Love Triangle

School sessions had started after two months vacation; Michael and Stella were as close as ever before. Both missed each other while away but could never pluck up courage to confess their love. They would sit together, study together and fail together. They were always lost within themselves. It was love which they could not acknowledge.

Day came when they graduated and decided to start their career. Stella joined banking sector and Michael, an established IT company. Physically, distance grew but mentally they got even closer. They would spend hours chatting on phone, discussing smallest things of life. One thing was still missing, it was “naming the relation”. It was not just friendship. It was something more than that.

Michael was on the lookout for a relation that had a name. He looked for a girl whom he could marry. Michael managed to find a very simple girl, named Stephanie. They went around for years and decided to marry in the course of time.

One day, Stella’s mother showed her picture of a guy, named Martin for marriage. Stella’s world went upside down. Confused Stella told Michael about this. Unable to read Stella’s mind, Michael asked Stella to move on with the marriage.

Unaware of Michael and Stephanie relationship, Stella married Martin. She was married but not happy for her mind being always occupied with Michaels thoughts. Two years passed, she could not cope up with her marriage life. She would regularly have arguments and fights with her husband. On the other side, Michael was planning his marriage with Stephanie.

One day, Stella organized a get-together of some childhood school friends along with their partners. Stella was in high spirits as she waited to see Michael. Party turned out to be nightmare when she saw Michael with Stephanie. She tried to act normal but could not bear the pain of their togetherness. Green-eyed Stella couldn’t see Michael caring for Stephanie. She made all attempts to avoid any conversation with Stephanie but continued her efforts to spend maximum time with Michael. Stephanie quietly watched and understood what was going on in Stella’s mind. Hours passed on and it was time to leave. Stella too left but could not sleep whole night. Sight of Michael and Stephanie together kept troubling her.

Stephanie was clear about Stella’s mind but a little unsure of Michael’s thoughts. Recalling the incidents Michael cited to her about his childhood days with Stella and his often missing her even while being with her (Stephanie), She sensed Michael loved Stella more than her. To avoid any regret at later state, two months before their marriage, Stephanie asked Michael “If you have to choose between me and Stella, whom would you choose?”

Her sudden question left him all at sea. He asked her what went wrong.

Without giving any explanation, Stephanie stuck to her question.

Baffled Michael asked Stephanie for two days time.

Stephanie’s question badly disturbed him and forced him to go back to old memories. He could not recall anything about Stephanie that he could cherish. He didn’t even realize when he was lost in old days spent with Stella. Those days were close to his heart. His heart was more towards Stella but he was not sure if his decision to leave Stephanie for would be right. He knew Stella was not happy with her husband and enjoyed his (Michael’s) company more. He also knew he would never be able to love Stephanie like he did to Stella. He understood marrying Stephanie and loving Stella would be unfair and unpardonable. 

Next morning, Michael went to Stephanie. With all his courage, he held her hand and said, “I like you. You were always an innocent girl. I respect you. Physically I was with you but mentally I never was. You made me realize how wrong I was. You saved me from committing a big mistake. I can’t leave Stella and that’s my choice.” Stephanie quietly listened to Michael with her eyes filled with tears.  Without uttering a word, Stephanie left the place and they never met again.

India Saudi Arabia Joint Committee on Def Co-op hold first meeting

India-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation held their first meeting here yesterday. The 11-member Saudi delegation was headed by Maj Gen Suleiman Saleh Al-Khalifa, Chief of the Armed Forces Operations of Saudi Arabia. The Indian delegation was headed by Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence.

During the meeting both sides expressed their interest to further augment defence exchanges and interactions between their armed forces. Proposals for exchange of high level visits, training exchanges and functional exchanges in various areas were discussed and will be finalized over the coming weeks. 

The establishment of the Joint Committee was decided during the meeting of the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony with the Saudi Defence Minister (and now also Crown Prince) Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, during the Defence Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia in February, 2012. The Joint Committee was mandated to formulate a programme to develop areas of cooperation between the defence establishments of both countries.

India and China to resume joint military exercise

India and China today agreed to resume joint military exercise and conduct the same at the earliest.

The first Joint Army Exercises with China was conducted in Kunming, China in 2007 and the second in Belgaum, India in  2008 but had to be stalled in 2010 due to visa denial by Chinese to the Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General BS Jaswal and since then New Delhi has had no bilateral defence exchanges with Beijing.

Accompanied by a 23-member delegation, which includes high ranking members of the Chinese defence and military establishment, the Minister of National Defence of the People’s Republic of China, General Liang Guanglie is on an official visit to India from 02-06 September, 2012 after which he will go to Laos to pay an official goodwill visit.

At the 90 minutes delegation level meeting, India and China agreed to strengthen border security cooperation between the border troops of the two sides so as to enhance and maintain peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas.

The two sides announced their decision to work together to maintain peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, promote port calls by naval ships of the two sides and conduct joint maritime search and rescue exercises.

The two sides also decided to further enhance and strengthen cooperation between the naval forces of both sides in counter piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia and high level exchanges between the two defence ministries and Armed Forces of both sides.  .

They noted that the leaders of India and China have designated 2012 as the year of India-China friendship and cooperation.

The Chinese side invited Antony to visit China in 2013. 

Last Defence Minister level meet took place in May 2006 when India’s Defence Minister visited China. General Liang’s visit is the first by a Chinese Defence Minister to India since Gen. Cao Gangchuan’s visit in March 2004. 

From India, the Indian Defence Ministers have visited China thrice in Jul 1992, Apr 2003 and May 2006. The Chinese Defence Ministers have visited India twice in Sep 1994 and Mar 2004.

Chinese activities on Indian border

Defence Miniser AK Antony yesterday underlined Chinese activities on border in parliament.

He said,” China disputes the international Boundary between India and China. There is no commonly delineated 'Line of Actual Control' (LAC) between the two countries. Both sides patrol up to their respective perceptions of LAC. There has been no Chinese intrusion into our territory during the last three years. However, Chinese patrolling upto their perception of LAC are treated as transgressions. Such incidents of transgressions are taken up with the Chinese side through established mechanisms such as Hot Lines, Flag Meetings, Border Personnel Meetings and the newly established Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs.”

He also said that Government was aware of the infrastructure development by China at the border and their undertaking infrastructure projects in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that Government conveyed its concerns to China about their activities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and asked them to cease such activities.

“Government is fully seized of the security imperatives of the country and reviews the threat perception from time to time as well as the need for developing requisite infrastructure in the border areas. Necessary steps, as required, have been initiated for ensuring that national security concerns are adequately addressed through development of infrastructure, including rails, roads and forward air fields, as well as operational capabilities of the Armed forces to secure the desired national security objectives”, said Antony in a written reply to Loksabha Member of Parliament.

Indian Territory under occupation by China in Jammu & Kashmir since 1962 is approximately 38,000 sq. kms. In addition to this, under the so called China-Pakistan "Boundary Agreement" of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. kms. of Indian territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China. In the eastern sector, China illegally claims approximately 90,000 sq. km. of Indian territory in the State of Arunachal Pradesh. The two countries have appointed Special Representatives to explore from the political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship the framework for a boundary settlement. 

Maruti to resume operations

A month after declaring lockout at its plant in Manesar, Maruti Suzuki Thursday announced resumption of 

operations from August 21 with an initial manpower of 300 workers, aiming at producing 150 cars a day. 

More workers would be added subsequently as the production scales up. As many as 500 workers of the 

1528 regular work force have been asked by the company not to re-join, and 1869 contract workers would be screened again when the company undertakes fresh recruitment from September two.

Maruti, which hitherto recruited workers through contractors, will now employ them directly.

Lauding the "cooperative stance" of the Haryana Government, Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava informed reporters here that the state government has stationed Rapid Action Force (RAF) having 500 police personnel headed by a senior police officer near Maruti's Manesar plant.

"In each shift, 100 such police personnel will remain in the factory premises. Additionally, 40 Personal Security Officers (PSOs) have been appointed for the safety of managers, supervisors, and workers in some special cases. Also security arrangements have been made at the residences of senior employees," Bhargava stated.

In addition to that, Maruti has created its own special force of 100 security guards, constituting mainly ex-servicemen.

Prior to the July 18 labour unrest, Maruti had 4000 employees at its Manesar plant including 3300 workers and 700 management executives.

On being asked about the volume of loss suffered by the company in the last one month, Bhargava refused to reveal any statistical figure.

"There is no increase in the number of car bookings. The number stands at 1,20,000 today which was the same as on July 18 when the riots hit the plant," he added.

Maruti Suzuki declares lockout at Manesar plant

Two days after violence broke out at Maruti Suzuki’s automobile plant in Manesar, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki R C Bhargava Sunday said work would not recommence at the plant until police investigation was complete.

He said that work will resume only after the Management is satisfied with safety and security mechanism for the health and life of the managerial staff.

Bhargava denied shifting the plant to Gujarat.

“There is difference between shifting and expanding. We never said we wanted to shift and move out of Manesar,” said Nakanishi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Nakanishi said he was “too shocked” at the outbreak of violence, pointing out that Suzuki had a peaceful presence in Indonesia, Pakistan and several other neighbouring countries.

Violence at Maruti Manesar plant broke out on Wednesday after Human Resource team suspended one worker and the workers’ union demanded his reinstatement. While negotiations were on with the senior management, the mob forcibly shut the main gate and prevented managers from leaving the premises after working hours.

Thereafter, armed with iron rods and door beams of cars, the mob spread out in groups in the factory area and targeted supervisors, managers and executives. In simultaneous attacks in different parts of the factory, the mob beat the managers on their head, legs and back, rendering many of their victims bleeding and unconscious. They also ransacked offices, broke glass panes and wantonly damaged property. Finally, they set the offices on fire.

Awanish Kumar Dev, General Manager (HR) at Manesar Plant was burnt to death inside the plant facilities.

His post mortem reports reveal that he was beaten before he was left to die in fire. Dr. Deepak Mathur of Civil Hospital informed that Awanish died of suffocation. At the same time, multiple fractures on both legs reveal he was beaten up before he was left to die in the flaming facility. Due to injuries in his legs, he could not escape the fire and his body kept blazing even after he had died. Several executives, managers and supervisors were brutally attacked and injured, and nearly 100 of them had to be hospitalized of which 24 are still admitted in hospitals such as Artemis, Medanta Medicity, Paras and Columbia Asia.

Dr Vishal Sehgal of Artemis said that "36 injured employees were brought to the hospital till Wednesday night from the Maruti Suzuki plant. Of these, 17 were admitted, while the remaining 19 were discharged after administering first aid. Four more were discharged on Thursday, leaving 13 employees still admitted with us. And they all are fine and stable."

The two Japanese nationals have been identified as 50-year-old Torri and 46-year-old Saijo, who were brought in with head and orthopaedic injuries caused by blunt trauma.

As many as 91 workers were arrested and produced before a local magistrate who remanded them to 14 days’ judicial custody. They have been accused of various charges including rioting with weapons, murder, attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, assault and trespass.

Authorities threatened to press charges of murder and attempted murder against all 3,000 rioting workers at the plant as the mob attack had led to a person’s death.

Fearing the arrest, thousands of Maruti Suzuki workers who lived in the two villages adjoining the IMT Manesar - Dhana and Aliyar - fled overnight.

Bhargava said the violence at the Manesar plant could be compared with tsunami which struck “completely unexpectedly.”

While speculation is rife that caste-based abusive language and discriminatory remarks made by a supervisor triggered the violence, Bhargava ruled this out stating that both the said supervisor and worker belonged to the same caste.

Maruti believes it to be an orchestrated act of mob violence at a time when operations had been normal over the past many months.

He also accused workers’ union of unnecessarily stretching the negotiation between Management and itself in order to demonstrate its false efforts towards resolving issues such as office leave, late coming, incentives etc.

Asara Panchayat denies issuing Talibani diktat

The Asara Panchayat on Tuesday denied issuing any diktat against the freedom of womenfolk and blamed the media for "misrepresentation of facts."

“I was not in town at that time but on my return, I realised that elders in the village had a meeting in which they decided to ask girls to refrain from using mobiles, wearing western clothes, going out alone etc. During the meeting, the seniors deplored the age-old practice of dowry being given at the time of marriage to the family of the groom. It was also decided that both boys and girls must be sent to school for education. The Media did not present the correct picture of the decisions taken at that meeting," one Haji Salim from Asara village said explaining the "guidelines" issued by the Panchayat on Saturday.

General Secretary of Jat Mahasabha Yudhvir Singh dismissed any role of the Khap Panchayat in these guidelines.

“It was no way the decision of the Khap Panchayat. The meeting was held among some responsible people of the village who unanimously arrived at the decision to issue guidelines because of sharp rise in the number of criminal incidences against women in the village,” Singh stated.

"We dont want misbehaviour with women on the streets which was a rountine thing here. The women were simply asked to be careful, and to move out with the men of the family in order to ward off any mishappening," Yudhvir explained.

Interestingly, some women from Asara village came out in open support of the "guidelines."

“When Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is from Italy, can wear Indian traditional outfits then why we as Indians should not do the same. Girls must wear suit-salwar only”, said Reema (name changed on request) from Asara village.

“Provocative clothes should not be worn as they are the cause of rape many a time. Girls are raped because they go out wearing jeans practically inviting a rape. We are happy to shun our western outfits and mobile phones,” said Shama (name changed on request).

Beerpal Rathi, an activist fighting for farmers’ rights in Asara village, informed that the chief of the Panchayat does not take any interest in day-to-day affairs of the village. He lives in New Delhi and broadly manages things from there.

"Also police is not active in our area. When the entire village has happily accepted the precautionary measures or guideliness or what the Media is dubbing as diktats, why is the Central government reacting to it? The Media should also not unnecessarily flare up the matter," he advised.

Obama expresses investment fears in India

US President Barack Obama has indicated the need for India to implement reforms for job creations and to ward off stagnation in investment.

In an interview to PTI, Obama cited the concerns of the American business community to make his point.

"Many in the American business community have expressed concerns that the investment climate in India is unfavourable. They tell us it is still too hard to invest in India. In too many sectors, such as retail, India limits or prohibits the foreign investment that is necessary to create jobs in both our countries, and which is necessary for India to continue to grow," Obama said.

Lauding India's growth worldwide even in difficult times, he said, "Indian innovation is an engine of the global economy. And even with the recent challenges, the Indian economy continues to grow at an impressive rate. The Indian people have displayed a remarkable capacity to meet India's challenges.”

"There appears to be a growing consensus in India that the time may be right for another wave of economic reforms to make India more competitive in the global economy," he added.

Talking of the effect of global economic crisis on growth rate of India while pledging support to India in its implementation of difficult and necessary reforms, Obama said, "it is not the place of the United States to tell other nations, including India, how to chart its economic future. That is for Indians to decide."

Describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his "friend and partner" with whom he had worked closely, Obama said he valued the insights of the Indian leader at various international fora including the recent G20 meeting in Mexico.

At G20 summit, Obama had said that one of the best things the member countries could do to bring global economy back on growth path was to renew the focus on growth and job creation in their own countries.

"That's my priority in the US. Of course, one of the most effective ways we can create jobs is to continue expanding trade and investment, including between the US and India," he had said.

India reacts

Obama’s remarks about the investment scenario in India have united the political leadership of the country. The ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre and Opossition Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), as also Left and regional parties, expressed strong displeasure at Obama's statement.

Minister of Corporate Affairs Veerappa Moily said Obama was ill informed of India's strong economic fundamentals.

Sensing a larger conspiracy, Moily said that “certain international lobbies are spreading these kind of words.”

Congress leader Harish Rawat said that “we cannot do things to impress another country or their economy, but we will take decisions to fulfil the needs of our own economy.”

Similarly, Opposition parties ridiculed Obama’s remarks and said the Government should not come under any pressure and refrain from relying on "prescription offered by others."

“They want to open up our economy and market on their terms. For this purpose, they are creating this pressure.... as it is, no one believes that under the present situation, there will be any sea change in the investment scenario world over,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Nilotpal Basu reacted.

BJP described Obama’s remarks as “laughable” and said “that country is giving us a certificate on investment and economy when it itself is facing economic problems. We have to ensure our national interests on our own. It is laughable.”

BJP and the Left have opposed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), especially in retail citing interests of the small trader.

“If Obama wants FDI in retail and India does not want, then it won’t happen just because he is demanding it,” former finance minister and veteran BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said.

“The US only wants its market to expand in our country,” Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shahid Siddiqui said.

ARF discusses claims over S China Sea

One of the biggest problems India faces today relates to China’s claim of "undisputed sovereignty" over South China Sea due to which New Delhi had to withdraw its exploration projects in Vietnamese oil blocks this year. Besides China, countries such as Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia also claim parts of the sea.

Amid tensions between China and Association of South East Asian Nations over South China Sea, India Thursday said that it supports access to resources in region in accordance with principles of international law, and asked all nations to respect these principles.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna acknowledged engagement of concerned parties in discussion to address the issue and hoped that progress will be made with respect to implementation of Guidelines to the 2002 Declaration of Conduct on the South China Sea.

Krishna held that the security and economic prosperity of nations is vitally linked to safety and security of sea lanes of communication. He also emphasized the need for states to work together to address common threats to maritime security.

“The menace of piracy has been expanding its reach and it should be addressed firmly through cooperative action,” said Krishna at the Ministerial Meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Phnom Penh.

”We have been following developments in respect to the South China Sea. As we had stated earlier, India supports freedom of navigation and access to resources in accordance with principles of international law. These principles should be respected by all. We have noted that the parties concerned are engaged in discussions to address the issue, and we hope that progress will be made with respect to implementation of Guidelines to the 2002 Declaration of Conduct on the South China Sea,” he added.

Pakistan rejects State involvement in 26/11 attack

Pakistan Today bluntly rejected any state agency involvement in terror attack on Mumbai on November 26, 2008 that killed 166 people.

While interacting with media, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani said Pakistan “strongly rejects insinuation of involvement of state agency” in Mumbai terror attack, if there are any gaps, they will mutually try to fill them.

He also said that blaming each other on the issue of terrorism will lead to no result. While offering joint investigation in the matter, Jilani said, “Whatever evidence India has should be shared with us and we will investigate.” 

He also rejected revelation by Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal as a setback to trade cooperation between India and Pakistan. He said both countries are victims of terrorism and they need to intensify cooperation in order to combat that.

Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said that the arrest of Jundal has added a "new urgency" to getting quick information from Pakistan on the masterminds of 26/11.

"Bringing the guilty to justice in the Mumbai attacks would be the biggest confidence-building measure," Mr Mathai added.

Abu Jundal's Pakistani passport and his ID are clear cut evidence of state sponsorship though Pakistan denies having issued any Pakistani passport to Jundal.

Jundal's passport states Muridke, which is also the headquarters Lashkar-e-Taiba and its front organization, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, as his place of residence.

Last week, after the arrest of Abu Jundal, Home Minister P Chidambaram accused Pakistan of helping terrorist in carrying out attack on Mumbai. Pakistan Interior minister Rehman Malik reacted sharply saying Jundal was an Indian and India's own Taliban was to blame.

Jundal in his confession told Indian investigators that he, along with LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, under the supervision of Pakistan’s military intelligence agency ISI, was in the control room in Pakistan directing the terrorists in Mumbai during the 26/11 attack.