K.Anurag | Mynews.in 16 August, 2008 11:56:00

Guwahati:

A 300-strong Chinese delegation including military personnel, their families and civilians from across the border came to an Indian Army post located at 15,300 feet, atop the Arunachal Himalayas, to celebrate India’’s 62nd Independence Day in response to an invitation from the Indian Army.
The Chinese delegation, led by Colonel Yan Zi Jing of the People’s Liberation Army, was given a ceremonial welcome, saluted the tricolour that was unfurled at Bumla post by Brigadier Ashok Amre.
The delegation was treated to a colourful cultural show that included a high-voltage Bhangra dance by the jawans of the Indian Army, a spectacular folk dance and other performances by a cultural troupe from Manipur.
The celebrations was marked by both sides exchanging gifts. Addressing the occasion, Col Jing of Chinese Army said, “Today another step has been taken towards cementing peace and strengthening cultural ties between the two great neighbours.”
“We are honoured to be invited to join the celebrations of anniversary of India’s Independence. I wish you border troops all prosperity and hope for a stronger bond between two great armies,” Jing said.
Brigadier Arora of Indian Army said, “This occasion today presents another great opportunity to strengthen and further resolve the peace and tranquility along the border. We have made tremendous progress in past years in maintaining the sanctity of the border. Such occasions and interaction between the two armies will help further strengthen the ties between the two countries.”
Officials of both the armies also held a brief closed-door meeting before the start of the cultural programme. The Chinese delegation enjoyed the Indian Army’s hospitality to the maximum, feasting on the dishes that were on offer.
The thin air at 15000 feet reverberated with the sound of celebrations. Both Indians and Chinese exchanged gifts, mementos and currency notes to mark the occasion.
“I am very happy about the way your people and army officials are taking care of us. I am enjoying it very much,” said Pan Li, a lady doctor who has served the Chinese Army for four years.

In what could be a new strategic worry for India, China has announced plans to establish six more rail lines to Qinghai-Tibet plateau in the Himalayas.

Plans are afoot to add six more rail lines to the Qinghai-Tibet railway to boost the region’s economy, a railway spokesman said.

Included in China’s medium- and long-term railway network plan, the six lines are expected to be completed and put into operation before 2020, Wang Yongping, spokesman of the Ministry of Railways, said.

Detailed plans and cost of construction have yet to be finalised, he added.

The six new tracks include one from Lhasa to Nyingchi and one from Lhasa to Xigaze, both in the Tibet autonomous region, a daily reported.

Three tracks will originate from Golmud in Qinghai province and run to Chengdu in Sichuan province, Dunhuang in Gansu province, and Kuerle of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The sixth will link Xining, capital of Qinghai, with Zhangye in Gansu, according to the newspaper.

Construction on the Golmud-Dunhuang section is likely to begin first.

The official said experts have already been dispatched to the region to work on the route design.

Work on the lines from Lhasa to Nyingchi and Xigaze is likely to begin before 2010, he said.

Earlier reports suggested the Lhasa-Xigaze railway would be extended to link it with neighboring countries, but Wang said the ministry has no such plans as of now.

The ministry is now working to enable trains to run at 200 kph on the Qinghai-Tibet railway’s Xining-Golmud section soon, said Wang Zhongyu, deputy general manager of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company.

In two years, the 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet railway has moved 5.56 million passengers and 4.05 million tonnes of cargo, lowering prices of daily necessities and other consumer goods.

Analysts say the strategic Qinghai-Tibet railway line poses threat to India as China could use its railways to move troops and armaments faster to the remote Himalayan region of Tibet.

NEW DELHI — At least 3,000 people, most of them Christians, are living in government-run relief camps after days of Christian-versus-Hindu violence in eastern India, government officials said.

The government said that many people were also living in the jungle without any shelter or security because of the tensions, which erupted in violence after a Hindu leader was killed Saturday. At least 10 people, most of them Christians, have been killed since.

Christian community leaders say that at least 1,000 homes of Christians have been set on fire since Monday, rendering more than 5,000 people homeless.

Many of those living in the jungle were without food or water, said the Rev. Dibakar Parichha, a priest at the Roman Catholic church in Phulbani, a town in Orissa State. Father Parichha said that about 90 places of worship, including small churches and prayer halls, had been burned down. Local officials said the figure was about 20.

The violence has occurred in Kandhamal, a district in Orissa State that has a history of communal and ethnic clashes. The latest conflict started Saturday night, when unidentified armed men stormed a Hindu school in Kandhamal and killed the Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his followers.

The police suspected that Maoist rebels were responsible. But Hindus blamed Christians. In the retaliatory violence, 500 houses were burned. All nine towns in the district are under a curfew, and the police have license to shoot. At least two people have been killed in violent reprisals in other districts of Orissa, including a woman who died when an orphanage was burned down.

“We are supposed to take drastic action against whosoever indulges in violence,” said R. P. Koche, the police chief in Kandhamal District. The local police force has been reinforced by 2,500 paramilitary troops, he said. The district magistrate, Dr. Krishna Kumar, said the situation was tense but under control, and that more than 200 people had been arrested.

On Wednesday, during his weekly address at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said, “I firmly condemn any attack on human life,” and said that he was “profoundly saddened” by the violence in Orissa. He called the killing of Mr. Saraswati “deplorable.”

To protest the violence against Christians in Orissa, more than 40,000 Christian educational institutions across India will be closed on Friday in compliance with a call by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India and other Christian denominations.

BEIJING: The sporting event has ended, but Beijing Olympian tryst with the world on the political plane has taken on a new dimension. Brand China has managed to overcome its biggest hurdle, which is its image in the eyes of the western world.

“Most sensible people have realized that there is significant improvement on all the counts for which we have been criticized like our ability to do things, our concern for the environment and for human rights,” Liu Jian, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told TOI.

2008 Olympic Games set as many records on the political plane as it did on the sporting tracks. It busted dozens of myths generated by the western media about China’s ability to keep its promises about ensuring blue skies, providing hygienic food, managing political conflicts and security for athletes and volunteers.

Very few of the 500,000 foreign visitors attending the spectacle of the 2008 Olympic Games bothered about the absence of democracy in Communist China. If anything, they witnessed mass involvement in the Games in the form of over 600,000 young volunteers helping out visitors with ready smiles on their faces.

“Don’t quote me. But I really think China has made this possible precisely because of its centralized political structure,” a visiting Indian official told this reporter.

Foreign officials representing a wide range of departments like security and railways expressed their amazement at the organizational abilities evident at the sporting venues, the subway systems, the smooth security check and even hygiene standards in hundreds of restaurants.

The Games has left behind enduring images. It proved that the might of the United States can be overcome. China trounced it on the gold medal tally while Jamaica broke its supremacy on the field and track. The US suddenly looks a lot more vulnerable in the eyes of poor and developing countries than it ever did.

“The Olympic Games will have a lot of positive effect. The Chinese government will care a lot more about the need for harmony in society. I expect it to be more responsive to the problems of ethnic communities,” Sun Shihai, deputy director at the government-run Institute of Asia Pacific Studies in Beijing, said.

When the time came to bask in glory, the Chinese president Hu Jintao did not try to score points. He showed the grace of the victor and thanked the International Olympic Committee and the world of athletes for their support.

“The glory goes to the Olympic Family, to athletes who have competed hard, to volunteers from different parts of the world and to friends the world over who have been involved in the Beijing Olympic Games in various ways,” Hu said in a toast at the banquet held at the picturesque Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in west Beijing on Sunday.

It was IOC president Jacques Rogge who seemed to be speaking for China. Rogge’s faith in China has often been questioned in the western media and it was now time for him to respond. “The most intangible legacy, but also very important one, is that through the Games, China has been scrutinized by the world, has opened up to the world,” Rogge said.

“The world has learned (about) China and China has learned about the world. I believe, this is something that will have positive effects in the long term,” he said.

BEIJING: China on Sunday offered to provide “every possible help” to Nepal for its stability and development as Beijing accorded a red carpet welcome to Prime Minister Prachanda who described the communist giant as a “reliable” friend on his maiden foreign visit.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao met separately with Pushpa Kamal Dahal or “Prachanda” and promised reciprocal cooperation in various fields between the two neighbouring nations.

China and Nepal are “good neighbours, good friends and good partners” Hu said, noting that “the two countries have established a good neighbourly partnership and enjoyed friendship generation upon generation.”

“Mr Prime Minister has come to the Beijing Olympics’ closing ceremony within a week after being sworn in,” Hu said, referring to Prachanda’s election as Prime Minister on August 18.

“This fully demonstrates the great attention Nepal attaches to relations with China and its profound friendship with the Chinese people. We highly appreciate that,” Hu told Prachanda, the head of the Maoists, who has departed from tradition where India has been the first port of call for most previous top Nepalese leaders.

The Chinese government respects the social system and path of development chosen independently by the Nepalese and supports their efforts in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity, Hu said.

NEW DELHI: Chinese telecom firm Huawei is in trouble once again.

The latest salvo has come from the ministry of labour and employment, which has sent a notice to the company saying it has employed a large number of Chinese workers in India without proper work permits.

The labour ministry has added that these workers “are also not paying the applicable income tax for which they do not have immunity.” According to the government, this is a complete violation of the law of the land and a fraudulent act.

A source, who is familiar with the situation, pointed out that there could be as many as 400 to 500 Chinese workers in India working for Huawei. Of these, very few have valid work permits. The remaining have short-term business visas, the source added.
Even then, most of them manage to continue working in India for two to three years.
According to him, this is the situation in many Chinese companies operating in India, not just in Huawei.

The source argued that it would be wrong to say that the Indian government is not aware of the situation. “The government has been lenient about investigating the misuse ,” he said.

In recent years, Huawei has also been under the government scanner when the Chinese firm wanted to set up a manufacturing base in India.

The companies application was not cleared as some sections within the government feared security threat linked to Chinese investment.

Subsequently, Huawei withdrew its proposal for a manufacturing plant after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) kept the application pending for long.  This is despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicating that Chinese investments in India would be given a priority.

This time, however , the Indian government, while raising the concern of  fraudulently employing Chinese workers in the country, has said that the top management of the company including the CEO would be reprimanded by financial penalties orand imprisonment.

It has also asked the company to repatriate such workers immediately. The government could even ask Huawei to close its business premises in India.

According to agency reports, the Huawei spokesperson said that the company had received the notice. But, he said, that Huawei strictly complies with Indian tax regulations.

According to the government, the employees are staying in India on business visas and residing illegally in apartments without valid resident permits for prolonged periods, abusing visa rules and convention.

Ramesh Thakur

It has been like watching the coverage of the Beijing Olympics on a split screen. So much of the western media comment in the front section and on the opinion pages has been taken up by the ‘nattering nabobs of negativism,’ in the timeless words of Richard Nixon’s Vice-President Spiro Agnew (and written by the timeless wordsmith, William Safire). The coverage in the sports pages, not to mention live on TV, has been of an entirely different event celebrati ng the joys of human endeavour in a tough but friendly competition, with individual tales of heroism mingling with spectacular evidence of China’s organisational skills and sporting supremacy. The games were also mercifully light on controversies and doping scandals. The sporting competition was the story, not a backdrop.

There have been tales that fit the dominant Christian narrative of human fallibility, sin and redemption on an epic scale. Eric Lamaze was born in Quebec to an unknown father and a mother who suffered from drug addiction and spent time in jail. Raised by his grandmother, he was familiar with marijuana and LSD by the time he was 11 and dropped out of school after Grade 8. At 13, he was introduced to horses at a farm and discovered a natural affinity and talent for all things equestrian. Twice banned from Olympic competition because of drug use, including cocaine, he faced the wrath of the Canadian equestrian establishment, which tends to be from the right side of the tracks, which would have been happy to see the last of someone from the other side of the tracks. Fortunately for him, and for the adage that everyone deserves a second, sometimes even a third, chance in life, his arbitrator, Professor Ed Ratushny, was a follower of Shakespeare’s Portia in believing that justice must be tempered with mercy. And so, at age 40, this Montreal street kid found himself a member of the Canadian equestrian team in Beijing. His flawless, error free rounds helped Canada win the team silver in a dramatic jump off with the U.S. team and helped him capture the individual gold medal. For me, one of the lasting images of this year’s Olympics will be the medal ceremony with the Canadian Maple Leaf flag fluttering proudly to the strains of the national anthem while Mr. Lamaze fought back the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

The Canadian team also provided one of the best stories of persistence and perseverance. At age 61, Ian Millar was competing in his ninth Olympics. He had never won a medal in his previous eight appearances. This time round, he was captain of the Canadian team that captured silver in the jump off with the Americans.

There were individual performances that took the breath away: Russia’s Yelena Isinbaeva winning magnificent and graceful pole vault for the gold, Australia’s Matthew Mitcham’s stunning last dive under pressure from the 10-metre tower, with three perfect tens, to snatch the gold away from the Chinese leader up to that point, and scores of others. In the end, the record books will mark this as the games where Michael Phelps stamped his supremacy with an all-time Olympics haul of eight gold medals in one year that bettered, by one, Mark Spitz’s record from the Munich games back in 1972. Already a swimming legend when he arrived, he delivered on the promise of the best still to come. Boy, did he ever.

And yet, unbelievably, his heroics may well be overshadowed by the exploits and antics of the brash, utterly unpredictable yet thoroughly joyous Usain Bolt. In his first appearance at an Olympics, ‘My name is Bolt, Lightning Bolt’ captured three gold medals with world record shattering times in each event in which he competed, made a world class field of competitors look pedestrian as he left them well behind in his wake, stirred the world’s imagination and emotions with his unabashed celebrations of dances, jigs and poses alike, and connected with the 91,000 audience in the lovely Bird’s Nest arena in a way that the security blanket bubble-wrapped antiseptic Phelps never did. He turned out to be the embodiment of the outer limits of human skill, the personification of unbounded joy and infectious enthusiasm, and the very best of what the Olympics spirit is supposedly all about. His defeated rivals revelled in his triumphs, recognising the converts to their event that he was attracting and sharing his glory vicariously. Not to mention the cheer he brought to his home country whose athletes had previously captured gold in the sport’s glamour event but only in the colours of Britain and Canada.

Incredibly, this proved too much for the Olympics boss. Jacques Rogge delivered a public rebuke to Bolt for his showboating antics, saying they were unseemly and disrespectful to Bolt’s competitors (none of whom complained). Rogge’s comments were so out of line and out of tune with the spirit of the arena and the games that even the sports journalists who reported his comments took him to task for them. It brought to mind Winston Churchill’s famous put down of a rival who had all the virtues Churchill disliked and none of the vices he admired. If the International Olympics Committee has any spirit, it will gently and privately remind its chief of the Olympics spirit.

Yet in the end Rogge’s gaffe will pale in comparison to the sustained assault on China that was launched by so much of the western media. I defer to no one in my criticism of China when warranted and justified. China is no more immune from faults and failings, both serious and minor, than any other country. But this was its year and its fortnight. The organisation was flawless, the spectacle grand, the facilities were superb, and records tumbled in the pool and on the tracks reflecting the world-beating quality of the facilities. Why begrudge the Chinese their moment in the sun? That their athletes captured more than 50 gold medals (and exactly 100 in total) is testament to their investment in youth and sporting excellence. It’s hard to believe that India’s celebrated solitary gold was its first individual gold medal ever in 108 years of modern Olympics history. The Olympics have traditionally been more an opportunity for our officials to tour abroad in taxpayer-funded luxury than for our athletes to compete on a level-playing field. The same Canadian newspapers that have bemoaned the paucity of medals for Canada (three gold and 18 in total) sometimes, unconscious of the irony, criticised the Chinese system for mass producing world leading athletes.

Role of western media

The western media need to be careful for another reason. Asians today are better educated, better read and better informed than ever before. They read, watch and follow the western media which dominate the international media. But, unlike the average western reader, Asians also read their own media where they often get an entirely different picture of the same events and happenings. As a result, they can spot double standards and hypocrisy in real time, and it is the global credibility of much of the western media, and not the reputation of the targets of their ire and attacks, that suffers. In this sense, the western media must accept their fair share of the blame for the declining soft power assets of the West in global affairs.

The Government of China takes rightful pride — as do the people of China and, as far as we can gauge, the overwhelming majority of overseas Chinese — at a games well run and ceremonially concluded. Tomorrow is another day, and might be another matter as we return to the post-Olympics reality of a quarrelsome world and shine the international spotlight on China’s errors and wrongs. Today belongs to China and the athletes who brought glory to themselves and their nations and joy to the rest of us mere mortals.

(Ramesh Thakur is distinguished fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo.)

Time 3.45 PM.

Venue: The President’s Official premise, Shital Nivas, Kathmandu.

Occasion: Swearing in ceremony of Nepal’s newly elected Prime Minister.

Date: 18 August 208.

The swearing in ceremony has just finished and it is time to congratulate the new PM of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal. It should have been around 4.00 PM by then.

Among the multitude of residential diplomats, the thrilling one was that indeed of the Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood’s “historical” handshake with Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The two met with each other as if they were the “Siamese twin brothers” lost some where in the KUMBH MELA some two decades back as could be seen in Indian celluloid films.

The handshake that they have had with each other was so earth shaking that well within a few hours of that historic handclasp, the same late evening , Goddess Koshi River perhaps did not like such sort of “synthetic” acts exhibited by the two almost diametrically opposing political adherents and the Goddess preferred unfortunately to penalize the Nepali PM first to the extent that the Koshi river, out of “sheer anger associated with frustration” flooded the Eastern embankment and let loose horror in the Nepali side of the territory which has till now swept some good hundred plus Nepali population whose dead bodies could well be collected in the adjoining state of Bihar. Reports say that River Koshi was so infuriated with Ambassador Sood that the water did enter deep into the adjoining parts of Bihar, India and has, say reports, caused immense damage of physical lives and properties worth billions and billions on the other side of the border. Some terror stricken Indian nationals in thousands have fled into this side of the border to save their precious lives. While some seventy thousand people in Nepal have been rendered homeless then on the Indian side, according to Indian media reports, some three million people have already been thrown to the mercy of the Almighty. The loss caused by the Koshi flood is colossal in India.

To recall, Koshi River is taken as the sorrow of Bihar.

On humanitarian grounds, the Nepal government has absorbed these ill-fated Indian nationals and has been distributing food packets to all those who have taken shelter. After all, the people on both sides of the border possess no hatred for each other.

The tragedy of Prachanda begins:

Prime Minister Prachanda had a very inopportune beginning understandably.

By August 19, 2008, the newly elected Nepal PM was already in a mess, to be precise.

Contrary to the expectations of the Indian establishment run by an Italian lady, Comrade Prachanda, who had spent some good years in New Delhi under the careful protection of the Research Analysis Wing, the RAW, spoke of the preservation of “nationalism” which by implication or by design the Indians conclude that it were a ploy to undercut the Indian authority that is all enveloping in this country.

Hardly had Pushpa Kamal Dahal assumed office of the Nepal’s Prime Minister, Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood-the trouble maker as he is widely known in the entire South Asian region, entered into the official room of the Prime Minister on 19 August morning. The ruse was to congratulate PM Dahal. However, Ambassador Sood without congratulating the new Nepal PM lambasted at Dahal and questioned furiously, “Why are you visiting China prior to making a formal trip to my country-India”?

Stunned by the unpredictable question, PM Dahal some how or the other managed to control his physical composure and replied, “Well Excellency! My visit to China is just a mere coincidence but not a design! It so happened that the Chinese government extended invitation to me to attend to the concluding ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and thus the trip to China”.

He further guaranteed the erratic Ambassador by saying that “I will surely visit your country upon my return from China. Take it easy Mr. Ambassador”.

Not assured by PM Dahal’s explanation, Ambassador Sood bluntly said that “it will not be taken in good taste by my government which had extended invitation to you for a visit to India much ahead of the Chinese invitation:”

“You will have to pay the price”, said Ambassador Sood in an angered voice to Comrade Dahal leaving the latter to ponder over the “diplomatic liquidation” of the Indian envoys and more so of the men manning the South Block administration in New Delhi.

Nevertheless, PM Dahal remained undeterred and instructed Foreign Secretary Gyan Chandra Acharya to go ahead with the China trip arrangements.

Prachanda annoys India:

The next day, August 20, 2008 PM Dahal rushed to see the Koshi River flood victims.

Words of compassion apart to the flood affected ones who were in hundred of thousands, Prime Minister Dahal summarily blamed India for the Koshi river adversity of the Himalayan scale brought about this time to the lives of the Nepali population residing close to the embankment of the said river in Ineruwa district.

This was not all. In effect Nepal PM said that the “Koshi River agreement signed with India was a Historical gaffe and that India will be taken to task for the tragedies that befell upon the local population.

“We will soon talk to the Indian government and a review of all the past and unequal treaties/agreements signed with the other side at different intervals of time”, is what PM Dahal said to the media men which must have panicked the authorities seated in Delhi.

The utterance of Historical blunder was some what a very rough and tough word used against India and the latter will not easily digest this very special word which is used at times of Himalayan hatred for some disliked ones.

How the Indian establishment strikes back to this Prachanda’s fiery overtures will have to be watched.

Back in Kathmandu, most of the Communist bits and pieces too lambasted at the Indian establishment in tune and made it known to the population that India was the main baddie for Nepal and its overall development.

The message must have reached to Delhi by now.

Save Bimlendra Nidhi, a leader of the Nepali Congress and his ilk, the rest of the political leaders derided India for the Koshi river disaster.

The UML’s absence in the cabinet:

In the mean time, the Maoists were appeasing the UML leaders for joining the Maoist led government. The UML apparently managed the names of the ministers to be sent to the cabinet. However, at the last minute of the swearing in ceremony of the cabinet ministers which was scheduled for 22 August 2008 afternoon at the President’s office, a minor glitch that cropped up in between the Maoists and the UML blocked the way for the swearing in of the UML candidates.

The reasons made public by the UML was that the Maoists did not honored the seniority of the UML leader Bam Dev Gautam and that he should be the second man in the cabinet hierarchy or else no entrance of the party in the government led by the Maoists.

Media reports have it that by now the Maoists have already accepted Mr. Gautam’s seniority and that upon the return of PM Dahal every thing related to the seniority clue will be fixed.

If so then it does ensure that the Maoists led government will last for long contrary to the rumor that PM Dahal may not continue in government more than four months or so.

Nevertheless, PM Dahal some how or the other managed Upendra Yadav’s party candidates to bring into his cabinet.

Come August 22, 2008.

In the early morning of this day, PM Dahal made a passionate appeal to the national population wherein he sought support from all to make his government a grand success.

What must have jolted the Indian brains is that PM Dahal in his maiden address to the nation repeatedly stressed on the need to preserve nationalism, territorial integrity and national sovereignty. Where from he was sensing a threat to these vital aspects, however, he did not reveal.

The habit of the Indian bureaucrats has been that as and when Nepali leaders talk of the preservation of nationalism, it is taken as an anti-Indian stance and thus they prefer to encourage their declared local stooges (which are in thousands in Nepal under salary) to cry foul against such statements.

The China trip and Sood’s absence:

Soon after delivering the address to the nation, PM Dahal flew to China-India’s declared bete noir.

Dahal made this trip despite the fact that he was scolded by the Indian Ambassador. How much the Indian establishment was pained by Prachanda’s China trip could well be observed from the “undiplomatic” act exhibited by Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood.

Out of sheer frustration associated with Himalayan diplomatic debacle, Sood did not show his face at the VVIP lounge wherein he was supposed to bid farewell to Nepal’s Prime Minister to China as per the diplomatic practice.

Persona Non Grata:

In diplomatic practices, all the residential diplomatic heads have compulsorily to be present while seeing off the head of the government of the host country when the latter departs for a friendly trip abroad. Failing to do so, the host government has the right to declare such diplomat as Persona Non Grata.

Fortunately, the US Ambassador Nancy J. Powell and the British Ambassador Dr. Andrew Hall too toed Sood line and remained absent at the airport to see of PM Dahal to China.

But the fact is that, as the rumors say, Ambassador Nancy and Dr. Hall have had prior commitments on that very time and thus they could not make it up with. They had informed the Foreign Ministry of their absence in advance.

However, Sood’s mystifying absence at the airport does tell that he took PM Dahal’s China trip as an insult to “Mother India” and thus preferred to send his negative signals to PM Dahal and his establishment by making a sudden trip to Mustang.

High placed sources say that Sood may have gone to Mustang to ensure as to how his country can spy on the adjoining Tibet in the days ahead.

But then yet gifted analysts claim that the absence of Ambassador Nancy, Sood and Dr. Hall at the airport on August 23, 2008 is nothing but the revival of the now defunct London-Delhi-Washington “axis”.

If this axis has really been revived, as talked, then what is for sure is that extremely bad days for PM Dahal have already begun.

If King Gyanendra could not resist the “pressure” of this axis when in power then PM Dahal is just a small fraction of the whole who could be easily deposed should the countries in the revived axis so desire.

Enter FM Yadav:

Yet another blow to the Indian establishment was provided by none less than by Nepal’s new Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav on 24 August, 2008.

Talking to media men in Kathmandu, minister Yadav condemned the Indian negligence which caused the Koshi River to create havoc in Nepal.

To recall, the areas under flood in Sunsari district fall under the constituency of minister Yadav.

Minister Yadav said that he will raise this issue with the Indian authorites in Delhi. By time this issue approaches you, Mr. Yadav will already be in Delhi.

How the Indian hawks chide Nepal’s foreign minister will be no less interesting an event to mull over.

All in all, by the Indian standard Prime Minister Dahal has committed a crime by denouncing India and flying to China.

Prachanda meets Chinese President and PM:

The final shock Indian establishment received was on August 24, 2008 when PM Dahal was warmly greeted by the Chinese President and the Prime Minister at the Great Hall of the People.

On both the occasion, the Chinese “assured” the Nepal Prime Minister that China will continue its “support” to Nepal. But there was some condition attached. Nepal must not allow pro-Tibetan protests in Kathmandu, this was the Chinese indication made to Nepal.

A beaming and overly excited Premier Dahal later told the media men that his talks with the Chinese top hats had been “extremely fruitful”.

The word fruitful is enough to lose the nerve of South Block mandarins for understandable reasons.

Dahal not a Gandhian adherent:

Analysts opine that Indian nationals residing in Nepal must have received a high voltage current shock when they could see a Chinese airliner carrying Dahal to Beijing via Tibet or Guangzhou. PM Dahal’s maiden trip to China perhaps made it abundantly clear to the other side of the border that he was not at all an adherent of Gandhian philosophy but instead a true “disciple” of late Mao Tse Tung. Now no illusion perhaps.

This should perhaps console the Indian establishment.

MUMBAI  AND Delhi are among the 25 dirtiest cities in the world while the four Indian metros and Bangalore are among the 20 densest cities, according to the Forbes magazine. The US business magazine also lists Sukinda in Orissa and Vapi in Gujarat among the 10 most polluted places globally.
While Mumbai is the seventh dirtiest city, Delhi at No.24 fares little better. But it gets drubbing for the pollution in Yamuna river, which is devoid of marine life and where “garbage and sewage flow freely, creating a rich environment for the growth of water-borne diseases contributing to extremely high rates of infant morbidity.” The top slot as the dirtiest city in the world is taken by Baku in Azerbaijan, suffering lifethreatening levels of air pollution emitted from oil drilling.
The list, now on the magazine’s website, is based on Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s ranking of over 200 cities worldwide on levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital services, medical supplies and the presence of infectious diseases. New York was used as the norm. Living in a dense place affects quality of living, unless you have loads of money and the place is gentrified like Tokyo and New York, the magazine commented. Dense is, however, a relative term. “A Mumbai native visiting New York is bound to feel like a New Yorker vacationing on a Wyoming dude ranch,” it added.
In Forbes’ list of 10 most polluted places on earth, two Indian towns figure. In Sukinda, Orissa, large swathes of the area’s surface water and drinking water contain very high covalent chromium levels, potentially affecting 2.6 million people, the magazine said. Sukinda is home to almost all of the country’s chromite ore. However, some reports said Sukinda was not that polluted. In Vapi, the pollutants are chemicals and heavy metals from industrial estates, potentially affecting over 70,000 people. Mercury in the groundwater here is reported to be 96 times higher than the World health Or ganisation standards.