Shutdown, restrictions paralyze life in India-controlled Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India-controlled Kashmir, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Life across Muslim majority areas of India-controlled Kashmir including Srinagar city Monday came to a complete halt in response to a shutdown call and severe restrictions imposed by authorities, officials and locals said.
The shutdown call was given by Kashmir Bar Association, a fraternity of lawyers to protest what they call "the collapse of judiciary, maltreatment meted out to political prisoners in and outside jails and veiled attempts by New Delhi to change the demographic position and identity of India-controlled Kashmir."
However, authorities fearing clashes in the Srinagar city, the summer capital of India-controlled Kashmir deployed hundreds of paramilitary troopers and policemen to impose restrictions. These men have blocked roads by placing barricades and coils of concertina.
"The restrictions have been enforced to prevent clashes in the city and maintain law and order," said a police officer posted in the city.
Business, shops and government offices remained closed in Srinagar and traffic was off the roads. Similar reports were received from other districts of the region.
"There is heavy deployment outside on roads. The police and paramilitary troopers are checking the identity of the pedestrians since early morning," said Dilshad Ahmad, a downtown resident in a telephonic interview.
The shutdown call by Kashmir Bar Association was supported by both factions of Hurriyat Conference, a separatist alliance.
New Delhi is preparing for the biggest ever headcount or census 2010 across India including insurgency affected India-controlled Kashmir.
Last time, in 2001, separatists had asked people to stay away from the census or a decennial exercise, and militants had threatened officials too.
In 1991 census did not take place in Kashmir because of disturbed situation, and officials projected figures on the basis of 1981 census, which itself has been controversial and criticized by many Kashmir politicians. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/10/c_13286192.htm

India: Last Week

National Summary:
Politics:
UPA government wants to restore caste-based census but in the criticism from opposition force it to wait for consensus of all parties in parliament. Opposition does not want to change the decision of the framers of the Constitution and the first Cabinet after Independence which had leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, B R Ambedkar and Maulana Azad. They decided to do away with caste-based census which was seen as divisive. Caste-based census is considered logical as it would be helpful to implement Mandal commission recommendations for OBCs and minorities.
Insurgency Movements:
Maoists trigger at least three blasts at a government-run residential school for tribal girls at Dhepaguda in the district on Saturday while damaged rail track and set ablaze two buses to enforce their 48-hour north Bihar Bandh, which began on Thursday.
Economy:
The CII Business Outlook Survey based on response from 458 companies said that India Inc expects the economy to grow by 7.5 to 8.5 per cent during the current fiscal fuelled mainly by rising capital investment and expanding exports. The industry optimism was also expressed in the Business Confidence Index that rose to 67.6 points for April-September 2010-11, compared to 66.1 points during the second half of 2009-10, according to the survey.
The government said that the value of India's exports for 2009-10 may fall short of the previous year's figures on account of the global economic downturn, but will cross the USD 170 billion mark. The country's exports in 2008-09 had amounted to USD 185 billion.
India and EU are expected to sign FTA this October. Both are working to eliminate differences through negotiations. EU has concerns on Indian policy of market access liberalisation and environment.
Geostrategic/Foreign Relations:
India is most likely to get access to American Lashkar terrorist David Coleman Headley this month with the United States indicating that it will communicate the exact date latest by next week. But officials keeping a track on the probe do not seem to be optimistic about any favourable outcome of his questioning.
The number of Pakistanis coming to India in 2009 decreased by almost 50%. The total number of visas issued to Pakistanis by India in 2009 was 51,946, a sudden and sharp fall from the 95,112 issued in 2008. Sources attribute the decline to more stringent norms for issuance of visas to Pakistanis in the aftermath of 26/11.
Indian Ocuupied Kashmir:
Hurriyat leader, Syed Ali Gilani was not allowed to lead a march to the United Nations office and authorities kept him under house arrest. However, the day saw youth taking to the streets and clashing with the police, closure of shops and disruption of traffic. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat faction, and senior leaders of the conglomerate were also placed under house arrest to prevent them from going to Anantnag district for a rally. Mr. Gilani had called a march to the office of the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan to submit a memorandum, seeking U.N. intervention to grant the people of Kashmir the right to self-determination.
Dr. Shah Faisal becomes the first from Kashmir to top the Union Public Service Commission 2009 examinations. Dr. Faisal chose Public Administration.
Social Issues:
The radiation-related death of a scrap metal worker has raised concerns over nuclear safety in India, at a time when the Asian power is wooing foreign players to its $150 billion civilian nuclear market. Authorities have launched a probe into the unauthorised disposal of a disused machine from the chemistry department of Delhi University, which contained the radioactive material cobalt-60 and ended up in a scrap metal hub in the capital. A man died in hospital from exposure last week, in a case a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was quoted as saying was the most serious worldwide since 2006. Safety standards are a sensitive issue in India, where a gas leak in a Union Carbide factory killed thousands a quarter of a century ago in one of the world's worst industrial accidents.
According to noted economist Nancy Birdsall’s (president of the Center for Global Development) new definition of the middle class for developing countries, the middle class in the developing world to include people with an income above $10 day. By this definition, India even urban India alone has no middle class; everyone at over $10 a day is in the top 5% of the country. This is a combination both of the depth of India's poverty and its inequality. Birdsall defines middle class in monetary terms, the broader concept of what a middle class really is, as opposed to merely counting the middle third of a country.
The Special Sessions Court on Thursday sentenced to death Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Kasab was given the death penalty on five counts: murder, abetment to murder, waging war, criminal conspiracy and committing terrorist acts. He was also awarded life imprisonment on five counts: attempt to murder in furtherance of a common intention, kidnapping and abducting in order to murder, conspiracy to wage war, collecting arms with the intention of waging war and causing explosion thus endangering life and property.
Regional Summary:
Central India/Hindi Heartland:
The BJP on Saturday agreed to pleas made by JMM leaders and let Shibu Soren continue as Chief Minister of Jharkhand for some more time, putting on hold a decision on the transfer of power for now. After a marathon meeting of BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari, former president Rajnath Singh and party general secretary Ananth Kumar, with Soren’s son Hemant and other JMM leaders as well as allies like JD(U) and AJSU, it was decided that the “consultation process, amongst the allies, would continue”.
Eastern States:
Alleging that the Congress is “providing oxygen to a dying Communist Party of India (Marxist)” by breaking the electoral alliance for the coming civic polls in the State, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday that “there is no alliance in West Bengal.” “We were in favour of an alliance…but they [the Congress] did not want it,” She also ruled out the possibility of “friendly contests” with the Congress, as there was no such thing in politics. She determines to contest election with full force against CPM.
Holding the Congress responsible for the break-up of its alliance with the Trinamool Congress for the upcoming polls to civic bodies across the State including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Subrata Mukherjee, one of the working presidents of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC), is all set to re-join the Trinamool Congress.
Western States:
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, on Monday signed an MoU to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for two river interlinking projects to facilitate inter-basin transfer of water to benefit both the states. Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Bansal on Monday signed the tripartite MoU between the Government of India, Maharashtra and Gujarat in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the preparation of DPRs of Damanganga-Pinjal and Par-Tapi-Narmada link projects.
A new census in Gir forests has revealed that the population of the Asiatic lion has risen by 52 to reach the figure of 411.

India Last Week

National Summary:

Politics:
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor resigned after meeting PM Manmohan Singh. He was under severe criticism for his alleged involvement in the Kochi IPL cricket franchise bid. He said his decision to quit the Cabinet was “in the high moral traditions of our democratic system and in keeping with the standards”. Opposition parties criticise the IPL for misusing Indian cricket passion. Opposition demands a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe covering the full range of irregularities in the control and management of the money-spinning T-20 cricket tournament.
The BJP is criticizing the UPA for rising prices, attributing it to the “wrong economic policies” of the government and “bad management and corruption”. Charging the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government with failure to check the unprecedented price rise and protect the interests of the common man and the poor, the BJP came down with massive show of power on Wednesday, 21 April.
Despite their cut motions being defeated in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition parties on Tuesday claimed moral victory, saying that they were successful in pressuring the UPA over price rise. The SP and the RJD did not support the cut motion.
Government is under criticism for phone tapping issue. Opposition parties declare it intolerable and against the spirit of democratic norms.

Minorities' Issues:
The Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, has sought an independent, high-level inquiry into bomb blasts of all kinds, fake encounters and confinement of Muslim youth, to nail the lie that Muslims are involved in acts of terrorism. He asserted that “99 per cent of Muslims arrested on accusations of terrorism are innocent.”

Hindu Fundamentalism:
BJP President Nitin Gadkari said his party is not against the Muslim community but was unfortunately caught in an image warp. At the same time, he said there was nothing to be apologetic about Hindutva or the core issues of the BJP, including uniform civil code and Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Insurgency Movements:
The West Bengal government said it may introduce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for reconnaissance in Maoist strongholds, if the experience elsewhere proves successful.
There will be no census exercise in several hundred villages in Chhattisgarh which have been rendered out of bounds for government officials by Naxalite groups. District administrations of Jagdalpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur and Kanker, all part of undivided Bastar which was once one of the largest districts in the country, have informed senior officials in Raipur that it will be difficult for them to carry out the census exercise; counting of people, collection of biometric data for preparation of the National Population Register in many areas in view of the Naxal threat.

Economy:
Analysts expect food inflation to soften on arrival of the Rabi crop harvest in markets by the middle of next month and in case the Meteorological Department happens to forecast a normal monsoon in its initial projections to be unveiled. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the tightening of monetary policy by India is an 'appropriate' step, as the country is faced with high inflation and needs to consolidate the fiscal measures initiated during the slowdown. With the prices of certain essential items such as rice, milk, fruits and vegetables continuing to rule high, food inflation crept up further to 17.65 per cent for the week ended April 10 from 17.22 per cent in the previous week.
The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China on Thursday demanded the commitment to reform the Bretton Woods financial institutions that the advanced economies made at Pittsburgh during the G-20 summit be completed by this year itself. The BRIC document calls for an open and merit-based selection method, irrespective of nationality, for the heading positions of the IMF and the World Bank.

Geostrategic:
China has said the dam being built by it on river Brahmaputra will have no impact on the downstream flow of the river into India, Chinese foreign minister assured that it is a small project which will not have any impact on the river's downstream flow into North-east India.
A junior diplomat (Madhuri Gupta) in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad has been arrested by the special cell of the Delhi police on the charge of leaking sensitive national secrets to Pakistani intelligence agencies.
India and Pakistan ended a diplomatic stalemate on Thursday by resuming dialogue at the foreign-minister level, as part of an agreement worked out by PM Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Thimphu.

Social Issues:
For purposes of food security, the Planning Commission finally accepted that the number of people living below the poverty line in India is 37.2 per cent of the total population. The 37.2 per cent poverty line (that works out to 40.71 crore for 2004-05) is based on the methodology recommended by the Suresh Tendulkar committee that submitted its report to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in December 2009. The number of poor in 2004-05, as per the Plan panel’s own estimate released in March 2007, was estimated at 30.17 crore or 27.5 per cent of the total population. Were this number to be accepted as the BPL population, only 6.5 crore families would have got access to food security. But with the Plan panel accepting the Tendulkar report, about 10 crore families will benefit.
The government stepped up efforts to get to the bottom of alleged financial irregularities in the Indian Premier League (IPL), with officials from the income tax department visiting the Mumbai offices of World Sports Group (WSG) and Multi Screen Media (MSM) in Mumbai. WSG holds all audio and video rights for IPL, while MSM is the broadcast-rights holder. Media reports had said that MSM had paid a ‘facilitation fee’ of $80 million to WSG to secure the rights. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is also under pressure for alleged corruption.
The India Meteorological Department on Friday issued its first-stage, long-range forecast for the Southwest Monsoon. It is likely to be “normal,” with a precipitation of 98 per cent of the long-period average (LPA), with a model error of plus or minus five per cent. In other words, the rainfall during the four-month season, from June to September, is likely to be between 93 per cent and 103 per cent of the LPA. (The LPA is the average of the rainfall over 50 years from 1941 to 1990 and it comes to 89 cm).
The Supreme Court has held that pre-marital sex is not a statutory offence and criminal law cannot punish individuals merely for expressing "unpopular views" justifying such acts as it would violate freedom of speech and expression. A three judge bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishna and justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan passed the judgment while quashing the criminal cases filed against popular south Indian actress Khushboo for her views on "pre-maritial sex".
Regional Summary:

Central India/Hindiheartland:
Congress wants Shibu Soren to resign as chief minister first before making a move in Jharkhand where BJP-JMM partnership collapsed under the weight of the voting on cut motion on Tuesday, while ruling out any support to the veteran tribal leader. Congress is categorical that it will not back a CM from outside, ruling out support to Soren a la BJP.
In the backdrop of concerns regarding the dwindling number of tigers in the country, the ongoing tiger census has brought some more alarming news from Bihar. At the Valmiki Tiger Reserve Bihar’s only national park — only three adult tigers have been caught by the trap cameras so far. The census is set to wrap up in June. While the reserve, spread over 880 sq km, including 340 sq km core area in West Champaran along the Nepal border, boasted of 63 tigers in 1990, the number had fallen to 13 in the last tiger census in 2006

Eastrn States:
To seek the rural votes, the Left Front government has decided to amend the existing Land Reforms Act. Earlier, the Act enabled an encroacher to have the ownership of the land provided one had the possession from 1974 or before. Now, the government has decided to bring down the cut-off year to 2009. In other words, any squatter on a piece of land not more than five cottahs in a rural area, who has been there since last year will now be given the right over the land.
The 12-hour Bharat Bandh called by the ruling Left Front in West Bengal will cost the state close to Rs 500 crore what with an estimated production loss of 61-62 per cent.

Southern India:
Nearly 65% of class V students in rural areas of Tamil Nadu can’t read even a class II textbook in their mother tongue, 45% don’t know subtraction and nearly 81% can’t read simple English sentences, the Annual Status of Education Report for 2009, compiled by Delhi-based NGO Pratham Foundation, has revealed. The findings of the survey, which had a sample size of 33,000 students in both private and government schools, showed that while 19.4% of class V students could read words and 7.2% could only identify letters, 3.7% could read nothing