With Beijing flexing its muscles by strengthening its military capacity in Tibet, New Delhi has given an in-principle nod to beef up defences along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control. The Indian counter-move includes raising a new army corps at Pannagarh in West Bengal, an armoured
brigade each in eastern Sikkim and eastern Ladakh and an independent infantry brigade in the Barahoti plains in Uttarakhand.While the proposed upgradation of Indian military defences is being processed for final approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), it was given an in-principle green signal from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and defence minister AK Antony during an army presentation last month.
The strategic step was taken in the light of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) capability to deploy no less than 34 divisions (nearly half-a-million troops) within a month on the LAC due to a huge infrastructure build-up (see graphic) in Tibet. To add to India's discomfort, the PLA has been conducting airborne, para-dropping and artillery firing exercises in Tibet for the past two years.Government sources said the Pannagarh-based corps (around 15,000 combat troops) will include a Ranchi-based formation, which is currently part of the Mathura-based 1 Corps. This means that the army will raise two more divisions in the coming years to replenish the Mathura Corps and another to add to the Pannagarh formation. For this purpose, the army has earmarked 6,000 acres of land in Pannagarh, which has a functioning air force strip and is located 150 km from Kolkata.
Already a battalion and a tank regiment, which will be part of the armoured brigade, have been moved to Sikkim.
At the heart of the proposed Indian defence build-up is the threat assessment that the PLA may become assertive across the Arunachal Pradesh border in the coming years as Beijing still calls its South Tibet and has not given up its stapled visa strategy for residents of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir.
source : htt p://www.hindustantimes. com/Delhi-ready-to-counter-Beijing-s-border-might/Article1-735945.aspx
Showing posts with label International Space Station. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Space Station. Show all posts
Lieutenant, did you die in vain?
You will not get the adulation from the government that a martyred soldier gets in the US.
Your name will not be read out in any obituary reference in Parliament, as is done in the UK for all soldiers who fall in combat in the line of duty.
Your name will not be etched on any national memorial because we do not have one.
Sarvar Bali salutes Lieutenant Navdeep Singh, 26, who died fighting terrorists in the Kashmir [ Images ] valley last week.
I learnt about your demise from the ticker tape on one of the news channels. It was a big encounter and a very fierce one at that. A feeling of deep sadness enveloped me as I reflected on your youth which had been sacrificed in the Gurez sector in the line of duty.
What does your death mean?
You were too young to die, far too young! For whom and for what did you die then? This question haunted me last night and I will attempt to answer you.
You were probably from a village or a small town of India. You were perhaps the son of an army officer or JCO, or from an urban or rural civilian background. You could not be from one of the big cities where iron has entered the soul of our youth and where the only driving motivator is quest for money in the surreal environment of the corporate world.
Why did you join the army? Of course to get a job. But then that is over simplifying the question. You were possibly motivated by the traditions in your family and clan, you were probably enthused by the sight of your elder brothers, uncles or other men from your community in uniform, you were perhaps enchanted by the cantonment life where you may have spent your growing years.
On your last journey, you would not have got the adulation from the government that a martyred soldier gets in the US. Your name will not be read out in any obituary reference in Parliament, as is done in the UK for all soldiers who fall in combat in the line of duty. Your name will not be etched on any national memorial because we do not have one!
Symbolically you will become the Unknown Soldier for the nation, for whom the flame burns at India Gate, but your name will not be etched there. The names engraved on that monument are of the soldiers who died fighting for the British Indian Army [ Images ] and not those who have made the supreme sacrifice for Independent India! Can it get more ironic?
But do not despair, Lieutenant. Your comrades will do you proud! The senior-most officer would have led the homage that your brother officers will pay you before you left the Valley of Kashmir one last time. Your unit representatives must have escorted your body home. You would have been carried to the funeral pyre draped in the flag for which you died fighting.
The darkened and tearful eyes of your grief-stricken mother and the stoic figure of your father, benumbed by the enormity of this tragedy, will move even the most cynical.
I do not know Lieutenant at what stage of the encounter you fell, mortally wounded. But the fact that you were there on the lonely vigil across the Line of Control [ Images ] in Gurez, is enough to vouch for your valour. Your unit and formation commanders will see to it that you get the gallantry award which you so richly deserve. In due time your father or your mother will be presented the medal and parchment of your gallantry, which will be framed and find pride of place in your home.
Time will dull the bitterness of this tragic parting, which right now is the only feeling that engulfs your parents and siblings in its enormity.
Lieutenant you were lucky. You did not live long enough to get married and leave behind a grieving widow. You did not live long enough to have children. For when they would have come of age you would have seen in them a cynicism towards the army for which you died.
You will not see a young son who thinks his father is a hero and wants to follow his footsteps in joining the army only to be harshly dissuaded by his mother (or father) from following a profession which ranks so low for the youth of our country.
You were lucky not to serve long enough to see the army getting belittled. You did not live long enough to see the utter indifference and disdain for the army. Like you, a large number of valiant soldiers laid down their lives on the rocky heights of Kargil [ Images ], fighting against self-imposed odds. Today it is not even felt fit to publicly commemorate the anniversary of that stupendous military victory in a befitting manner, a war won by the blood of young men.
But do not despair Lieutenant. Your name will be etched for posterity in the annals of your Unit and your Regiment. A silver trophy with your name inscribed on it, will grace the centre table of the Unit mess. You will also find your name in the unit Quarter Guard, where annual homage will also be paid to you. The war memorials at the Formation HQ where you served and your Regimental Centre will proudly display your name for eternity.
If you joined the Army through the NDA, your name will be written in the Hut of Remembrance through which each cadet will pass, paying homage before his Passing Out Parade.
There will be an obituary reference to you from your comrades in the papers, which will be flipped over by most but which will be read in detail by people who have a connect with those who wear or wore the uniform.
As your parents head into the evening of their life, memories of your valour will be their most precious possession. When ever your mother will think of you her eyes will mist over but there will be more stars in them than you ever wore on your shoulders.
Your father may speak quietly about you but no one will miss the swell of pride in his chest. For your siblings you will always remain the real hero, and for that matter even for your community and village. A school or a road may well be named after you and you will become a part of the local folklore.
You died Lieutenant, because when the test came, you decided that you could not let down your family, your clan and your comrades, who always expected, without ever saying so, to do your duty. You, Lieutenant, have done more than your duty and made your memory their hallowed possession.
Lieutenant you did not die in vain!
Source : htt p://www.bharat-rakshak. com/NEWS/newsrf.php?newsid=15074
Your name will not be etched on any national memorial because we do not have one.
Sarvar Bali salutes Lieutenant Navdeep Singh, 26, who died fighting terrorists in the Kashmir [ Images ] valley last week.
I learnt about your demise from the ticker tape on one of the news channels. It was a big encounter and a very fierce one at that. A feeling of deep sadness enveloped me as I reflected on your youth which had been sacrificed in the Gurez sector in the line of duty.
What does your death mean?
You were too young to die, far too young! For whom and for what did you die then? This question haunted me last night and I will attempt to answer you.
You were probably from a village or a small town of India. You were perhaps the son of an army officer or JCO, or from an urban or rural civilian background. You could not be from one of the big cities where iron has entered the soul of our youth and where the only driving motivator is quest for money in the surreal environment of the corporate world.
Why did you join the army? Of course to get a job. But then that is over simplifying the question. You were possibly motivated by the traditions in your family and clan, you were probably enthused by the sight of your elder brothers, uncles or other men from your community in uniform, you were perhaps enchanted by the cantonment life where you may have spent your growing years.
On your last journey, you would not have got the adulation from the government that a martyred soldier gets in the US. Your name will not be read out in any obituary reference in Parliament, as is done in the UK for all soldiers who fall in combat in the line of duty. Your name will not be etched on any national memorial because we do not have one!
Symbolically you will become the Unknown Soldier for the nation, for whom the flame burns at India Gate, but your name will not be etched there. The names engraved on that monument are of the soldiers who died fighting for the British Indian Army [ Images ] and not those who have made the supreme sacrifice for Independent India! Can it get more ironic?
But do not despair, Lieutenant. Your comrades will do you proud! The senior-most officer would have led the homage that your brother officers will pay you before you left the Valley of Kashmir one last time. Your unit representatives must have escorted your body home. You would have been carried to the funeral pyre draped in the flag for which you died fighting.
The darkened and tearful eyes of your grief-stricken mother and the stoic figure of your father, benumbed by the enormity of this tragedy, will move even the most cynical.
I do not know Lieutenant at what stage of the encounter you fell, mortally wounded. But the fact that you were there on the lonely vigil across the Line of Control [ Images ] in Gurez, is enough to vouch for your valour. Your unit and formation commanders will see to it that you get the gallantry award which you so richly deserve. In due time your father or your mother will be presented the medal and parchment of your gallantry, which will be framed and find pride of place in your home.
Time will dull the bitterness of this tragic parting, which right now is the only feeling that engulfs your parents and siblings in its enormity.
Lieutenant you were lucky. You did not live long enough to get married and leave behind a grieving widow. You did not live long enough to have children. For when they would have come of age you would have seen in them a cynicism towards the army for which you died.
You will not see a young son who thinks his father is a hero and wants to follow his footsteps in joining the army only to be harshly dissuaded by his mother (or father) from following a profession which ranks so low for the youth of our country.
You were lucky not to serve long enough to see the army getting belittled. You did not live long enough to see the utter indifference and disdain for the army. Like you, a large number of valiant soldiers laid down their lives on the rocky heights of Kargil [ Images ], fighting against self-imposed odds. Today it is not even felt fit to publicly commemorate the anniversary of that stupendous military victory in a befitting manner, a war won by the blood of young men.
But do not despair Lieutenant. Your name will be etched for posterity in the annals of your Unit and your Regiment. A silver trophy with your name inscribed on it, will grace the centre table of the Unit mess. You will also find your name in the unit Quarter Guard, where annual homage will also be paid to you. The war memorials at the Formation HQ where you served and your Regimental Centre will proudly display your name for eternity.
If you joined the Army through the NDA, your name will be written in the Hut of Remembrance through which each cadet will pass, paying homage before his Passing Out Parade.
There will be an obituary reference to you from your comrades in the papers, which will be flipped over by most but which will be read in detail by people who have a connect with those who wear or wore the uniform.
As your parents head into the evening of their life, memories of your valour will be their most precious possession. When ever your mother will think of you her eyes will mist over but there will be more stars in them than you ever wore on your shoulders.
Your father may speak quietly about you but no one will miss the swell of pride in his chest. For your siblings you will always remain the real hero, and for that matter even for your community and village. A school or a road may well be named after you and you will become a part of the local folklore.
You died Lieutenant, because when the test came, you decided that you could not let down your family, your clan and your comrades, who always expected, without ever saying so, to do your duty. You, Lieutenant, have done more than your duty and made your memory their hallowed possession.
Lieutenant you did not die in vain!
Source : htt p://www.bharat-rakshak. com/NEWS/newsrf.php?newsid=15074
India Hands Over 109 Military Vehicles to Nepal as a Goodwill Gesture
In a goodwill gesture that signals greater military ties between India and Nepal, India has gifted 109 military vehicles to Nepal Army. An Indian Army delegation which recently concluded its visit to Nepal handed over 109 military vehicles to Nepal as part of a defence pact between the two nations. The vehicles were handed over to the Butawal-based Brigade No 22 of the Nepal Army. The military vehicles for the Nepal Army have reached Kathmandu and these include 30 trucks of 7 tonne capacity, 20 trucks of 2.5 tonne capacity, 24 mine protected vehicles and 35 military jeeps. The vehicles will be used by Brigade No 22 of the Nepal Army. The gift of vehicles was provided as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the two nations. The Indian Army's delegation, which was on a five-day goodwill visit to Nepal, was headed by Indian Army's Director General of Military Intelligence Lt General DS Thakur. The 109 military vehicles were handed over to Nepal as part of the continued assistance to Nepal by India in the last five years. The goodwill visit by the Indian Army delegation included talks with Nepalese Defence Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudyal, Defence Secretary Navin Kumar Ghimire and Chief of Army Staff of Nepal Army Chhatraman Singh Guring in Kathmandu. The Indian Army team also inspected the anti-insurgency training centre, forest warfare institute and the Army Staff College. The military ties between India and Nepal went through some rough weather in 2005 when Indian government suspended its military assistance in Nepal following the coup in Nepal. The ice between the two armies was broken in December 2007 when the erstwhile Nepal Army chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal visited India and was conferred the honorary title of general of the Indian Army. The two nations further cemented their ties in 2010 when the erstwhile Indian Army Chief General Kapoor visited Kathmandu. That visit had triggered protests by the former Maoist guerrillas, who were angered by General Kapoor’s statement opposing the merger of the Maoist People's Liberation Army (PLA) with the national army, saying it would lead to the politicization of the army. However, relations between the two nations have been restored and are steadily progressing. In the past, India has readily offered military training, which includes some 100 odd courses for Army officers in Nepal. India has also restored the supply of weapons like the INSAS rifles to Nepal in 2009. Besides, both the nations also have in place an information sharing system under the defence framework. In order to build greater ties with Nepal, India is likely to extend to Nepal all help as it aims to establish a good security mechanism and provide training to enhance capability of the Nepalese army. Sources : htt p://www.defencenow. com/news/276/india_hands_over_109_military_vehicles_to_nepal_as_a_goodwill_gesture.html |
Goldman Sachs faces myriad legal challenges
Conventional wisdom in legal circles has long held that Goldman Sachs might escape further large fines or criminal charges for its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis after reaching a $550 million settlement with securities regulators in July 2010.
But news that Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein and other senior executives have hired their own lawyers, separate from the army of attorneys already retained by the company, was a powerful reminder for markets that Goldman is still the subject of myriad investigations.
Goldman has confirmed that Blankfein and other executives hired outside counsel when the Justice Department began investigating "certain matters" raised by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Spokesman David Wells said it was a common practice for executives to have separate lawyers from those representing the company, and that Goldman was paying the executives' legal fees. He declined comment on how many executives had hired outside lawyers, or give their names.
Among the legal issues currently facing the bank are:
-- A Justice Department investigation launched after the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations referred its 640-page report on the financial crisis, which included a large section on Goldman's handling of mortgage-backed securities. The panel's chairman, Senator Carl Levin, said Goldman and its executives misled investors and Congress, but said it was up to federal prosecutors to determine if any crimes were committed.
Goldman has said it disagreed with many of the report's conclusions but took seriously the issues addressed. One deal involving collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) marketed as "Hudson," may provide prosecutors with the most compelling case for possible criminal or civil charges, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
-- In June, New York city prosecutors subpoenaed the bank to explain its actions in the run-up to the financial crisis. The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, is not seeking new documents, according to one source, but wants to ask further questions about the information in the Levin report.
-- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating Goldman as part of a broader probe into the mortgage operations and securitization practices of seven banks. Schneiderman was removed Tuesday from the committee negotiating a nationwide foreclosure settlement with U.S. banks after he objected to a ban on further investigation of fraudulent business practices as part of the settlement.
-- The Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating Goldman's handling of mortgage-backed securities deals. When the SEC settled its case with Goldman last year, it expressly noted that that did not preclude further actions. One source said the SEC viewed the case as a continuing priority.
But news that Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein and other senior executives have hired their own lawyers, separate from the army of attorneys already retained by the company, was a powerful reminder for markets that Goldman is still the subject of myriad investigations.
Goldman has confirmed that Blankfein and other executives hired outside counsel when the Justice Department began investigating "certain matters" raised by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Spokesman David Wells said it was a common practice for executives to have separate lawyers from those representing the company, and that Goldman was paying the executives' legal fees. He declined comment on how many executives had hired outside lawyers, or give their names.
Among the legal issues currently facing the bank are:
-- A Justice Department investigation launched after the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations referred its 640-page report on the financial crisis, which included a large section on Goldman's handling of mortgage-backed securities. The panel's chairman, Senator Carl Levin, said Goldman and its executives misled investors and Congress, but said it was up to federal prosecutors to determine if any crimes were committed.
Goldman has said it disagreed with many of the report's conclusions but took seriously the issues addressed. One deal involving collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) marketed as "Hudson," may provide prosecutors with the most compelling case for possible criminal or civil charges, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
-- In June, New York city prosecutors subpoenaed the bank to explain its actions in the run-up to the financial crisis. The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, is not seeking new documents, according to one source, but wants to ask further questions about the information in the Levin report.
-- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating Goldman as part of a broader probe into the mortgage operations and securitization practices of seven banks. Schneiderman was removed Tuesday from the committee negotiating a nationwide foreclosure settlement with U.S. banks after he objected to a ban on further investigation of fraudulent business practices as part of the settlement.
-- The Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating Goldman's handling of mortgage-backed securities deals. When the SEC settled its case with Goldman last year, it expressly noted that that did not preclude further actions. One source said the SEC viewed the case as a continuing priority.
sources : htt p://economictimes.indiatimes. com/news/international-business/goldman-sachs-faces-myriad-legal-challenges/articleshow/9727859.cms
Syrian forces kill 14 despite Assad pledge
Syrian forces shot dead 14 protesters on Friday despite President Bashar al-Assad's pledge that his crackdown on dissent was over, activists said, as thousands marched across Syria, spurred on by US and European calls for him to step down.
Most of the violence broke out in the southern province of Deraa where the five-month-old uprising against Assad erupted in March, triggering a harsh response in which U.N. investigators say Syrian forces may have committed crimes against humanity.
"Bye-bye Bashar; See you in The Hague," chanted protesters in the central city of Homs. "The people want the execution of the president," shouted a crowd in northern Idlib province, reflecting deepening antipathy to the 45-year-old Assad.
Security forces shot dead five people, including two children, in the town of Ghabaghab south of Damascus, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Residents and activists in the Deraa towns of Inkhil and Hirak said another eight protesters were killed by security forces and one other died in the Bab Amro district of Homs.
The main midday Muslim prayers held on Friday have been a launchpad for huge rallies across Syria and have seen some of the heaviest bloodshed, with 20 people killed last week in defiant protests where people chanted: "We kneel only to God".
Assad, from the minority Alawite sect in the majority Sunni Muslim nation, told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week that military and police operations had stopped, but activists say his forces are still shooting at protesters.
"Maybe Bashar al-Assad does not regard police as security forces," said a witness in Hama, where security forces fired machineguns later on Thursday to prevent a night-time protest.
Syrian state television said the deaths in Ghabaghab were caused by gunmen who attacked a police post, killing a policeman and a civilian and wounding two others. It said gunmen also killed one person in Harasta, near Damascus.
Syria has expelled most independent media since the unrest began, making it difficult to verify reports of violence in which the United Nations says 2,000 civilians have been killed. Authorities blame terrorists and extremists for the bloodshed and say 500 soldiers and police have been killed.
SNIPERS ON ROOF Internet footage of Friday's protests suggested that although widespread they were smaller than at their peak in July, before Assad sent tanks and troops into several cities.
A doctor in Zabadani, 30 km (20 miles) northeast of Damascus, said army vehicles were in the town and snipers were on the roof to prevent crowds marching.
Protesters from Syria's Sunni majority resent the power and wealth amassed by some Alawites, who adhere to an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, and want Assad to quit, the dismantling of the security apparatus and the introduction of sweeping reforms.
The violent repression prompted coordinated calls from the United States and European Union on Thursday for Assad to step down and Washington imposed sweeping new sanctions on Syria, which borders Israel, Lebanon and Iraq and is an ally of Iran.
The shape of a post-Assad Syria is unclear, although the disparate opposition, persecuted for decades, has gained a fresh sense of purpose as popular disaffection has spread.
President Barack Obama froze Syrian government assets in the United States, banned US citizens from operating or investing in Syria and prohibited US imports of Syrian oil products.
"The future of Syria must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad is standing in their way," Obama said. "His calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his own people."
Adding to international pressure, U.N. investigators said Assad's forces had committed violations that may amount to crimes against humanity. The United Nations plans to send a team to Syria on Saturday to assess the humanitarian situation.
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on Assad to step aside and said the EU was preparing to broaden its own sanctions against Syria. Diplomats said the measures might include a ban on oil imports. Syria exports over a third of its 385,000 barrels per day crude output to Europe.
The United States, Britain and European allies say they will draft a U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution on Syria.
But Russia, which has resisted Western calls for U.N. sanctions, said on Friday it also opposed calls for Assad to step down and believed he needs time to implement reforms.
"We do not support such calls and believe that it is necessary now to give President Assad's regime time to realise all the reform processes that have been announced," Interfax news agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.
SANCTIONS IMPACT Despite the dramatic sharpening of Western rhetoric, there is no threat of Western military action like that against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, meaning Assad's conflict with his opponents seems likely to grind on in the streets.
It may also take time for the diplomatic broadside, backed by the new sanctions, to have an impact on the president who took power when his father, Hafez al-Assad, died 11 years ago after three decades in office.
Assad has so far brushed off international pressure and survived years of US and European isolation following the 2005 assassination of Lebanese statesman Rafik al-Hariri, a killing many Western nations held Damascus responsible for.
But Syria's economy, already hit by a collapse in tourism revenue, could be further damaged by Obama's announcement. US sanctions will make it very difficult for banks to finance transactions involving Syrian oil exports.
It will make it also challenging for companies with a large US presence, such as Shell , to continue producing crude in Syria -- although the impact on global oil markets from a potential shutdown of Syria's oil industry would be small compared to that of Libya.
Assad says the protests are a foreign conspiracy to divide Syria and said last week his army would "not relent in pursuing terrorist groups".
U.N. investigators said on Thursday Syrian forces had fired on peaceful protesters, often at short range. Their wounds were "consistent with an apparent shoot-to-kill policy".
sources : htt p://timesofindia.indiatimes. com/world/middle-east/Syrian-forces-kill-14-despite-Assad-pledge/articleshow/9663959.cms
Most of the violence broke out in the southern province of Deraa where the five-month-old uprising against Assad erupted in March, triggering a harsh response in which U.N. investigators say Syrian forces may have committed crimes against humanity.
"Bye-bye Bashar; See you in The Hague," chanted protesters in the central city of Homs. "The people want the execution of the president," shouted a crowd in northern Idlib province, reflecting deepening antipathy to the 45-year-old Assad.
Security forces shot dead five people, including two children, in the town of Ghabaghab south of Damascus, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Residents and activists in the Deraa towns of Inkhil and Hirak said another eight protesters were killed by security forces and one other died in the Bab Amro district of Homs.
The main midday Muslim prayers held on Friday have been a launchpad for huge rallies across Syria and have seen some of the heaviest bloodshed, with 20 people killed last week in defiant protests where people chanted: "We kneel only to God".
Assad, from the minority Alawite sect in the majority Sunni Muslim nation, told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week that military and police operations had stopped, but activists say his forces are still shooting at protesters.
"Maybe Bashar al-Assad does not regard police as security forces," said a witness in Hama, where security forces fired machineguns later on Thursday to prevent a night-time protest.
Syrian state television said the deaths in Ghabaghab were caused by gunmen who attacked a police post, killing a policeman and a civilian and wounding two others. It said gunmen also killed one person in Harasta, near Damascus.
Syria has expelled most independent media since the unrest began, making it difficult to verify reports of violence in which the United Nations says 2,000 civilians have been killed. Authorities blame terrorists and extremists for the bloodshed and say 500 soldiers and police have been killed.
SNIPERS ON ROOF Internet footage of Friday's protests suggested that although widespread they were smaller than at their peak in July, before Assad sent tanks and troops into several cities.
A doctor in Zabadani, 30 km (20 miles) northeast of Damascus, said army vehicles were in the town and snipers were on the roof to prevent crowds marching.
Protesters from Syria's Sunni majority resent the power and wealth amassed by some Alawites, who adhere to an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, and want Assad to quit, the dismantling of the security apparatus and the introduction of sweeping reforms.
The violent repression prompted coordinated calls from the United States and European Union on Thursday for Assad to step down and Washington imposed sweeping new sanctions on Syria, which borders Israel, Lebanon and Iraq and is an ally of Iran.
The shape of a post-Assad Syria is unclear, although the disparate opposition, persecuted for decades, has gained a fresh sense of purpose as popular disaffection has spread.
President Barack Obama froze Syrian government assets in the United States, banned US citizens from operating or investing in Syria and prohibited US imports of Syrian oil products.
"The future of Syria must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad is standing in their way," Obama said. "His calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his own people."
Adding to international pressure, U.N. investigators said Assad's forces had committed violations that may amount to crimes against humanity. The United Nations plans to send a team to Syria on Saturday to assess the humanitarian situation.
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on Assad to step aside and said the EU was preparing to broaden its own sanctions against Syria. Diplomats said the measures might include a ban on oil imports. Syria exports over a third of its 385,000 barrels per day crude output to Europe.
The United States, Britain and European allies say they will draft a U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution on Syria.
But Russia, which has resisted Western calls for U.N. sanctions, said on Friday it also opposed calls for Assad to step down and believed he needs time to implement reforms.
"We do not support such calls and believe that it is necessary now to give President Assad's regime time to realise all the reform processes that have been announced," Interfax news agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.
SANCTIONS IMPACT Despite the dramatic sharpening of Western rhetoric, there is no threat of Western military action like that against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, meaning Assad's conflict with his opponents seems likely to grind on in the streets.
It may also take time for the diplomatic broadside, backed by the new sanctions, to have an impact on the president who took power when his father, Hafez al-Assad, died 11 years ago after three decades in office.
Assad has so far brushed off international pressure and survived years of US and European isolation following the 2005 assassination of Lebanese statesman Rafik al-Hariri, a killing many Western nations held Damascus responsible for.
But Syria's economy, already hit by a collapse in tourism revenue, could be further damaged by Obama's announcement. US sanctions will make it very difficult for banks to finance transactions involving Syrian oil exports.
It will make it also challenging for companies with a large US presence, such as Shell , to continue producing crude in Syria -- although the impact on global oil markets from a potential shutdown of Syria's oil industry would be small compared to that of Libya.
Assad says the protests are a foreign conspiracy to divide Syria and said last week his army would "not relent in pursuing terrorist groups".
U.N. investigators said on Thursday Syrian forces had fired on peaceful protesters, often at short range. Their wounds were "consistent with an apparent shoot-to-kill policy".
sources : htt p://timesofindia.indiatimes. com/world/middle-east/Syrian-forces-kill-14-despite-Assad-pledge/articleshow/9663959.cms
Egypt to withdraw ambassador to Israel over ambush
Egypt said early Saturday it will withdraw its ambassador from Israel to protest the deaths of five Egyptian security forces in what it called a breach of a peace treaty, sharply escalating tensions between the two countries after a cross-border ambush that killed eight Israelis.Retaliatory violence between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas also spiked in the aftermath of Thursday's attack. Israeli airstrikes killed at least 12 Palestinians, most of them militants, in the Gaza Strip, and nine Israelis have been wounded by Palestinian rockets fired into southern Israel.The Egyptian troops were killed as Israeli soldiers pursued suspected militants from the Gaza Strip who crossed the border from the Sinai Peninsula into southern Israel, killing eight Israelis on Thursday. It was the deadliest attack on Israelis in three years.There were conflicting statements about how the Egyptians were killed, but an Egyptian Cabinet statement said it held Israel ``politically and legally responsible for this incident,'' which it deemed a breach of the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries. It demanded an immediate investigation.In strong language, it said Israel was to blame because lax security from its side allowed the ambush to take place.``The Egyptian ambassador to Israel will be withdrawn until we are notified about the results of an investigation by the Israeli authorities, and receive an apology from its leadership over the sad and hasty remarks about Egypt,'' the Cabinet statement said.It was the first time in nearly 11 years that Egypt decided to withdraw its ambassador from Israel. The last time was in November 2000 when the Egyptians protested what they called excessive use of violence during the second Palestinian uprising.The decision to withdraw Egyptian Ambassador Yasser Reda came as hundreds of protesters have staged demonstrations in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo, raising a Palestinian flag and calling for expulsion of the Israeli ambassador in response to the killings.Egypt's official news agency blamed the Israelis for shooting and killing the five while chasing militants who killed eight Israelis in Thursday's ambush across the border in southern Israel.The Cabinet statement did not repeat that claim but accused Israel of trying to ``shirk responsibility for the recklessness of Israeli security forces in protecting the borders.''Israeli officials did not immediately comment on Egypt's decision, although the military promised on Friday to investigate the shootings.An Israeli military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, initially said a suicide bomber, not Israeli soldiers, killed the Egyptian security forces. He said the attacker had fled back across the border into Egypt and detonated his explosives among the Egyptian troops.Israeli media also reported that some of the sniper fire directed at the Israeli motorists Thursday came from near Egyptian army posts and speculated that the Egyptian troops were killed in the cross fire.It was not possible to reconcile the different versions.``There was an exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and terrorists on the Egyptian border following the deadly terror attack Thursday morning. We are investigating this matter thoroughly and will update the Egyptians,'' the Israeli military said Friday.Thursday's attack signaled a new danger for Israel from its border with the Sinai Peninsula, an area that has always been restive but was kept largely under control by former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. The desert area has become increasingly lawless since Mubarak was ousted on Feb. 11 following a popular uprising.Relations between the two countries have been chilly since they made peace in 1979, but Israel valued Mubarak as a source of stability with shared interests in containing Iran and its radical Islamic proxies in the region.The violence could further damage ties if Egypt's political upheaval and a resulting power vacuum in Sinai allows Gaza militants, who had been pummeled by a punishing Israeli three-week war 2{ years ago, to open a new front against Israel in the frontier area.Anger rose after Egyptian officials said Thursday's gunbattles killed five Egyptian security personnel. An Egyptian security official said three died Thursday and two others died of wounds on Friday.``Israel and any other (country) must understand that the day our sons get killed without a strong and an appropriate response, is gone and will not come back,'' wrote Amr Moussa, former Arab League chief and now a presidential hopeful. He tweeted his statement along with, ``the blood of our martyrs which was spilled while carrying out their duties, will not be shed in vain.''Gunmen crossed the border from Egypt on Thursday and set up an ambush along a 300-yard (meter) strip, armed with automatic weapons, grenades and suicide bomb belts, the Israeli military said.They opened fire on a civilian bus heading toward the Red Sea resort city of Eilat, hitting a number of passengers, then riddled another passing bus and two cars with bullets and rigged a roadside bomb that detonated under an army jeep rushing to the scene. At the same time, Palestinian mortar gunners in Gaza opened fire at soldiers along the Gaza-Israel border fence.The assailants killed eight people, six civilians and two Israeli troops responding to the incursion. Israel said it killed seven assailants.Hamas, which controls Gaza, praised the attacks but denied any involvement. Israel holds Hamas responsible for all violence coming from the Palestinian territory and retaliated by striking the group.``This is a response to the terror attacks executed against Israel in the last 24 hours,'' the military said.Israeli aircraft struck several targets in Gaza, killing five Palestinian militants late Thursday and five more on Friday, including a senior member of the Islamic Jihad, according to Palestinian hospital officials. Two civilians were also reported dead.One of the rockets launched from Gaza Friday smashed through a roof of a Jewish seminary, damaging a synagogue in the port city of Ashdod and wounding six Israelis who were standing outside, Israeli emergency services said. Another hit an empty school while a third, aimed at the city of Ashkelon, was intercepted by the new Israeli anti-missile system known as Iron Dome.On Saturday, one of those rockets seriously injured two people in the port city of Ashdod, police said.A senior Israeli military officer who briefed reporters by phone said at least 15 Palestinians from Gaza took part in the assault. He also spoke on condition of anonymity according to military regulations.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited some of the wounded in the hospital Friday. ``We killed the head of the group that sent the terrorists, but this is just an initial response,'' he said. ``We have a policy to extract a very heavy price from those that attack us and that policy is being implemented in the field.''Israel said the attackers had come from Gaza and made their way into neighboring Sinai and from there into Israel. The attack was the deadliest for Israel since a Palestinian gunman killed eight people in a Jerusalem religious seminary in 2008.Israeli aircraft hit multiple targets in Gaza, the military said. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Adham Abu Salmia said at least four militants were killed and a dozen injured Friday.One strike hit a motorcycle carrying senior militants from the Palestinian group Israel says is behind Thursday's violence. Another five militants including the group's leader were killed Thursday night.At the United Nations, diplomats said that Lebanon blocked the Security Council during a closed meeting on Friday from condemning the terrorist attacks in southern Israel. The United States had circulated a draft press statement to the council, which requires the support of all 15 council nations.``We think the council needs to speak out on this issue,'' said the U.S. deputy ambassador, Rosemary DiCarlo. ``We find it regrettable that because of one delegation we couldn't issue that in a timely way.''
sources : htt p://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes. com/2011-08-20/middle-east/29909110_1_israeli-soldiers-gaza-strip-israeli-airstrikes
sources : htt p://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes. com/2011-08-20/middle-east/29909110_1_israeli-soldiers-gaza-strip-israeli-airstrikes
Major Setback to Indian space programme?
A Russian cargo rocket ferrying three tons of food and fuel to the International Space Station broke down about five minutes after it blasted off on August 24, completing its flight by arcing into a Siberian forest rather than achieving orbit.
The crash of the unmanned craft, a Progress cargo ship on top of a Soyuz rocket, does not pose an immediate problem for the six crew members living at the space station, who are well stocked with supplies taken there in July by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) last shuttle flight. But it raises questions about the reliability of this model of Russian rocket, a similar model of which is used for manned launchings.
Since the retirement of the shuttle programme last month, Russian-made Soyuz rockets are the only means of transport to space for American astronauts. NASA has contracted with the Russian Space Agency to fly Americans on these rockets for several years.
Under scrutiny
The crash on Wednesday will surely be closely scrutinised because of its implications for American manned space flight on the Russian rockets. If a quick diagnosis and fix elude Russian engineers, NASA and the other agencies collaborating on the space station could face difficult choices.
“We've always known this was a risk,” the manager of the space station for NASA, Michael T. Suffredini, said.
The next set of three crew members is scheduled to launch to the space station in September, and another three are to go up in December.
Further, the Soyuz capsules in which the crew members ride also serve as lifeboats in case of an emergency, and the capsules are allowed to stay at the station for up to 210 days.
It means that three crew members may have to return to Earth in one of the Soyuz capsules docked at the station by October at the latest. Without replacements, that would leave only three people to operate the station, greatly reducing the time they could devote to running experiments.
If the problem dragged on to the end of the year, the other three would also have to return to Earth, leaving the space station unoccupied.
Mr. Suffredini said the station could be operated from the ground and stay in orbit indefinitely as long as there were no major failures and other cargo ships continued to fly; a Japanese one and a European one are scheduled to be launched next spring.
The Progress and Soyuz have proven reliable until now. Forty-three of the supply ships have successfully flown to the space station. But the failure on Wednesday was the second in August from the Baikonur launching pad in Kazakhstan. The upper stage of a Proton rocket sent a telecommunications satellite into the wrong orbit on Aug. 18.
Russia has planned another Soyuz expedition on Thursday, from the Plesetsk launching pad in the far north of European Russia. That rocket is scheduled to carry a navigation satellite for the Glonass system, the Russian version of the American GPS.
But the Russian space agency said it might delay manned launchings on the Soyuz — the only means of reaching the station for astronauts and cosmonauts — if the reasons for Wednesday's crash were not quickly determined.
The Progress is a cargo spaceship that the Russians call a space truck, routinely launched to the space station carrying spare parts, fuel, food, oxygen, water and other items.
The Soyuz design is a 1960s holdover that jettisons four bulky booster rockets soon after liftoff, then flies in three stages to space. It carries both manned and unmanned spaceships to the space station. At the launching on Wednesday, the Progress lifted off as planned on top of a Soyuz rocket. A little more than five minutes later, however, the rocket's third-stage engine shut down sooner than it should have, before the spacecraft had enough velocity to reach orbit.
The rocket and Progress ship crashed in the dense Siberian forest. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said rocket debris landed in three separate areas of the Altai region in southern Siberia, which borders Mongolia. The regional governor, Yuri Antaradonov, said the police had cautioned people to stay clear of the wreckage, as it could be contaminated with toxic fuel. His only concern, he said, was that some people may have been camped in the forest at the time of the crash because “it is the season of collecting pine nuts” in that part of Siberia. —
sources : htt p://www.thehindu. com/opinion/op-ed/article2397095.ece
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