Will barbaric Israeli offensive achieve anything in Gaza?

The fresh Israeli offensive in Gaza named ‘Operation Protective Shield’ has claimed at least 22 lives, including children and women, till Tuesday evening.The ongoing military operation is the third Israeli onslaught on the impoverished strip in the last six years, the first one being Operation Caste Lead in 2009 and Operation Pillar of Defence in 2012 that led to hundreds of deaths without Israel achieving little success.

Israel always justifies its aggression on the Gaza strip by blaming Hamas militants for firing crude rockets on the Jewish nation’s southern territories. The question arises how much Israel has secured itself by attacking its neighbours left, right and centre.

 Earlier it was Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, then 2006 war in the same country in which it failed miserably and its image as a super power military of the Midle-East was shattered by small time guerilla fighters of Hizbollah milita. imposed by Israel on its neighbours have failed to guarantee its security apart from inviting further hostility by its Arab neighbours.

And even after several devastating wars on the narrow strip of 1.8 million people, the State of Israel is yet to achieve eternal peace for itself. Gaza is under Israeli siege by land, air and sea after Islamist militants won 2006 legislative elections in 2006.



The collective punishment for the people of Gaza by Israel has failed to achieve the desired results of stopping rocket attacks. The latest bout of violence in the Palestanian territories is the consequence of the abduction and murder of three Jewish boys in West Bank, which Israel blames Hamas for. So does Israel think it can ensure its security by imposing wars on the people it is occupying? The answer is surely not.


The Israeli military operations have only bred hatred among Arabs as the main casualty of these operations is the innocent civilians. The discriminative policies of Israeli government in the occupied territories like the West Bank has forced experts to predict the commencement of third Intifada (Arabic for uprising) against Israeli occupation.

 This is the time for the Jewish nation to sit with Palestinian leadership to initiate meaningful dialogue and put an end to discriminative policies against the Palestinian people, including cessation of all settlement activities in the occupies territories.

 As Israel has plans to summon 40, 000 army reservists for operation in the Gaza strip, the bloodletting will only increase. It seems the problem with the Israeli leadership and its right wing elements is that it they think military operations are the only solution to the problems facing their nation. And that is why Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has refused to accept the Unity government formed by Hamas and Palestanian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

 It would be interesting to see how the Narendra Modi led Indian government will react to the whole conflict in the Gaza keeping in view India’s better military and intelligence relations with Israel.

Last time, the Hamas-Israel confrontation began after Israel killed Hamas’ top military commander Ahmed Jabari in an airstrike in Gaza.

Israel accused Jabari of masterminding major attacks against Israeli civilians and planning kidnapping of corporal Gilad Shalit. Shalit was released in 2011 after Israel agreed to release 1000 Palestinians. Shalit spent five years in Hamas captivity before he was released.

Know your neta through netapedia

NAKSHAB KHAN

Working on the lines of  online encyclopedia-wikipedia, a group of current and formers students of IIT-Mumbai have devised a database called “Netapedia” to provide information about Indian politicians and increase awareness about important national issues by ensuring participation from citizens.

The Netapedia claims to provide authentic profiles of Indian politicians based on the affidavits filed by them.

The website,  netapedia.in, contains information about politicians’ education, legal history, votes cast in their favour, assets, both moveable and immoveable, work record in their constituencies.

Speaking to The Sunday Indian, former IITian and founder of the website, Siddarth Mishra, said that the basic purpose of developing this site was to bridge the gap between electorate and the political leaders.

“Usually, voters don't know much about political leaders they are going to elect. Though there are several sources that transmit information about the politicians but there was no comprehensive platform. So we tried to focused on a single online tool which provides all information about Parliamentarians, Members of Legislative Assemblies and election candidates,” said, Siddarth Mishra.

The site also provides information about the MPLADS (Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) summary for each of the MPs from 35 states and Union Territories.

Popular politicians who are most views on the site include Sonia Gandhi, Kapil Sibal, Lal Krishna Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Priya Sunil Dutt, Asaduddin Owaisi and Kamal Nath.

According to Siddarth , the founding members of the site include three former and five current IITians and they plan to give it a thorough professional look.

Siddarth added that it’s an unregistered entity right now, but they will get it registered as a non-profiting non government organisation (NGO).

“We plan to give it a thorough professional look. It’s an unregistered entity right now, but we’ll get it registered as a non-profiting NGO,” he said.

The project was launched in October last year.

On being asked whether such an entity, displaying information about politicians online, can have any legal repercussions, Siddarth  said, “We are only showcasing what is already in public domain and falls under the right to information of common people. We have gathered information about these politicians through RTI and sources like the Parliament and Secretariats.”

The other interesting feature of the site is that it provides electoral facts like “ever heard of 1033 candidates for a single seat? Believe it or not, it did happened for the Modaurichi assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu in 1996. The ballot paper was in the form of a booklet!”

The site further plans to add new features about politicians and the team hopes to rope in volunteers and readers to help with the research and give a new shape to the venture.

The site is gradually gaining popularity and gets over a hundred hits a day.

                 AMU tarana team and, With largest envelope of the world

Barbaric Israel! Stop slaughtering Palestinians

Some times, I feel the world is sitting on a Powderkeg with so many conflicts in different regions of the world having potential to rip apart world peace and the Middle East crisis is one of them for which no one seems interested to resolve the crisis and remains a mute spectator.

Some times back Iranian Prez Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had rightly argued, that “Israel has no right to exist” because it has no regards to human values and thrives on its bloodthirsty instinct.
So what we call to the failed UNITED NATIONS, the WEST and the EQUALLY impotent Arab regimes napping in the lap of WEST and observing the Palestinian HOLOCAUST nothing short of SO CALLED Holocaust of Jews?

If an Israeli is killed anywhere in the world, the so called moral, human values protecting, contractor and upholder of justice and democracy also known as the WEST takes the world on its head but why when its comes to armless Palestinians who are bombarded, butchered on the streets and fighting Isreal valiantly with stones goes silent.

Here I should laud Iranian leadership for standing beside Palestanian cause and rebuking the debauch Arab states lost in their ayyashi, masti and 60 years down the line doing nothing to resolve miseries of Palestine.

No one seems willing to persuade the Zionist regime hell bent on creating instability in the region murdering innocents. Israel has Hamas as its enemy, but the senseless 5th day successive bombardment has killed almost no Hamas militant except women, children and the elderly.
These senseless killings by Zionist regime in Palestinian territory prompts young and smart Palestinian girls and boys bobby trapped themselves and blew themselves up in an Isreali caffe and public places killing many.

Here I may sound to all of you like a moron, imbecile and a fundamentalist, but my friends this is the bitter truth that no one has the guts to digest.

So, is there any way out to resolve this unending and vexed issue where both Palestine and Israel can live in peace forever?
Here is the answer: Until and unless Israel trusts Palestinians, give its land back, remove all encroachments from Palestinians territories , allow them a free and independent nation, the peace will not return in the region. And this is only possible with the big powers persuading both sides to agree to terms that can guarantee their peaceful existence.

John Galliano sacked for so called anti-semitic slur

Calling someone “FUCKING JEWS”, a so-called anti-Semitic slur, lands coture honcho John Galliano, a chief designer of Paris-based brand Christian Dior, in trouble.
Now I want to ask “ Is calling someone “FUCKING JEWS” is much more heinous than brutally killing 1400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in just one go?.
What about those Muslims who are being demonized, abused, insulted, discriminated and secluded on a daily basis Or for that matter people of any other minority religion in a particular country.?
We, and especially the Christendom and the US, need to shun this FUCKING HYPOCRISY.

The ideology of extremism is the problem; Islam emphatically is not: British PM

There is so much muddled thinking about this whole issue. On the one hand, those on the hard right ignore this distinction between Islam and Islamist extremism, and just say that Islam and the West are irreconcilable — that there is a clash of civilizations. So, it follows: We should cut ourselves off from this religion, whether that is through forced repatriation, favoured by some fascists, or the banning of new mosques, as is suggested in some parts of Europe. These people fuel Islamophobia, and I completely reject their argument. If they want an example of how Western values and Islam can be entirely compatible, they should look at what’s happened in the past few weeks on the streets of Tunisia and Cairo: Hundreds of thousands of people demanding the universal right to free elections and democracy.



The point is this: The ideology of extremism is the problem; Islam emphatically is not. Picking a fight with the latter will do nothing to help us to confront the former. On the other hand, there are those on the soft left who also ignore this distinction. They lump all Muslims together, compiling a list of grievances, and argue that if only Governments addressed these grievances, the terrorism would stop….

Internet chatrooms are virtual meeting places where attitudes are shared, strengthened and validated. In some mosques, preachers of hate can sow misinformation about the plight of Muslims elsewhere. In our communities, groups and organizations led by young, dynamic leaders promote separatism by encouraging Muslims to define themselves solely in terms of their religion. All these interactions can engender a sense of community, a substitute for what the wider society has failed to supply. Now, you might say, as long as they’re not hurting anyone, what is the problem with all this? …

So, let me end with this. This terrorism is completely indiscriminate and has been thrust upon us. It cannot be ignored or contained; we have to confront it with confidence — confront the ideology that drives it by defeating the ideas that warp so many young minds at their root, and confront the issues of identity that sustain it by standing for a much broader and generous vision of citizenship in our countries. Now, none of this will be easy. We will need stamina, patience and endurance, and it won’t happen at all if we act alone. This ideology crosses not just our continent but all continents, and we are all in this together. At stake are not just lives, it is our way of life. That is why this is a challenge we cannot avoid; it is one we must rise to and overcome.



British Prime Minister David Cameron was speaking at the Munich Security Conference, setting out his view on radicalization and so-called Islamic extremism.

Salman Taseer and his liberalism

Is it necessary to be a debauch for a person to be called as LIBERAL? but the news reports and analysis on the assassination of Salman Taser suggest so.

The Indian media and so called liberals are on an overdrive to portray Salman as god of Pakistani liberals.

Neither I am justifying nor supporting Taser's killing but media by eulogizing Taser is demonizing religionists.

A person who left his Indian wife while she was pregnant cannot justify his so called liberalism.

Why RSS Wants to Forget Pracharak Sunil Joshi’s Murder?

Courtesy Kafila.org
It was a murder of an old activist, which the RSS would love to forget. It is a different matter that despite the innumerable ways in which it has tried to banish the memory of the whole incident it has found it very difficult to get away with it. And with the latest exposures in the Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case the whole issue has once again returned to haunt it.

“A former RSS pracharak, who was an accused in the murder of a Congress leader and his son, was shot dead in Dewas town, about 35 kms from Indore, late on Saturday.
Sunil Joshi, 45, was strolling in Chuna Khadan locality when assailants, who used a Maruti van and a two-wheeler, shot him thrice. He was declared dead on arrival in the district hospital.”
(Indian Express, Posted: Mon Dec 31 2007, 00:00 hrs)

Yes, there was a time when the very name of this slain activist (a Pracharak in the Sangh parlance) evoked awe in the Malwa region of M.P. – supposed to be a stronghold of the Hindutva brigade. No doubt this clout had endeared him to many top leaders of the RSS as well as the BJP. And he was privy to many of their secrets as well. But all that is passe. Mention his name today in any gathering of these top leaders and you will either witness silence or many of his close associates in the Parivar presenting convoluted explanations to show distance from him.

Formally, at present he is a persona non grata in the Sangh Parivar.
It does not then appear surprising that although his murder occured more than two years ago but still officially nobody knows who planned it and then executed it. Despite the fact that the state government where the said murder occurred is being ruled by BJP not much headway could be made. In fact, after its own failure in unearthing the case, it did not deem it necessary even to ask the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigations) to take up the case. As of now, for the state government in M.P. and its police force as well as his Parivar people the preplanned murder of Sunil Joshi is a ‘closed file.’
The question naturally arises after all why did the RSS-BJP prefer to remain silent over the death of one of their Pracharaks and did not try to find out the real culprits behind the murder. Of course, it did make routine noises like blaming ‘Islamic terrorists’ for the act. Activists of Hindu organisations did cause a ruckus in the hospital where Sunil Joshi’s body was taken after the bullets of the assasins hit him, they did block traffic on the Agra-Bombay highway for some time, and gave a bandh call next day in protest. There were also reports in a section of the media about the way in which they tried to avenge his death by attacking innocents unrelated to the whole case. For example, in Putarkheda village, 30 kilometres from Dewas, a family belonging to a minority community was attacked by miscreants on the day of the bandh . Abdul Rashid was shot dead while three of his family members were injured in the attack. One of them was shot at, one was stabbed and the third’s face was scalded when the assailants threw acid at him.

Last days of this Pracharak are also confounded in mystery.There were reports that at the time of his death that Sunil Joshi was leading an underground type of life. Why was he compelled to do that despite BJP being in power in the state ? Did he have the premonition that someone was after him and he had to defend himself. ? Who wanted to kill/eliminate him ? Whether a section of the Sangh/BJP Parivar itself had felt threatened with his activities and wanted him banished from the scene as he was privy to many of their secrets ? Or did the Parivar itself, which demanded utmost secrecy, entrust him with some special mission.
As it always happens needle of suspicion in this case did move initially towards the ‘usual suspects’ i.e. the omnipresent Jihadi/fassadi terror groups but looking back one finds that these allegations were for public consumption only. If that would have been really the case, the overactive Hindutva regime in the state could have arrested many innocents from the minority community and had seen to it that life is made miserable for their family members also. But that did not happen. A more plausible explanation behind this murder then seems to be the internecine differences within the larger Parivar itself over matters other than politics. Were it over funds collected by these fanatics to further more violent version of the Hindutva project. Later day developments seem to corroborate this explanation.
All these questions have become very relevant as with the latest exposures in the Ajmer dargah bomb blast case another RSS Pracharak – a close friend/associate of Sunil Joshi – named Devender Gupta and Chandrasekhar Patidar have been arrested for their involvement in the execution of this dastardly plot. And a close link between three bomb blasts -Malegoan blast (Sep 2008), Ajmer dargah bomb blast and Mecca Masjid bomb blast – and their perpetrators has emerged. Devender Gupta alias Ramesh Kumar is learnt to be the mastermind in training people in use of explosives and (to quote Mr Digvijay Singh further) “..used to train activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal in bomb making. He use to stay with RSS Pracharak Sunil Joshi in Dewas and also happened to be one of the accused in the Mhow bomb blast,2001, where six members of RSS and VHP were found to be involved.” ( Jagran Rashtriya, 15 th May 2010, translated from original Hindi)
In a report filed on CNN-IBN, Arunima provided details about ‘RSS members behind Hyderabad, Ajmer blasts’ (Posted on May 14, 2010 at 21:42). The Report:
New Delhi: Two members of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) – Devender Gupta and Chandrashekhar Barod – have emerged as the prime suspects in the Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts. As links between the two blasts become clearer the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is increasingly looking at involvement of Hindu terror groups…
“There is a link between the Ajmer Sharif blast and the Mecca Masjid Hyderabad blast,” CBI Director Ashwini Kumar says.
“Both blasts took place on a Friday right after the namaz (prayers). Both used low intensity explosives, kept in tin boxes with iron pipes folded around them. Cellphones were used to trigger both explosions; using SIM cards bought with the same fake identity and Telugu newspapers were used in both cases to wrap the bombs.
The Rajasthan Home Minister, Shanti Dhariwal, confirmed the links to The Hindu newspaper saying, “Colonel Purohit, arrested for Malegaon blast, has confessed that Sunil Joshi had organised the Dargah operation with the help of Gupta.”
II
As told earlier the death of Sunil Joshi did evoke an immediate reaction from the Hindutva activists but with the passage of time and their leaders lack of initiative in the case, the news itself was largely forgotten. The Malegaon bomb blast and the subsequent investigation of the case undertaken by the Maharashtra ATS under the leadership of Hemant Karkare suddenly changed the situation. It is now history how this most significant counter-terrorism investigation since the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi exposed the bitter truth that a Hindutva terrorist group was responsible for a series of unsolved bombings so far blamed on Islamists: the February 2007, firebombing of the Samjhauta Express; the attack on the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad that May; and the October 2007, attack on the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.
Many facts linking Sunil Joshi, a hardcore RSS pracharak, and his group of people to the earlier bomb blasts in the country also came to the fore. It was revealed that the motorcycle used in the Malegaon bomb blast – which earlier belonged to ‘Sadhvi’ Pragya had been loaned to Sunil Joshi. After his death, the vehicle had been passed on to still-missing bombing suspect Ramnarayan Kalsangram, who is alleged to be hiding out with Hindutva supporters in Gujarat.
Col Purohit, a key accused in the bomb blasts case also told the investigators that it was Sunil Joshi only who had conceived and executed the bomb blast in Samjhauta express.
Skeletons started tumbling out of the closet and people discovered that this RSS Pracharak was one of the key links in many terrorist attacks inside the country which were earlier blamed on ‘Jihadi’ terrorists. In fact, Indore where this Pracharak lived emerged as a key centre of many of these terrorist attacks. One could see that either its Malegaon blast, Mecca Masjid or Ajmer terror strike, the accused are being arrested from Indore only. The planning was done here. Even investigation trail in Samjhauta Express case had reached Indore but the Haryana police returned empty handed and said that police of M.P. has proved to be non-cooperative.

It would be foolish to think that MP police was not aware about Sunil Joshi’s shadowy organisation that was based in Indore. It must also have been aware of Samir Kulkarni’s Abhinav Bharat that was functioning from MP. But it appears that bowing to their political bosses, the state police didn’t act then even though local Hindi papers printed tonnes of material about them.
It was during Mr Digvijay Singh’s second tenure as Chief Minister of M.P. that Sunil Joshi and his close associates had planted bombs at Bhopal’s major Islamic gathering of tablighi jamaat that attracts 1 million Muslims but due to the surveillance of the state police then, the bombs could be detected in time and a major tragedy could be averted. Police under BJP rule had rather decided to turn a blind eye towards the activities of these rightwing militant/terrorist groups. It is only when CBI and central investigative agencies reached Indore that the activity began.
A report ‘Dead Man’s Tale Holds Key To Hindutva Terror Secrets’ which appeared in a leading national daily (The Hindu, Nov 20, 2008, Praveen Swami) provided significant inputs to the Sunil Joshi ‘saga’.
“…Maharashtra Police officials say the testimony of a witness — whose identity has been withheld for his protection —links Joshi to the Samjhauta Express attack.
Lt. Col. Purohit, the witness claimed, made the claim after a December 29, 2007, phone call, when he was informed of Joshi’s death. “After the phone call,” a senior Maharashtra Police official told TheHindu, “our witness says Lieutenant-Colonel Purohit credited Joshi with having executed the Samjhauta Express attack, and hailed him as a martyr.”
Maharashtra Police sources said that, according to the witness, Gujarat-based Hindu-nationalist leader Jatin Chatterjee made the call. Mr. Chatterjee — widely known in southern Gujarat by his clerical alias, Swami Asimanand — runs the controversial Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which operates a Hindu-proselytisation programme targeting adivasis in southern Gujarat.
…Forensic experts note, though, that there is one significant structural similarity between the Samjhauta Express bomb, and those used in the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif attacks: a length of grooved metal piping, of the kind used in tube-wells, as a case for the explosives.
Police have also known, for long, that the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif attacks were linked. The SIM cards of the mobile phones used to activate the bombs used in both attacks were among a set of seven purchased by the perpetrators from West Bengal and Jharkhand in April 2007. In both the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer terror strikes, the bomb-maker who fabricated the explosive devices had the phone’s speaker connected to a detonator.
III.
One could say that just when the involvement of Sunil Joshi in being a key operator of the Hindutva terror network came to the fore his other criminal activities also reached headlines. His role in the murder of Pyar Singh Nenama, a Congress leader also came under fresh scrutiny.
Indore, May 14: (Indian Express) One more person has been picked up in connection with the Ajmer dargah blast by Rajasthan ATS, police said on Friday.
Lokesh Sharma, 36, was picked up and detained by the Rajasthan Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) while he was along with his family members at Lasudia police station area of Chhindwara district late on Thursday night, they said. Sharma, a resident of Indore, is an accused in the murder of Congress leader Pyar Singh Nenama, who was killed at Manpur locality of the district in August 2003, police said. He was arrested in connection with Nenama murder case and is out on a bail, they added.
Sharma along with former RSS parcharak Sunil Joshi has been charged in Nenama murder case. Joshi, whose name has also figured in Ajmer dargah blast investigation, was shot dead in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district in December 2007, police said.
Consequent to the detention of Lokesh Sharma the Rajasthan ATS has also detained an industrialist Rajesh Mishra from Pithampur in M.P. in connection with the Ajmer blast case. Both Mishra and Sharma were once accused in the 2003 Ninama double murder case. Discussing this detention Express reporter emphasises “RSS Pracharak Sunil Joshi, who the investigators believe was the brain behind some of the unsolved case of terror, was also an accused in the double murder case.” (Express, 17 th May 2010, Industrialist detained in MP)
Would it be proper to believe that Parivar people were unaware of their fellow activists controversial actions ? Or, it was part of their overall modus operandi where they have been found to be skillfully combining the parliamentary BJP with the extra-parliamentary Bajrang Dal to further the cause of Hindutva. Any layperson who is familiar with the hierarchial and disciplined nature of the Parivar would find it hard to believe that Sunil Joshi acted on his own.
To be very frank Ajmer bomb blasts and the deeper involvement of RSS Pracharaks in it just reiterates what has been whispered in secular circles but the mainstream media had never dared to acknowledge. It is not for nothing that a deeper and all round investigation into all such terror related cases has been a long running demand of secular forces/individuals which can clarify whether RSS itself is involved in the Hindutva terrorist actions or it has deputed someone to organise it under its noble notion of ‘division of labour’ or there is another dimension to the whole phenomenon.
Mohan Bhagwat, the ‘young’ Supremo of RSS has to do a lot of explaining about the sudden spurt in his Pracharaks going wayward (as he would like us to believe). But the list is a bit long. Perhaps he should just browse through few of the bomb blasts in the country which were earlier blamed on ‘Islamic fanatics’ and later discovered to be handiwork of people/formations floated by the RSS or one of its affiliated organistions or people fired with its ideology. Ajmer, Mecca Mosque, Malegaon, Kanpur, Tenkasi, Nanded I and II and the list continues.
Or there is ‘method in the madness’ ?

US' Double standard?

Zbigniew Brazezinski, former US National Security Advisor said in 1980s in context of Soviet invasion of Afghainstan that-"The US knows Afghanis have deep belief in God (Allah) and that they are confident Mujahideen (Soldiers of God) will succeed against Soviets because the land of Afghanistan belongs to Afghanis and they will get it back one day from Soviets because the fight of Mujhadeens will prevail and they will get back their homes and Mosques and because the cause of Mujahiddens is just and God (Allah) is on your side".

I wonder what would Americans say today of their occupation of Afghanistan????

Is there a spy wing in Aligarh Muslim University?

By Nakshab Khan

New Delhi/Aligarh, May 3 (IANS) It's an open secret in the Aligarh Muslim University that an 'intelligence wing' of the varsity snoops on students and teachers. The administration flatly denies the allegation though it admits that a "watchdog keeps an eye on outsiders and anti-social elements".

The purported 'local intelligence unit' (LIU) came into news with two recent unsavoury incidents on the campus.

This unit was allegedly behind the expose on Srinivas Ramachandra, a gay teacher caught on camera in a compromising position with a rickshaw puller in his campus residence. Ramachandra was suspended, then reinstated and later found dead in his house outside the campus.

One of the three people who posed as a journalist and installed cameras in Ramachandra's house allegedly belonged to this so-called intelligence unit.

"I don't understand the logic behind maintaining such an intelligence agency in an educational institute. No institution except the government has the right to spy on others," Traiqul Islam, a reader in the department of philosophy, told IANS.

He also said the AMU is run in a disorganised manner where the higher authorities don't trust other members.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told IANS: "The vice chancellor is authorised to form any committee or agency to maintain law and order in the university. If there is a misuse of that agency then he will be responsible for any mishap."

A teacher in the department of wildlife sciences said: "There indeed exists such an intelligence unit where students as well as others are employed to snoop on students and teachers.

"Different proctorial regimes have extended many doles and favours to those spying for the authorities," said the teacher, requesting anonymity.

The other case of an M.Phil student, recently suspended for allegedly sending a threat letter to Vice Chancellor P.K. Abdul Aziz, also sparked allegations of the unit's involvement.

The student, Afaq Ahmad, alleged that intelligence unit members and officials of his hostel forged his signature on the letter sent to the vice chancellor.

The AMU is spread over a 25-sq km campus and has nearly 30,000 students from across the country on its rolls. The AMU administration has all along denied the existence of such an intelligence unit and said an agency or a watchdog keeps an eye on outsiders and anti-social elements.

AMU proctor Zubair Khan told IANS: "We have a watchdog kind of agency whose main work is to keep an eye on outsiders and anti-social elements who seek to create disturbances in the campus."

He flatly denied that students were employed for spying purposes.

But in reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query, a copy of which is in the possession of IANS, the university administration has admitted the existence of LIU, which aims to collect information and helps take preventive measures in maintaining law and order on the campus.

Mohammed Chaman, a varsity employee, had in November last year filed the RTI.

The RTI also states that "the UGC (University Grant Commission) and the human resource development (HRD) ministry have not been informed by the proctor's office about the existence of the LIU".

Adil Hossain, a first year masters student, said: "The name of a spy agency itself creates a feeling of insecurity. And the existence of a spy unit in an educational institution creates a fear psychosis in the minds of students. Students are being implicated and suspended on the basis of false reports filed by LIU."

AMU, gay activists lock horns over professor's suspension

Nakshab Khan
Aligarh,Feb 21: he suspension of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) professor Shrinivas Ramachandra Siras over his alleged involvement in a gay sex scandal has pitted the AMU administration and gay rights activists against each other - with the former accusing him of violating "cultural" norms and the latter of trampling their rights.



Professor Siras was allegedly filmed having consensual gay sex with a local rickshaw puller. When the matter was brought to the notice of the college authorities he was suspended Feb 9.

However, Siras has contested the charges by saying that whatever he was doing in his home was his personal matter and he had committed no academic crime.

Three people posing as journalists barged into his campus home Feb 8 and installed secret cameras to catch him having consensual gay sex with a rickshaw puller. They then sent the video clipping to the university administration.

Gay rights activists have openly come out in support of Siras.

"Those who barged into his house, invaded his privacy and installed cameras in his house should be immediately booked under the relevant legal sections. However, it is ridiculous to see institutions of such repute like AMU take irresponsible action by firing the professor for a crime that isn't a crime by law, and without conducting any inquiry," gay rights activist Mohnish Malhotra told IANS.

Siras was serving as chairman of the Modern Indian Languages department at AMU and was set to retire in September.

Meanwhile, the moral brigade in AMU has swung into action demanding the termination of the professor's services. A section of students has approved the action taken by the university authorities to suspend the "guilty" professor.

"We are going to launch a signature campaign in the university, to be submitted with a letter to the ministry of human resource development, to stop the 'cultural assassination' in the Aligarh Muslim University. We will demand termination of service of the professor," said Jasim Mohammed, who is pursuing a Phd in Indian Languages and Culture, from AMU.

He said that a university like AMU with its unique culture "cannot tolerate such unnatural activity in its premises".

The AMU Public Relations Officer, Rahat Abrar, said: "Such an act (homosexuality) is not appropriate for a teacher, so we took action against him. The varsity will soon produce a chargesheet against him."

Siras has decided to challenge his suspension in court.

"Yes, I am going to challenge the suspension order in court as I have done no wrong against the larger interest of the university or any individual," Siras told IANS over phone from Aligarh.

"If the professor goes to court to challenge his suspension, then the university will definitely contest him in court," the AMU PRO said.

Since Siras hasn't so far got the chargesheet against him, he said he is consulting his lawyer to lodge a police complaint against those who secretly entered his house and filmed him having consensual gay sex with the rickshaw puller.

Most of the AMU teachers IANS spoke to have termed the entire episode as unfortunate and condemnable. They said that the most important issue of breach of privacy has been buried under the carpet and the not so significant matter of homosexuality has been blown out of proportion.

No plots yet for many displaced by Games, Metro

Nakshab Khan

New Delhi, They were promised land in resettlement colonies before they were displaced from their slum clusters in various parts of the Indian capital in 2004 to make way for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Metro rail projects.

But it has been six long years and a decent roof over their heads that they could call home still evades hundreds of families. Many of them are living in makeshift shelters in the resettlement colonies, with little access to sanitation and healthcare.

According to data compiled by an NGO Hazard Centre, at least 35,000 families were displaced from Yumuna Pushta, Banuwal Nagar in Saraswati Vihar, Pragati Market, J Block in Ashok Vihar and Kela Godam in Shalimar Bagh.

Currently, 16,500 families are residing in the Bawana Resettlement Colony in outer Delhi launched six years ago, reveals the data by the NGO.

"Of the 16,500 families, at least 3,000 families haven't got the land and are being forced to live under plastic sheet-covered houses in inhuman conditions in the Bawana colony," Duno Roy, director of Hazards Centre that takes up issues related to factory workers, told IANS.

"At least 2,500 plots are still lying vacant with the DDA in the Bawana resettlement colony but the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is stonewalling the land allotment procedure," Roy alleges.

Many families living in the hutments allege the area has become a breeding ground for serious diseases due to poor sanitation facilities, with no access to clean drinking water and healthcare.

"In the last five years, some 150 slum clusters were demolished in Delhi, housing approximately 100,000 families," says Raghuraj Singh of Sajha Manch, an NGO working for displaced people.

At the spots from where the families were displaced, the government proposed hotels, commercial, residential spaces and parks - mostly connected to the Commonwealth Games.

In Banuwal Nagar and Ashok Nagar, a four-star hotel and a park were proposed while a residential complex was to be built in Mandawali in east Delhi.

Urmila, who was displaced in 2006 from Savan Park in Ashok Vihar, says the DDA has told her there is no land left that may be given to her.

"DDA had given us the land slip in 2006 before demolishing our slum, but now instead of providing us the plot, they are giving excuses," says Urmila who is now living in the resettlement colony.

Taj Mohammed, who was displaced from Kela Godam in Shalimar Bagh in 2005, told IANS: "I was issued a demand letter by the DDA for land allotment in July 2005 after submitting a demand draft of Rs.5,000, but still I am nowhere near getting the promised land in Bawana."

Of the 3,000 homeless families in Bawana, 750 have got "demand letters" from the DDA - promising the plots - but are yet to get the land.

Neemo Dhar, a DDA spokesperson, told IANS the agency has nothing to do with the 750 demand letters issued to those evicted and it is the duty of the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation and the Delhi government to give them land.

But Roy argues that Bawana resettlement was the responsibility of the DDA and both the Delhi government and the DDA were passing the buck at the cost of families in distress.

"In a meeting with Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna Oct 1 last year, it was decided that the DDA engineer would discuss the possibility of a community centre and a school in Bawana with the chief engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), but there is no progress on that front," alleges Roy.

Mohammed Usama, a member of the Hazards Centre, says: "Residents of Bawana take out protest marches in front of DDA's office in Pitampura every now and then - only to be told that their problem will be solved soon."

Nehru to Salman: Visiting Delhi's parantha paradise

By Nakshab Khan

New Delhi: If the aroma of hot paranthas draws you while walking down a narrow, crowded lane in Chandni Chowk in Delhi's old quarter, you must have ventured into Paranthe Wali Gali. Some of the shops came up more than 100 years ago, but even today the crispy, spicy and even sweet fare on offer seldom disappoints.

India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter and late prime minister Indira Gandhi have been patrons of the shops that sell paranthas with a variety of fillings -- as their photographs hanging on the shop walls testify.

Down the years, Paranthe Wali Gali has added Bollywood actor Salman Khan to its list of clients.

"Various celebrities have tasted my paranthas," says Rajiv Sharma, the owner of one shop, pointing to the photographs of Nehru and Indira Gandhi eating paranthas there.

There is a lot of talk that the lane is not what it used to be -- there are only four shops selling paranthas now, down from 20 a few decades ago. But despite the dwindled numbers, they promise a taste to remember.

All existing shops are controlled by the same family.

"The speciality of our paranthas is that they are prepared with pure desi ghee (clarified butter) with no onion or garlic. The 26 varieties of paranthas include mix, khurchan (sweet parantha), paneer, badam, banana, gobi, muli, rabdi, carrot and dal (pulses)," Sharma said.

The paranthas are served with aloo-methi, aloo-matar and pumpkin curry, along with mint and banana chutneys.

"Another special thing about the paranthas here is that they are made in a kadhai (wok) full of ghee while elsewhere paranthas are made by putting ghee or butter on the sides," Rajiv Sharma added.

"Our parantha shop was established in 1872 and this is our sixth generation which is running this shop. Earlier in 1984, we used to sell a parantha for 75 paise but now due to rising prices, we have increased the price to Rs.30 per parantha weighing 100 grams," Rajiv Sharma said.

Another parantha shop owner, Gaurav Dikshit, says the name of the gali is enough to attract customers. "Many customers we cater to come here from far off places in Delhi," Dikshit said.

According to Dikshit, business is good in all seasons except summer. He employs eight workers, including cooks, serving staff and a dishwasher.

Naresh, who owns another parantha shop in the gali, told IANS: "Though the gali boasted of about 20 shops a few decades ago, most of the shopkeepers have branched out into different businesses."

None of the shops in the gali has much space but is able to adjust around 25 to 30 customers at any given time.

Media professional Jagriti Kumari said: "The paranthas here are very crispy. I come here whenever I get time."

Sandeepan who is pursuing his MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) came from Katwaria Sarai in south Delhi to check out the food at the famous gali.

"Though I am not very fond of paranthas, I was curious when I heard about the speciality of the gali and decided to check it out," Sandeepan said.

Sandeepan's friend Ashish Sinha, who is an engineer, said: "The paranthas are fine, but I like the banana chutney the most."

Manoranjan Sharma, who is originally from Kolkata and is pursuing his MBA here, said he finds the overall quality of the paranthas good.

"The paranthas here are completely different and I liked the mewa parantha made with dry fruits," he said.

Indian Muslims want jobs, justice, not Iftar parties

MJ Akbar

As was once noted by a garrulous, if not very innovative, politician, India has, just now, a Hindu President, a Muslim Vice-President, a Sikh Prime Minister and a Christian president of the ruling Indian National Congress. I cannot recall Ms Pratibha Patil, or indeed any of her Hindu predecessors, inviting Hindu politicians, diplomats, and an assortment of Delhi’s Hindu A-listers to a splendid Diwali dinner financed by the Government of India. Nor has Mr Manmohan Singh gathered the capital’s elite Sikh brethren for a commemorative repast on Baisakhi, when the Khalsa was born. Ms Sonia Gandhi does not throw Christmas parties for archbishops, bishops, Christian politicians, diplomats and educationists at state expense. Just to be clear: Thank god they don’t.

So why does the Vice-President of India invite the great, as well as the not-so-glorious, Muslims for an Iftar party, as he did on September 7? It needs to be stressed that this is not the Vice-President’s personal decision. His office is merely the conduit for a Government ritual, which is why the state picked up the tab for the evening at Hyderabad House.

As if this was not enough, the Ministry of External Affairs has this year muscled its way into this food-heavy tribute to tokenism. It hosted an Iftar party on September 9. I hope the various Government VIPs, led by Mr SM Krishna and Mr Shashi Tharoor, did not turn up wearing skull caps in order to look holier than thou. It would have made a quaint picture, though.

The reason for such artless public artifice is quite simple. Delhi’s political establishment takes the Iftar guests, mainly bundled from the local chapter of the Indian Muslim elite, for fools. It treats them as saps who need no more than an annual dinner to keep them onside. Perhaps the establishment knows what it is doing. Experience has probably shown that this ‘elite’ is packed with people who use Ramadan as an opportunity for taking something from Government, rather than giving all they can to the poor. The Indian Muslim elite gets taken for a ride because it enjoys the prospect of being an establishment jockey in the race to nowhere.

The state-sponsored syrupy Iftar drama is not unique to the present lot; every administration in memory has staged it, including that of the BJP-heavy NDA. This patronising smear has become so institutionalised on the Delhi calendar that no one dares to query its legitimacy, need or rationale.

Perhaps the most cynical patron of Iftar parties was the late PV Narasimha Rao, who insisted on hosting them even after presiding over the destruction of the Babri Masjid. Maybe he was not the most cynical: Worse surely were the Muslim acolytes who fawned around him, desperately trying to catch his eye to seek some reward for their presence. Rao was good at throwing handouts towards anyone who had the look of a beggar.

The Ministry of External Affairs, to my knowledge, has till date kept itself aloof from the politics of Iftar. But some well-lit spark seems to have finally heard what the rest of Delhi has known for many years: That Ambassadors of Muslim countries in particular, and the non-aligned world in general, have been offered a very cold shoulder, tantamount to indifference, while the mandarins have been running around building strategic relations with the West. Someone got the bright idea that Muslim envoys would start smiling again the moment they received a gilt-edged invitation to an Iftar.

Indian Muslims need jobs and justice, not Iftar parties.

Ambassadors need diplomatic engagement throughout the year, not an early dinner on one evening.

But the behaviour of Muslim elites across the world invites the cynicism of others. The exploitation of Ramadan has now become a deeply-rooted practice among the well-off. If the Islamic brotherhood wants to understand why so many Muslim countries are in such a mess, they only need to examine how their elite have upended the holiest month of the faith, one in which they are meant to turn to Allah and practise the highest values of the Quran — piety, charity, self-denial, sacrifice — and turned it into a month-long tamasha. Id-ul-Fitr, which is the culmination of Ramadan, means the id of fitra, or charity. Self-centred Muslims will surely be astonished to learn that hundreds of verses in the Holy Quran urge charity and kindness towards the underprivileged. There is not a single verse that permits you to cheat your way out of Ramadan. The Quran understands the need to postpone fasting due to travel or ill-health; it does not provide any leeway for hypocrisy.

There are Muslims who escape self-denial by reversing the clock. They turn the evening Iftar into a breakfast, rather than a breaking of the fast, and while away the night till the pre-dawn Sehri, which becomes a virtual dinner. Then they sleep through most of the day, waking up in the afternoon. This is a perversion of the spirit of Ramadan. If all it took to fast was to convert day into night, then we could have fasted through the year.

My friend Arif Mohammed Khan has brought to my notice a hadith, or tradition, in which the Prophet said, “The son of Adam has basic rights on three things: A house to live in, a piece of cloth to cover his body, a loaf of bread and water.” Zakat is a Quranic principle of the faith. It is an Islamic duty to provide for the impoverished. All you have to do is count the millions who are hungry in Muslim countries and societies to understand how far contemporary Muslims have travelled from their ideal. Muslims seek great merit by reciting the Quran during Ramadan, for this is the month in which Allah’s message was sent to our world. They need to spend more time trying to understand what the Quran’s verses mean.

'Israel culling Palestinians for organ harvesting'

The controversy triggered by a Swedish newspaper report about Israel’s harvesting of Palestinian organs has salted the wounds of many Palestinian families haunted by the memories of loved ones who suffered the same fate.

“They claimed they came to arrest him, but in truth they came to murder him, which they did,” Walid Masalmeh, a resident of the small West Bank town of Dura, 10 kilometer west of Al-Khalil (Hebron), said about his relative Bassam.

In 1995, Bassam was killed by the Israeli army at the village of Beit Awwa, located near the former armistice line between the West Bank and what is now Israel.

“But 24 hours later they returned the body with a huge scar running from the chin to the lower abdomen,” Walid remembers.

“They took all the vital organs, including the heart, kidneys, Liver. Then they stuffed the empty cavities with garbage before sewing him up.”

Several other Palestinians gave a similar narrative, recounting how they received the bodies of their murdered relatives, mostly men in their early twenties, with vital organs taken away by the Israeli authorities.

Israeli occupation authorities don’t deny that the bodies of victims were returned to their respective families minus the internal organs, but claim that the organs were disposed of as part of routine autopsy operations.

“I am not a medical doctor, but I do know that an autopsy is performed to establish the cause of death,” says Walid.

“In Bassam’s case, and hundreds of similar cases, the cause of death is known too well since the victims were killed by the Israeli occupation army.”

The Swedish mass circulation Aftonbladet published last month a report accusing Israeli troops of killing Palestinians and then harvesting their organs.

Israeli officials have dismissed the report as anti-Semitic and have been piling up pressures on the Swedish government to condemn it.

Stockholm has so far remained steadfast, insisting it was in no position to interfere with its free media.

I intend to direct a film, says Sonali Kulkarni

By Nakshab Khan

Sonali Kulkarni is one of the actor who has gathered rewards and appreciation and withholds her position only and only because of her acting-skills. She debuted with film “Cheluvi” with Girish Karnad and attracted everyone’s attention. And then there was no looking back for Sonali. “Mukta”, “Gulabari”, “Dr. Ambedkar”, “Mission Kashmir”, “Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya”, “Dil Chaata Hain”, “Via Darjeeling” created her own identity in Bollywood industry without a Godfather. These days she is busy promoting her film “Mohandas”. Recently she was in Noida to promote her film.


Q-What is “Mohandas” all about?


A-“Mohandas” is a film about stolen identity. A man struggles for his identity which is taken away from someone elsewhere. What happens, what he faces, who helps him, will he get back his identity? The movie is all about this. This movie is directed by Mazhar Kamran. He has done a fabulous job. The USP of the film is its story-line and the way it is presented.


Q-Elaborate on your role in the film.
A- I play a TV news channel reporter. I work in Delhi and helps Mohandas to get back his identity.


Q- How was the experience to work with Sushant Singh, Nakul Vaid and Sharbani Mukerjee.
A- I enjoyed a lot. It was a great experience. It was learning and sharing experience.


Q- There are news doing the rounds that you intend to direct a film. Tell us about that.
A- Yes, I desire to direct a film but at this moment my priority is acting.
Q- What are your upcoming films?
A- Mumbai cutting, Shyam Benegal’s ‘Abba Ka Kuan’, ‘Rishtoon ki Mashin’ are few of my upcoming projects.


Q- What is the reason behind back-to-back release of some of your films?


A- Indeed exactly, Love Khichdi and Shadow were back-to-back releases and in both of the films I played a completely different roles. Talking about “Mohandas” gives dimension to my acting capability.

Laxity and touts rule at Delhi passport office

By Nakshab Khan
LAXITY IS not an unusual thing in government offices when it comes to serving the people. Tanvir Ahmad, a 60-year-old Haj aspirant whose Haj application is almost ready is worried that his passport has still not been delivered to him by the Delhi passport office and that the last date for submission for his passport to the Haj office (the entity overseeing those travelling on Haj) is August 31. “I have been visiting the passport office for the fourth consecutive day and getting just promises by the officials that my passport will be delivered in a week,” he said.

Counter number seven, where the Public Relation Officer (PRO) replies to passport queries, has a huge queue with no separate lines for ladies and senior citizens. Here, everyone huddles to get his number in first. And there is only one PRO office to reply to queries from the hundreds of applicants from Delhi and the nine districts of Haryana. Many of the applicants also complained about the rude behaviour of the concerned officials. Though the passport status inquiry of applicants are provided online, in most cases, the applicants have to report to the PRO to know about the actual status of their passport.

When asked about the problems faced by the passport applicants and the fact that there were no separate queues for ladies, the Regional Passport Officer (RPO) lamented the shortage of sufficient manpower and infrastructure. “We don't have enough manpower and infrastructure to create separate lines for ladies and senior citizens on counter number 7,” one of the officers said. “My online passport status shows that the police report is completed but it has not reached here and the authorities here have asked me to fill the police verification form afresh," lamented Soni Choudhary, a fashion technology student from Faridabad in Haryana.

Another applicant, 35-year-old washerman Balbir Singh from Sangam Vihar, who wishes to go to Dubai for a job had a similar story. “For the past 5 months I have been circling the office for my passport. They (officials) have written the wrong address in my passport and I am visiting the officials again and again to get my address rectified in the passport but nothing has happened,” Balbir said. The rude behaviour of the officials is also another problem for applicants. “Sometimes it happens that when we are standing in the long queue, the official concerned leaves their seat in between the work and comes back after a long time,” added Balbir.

Even though the government has opened an online application system for passports, few applicants know about it. Those who want to avoid the hassle of visiting the passport office again and again get trapped in the touts' nexus. Touts have a field day luring passport seekers, promising them hassle-free deliveries of passports by charging double or triple the amount the actual fees paid for the process. This indicates a brewing nexus between the passport officials and the touts.

On condition of anonymity, one of the touts said that they had helped the applicant to get passports without any bureaucratic hassles, though he said that he charged around three times the actual fees paid for passport for this convenience. And he said this was only possible with the help of officials sitting inside the passport office.

I will stick to comedy, says Rajpal Yadav

Nakshab Khan
New Delhi, Aug 13 Rajpal Yadav, known for his antics in films like "Bhootnath", "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi", says he doesn't have any plans to move away from his favourite genre.

"I will stick to comedy as along as I can... I'm not allergic to serious role. But comedy is the need of the hour... it works as a pain reliever and as a stress buster," he said.

"Comedy and comic roles should not be taken for granted as big Bollywood stars like Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are doing comedy," he added.

Rajpal was in the capital Wednesday to promote his film "Yeh Mera India" with actresses Smilie Suri, Seema Biswas, Sarika Ghatge and Perizad Zorabian.

Releasing Aug 28, the film is directed by N. Chandra. It shows what is Mumbaikars' perception about migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and how majority of the population sees Muslims as terrorists.

"The film is an attempt to explore the real stories behind the headlines flashed on TV channels revolving around violence...," said Chandra.

"Europeans wake up to the fact that Israel probably is the biggest threat to world peace"

Written by Yvonne Ridley

Long gone are the days of Israel being regarded by the West as a plucky little country in danger of being driven into the sea.

And while most Europeans have now woken up to the fact that this man-made Zionist entity is probably the biggest threat to world peace, some of our American friends are still in a deep slumber over the cost of their friendship with Israel.

Of course if they really knew just how much Israel was draining the US Treasury, I think they would start to view Tel Aviv in a different light.

For instance it is one of the smallest countries in the world but it has the fourth largest army, an army that uses its weapons on women and children.

But it also ranked as one of the world's 40 wealthiest countries thanks to huge wads of US taxpayers' money which is thrown at Israel on a regular basis ... it actually works out at $50,000 dollars in aid per head of every Israeli citizen directly and indirectly.

Unbelievable but true: the Bush Administration gives more federal aid to the average Israeli citizen in one year than it gives to the average American citizen.

This expensive affair with consecutive White House administrations can be traced back to 1974 and congressional researchers have discovered that in the 15 years since then a staggering $16.4 billion dollars in US military loans were converted to grants.

Since 1992 the US has also offered an additional $2 billion dollars annually in loan guarantees ... but let's remember every single US loan to Israel is eventually written off by Congress. Now you know why it ranks 36 in the world's top economies.

But the chutzpah of Israel never fails to leave me gasping for breath. In particular I am referring to the proud, and often stated boast that it has never defaulted on a US loan. Well how the hell can you default when your 'Sugar Daddy' writes off the debt?

So all this money goes one way to Israel and there's no interest or payback ... unless you count 9/11 which is a terrible price for any civilian population to pay for its government's foreign policy.

According to Dr. Stephen Zunes, an assistant professor in the influential Department of Politics at the University of San Francisco while other countries receive aid in quarterly installments, aid to Israel since 1982 has been given in a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year, leaving the US government to borrow from future revenues.

Israel, he says, even lends some of this money back through US treasury bills and collects the additional interest.

In a recent report, the proessor also points out: "In addition, there is the more than $1.5 billion in private US funds that go to Israel annually in the form of $1 billion in private tax-deductible donations and $500 million in Israeli bonds. The ability of Americans to make what amounts to tax-deductible contributions to a foreign government, made possible through a number of Jewish charities, does not exist with any other country. Nor do these figures include short- and long-term commercial loans from U.S. banks, which have been as high as $1 billion annually in recent years."

Simply put, America gives around one third of its foreign aid budget to Israel even though this tiny state makes up 0.001 per cent of the world's population - put another way, it could disappear inside the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Israel's citizens are among the wealthiest in the world, on a par just about with most European countries and way ahead of other Middle East citizens including Saudis, Syrians, Jordanians and Egyptians.

And, more importantly, these people are a lot better off than many American tax payers including the 50 million plus US citizens who can not afford basic health care, or the black men in Detroit who have a lower life expectancy than their counterparts in Bangladesh. Let's not forget expectant mums either, some of the infant mortality rates are higher than in latin American countries.

Imagine if the mega bucks thrown at Israel were invested in their own US citizens instead?

Even Israeli politicians are becoming embarrassed at the huge wedge they receive from America, and have been for many years. Why else would Yossi Beilen, deputy foreign minister of Israel and a Knesset member, pose the question: "If our economic situation is better than in many of your countries, how can we go on asking for your charity?"

As I said before, most American tax payers are not aware how much of their tax revenue their government sends to Israel, but let's just go through the figures we have available:

For the fiscal year ending in September 30, 1997, the US has given Israel $6.72 billion dollars: $6.194 billion dollars falls under Israel's foreign aid allotment and $526 million dollars comes from agencies such as the Department of Commerce, the US Information Agency and the Pentagon.

The $6.72 billion dollar figure does not include loan guarantees and annual compound interest totalling $3.122 billion America coughs up on money borrowed to give to Israel.

It does not include the cost to US taxpayers of IRS tax exemptions that donors can claim when they donate money to Israeli charities. This is not chicken feed, by the way, since donors claim approximately $1 billion dollars in Federal tax deductions annually. This ultimately costs other US tax payers $280 million dollars to $390 million dollars.

When grant, loans, interest and tax deductions are added together for the fiscal year ending in September 30, 1997, the American taxpayer's special relationship with Israel cost more than $10 billion greenbacks!

Since 1949 Uncle Sam's indecent affair with Israel has cost a total of $83.205 billion dollars. The interest costs borne by US tax payers on behalf of Israel are $49.937 billion dollars, thus making the total amount of aid given to Israel since 1949 $133.132 billion dollar bills.

Woman smoker? First heart attack could kill you

Smoking is injurious to health - and more so for women. According to doctors, smoking can lead to multiple complications in women and the very first heart attack could lead to sudden death.

Praveen Aggarwal, chief cardiologist, Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, confirms a series of heart attacks among female smokers.

Aggarwal said: "The cause of heart ailments among female smokers is much higher because women have small arteries in comparison to men. Even the first heart attack in a women smoker can cause sudden death."

Roshan Roa, senior cardiologist, Metro Hospital and Heart institute, Noida, said: "The risk of heart complications among woman smokers is twice that of a normal smoker."

"If a women is smoking from a young age then she stands a greater risk of contracting heart problems. Female smokers who use oral contraceptives risk serious after-effects, including increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, such as blood clots, heart attacks and strokes," Roa added.

Sanjay Mittal, also from Metro Hospital, said during pregnancy smoking increases the chances of sudden infant death syndrome, learning disorders and attention deficit disorder in the child.

If a woman is in a child-bearing age and still smoking then it will have a bad effect on the child during pregnancy along with a greater risk of heart attack to the mother.

According to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) study, one in 10 women in urban India smoke or chew tobacco. The WHO report also estimates that seven percent of women in developing countries smoke compared with 48 percent men.

"Women who smoke are at a higher risk and face a number of health hazards such as heart disease and lung cancer," said K.K. Aggarwal, president, Heart Care Foundation of India.

"Women who quit smoking have a 21 percent lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease within five years of quitting smoking. The risks of dying from other conditions also decline after quitting, although the period varies depending on the disease. For chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, it may take up to 20 years," he said.

According to a study, smoking leads to greater risk of developing cervix and vulvar cancers. Nineteen percent of cervical and 40 percent of vulvar cancer are caused by smoking.

Harmful affects of smoking for women:

- Smoking greatly increases risk of heart disease and stroke.

- Smoking causes interruptions in menstrual cycle and induces quicker menopause.

- Smoking causes pre-term delivery, low birth weight, miscarriage, and neonatal death.

- Children born to smoking mothers experience more colds, ear aches, respiratory problems, illnesses.

- Smoking affects fertility.

- Female smokers are more susceptible to osteoporosis.

- Smoking causes more breathing difficulties in women than in men.