai. They rose early to go to their fields to till the land. Kuran’s daughter would come with lunch in the afternoons. One day, on her way to the fields, the girl stumbled on a sharp stone. In pain and anger she hit her scythe against the stone. As soon as she did this, the stone turned to gold. The girl picked up the stone, rushed to the fields and told her family what had happened. Kuran knew that the news would soon reach the king and that the precious gold would be taken away from them. So he decided it would be better to go and tell the king the whole story. But the king did not take away the gold; instead he asked Kuran to invest it in doing good -- to build talaabs.

It’s difficult to say whether this is a true story or legend. But in the Patan region of Madhya Pradesh there are four big talaabs named after the four brothers. In 1907, experts visiting the region recorded the story from scores of people. An on-site inspection of the four big talaabs identified one named after Sarman. It was so huge that it had three different villages on its banks; the talaab linked all three villages. It is remembered as Sarman Sagar.

Because of local communities and their tradition of building talaabs and harvesting water, even today, low rainfall does not necessarily mean drought.

Assembly Elections - Time to Retrospect

By M H Ahssan & Kajol Singh

Although the outcome of the Assembly polls is being described as a 3-2 victory for the Congress, it is actually a two-all draw since Mizoram’s results do not have much influence on national politics. Even then, the Congress can be said to have its nose ahead since the BJP’s earlier string of victories seems to have come to an end.

After its successes in Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka, the BJP had seemingly convinced itself that it had acquired an unstoppable momentum on the road to Delhi. But, now it is bound to have a rethink, for the tide appears to have turned, even if partially. However, that is not the only reason for the sadness that was noticeable in its New Delhi office on Monday evening. What may have concerned the BJP more is the belief that it may have lost its terror card, which apparently gave it a permanent edge over the Congress.

By accusing the latter of being soft on terror in order to preserve its minority vote bank, the BJP evidently thought that it had an irrefutable argument to influence the voters. But what has proved this assessment wrong is the Delhi election results because the elections took place the day after the horrendous terrorist attack on Mumbai. Yet, the ease with which the Congress swept the polls showed that the tragedy had virtually no impact on the electorate. Even the Congress seemed to have been taken aback by this response, for it had believed that terrorism, coupled with inflation, would spell disaster for it.

If the voters thought otherwise, it was apparently because they looked upon these as passing phases with no long-term effect. Not only would prices come down, as they have already started to do, but the very insanity of the jihadis would lead them to their doom. They were also probably not too pleased by the BJP’s propensity to make political capital out of such tragedies.

The BJP is apparently worried that such an interpretation of its motives will not leave any cards in its hands for the next big test the general election.

The other indication from the voters relates to their interest in development. The reason why Sheila Dikshit, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh won in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is that their almost exclusive focus was on the bijli-sadak-pani factor. If politicians get this message, it will mark an end of divisive politics.

Results of five states that went to election over the past few weeks have surprised many observers. Congress has won Delhi and Mizoram decisively and inching towards the half-way mark in Rajasthan. BJP on the other hand has managed to retain Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Delhi
Bucking anti-incumbency factor in Indian elections once is quite an achievement and doing it twice is extraodinary. Sheila Dixit has been able to do just that. Her opponent, Vijay Malhotra, currently a BJP MP from South Delhi parliamentary seat was not able to enthuse the base or adapt to the changing demographics in Delhi. Delhi that went to polls just three days after Mumbai attacks seemed to suggest that even in assembly elections local factors play a bigger role. It also seemed to rebut BJP’s allegation that Congress is soft on terrorism.

Rajasthan
After the Meena Gujjar agitation earlier this year, it was very difficult for Vasundhara Raje to dig herself out of the hole and win the elections. Her performance, though credible will leave BJP with a big headache where it has to defend 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming general elections. Ashok Gehlot, has led his party to victory again and he will be able to cobble up a coalition with independents to form a government.

Madhya Pradesh
The central Indian state has had three chief ministers in five years. It was Uma Bharati who won a decisive victory against the Congress in 2003 but resigned from the post due to her role in the Hubli-Idgah controversy. Her place was taken by Babulal Gaur who was then replaced by a much younger Shivraj Chauhan. It is to his credit that he had been able to win the state again despite Uma Bharati contesting elections as a separate entity and a much powerful Bahujan Samaj Party.

Chhattisgarh
Raman Singh has managed to win a narrow victory in a very close fight in this small state. Ajit Jogi, who was caught on tape after last assembly elections bargaining with opposition MLAs, led the challenge this time too and lost.

Mizoram
The tiny northeastern state brought Congress back to power after 10 years with the ruling Mizo National Front losing by a big margin. BJP hardly has any presence in the state.

Some quick thoughts on the results:
Good governance matters. It might not matter every time but it still pays to perform and then go asking for votes.
Terrorism is a national issue and these assembly elections might not exactly be a referendum on policy positions of either Congress of BJP.
Caste politics still pays in India but it might not be a winning proposition anymore. It increasingly is providing little dividends at high risk.
The results are like a hung parliament. Everyone can claim victory.
Mayawati can be the next Prime Minister of India. I can’t believe I just wrote it.

'Killer Dengue' Creates Havoc, VIP Zone Becomes Target

By Kajol Singh / INN Live

New Delhi Municipal Council finds deadly mosquitoes in areas like Prez estate and hospitals 3,292 notices issued to residents and office- bearers for breeding. Either Aedes mosquitoes have developed a liking for high- profile areas or the city’s VIPs are not doing enough to stem the spread of dengue. Nothing else can explain the shocking revelations made by New Delhi Municipal Council ( NDMC) in its inspection of the properties in the New Delhi region.

Delhi Celebrates For Women, Will Tomorrow Be Safer?

Already branded the most dangerous country in the world to be born a girl by the United Nations and voted the fourth most dangerous country for women by an international poll conducted last year, India for its record of crimes against women has yet again caught the world’s attention with the recent spate of rapes committed in public spaces.

In what should embarrass the Indian government, a young student who ‘dared’ take a bus with her friend at 9.30pm in Delhi, the Capital City, and paid with her life is among the ten awardees of the ‘International Women of Courage Award’ by the US government.

Indeed, going by the instances and circumstances of sexual crimes that are being increasingly reported, for a woman to step out into Delhi’s streets after dusk or use public spaces or the public transport, seems to be an act of courage.

“Nine out of 10 women in the national capital feel that Delhi is unsafe or very unsafe for them. Two-thirds have experienced misbehaviour on the city’s streets. Two-thirds work in offices where there is no mechanism to deal with sexual harassment,” reports the Times of India, quoting a survey it commissioned.

Challenging this growing perception and feeling of insecurity among women in the city, a group of young professionals, activists and students—Citizen’s Collective against Sexual Assault – as part of their campaign to make public spaces safe for women are holding a ‘take back the night’ event, on the occasions of International Women’s Day, at the India Gate tonight.

But how practical is it to ‘take back the night’ in a city like Delhi? Isn’t it becoming more and more difficult to ‘take back the night’ for women, when they are being repeatedly confronted with sexual violence in public spaces. Most recently, a 19-year-old was gang-raped in a share-auto that she took outside a mall in Ghaziabad at 8.30 pm.

Says Nandini Rao of the Citizen’s Collective, “Yes and no. We are facing more restrictions because suddenly the world outside seems more scary. It is seems more frightening now because crimes are being reported more. And that is good. That is also the difficult part because restrictions on women are increasing. At the same time, because of the awareness that has happened, it has become legitimate to be out on the streets, to protest, to demand our rights as citizens. The legitimacy that we have got now has given people the courage to step out and protest.”

The intent behind an event such as ‘take back the night’, says Rao, is to take collective responsibility for public spaces and not ‘normalise’ incidents of sexual harassment and assault. “The more the number of women there are on the streets, the more safe that space is going to be. Having said that, many of us are going to continue to face violence, sexual abuse and assault on the streets. But if we step back now and say it is too difficult, we will not be reclaiming the night that is rightfully ours. Yes, it is going to be difficult. But we cannot turn back at this point. And that is something we would like to emphasise with ‘take back night’. It is to tell people it is your right to be outside and it is your right to be safe. And all of us implicit in keeping that space safe.”

Aditi Malhotra, a young professional and a member of Citizen’s Collectives says to reclaim the nights is more relevant now than ever before. “In fact, we should be out in larger numbers to be able to make a statement. We should collectively raise our voice and not lock ourselves up in the house. Especially since the environment is becoming so hostile we should be out.”

Asked how she dealt with Delhi, Malhotra said, “Delhi has always been like this. I’m from Delhi. When I’m out, I’m always alert. But it should not deter us from being who we are.”

Rao too says she is extremely alert when is out by herself. “I’m very careful. I have lived in this city long enough. I deal with the city very carefully. I remain very alert. And if I’m alone, I may be nervous. But I won’t stop myself from being alone. I will make sure that I have everything I need to handle a situation.Yet, it is fully possible that I can be attacked. I am aware that I have to careful.”

This is the second such event by CCSA, the first ‘reclaim the night’ event was held on 31 December, two days after the Delhi gang-rape victim had succumbed to injuries at the hospital.

Recalling that night, Rao said, “It was in remembrance of this wonderful woman who struggled and died for no reason at all. We were at a marketplace. We sat around in a circle and sang. It was 31 December night and people left the bars and joined us. And then we walked the streets, people we had never met or seen before joined us. And we were out till 1.30 in the morning. Imagine walking the streets of Delhi at 1.30 am. As a woman it was such wonderful experience, it was so freeing.”

Tonight, members of the collective will kick off their Women’s Day Celebration at India Gate 9 pm onwards.

Said Malhotra, “We are calling it a celebration for women. We will sing, recite poetry, perform. Anybody can join.” Added Rao, “We don’t know how it is going to be. It is definitely something we are very aware about and we will be careful.”

Exclusive: Now, Delhi Is Suffering From Major 'Deaf Trap'

By Neetu Chandra / New Delhi

Comprehensive research study says residents going deaf at 60 now instead of the natural 75. Like all bad news, this one’s come through loud and clear. And that’s the terrible irony of it, for Delhiites have started complaining of agerelated hearing loss as early as 60 years of age, says a study conducted by the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at Maulana Azad Medical College ( MAMC).

Presbycusis ( age- related hearing loss) is the cumulative effect of ageing on hearing. It is a progressive age- related hearing loss which generally sets in after the age of 75 years. In Delhi, however, such cases are being reported at the age of 60.

Analysis: Arvind Kejriwal Needs To Go Beyond Rhetoric

By Likha Veer | INNLIVE

Chroniclers will be bewildered when they try to capture the 49 days of governance of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi under former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. From a spectacular show in the polls but falling short of a majority, forming a government supported by an arch rival, the AAP government in Delhi attempted to deliver all pre-poll promises in the shortest possible time even if that meant offending those who are key to the government's survival. 

Not everbody is taking what AAP is offering at face value. Questions were raised from the very beginning why the government was formed with Congress support even if it was not formally sought. Political pundits, including AAP's strategists,  always knew that this bonhomie would never last long. 

Why 'Indian Women' Still Ignored?

With current uproar over gangrape, 'ignored' women's issues have taken a centrestage in national politics.

It's December 23. India Gate is a sea of about a 2,000 sloganeers. Deep in the midst of a large group of students who hold aloft the banner of All India Students Association (AISA), their former president, the slender Kavita Krishnan, is in full flow. It is an echo of her speech outside Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's house that went viral: "We cannot disregard politics as insignificant, we do need to talk about politics. There is a culture in our country that justifies rape, that defends the act. If we are to change any of this, we need to politicise the issue. The Government has to listen." There is an applause, and some students shout "raise your voice against Sheila Dikshit" or "fight for women to be free".

Krishnan, a former leader of the radical students' organisation AISA, is now secretary of All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), a group affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation (CPIML). In a well-appointed home in Lutyens' Delhi, Meira Kumar, speaker of the Lok Sabha, can hear the gathering storm. She was one of the first to visit Safdarjung Hospital to meet the Delhi gang rape victim's family. She went to their one-bedroom home in suburban Delhi too, and her voice breaks as she recalls the mother saying, "Hamari haisiyat hi kya hai? Namak aur roti khate hain bachchon ko padhana ke liye (What financial standing do we have? We eat roti with salt so that our children can study)." She knows that something changed forever this December. "Women's issues will no longer be brushed aside to be handled by women. They have come centrestage and will remain there."

Whether it is the unstoppable rage against the gang rape, the rising resentment against male politicians with loose tongues and sexist minds, or the zero tolerance for entertainment that incites violence, women have decided that personal is no longer private. It is public, and political. In 2013, the Government will no longer be able to turn away from reform of women's laws, many of which are pending, such as Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010, and the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012, which relate to acid attacks and sexual assault. The Delhi gang rape protests were not entirely led by women's groups, but they formed a large part. Clearly, protests need to be politicised. Women's voting has declined. In 2009, of the total 58 per cent who voted, 45 per cent were women. In 2004, of the 58 per cent who voted, 53 per cent were women. Yet the number of women being elected to the Lok Sabha is on the rise. The 15th Lok Sabha has the highest ever percentage of women MPs, 58, at 11 per cent.

Women have shown the power of their anger before. Mothers who lost their daughters to dowry deaths came out on the streets of Delhi to protests against dowry. The result was the amendment to the Indian Penal Code, to include Sections 304B and 498A, which acknowledge harassment and cruelty by husbands and his relatives for dowry.

This time, the movement is demanding not just a revision to rape laws. It is asking for the onus to be on society to keep its women safe. As one of the many slogans out there on the cold December nights said: 'Don't tell us how to dress. Tell your sons not to rape.' This time, the women's movement, disparate though it may be, has learnt to give it back in the same coin in which it is attacked, using the language of offence. Thus, Slut Walk Delhi, a Facebook group with 15,982 likes and 28,000 shares started by Delhi University students Trishla Singh and Umang Sabarwal, or Dented and Painted, created after Abhijit Mukherjee's ill-advised comment, with a picture of a faceless woman wearing a tank-top emblazoned with the legend, 'Dented and Painted'. Or the Ban Honey Singh petition started by writer Kalpana Misra, 52, from Delhi, to the general manager of the Bristol Hotel in Gurgaon to cancel the singer's performance on New Year's Eve. It collected 2,500 signatures in less than 12 hours after Misra posted it late on the night of December 30 in protest against his deeply misogynistic lyrics.

Suddenly the cry is: Save Women, Save India. There are many who see this awakening as temporary, or even limited. Activist and novelist Arundhati Roy went on BBC'S Radio 4 to say that the reason this crime is creating so much outrage is "because it plays into the idea of the criminal poor, like the vegetable vendor, gym instructor or bus driver actually assaulting a middle class girl" (which is not strictly true). And that rape is seen as a "matter of feudal entitlement" in many parts of the country (which is true).

She also said that attitudes towards women need to change in India, because a change in the law alone will protect middle class women, but "the violence against other women who are not entitled will continue". Indeed, preventing violence against all women, and all kinds of violence, is the ambitious long-term goal of this movement. As Ayesha Kidwai, JNU professor and member of its JNU'S gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment, points out, young women on the street have broadened the debate on rape. Instead of just speaking about sexual assault, they have tried to establish that there is a chain-sexual harassment, an institutional and public tolerance of sexual harassment, and an incitement to sexual violence.

The demand for such sweeping reform is a challenge for governance. Governments are used to dealing with vote banks, not issue banks. Doles are easy, details are not. What if women do form vote banks? BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman doesn't see it happening. Women belong to various religions and castes. They are yet to unite for the sole reason that they are women. Can it happen that they will look beyond their birth markers?

Perhaps. For the first time, issues considered marginal or even taboo are being discussed and debated: A woman's right to her body, security in public spaces, young people's right to aspire to a life beyond their dreams. One of the most moving aspects of the gang rape victim's family was that her father had sold a piece of land in their village to finance her education-not her marriage, as would be commonly expected. Only such family reform can create change-after all, 94 per cent of rapists are known to the victims. Beyond a point, governments cannot alter mindsets that allow female foeticide or dowry demands. Historically, despite embarrassing blips like CPI(M) MLA Anisur Rahman's comments on Mamata Banerjee, the Left has tried to be progressive in its attitude towards women. Leftist students' organisations, most with strong women leaders in Delhi, have no intention of allowing this movement to peter out. On New Year's Eve, AISA organised a protest in the central park at New Delhi's Connaught Place, aimed at "reclaiming spaces" for women. There will be more such public acts of assertion in 2013, posing a challenge for conventional policing.

In a political environment in which men try hard but fail to disguise their innate scorn for women in public life, and women try hard to fit in, will women's issues remain national concerns to be relegated to the margins again? Cynics point to the Women's Reservation Bill and the 16 years it has spent in cold storage despite the blessings of the most powerful woman leader in India. But the protests against corruption in 2011, and the rage against the gang rape of 2012, have created a new empowered citizen. He or she is led by conscience, not straitjacketed by any ideology, is connected to the world, and is armed with technology. Organising a protest is no longer a matter of hiring trucks, printing posters and buying food. It can be a group on Facebook which trends on Twitter and then gathers momentum through BlackBerry Messenger. Today's youth demand day-to-day democracy, not once in five years.

Women were at the centre of the recent US presidential battle between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in November 2012. About 55 million unmarried women were eligible to vote in this election, and Romney's rigid views on abortion made them flock to the Obama camp. More women than men turned out to vote (53 per cent turnout for women and 47 per cent for men). Fifty-five per cent of the women voted for Obama, while only 44 per cent voted for Romney. Not surprising, because he wanted to take back the hardfought control over their bodies with his outdated views on abortion. And not surprising when his Republican colleagues Todd Akin of Missouri and Richard Mourdock of Indiana shocked everyone with their views on rape, saying pregnancy from rape was "something God intended". Both lost the elections to the US Senate.

There's a moral there for the Indian politician who dismisses the dentedand-painteds and the thumke walis. They don't just have a voice but also a vote.

Jamun: The Humble Fruit Holds A Special Place In India’s History And Mythology

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

Its deep purple colour has stained many a memory.

“Four annas, that’s how much a handful of jamuns cost in 1960,” exclaims my grandmother, holding up the ripe fruit in her hands. In those days she took the bus from South Delhi to Shah Jahan Road in the city’s centre and walked to her office at the Ministry of Rehabilitation (then at Jaisalmer House). Her eyes light up as she remembers the wide roads around India Gate lined with the vibrant jamun trees all through summer.

Worms On The Plate: A Look At Delhi Midday Meal Scheme

By Kajol Singh / INN Bureau

For the average middle class Indian, the Midday Meal (MDM) scheme in Delhi government schools may appear to be a ticking bomb. The schools are under-resourced, ingredients poor, safety checks minimal, and neither the NGO which prepares the food nor the teachers who distribute it can vouch for the quality of the food – which often contains worms, and one occasion, a rat. But the school staff claim the MDM in the nation’s capital is one of the better run programmes.

Power Dynamics: AAP Crisis Isn't A Battle Of Ideas: A Clear Sign Of Irreconcilable Differences Between Friends

Unless there is a last-minute compromise, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav are likely to head for the exit.

It is tempting to interpret the squabbling in the Aam Aadmi Party as a clash of ideas, a manifestation of the battle the purists are waging against the pragmatists. But in politics, even in its most idealistic expression, ideas often are a cloak that conceals the vaulting ambitions of its practitioners, their inherent desire to impose their will on others.

'Too Many Spooks Spoil The Case'

Liaquat Shah’s case is a symptom of the colossal anti-terror mess. Dozens of agencies, turf wars, power centres, crossed wires. Is the NCTC the answer?

On22 March New Delhi woke up and counted its blessings. Officers of the Delhi Police Special Cell claimed they had averted a major terror strike by arresting Hizbul Mujahideen commander Liaquat Shah on the Indo-Nepal border near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. A cache of arms and ammunition, including AK rifles and grenades, too had allegedly been recovered from a guesthouse in old Delhi. As 24×7 news channels showed a haggard-looking man, shouting his innocence, in the grip of gun-toting Special Cell men, the National Capital Region and perhaps the whole country heaved a sigh of relief. Memories of the twin blasts that rocked Hyderabad on 21 February were still fresh in their minds.

The police claimed that Liaquat, a resident of Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir, had slipped into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in 1997 and received arms training. They said Liaquat had returned to oversee a terror attack to avenge the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The terror story ruled the airwaves for a few hours before it exploded in Delhi Police’s face. As soon as news of Liaquat’s arrest went public, his family and the J&K Police debunked Delhi Police’s claims. According to the J&K Police, Liaquat was a reformed militant coming home to start a new life. His relatives claimed they had notified the cops on 5 February 2011 about Liaquat’s planned surrender. The route that he had taken, entering India through Nepal, is the most preferred one for reformed militants and many who availed of the state’s surrender policy had used it.

J&K Police also claimed that two policemen had gone to Gorakhpur to pick up 9-10 people, including Liaquat, and had kept the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Delhi Police in the loop. When the handover happened, the J&K Police allege that the Delhi Police didn’t allow them to take Liaquat into custody. Two days later, he was paraded as a terror mastermind.

However, a Delhi Police officer begged to differ and made some counter-claims.

• If the J&K Police had received the surrender application in February 2011, then why did they file an FIR against Liaquat in March for waging war against the nation?
• Why is the J&K Police refusing to reveal the identity of the two personnel who had gone to pick up the contingent?

The Delhi cop also wondered whether his colleagues were foolish enough to jeopardise an operation in which both the IB and the J&K Police were kept in the loop.

The Kashmir Valley, which was already reeling under curfews imposed after Guru’s hanging, erupted in protest. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was quick to remind the Centre that Liaquat’s arrest might deal a big blow to its flagship programme aimed at bringing back reformed militants who had crossed over to POK. PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti added that Kashmiris are nabbed without evidence and treated as fodder for rewards and medals.

Two days after Omar made the demand, the Union home ministry announced that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probe the curious case of Liaquat.

This is not the first time such claims and counter-claims have exposed the lack of coordination between various intelligence agencies. And it won’t be the last.

As a home ministry official puts it, “Intelligence agencies have a ruthless desire to put one’s interest before everything and make sure they get all the credit. The nation’s interest can go to hell for all they care.”

So, how does one explain Liaquat’s arrest? Was it due to a bad intelligence input or an insatiable greed on the part of the security agencies to have a terror arrest against their names so that their annual confidential report looks good? There are close to 23 security agencies, 35 state anti-terror cells and special units operating in India on hundreds of cases in which people have been branded as terrorists, only to be found innocent after a trial extending from five years to eternity. By that time, the officer concerned has moved on in his life, with a gallantry medal pinned on his chest for exemplary courage. INN has relentlessly chronicled the plight of such innocents, who were falsely implicated. INN has also tracked the alarming chaos and difficulties faced by India’s anti-terror establishment. 

When P Chidambaram took over as home minister after the 26/11 attacks, it was seen as a welcome relief. He touted the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) as a magic wand that will rid Indian intelligence agencies of their turf wars. Four years later, the NCTC has turned out to be the biggest bone of contention between the Centre and the states. The fate of Chidambaram’s pet project will be known at the internal security meeting of the chief ministers to be held in Delhi on 15 April. So, with the NCTC’s dilution, are we once again taking one step forward and two steps back in the fight against terror?

“If everybody in the intelligence community had shared inputs, 70 percent of the terror attacks would not have taken place,” says an intelligence officer. “But then, given the stakes involved, it is also asking for the impossible.” This sums up the attitude of the intelligence agencies, who are busy fighting a turf war rather than the war against terror.

When two blasts rocked Dilsukhnagar, a crowded locality in Hyderabad, on 23 February, terror made its first visit to India in 2013. The twin blasts killed 17 people and injured more than 100. What followed was something that has played out again and again after every terror attack.

Within no time, the Union home ministry issued a statement that it had shared intelligence inputs with the Andhra Pradesh government, which they “failed” to assess and act upon. Not wanting to be left out of the action, Delhi Police Special Cell officers told friendly journalists that two Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives had confessed in late 2012 that Dilsukhnagar was one of the areas where they had done a recce. The officers claimed they had passed on the information. But the AP Police rubbished those claims, saying the intel inputs were not that specific.

Forty-eight hours later, the NIA took over the probe. A crucial piece of information emerged when CCTV footage revealed a man visiting the spot on a bicycle. He was seen leaving a bag and fleeing just minutes before the blasts. Going by the modus operandi, the NIA suspect that IM operatives Tabrez and Waqas, who were part of the 13/7 Mumbai attack, had a hand in this operation as well.

However, 12 days before the blasts, something interesting had happened in Mumbai. On 11 February, the Mumbai Anti- Terror Squad (ATS) had announced a reward of 10 lakh each for information on four IM operatives alleged to be behind various terror strikes across India in the past couple of years, including the 2012 Pune blasts. They were Yasin Bhatkal, the founder-leader of IM and one of India’s most-wanted terrorists, Asadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez, Waqas alias Ahmed and Tahseen alias Raju bhai. For a long time it was believed that Tabrez and Waqas were Pakistanis, but the Mumbai ATS claimed that they were, in fact, Indians.

But the Mumbai ATS failed to disclose that had it not been for a major goof-up, involving the Delhi Police, IB and Mumbai ATS, three out of the four IM operatives would have been behind bars and maybe the lives of the 16 people in Hyderabad could have been saved.

Chronicles of a Terror Foretold
Five cases where lack of coordination among the security agencies cost the country dear 

1. Hyderabad 2013 The 21 February blasts in Hyderabad could have been averted if the Mumbai Police had not arrested Naqi Ahmed Wasi in January 2012. Wasi, a Delhi Police informer, was on the verge of leading the police to Indian Mujahideen operatives Waqas and Tabrez, when he was nabbed for his alleged role in the 2011 serial blasts that rocked Mumbai. Security agencies suspect that Waqas and Tabrez were instrumental in the Hyderabad blasts

2. Kolkata 2009 Indian Mujahideen founder-leader Yasin Bhatkal was arrested by the Kolkata Police in 2009 on charges of carrying fake currency. But he was set free after only a month in jail as he could convince the police that his arrest was a case of mistaken identity. Unfortunately, the police had no way of cross-checking with a national database

3. Mumbai 2008 Despite having concrete intelligence, the investigators could not join the dots, leading to audacious terror attacks on 26/11. The Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) knew of the training and sea movements of Lashkare- Toiba terrorists and the IB had a list of 35 cell phone numbers, but those leads were not pursued. The role of the Mumbai ATS also came under the scanner for its inability to access the information

4. Kargil 1999 The IB had 45 specific intelligence inputs. The most concrete input received in June 1998 said that Pakistan was building bunkers, but it was not shared with everybody. The then RAW chief Girish Saxena was livid enough to put his displeasure on record, saying that the turf war had cost the country dear

5. Purulia 1995 In the Purulia arms drop case, where automatic weapons and ammunition were dropped from an aircraft in West Bengal to be used by a militant group, RAW had the information at least a week prior to the incident. “We gave the information to the home ministry 4-5 days in advance. The ministry sent it by registered post to Calcutta,” says a former RAW official

On 20 November 2011, the Delhi Police Special Cell announced that they had busted a homegrown terror module and arrested six people. They were Mohd Qateel Siddiqi, Mohd Irshad Khan, Gauhar Aziz Khomani, Gayur Ahmed Jamali and Abdul Rahman (all from Bihar) and Mohd Adil (from Karachi). This module was allegedly behind the terror attacks at German Bakery in Pune, Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and the Jama Masjid in Delhi.

It was a joint operation by the Delhi Police Special Cell and the IB, but what was not revealed in the press conference was the identity of the seventh person, Naqi Ahmed Wasi Shaikh, who was also arrested. Naqi was a resident of Darbhanga district in Bihar and owned a leather-processing unit in Byculla, Mumbai.

Naqi told the Special Cell that he knew about the hideout of Bhatkal and two other IM operatives in Mumbai and could lead the police to it. Though Bhatkal and his accomplice had vacated the place, they were yet to collect their advance of 1 lakh. The Special Cell had put the phone line of Rubina, the landlady, on surveillance. On 1 January, they got a lucky breakthrough when one of the “Pakistanis” made a call to Rubina, who asked him to call back in an hour. The suspect called after three hours but Rubina told him that she needed more time to return the money. The call was traced to a phone booth in Dadar. The sleuths were confident that they were on the verge of effecting a big breakthrough.

On 23 January, the Mumbai ATS announced to the world that they have arrested two people from Bihar in connection with the 13/7 Mumbai blasts. One of them was Naqi. A stunned Special Cell then leaked the news that Naqi was their informer, triggering a war of words between the Special Cell and Mumbai ATS. The moment Naqi’s arrest was made public, all the clues simply disappeared.

This is touted as a classic case of how lack of coordination, inflated egos and the constant game of one-upmanship are compromising the fight against terror.

However, this was not the only embarrassing story that emerged out of that breakthrough. During the course of interrogation, the revelations made by Mohd Irshad stunned and embarrassed the Delhi Police. Irshad told them that Bhatkal had lived in New Delhi for 8-9 months in 2011.

Bhatkal was married to Irshad’s daughter and was living in the industrial belt of Meer Vihar, in west Delhi’s Nangloi area. When the police raided the area, they found a small ordnance and weapon factory. The locals told police that Irshad and Bhatkal mostly kept to themselves and didn’t interact much with others. The police believe that Bhatkal was in the city even after the 2011 Delhi High Court blast.

But if you thought that the intelligence agencies’ tryst with embarrassment and Bhatkal ended here, think again.

In late 2008, on an alert given by the IB, the Kolkata Special Task Force busted a fake currency racket and arrested Bhatkal. He claimed that he was Mohammad Ashraf from Darbhanga in Bihar and showed a voter’s ID card as proof. The address and other information checked out to be true. After a month in jail, he was let off.

However, when the footage of the German Bakery blast was released by the IB, the Kolkata Police was shocked to find that the person they thought was a petty thief was India’s most-wanted terrorist.

Intelligence officers and security experts agree that in cases like these, if even a little cooperation is extended, big results can be achieved. Bhatkal is not the only case where lack of coordination botched up the case, it’s just the latest.

“The 2006 Mumbai train blast is yet another example of how the lack of coordination led to this situation,” says a senior IB officer. “RAW was aware of the movement of the LeT module, which came to do the recce, and even the IB knew this. However, none of them shared the information with the higher-ups and therefore a golden chance was lost to prevent that attack.”

Months before the 1999 Kargil War, the IB had 45 specific intelligence inputs. In June 1998, the IB had intelligence that Pakistan was building bunkers but they did not share the information with anyone. The result was there for everyone to see.

The disconnect is also illustrated by Riyazuddin Nasir’s arrest. In 2008, a sub-inspector in Bengaluru saw Nasir carrying several car number plates and enquired about it. Unable to get a satisfactory reply, he booked him under a vehicle theft case. In a chance encounter, the SP crosschecked Nasir’s details with the IB, and found that they had arrested one of the country’s most-dreaded terrorists.
Even the 26/11 attacks, one of the most audacious that the country has ever seen, is not without its share of goof-ups.

“We had a lot of information about 26/11 and that too well in advance,” says SD Pradhan, former chairman, Joint Intelligence Committee and former deputy National Security Adviser (NSA). “In 2006, RAW knew that 150 LeT men were undergoing training in water tactics. In June 2008, we got inputs that the Taj Mahal hotel and Leopold Café were going to be attacked. But the biggest problem was that these inputs were with different agencies — RAW or IB or DIA. In mid-November, another input was given to the Coast Guard, Indian Navy and the Mumbai Police that 10-12 people were coming towards Mumbai from Karachi. They scanned the coast but didn’t find anything. Another alert was sounded on 19 November, but they thought they had already checked. There was plenty of intelligence to be acted upon. If only somebody had connected the dots.” Even these inputs were not shared with the NSA.

Incredibly, highly-placed sources have told INN that the cell phone numbers used by the 10 LeT terrorists were available with the IB at least five days before the attacks. The sources shared the contents of a ‘secret’ note that mentioned 35 cell phone numbers. Of the 35 SIM cards, 32 had been bought from Kolkata and three from New Delhi by LeT’s “overground workers”, and sent to POK by mid-November. The precise contents of the ‘secret’ note could not have been more direct. “The numbers given below have been acquired from Kolkata by overground workers and have been sent through Pakistan-trained militants based in Kashmir to POK,” the note said. “These numbers are likely to emerge in other parts of the country… and need to be monitored and the information taken from these numbers regarding the contents of the conversation and call detail records are required for further developing the information. The monitoring is possible at Kolkata.”

Sources reveal that this crucial piece of information was received by the IB on 21 November, at least five days before Ajmal Kasab and his nine accomplices got off the inflatable dinghies on the evening of 26/11. Both the prime minister and the home minister were aware that the numbers were available, but they were not being monitored. The lapse is all the more critical because at least three of the 32 numbers contained in the secret note were the exact same cell numbers that the terrorists used to keep in touch with their handlers in Pakistan. It is possible that the terrorists only activated their cell phone numbers after reaching Mumbai but why were the numbers not put under surveillance despite the knowledge that they had been sent to terrorists in POK?

Former Uttar Pradesh DGP Prakash Singh agrees that had a national commission like the one formed by the US after 9/11 been appointed by India after 26/11, several heads would have rolled.

After 26/11, the then home minister Shivraj Patil resigned and Chidambaram took charge and advocated the NCTC’s formation. However, the plan ran into rough weather. It was scuttled by at least seven non-Congress CMs. The biggest stumbling block proved to be the NCTC’s power structure. That it would be reporting to the IB director and have the power to arrest people without informing the local police made non-Congress CMs see red. After stiff objection, the Centre decided to place the NCTC under the home ministry and clarified that whenever any arrest is made, it will inform the local police. Besides, the DGPs of respective states will be on the NCTC board, so that any action will have their consent or be in their knowledge.

When Sushil Kumar Shinde took over, he sounded out a conciliatory message that until all the CMs’ concerns are addressed, the NCTC won’t become a reality.

Experts like Pradhan feel that since the Indian model of NCTC has been borrowed lock, stock and barrel from the US, there was no need for Chidambaram to change it. The US NCTC makes it abundantly clear that the agency will have no power to arrest or assume operational responsibilities. “The NCTC is a very powerful body. The states are legitimately worried. Only the KGB had the power to arrest and needless to add, it was grossly misused,” he says.

VK Singh, former Joint Secretary (technical wing), RAW, narrates how multiple agencies work at cross-purposes. “After I took over, I had a chat with the army. We knew what equipment the Pakistan and Chinese forces were using and I offered to exchange information. When I told my superiors, they didn’t buy the idea.

“The aim of the NTRO (National Technical Research Organisation) was to bring all technical resources under one umbrella. Everyone is doing the same job, monitoring radio or microwave link. Besides duplication, it’s resulting in a wastage of effort. The aim almost became a reality during APJ Abdul Kalam’s time but RAW refused to play ball. The IB and army also did the same and we were back to square one.”

But former RAW chief Vikram Sood questions the very need for NCTC. “Whenever we are in a crisis, we create a new agency,” he says. “After 1962, we had the ARC and SSF. After the Mizo mess in 1965- 66, we created RAW. In 1971, we won the Bangladesh war, so nothing was created.

In 1999, after Kargil, we created the NTRO. After 26/11, the NCTC proposal came up, which has still not taken shape. Have you thought through the concept? It has to be a bottoms-up, not a top-down system.”

A serving senior IB officer agrees with the potential of misuse. “Even in the IB, there are various stories of misuse,” he says. “After 1977, the Shah Commission had documented the IB’s misuse during Emergency, and this is when the agency didn’t have any power to arrest. So you can understand the fear of these states when the powers of arrest and independent investigation are given to the IB.”

Security experts are also of the opinion that instead of creating more bureaucratic hurdles and agencies, the government should concentrate on beefing up the existing system. “How will the NCTC be helpful in preventing attacks?” asks noted security expert Ajai Sahni. “Show me anything the NCTC brings to the table that does not already exist in the IB or the Multi- Agency Centre (MAC). All they are doing is cannibalising existing institutions to create a new and weak institution. In a country with 1.2 billion people, how can you be successful when you have barely 300-400 people committed to anti-terror intelligence gathering in the IB?”

The crippling shortage of manpower in the IB is also manifest in the response of Minister of State, Home, RPN Singh in the Rajya Sabha on 12 February. Reflecting the apparent state of disarray, he said, “Despite a sanctioned strength of 26,867, the IB has only 18,795 personnel. Nearly 1,500 slots in the deputation quota could not be filled due to non-availability of suitable officers.”

The figures mean the IB is functioning with only 70 percent of the required manpower and the gap is increasing every year. The minister added that the “actual induction figures are much less because many selected candidates don’t turn up”.

But experts like Prakash Singh are in favour of setting up the NCTC as they feel that without it the individual agencies will keep indulging in turf wars. “If the states feel that the NCTC is encroaching on their territory, then why do they ask for Central forces after terror attacks?”

Intelligence experts also question the need for vesting investigative powers with the NCTC when the NIA already exists. The NIA was created in 2008 to ensure that all terror-related investigations are streamlined. Four years later, the NIA is still grappling with internal issues. The government’s seriousness about its creation can be gauged from the fact that the agency was initially operating out of a shopping mall in south Delhi. The agency also got a taste of the turf war during the probe into the 2011 Delhi High Court blast when the police was left fuming after the home ministry transferred the case to the NIA.

“A major flaw in the current proposal is that the sub-structures needed for the NCTC’s functioning have not been included,” says Pradhan. “It must be understood that the mere creation of the NCTC won’t suffice. Unless the sub-structures are created at the state and district levels, it won’t be able to function efficiently.

“There is a need to create district-level collation centres (under district police chiefs) for examining the collected inputs from thanas, which are needed for counter- terrorism. Such inputs should be sent to the subsidiary MACs for examination and integrating related information. These centres should be chaired by the state DGs to ensure that they are fully aware of the developments and place their resources for further action or developments of leads.”

Following the outrage over Liaquat’s arrest, the Centre has announced a new policy framework for the rehabilitation of surrendered militants, as the arrest is seen as a symbol of the lack of coordination among security agencies. In the coming months, the Centre is expected to consult with the states to firm up the policy.

Delhi CM's Trump Card: 'The Unauthorized Voting Power'

By Pallavi Polanki / New Delhi

Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma has an enviable record as a politician. At his office in Uttam Nagar, a constituency in West Delhi he has represented since 1993 – winning four elections in a row, a mass of people are waiting their turn to meet him. If anyone is in danger of being unseated because of an anti-incumbency wave, it should be Sharma.

It is a predicament he shares with his government led by Sheila Dikshit which won its third consecutive victory in the 2008 election and is bracing itself for the next round of assembly elections scheduled in November.

Sitting behind a large desk in his office with people milling around him, signing their documents with a speed and abandon that has endeared him to members of his constituency, Sharma says Congress will win Assembly 2013 by ‘comfortable majority’.

The Clear, Visible Cracks Are Showing In Aam Aadmi Party

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

EXCLUSIVE In its rush to conquer the Lok Sabha, has the Aam Aadmi Party bitten off more than it could chew? Growing voices of dissent show that all is not well with the party. It is past midnight and a lone autorickshaw speeds along Lutyens’ Delhi. The chatty driver says that he is a Muslim from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. His vote was one of those that brought AAP to power in Delhi. “But, we have seen the way they left us stranded after making so many promises,” he says. “Why should we vote for AAP now? No charges were proved against Modi… he deserves a chance to run the country.”

Property Dealer Hounds Nizamuddin Dargah’s Caretakers

By Kajol Singh / INN Live

The guardians of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s dargah in south Delhi have become the target of a vicious conspiracy by a property dealer. A member of the Nizami family (the dargah’s caretakers) has been framed in false cases for refusing to part with an ancestral property.

There is a tradition that every visitor to the tomb of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer must first visit the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Nizamuddin Basti of south Delhi.

'TALE OF DUAL SHAKSHI', SREE AND JAIPUR CONNECTION

By Rajini Mohey / Jaipur

After Sakshi Dhoni, wife of Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hit headlines for her photos with Vindoo Dara Singh, one more Sakshi is in the limelight for all wrong reasons.

Jaipur girl Sakshi Jhala, a lady friend of Sreesanth, has figured in the IPL spot fixing probe for the simple reason that she is close to tainted cricketer and was gifted a latest model of Blackberry mobile phone by him. The Delhi police, probing the spot fixing case, have seized the mobile phone which the cops feel Sreesanth bought with money earned from bookies.

Now, It's Time For Interospection, Political Calculations And Strategical Moves For All Political Parties In India

By Sonia Rathod | INN Live

INDEPTH ANALYSIS  The results, while anticipated, have clearly shaken up the Congress. But the history of elections in the four States shows no direct correlation can be drawn between victory in the latest round and a general election.

In the end, one result eclipsed all others as the curtain came down on what can easily be called the most watched set of Assembly elections in recent years. The verdict was out on Sunday for the first four of the five States that went to the polls through November-December — Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.