Congress demands statement from PM Modi on Chinese incursions

The party also demanded an ‘apology’ from the Prime Minister alleging that an official of the Gujarat government, while signing three MoUs with a province of China in the national capital in the presence of Modi a few days back, had distributed a handout showing Arunachal Pradesh as a disputed territory.
  
"Now the question arises whether in the MoU too, has this particular map (showing Arunachal Pradesh as disputed territory) been shown. Modi during his election campaign in Arunachal Pradesh made rhetorical speech and promised that he will not allow the country to bow down and and will not allow even an inch of the country's land to go away.
  
"In this MoU, Arunachal Pradesh has been shown as a disputed territory. The Prime Minister should apologise for this major lapse and blunder," party general secretary Ajay Maken said on his blog.
  
He was referring to a meeting on September 17 in New Delhi in which three MoUs were signed between the government of Gujarat and Gaundang province of China in presence of Modi during which the Additional Chief Secretary of the state D Pandian had distributed a handout showing map of Gaundong province.
  
Dubbing the "incursions, intrusions and infiltration" by China in the Indian territory as "brazen and blatant", party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said that such a scenario is "absolutely unacceptable" for the sovereignty, ethos and foreign policy of the country.
  
Accusing the government of "treating a very serious issue lightly", Singhvi rued that there is "no statement either from the Prime Minister or anybody else sufficiently senior and high in government hierarchy".
  
"We demand that the Prime Minister must make a proper statement on the issue and unequivocally and firmly write to the Chinese President a strongly worded letter, which should be made public," Singhvi said, asking Modi to "walk the talk".

Source:Latest News from India News

Russia intensifies efforts inside Ukraine: Pentagon

Russian forces are ‘facilitating the movement and then helping the separatists to use the weapons, if not using it themselves in support of separatists’ John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary said.

Kirby called Russian actions an ‘intensification’ of the behaviours the Kremlin has exhibited for months.

“We continue to look for ways to reassure our NATO allies and partners, and we continue to call for Russia to pull its forces back and to stop escalating the tension there,” the spokesman added.

The accusation came a day after the UN Security Council warned of a dangerous escalation of the Ukraine crisis as illegal armed groups in Ukraine "reportedly intensified their activities over the last two days."

Russia, however, rejected those reports and accused Kiev of torpedoing all political agreements on resolving the crisis in Ukraine.

“The current escalation of crisis in the southeast of Ukraine is a direct consequence of the reckless policy of Kiev, which is conducting war against its own people,” said Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN.

The five-month-old conflict between government troops and pro-independence militias has killed more than 2,000 people in eastern and southeastern Ukraine.

Source:Latest News from World News

Experimental US hypersonic weapon destroyed seconds after launch

The weapon is part of a program to create a missile that will destroy targets anywhere on Earth within an hour of getting data and permission to launch.

The mission was aborted to ensure public safety, and no one was injured in the incident, which occurred shortly after 4 am EDT (0800 GMT) at the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska, said Maureen Schumann, a spokeswoman for the US defense department.

"We had to terminate," Schumann said. "The weapon exploded during takeoff and fell back down in the range complex," she added.

The incident caused an undetermined amount of damage to the launch facility, Schumann said.

It was a setback for the US program, which some analysts see as countering the growing development of ballistic missiles by Iran and North Korea but others say is part of an arms race with China, which tested a hypersonic system in January.

Riki Ellison, founder of the nonprofit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said he did not think Monday's failure would lead to the program's termination. "This is such an important mission and there is promise in this technology," he said.

He said officials aborted the mission after detecting a fault in the computers.

Anthony Cordesman, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the technology was best suited for use against smaller, less-developed countries with missiles.

"The United States has never assumed that these ... are going to be systems that you can use against a power like China by themselves," he said. "For a country like Iran or North Korea, they could be a very significant deterrent."

James Acton, a defense analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the Pentagon had never been clear about the mission for the weapon, with some viewing it as an effective tool against terrorists and others seeing it as a counter to China or Iran and North Korea.

While hypersonic weapons are unlikely to be fielded for a decade, Acton said the fact that Washington and Beijing were both testing the weapons indicated there was a real potential for an arms race.

"I believe the US program is significantly more sophisticated than the Chinese program," he said.

The weapon, known as the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, was developed by Sandia National Laboratory and the US Army. Mr Schumann said it included a glide body mounted on a three-stage, solid-propellant booster system known as STARS, for Strategic Target System.

In a previous test in November 2011, the craft had successfully flown from Hawaii to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, she said. On Monday, it was supposed to fly from Alaska to the Kwajalein Atoll.

Acton said no conclusions could be drawn about the weapon based on Monday's accident because the launcher detonated before the glide vehicle could be deployed.

Source:Latest News from World News

US, partner nations launch first strike in Syria: Pentagon

"I can confirm that US military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against (Islamic State) terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles," Rear Admiral John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.
             
"Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time," Kirby said.
             
Kirby did not disclose which nations joined the United States, which has been building a coalition to combat an extremist Sunni Muslim force that has seized large expanses of territory in Iraq and Syria and proclaimed a caliphate erasing borders in the heart of the Middle East.
             
But a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity said that there were Arab partners helping to carry out the strikes. Still, the official declined to specify their roles or name the countries.

            
 The strikes took place hours before Obama goes to New York for the UN General Assembly where he will try to rally more nations behind his drive to aggressively take on Islamic State.
             
"We will provide Obama had shied away from getting involved in Syria's civil war a year ago, seeing no positive outcome for United States, but the rise of Islamic State and the beheading of two American captives forced him to change course.
            
General Lloyd Austin, commander of US military's Central Command, made the decision to conduct the strikes under authorization granted to him by Obama, Kirby said.
             
"We will provide more details later as operationally appropriate," Kirby said.

Source: Latest News from World News

PLA should be ready to win a regional war: Xi

"Headquarters of PLA forces must have absolute loyalty and firm faith in the Communist Party of China, guarantee a smooth chain of command and make sure all decisions from the central leadership are fully implemented," said Xi, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"Headquarters of all PLA forces should improve their combat readiness and sharpen their ability to win a regional war in the age of information technology," Xi, who returned from India last week after a three-day visit, was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency.

Though this is not the first time that Xi has asked the PLA to be ready for a "regional war", his statement assumes significance in the context of repeated incursions into Indian territory along the Line of Actual Control which cast a shadow during his visit.

All PLA forces should follow the instructions of President Xi and update their operations to meet new goals and missions set by the CMC, an official statement said.

It is not yet clear why the emphasis was made on absolute loyalty and to follow the orders to ensure smooth chain of command.

Xi's directives come in the midst of a standoff between the PLA and Indian troops in Chumar area in Ladakh region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The standoff took a new turn yesterday with the PLA pitching seven tents well within the Indian territory and showing no signs of withdrawing from the territory.

Xi, 61, acquired the image of China's most powerful leader after Deng Xiaoping, who succeeded Mao, as he headed the Presidency, the CPC and the military from day one of coming to power unlike his predecessor Hu Jintao.

Since then, Xi has reshuffled the military postings of the generals loyal to him at the top and removed and prosecuted some top PLA generals for corruption.

General Fang Fenghui, PLA chief, said in a statement that all PLA forces follow the instructions of President Xi who is also the chairman of the CMC, which is the overall high command of the Chinese military.

Fang said the forces should update their operations to meet new goals and missions set by the CMC.

Meanwhile, the PLA chiefs of staff met in Beijing to discuss how to improve the efficiency of military command under new circumstances. Fang attended the meeting.

Source: Latest News from World News

Phoolan Devi murder: Court convicts main accused Sher Singh Rana, acquits 10 others

Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar, however, acquitted 10 other accused in the case due to lack of evidence against them.
   
"Except Sher Singh Rana, I am acquitting all the accused. Sher Singh Rana is convicted for the offences under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) under the IPC," the judge said and fixed the matter for August 12 for arguments and pronouncement of quantum of sentence.
   
As soon as the judge pronounced the judgement, 38-year-old Rana said, "Why have you convicted only me. Others were also there."
   
The judge, however, said that he can file an appeal before the High Court challenging the order.
   
"I have passed the judgement, you can file an appeal in the high court," the judge said.
   
The court acquitted Dhan Prakash, Shekhar Singh, Rajbir Singh, Vijay Singh alias Raju (Rana's brother), Rajender Singh alias Ravinder Singh, Keshav Chauhan, Praveen Mittal, Amit Rathi, Surender Singh Negi alias Suri and Sharavan Kumar.
   
The proceedings against accused Pradeep Singh were abated after he died in Tihar Jail in November 2013.
   
Rana, Shekhar Singh, Rajbir Singh and Sharavan Kumar were produced in the court from judicial custody while other accused were on bail.
   
37-year-old Phoolan was shot dead from close range by three masked gunmen in the heart of the capital's VIP area as she returned home for lunch after attending Lok Sabha on July 25, 2001.
   
Delhi Police had chargesheeted 11 men accusing them of eliminating Phoolan to avenge the 1981 Behmai massacre in which she had allegedly killed a number of Thakurs.
   
The chargesheet had named Rana, Dhan Prakash, Shekhar Singh, Rajbir Singh, Vijay Singh, Rajender Singh, Keshav Chauhan, Praveen Mittal, Amit Rathi, Surender Singh Negi and Pradeep Singh as accused.

Source: Latest News

Unique way of identifying girls

 एक साल की तीन छोटी जुड़वां बच्चियों की परवरिश उनके माता-पिता के लिए सिरदर्द बन गई। दरअसल उन तीनों की शक्लें आपस में अभी इतनी मिलती-जुलती है कि वह भी धोखा खा जाते हैं। 

इस चक्कर में गलत पहचान के चलते एक बच्ची दिन में चार बार दूध पाती और दूसरी भूखी रह जाती। रोज इस तरह की परेशानियों से तंग आने के बाद समस्या से निपटने के लिए उन्होंने एक नायाब तरीका खोज निकाला है।

 अब उन्होंने उन तीनों के पैरों के अंगूठे के नाखूनों पर अलग-अलग रंगों की नेलपॉलिश लगानी शुरू कर दी है। ऐसा करने से पहचानने के संकट से काफी हद तक उनको निजात मिल गई है।

Source: Hindi News