Save Rama Sethu at any cost and drive away disastrous demons from Bharat right now.

SHRI RAMA SETHU: GLOBAL INQUIRY CONFIRMS SETHU PLAN DISASTROUS.

Kumar Chellappan | CHENNAI | The Daily Pioneer | 04 April 2013 :: DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s dream project, the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project, is set to hit international headlines, for all the wrong reasons.

In what could be a major embarrassment to the UPA Government, a high-level team of marine scientists, environmentalists, geologists and marine engineers, appointed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has found that the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP) is detrimental to the maritime and environmental resources of the island nation.

The experts were shocked to learn that India, which swears by Panchsheel principles and firmly believes in non-interference in the affairs of other countries, has blatantly violated all global norms like the International Law of Seas and MARPOL Convention, in conceiving the project.

In a report submitted to the Sri Lankan Government, the high-powered team has expressed dismay that though the 167-km long channel lies close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between India and Sri Lanka, the Indian Government has not taken into account the environmental and maritime impact the project could have on Sri Lanka.

As per the International Law of Seas accepted by the United Nations in 1968, India should have sought the concurrence of Sri Lanka before launching the project.

“The Sethusamudram Channel lies close to the IMBL between India and Sri Lanka. Both countries should get the concurrence of each other for any construction activities which fall near the IMBL. India has violated this age-old practice and Sri Lanka will definitely take up this issue,” a source close to the Sri Lankan Government told The Pioneer.

He said Sri Lankan leaders, irrespective of party affiliations, were upset over the indifference shown by the UPA Government towards the island nation while taking up the SSCP.

“You can expect a strongly worded statement by the Sri Lankan Government any time now. The Sethusamudram Project in all likelihood will end up in the United Nations,”said the source.

The MARPOL Convention (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from ships) is a marine environmental convention designed to minimize pollution of the seas including dumping, oil spillage and exhaust pollution.

It was formed on October 2, 1983 (as a mark of respect to Mahatma Gandhi) and as of December 2005, 136 countries, representing 98 per cent of the world’s shipping tonnage, are parties to the Convention. It has been accepted all over the world that the Gulf of Mannar as well as the Palk Bay are ecological hot spots and nothing should be done to disturb their present status.

The scientific team appointed by Sri Lanka found that the initial dredging, infinite maintenance dredging and subsequent shipping through the channel would be disastrous to Sri Lanka.

Ariyaratne Hewage, secretary, Sri Lankan Education Ministry, was the chairman of the committee while Professor Shantha Hennayake, a geologist of international repute and deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, was the vice-chairman .

The recommendations submitted by the committee to the Sri Lankan Government ( a copy of the executive summary is with The Pioneer) has noted that though the region through which the channel is being built was an ecologically and environmentally fragile area, no action has been taken by the Indian Government to minimize the environmental and maritime impact it could have on Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan experts have noted that the studies, primarily the project document and the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) study carried out by India, prior to the commencement of the SSCP, are inadequate for a number of reasons. “These studies have not identified and evaluated the full extent of the impact. The channel design has not been optimized for minimum impact. The most pressing concern for Sri Lanka is that none of the Indian studies have proposed any mitigation measures for the impact occurring on Sri Lanka,” Prof Hennayake told The Pioneer over telephone from Colombo.

He said Sri Lanka has nothing against India building any channels or canals, as long as they do not disturb the ecological and environmental balance of the region.

“However, this is a project which is detrimental to both India and Sri Lanka. Any dredging work along the placid waters of the Palk Bay is a sure recipe to environmental disaster.

“Strangely, India confined the study of the environmental and ecological impact of the project to their side and forgot the existence of Sri Lanka. This is saddening,” he said.

The experts have warned that the marine wealth (especially fish) in the region would be destroyed permanently with the commissioning of the SSCP.

“The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay, lying between the two countries, are unique, biologically rich areas linking two large marine ecosystems. This stretch of the sea is a rich source of all types of fish. Unless we accurately forecast and adequately mitigate the impact of the dredging of the channel this could destroy this sensitive and fragile marine ecosystem located between the two countries. It would also impact the fishing communities on the northern and north-western coast of Sri Lanka as they mainly fish in the potential area of impact on the Sri Lankan side of the channel,” said the recommendations submitted by the expert committee.

What the committee left unsaid is that the majority of those who will be robbed of their livelihoods will be Tamil fishermen who constitute the majority of the population in the two regions.

The study found that modelling studies were also inadequate. “Modelling needs to be backed by better field data to reach levels of accuracy required to satisfy the requirement of such a major undertaking. Increase in volumetric water exchange across Adam’s Bridge due to the canal and its impact on the ecology of the region has not been studied,” said the report.

The SSCP received negative attention globally in 2010 when Stjepan Mesic, then President of Croatia, expressed concern over the UPA Government’s move to demolish the Ram Sethu for constructing the channel. Mesic had told Swami Maheshwarananda Paramhans, a Yoga guru, that he would ask the UNESCO to declare the Ram Sethu as a World Heritage site.

What they don't tell you about elections

By Maha Balakrishnan

What are you voting for in the coming general election? When you mark your ballot paper, are you voting for who you want as prime minister of Malaysia?

Parliament has just been dissolved, but for months now, we have been inundated with billboards, television advertisements and snail-mail flyers of prime minister Najib Razak, touting his achievements over the last four years, his proposed policies for the future and why it is important to keep him on as prime minister to realise the dream of a united, prosperous 1Malaysia.

Sometimes, other faces may appear on these promotional materials next to him - usually, the BN candidate likely to be fielded in the 13th general elections in that particular constituency.

But it is Najib's face, endorsement or words that are prominent.

What do these promotional materials say to you?

Do they say, "Vote for BN if you want Najib as your prime minister"?

Do they say to you, "If you want our product - Najib and his 1Malaysia - then the price is your vote for BN"?

The promotional campaign that BN has been running these last few months tries to focus the eye of the electorate on who it is they wish to see as prime minister of Malaysia.

The campaign tries to enforce a simple yet dominant connection in your mind: Najib = BN.

So vote for the BN candidate running in your constituency if you want to keep Najib as prime minister.

But this simple message is grossly misleading.

It gives a false impression about what it is we actually vote for when we step into the polling booth.

When your hand is poised to mark an ‘X' on the ballot paper on polling day, you will not be voting for who will become prime minister.

You will be voting for who you want as your representative in the Dewan Rakyat (your ‘MP'), and some of you will also be voting for a lawmaker to sit in your state assembly.

It is our MPs, once elected, who get to decide who is to be prime minister.

Under our federal constitution, the king appoints the prime minister, but the appointee must command the confidence of the majority of the MPs of the Dewan Rakyat.

So, making sure that the majority of the MPs come from one particular political coalition only ensures that the prime minister will be from that coalition.

It does not ensure who among the MPs of that coalition will be prime minister.

That depends on who it is the majority of the MPs wishes to be prime minister.

And during their elected term, these MPs can change their minds and place their confidence in someone else to be prime minister.

Is it a certainty that if BN wins a majority of parliamentary seats in the 13th general election, its MPs will keep Najib as prime minister? No, it is not.

The ruling party's words and actions tell us that there is no guarantee that Najib will continue to be prime minister if BN wins the next general elections.

Their words and actions suggest that Najib can only be guaranteed the "confidence" of the ruling party if he wins a stronger parliamentary majority and regains its lost two-thirds majority.

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself has reportedly told AFP that Najib could face a ruling-party leadership putsch if he doesn't improve on BN's results in the 2008 general elections and that if Najib did not perform, there will be "some necessity to switch horses".

Mahathir tempered his words a few days later by stating that what he had said was "only theoretical".

Yet Mahathir's ‘theory' was not met with a collective public rejection by Najib's colleagues in BN or a public pledge of allegiance to him whatever the margin of his victory at the polls.

Tied to this, the ominous lesson from our recent history, involving Najib's predecessor, no less.

In the 2008 general elections, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was the incumbent prime minister, and plugged by BN to continue as prime minister if it won.

But BN lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority and subsequently, the country lost Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as prime minister.

No doubt, those who voted for the BN candidates in those elections did so anticipating and perhaps seeking Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's continuation as prime minister for another term.

What they got instead about a year later was someone else as prime minister, someone who did not get a mandate at the polls.

Ask yourselves, what are the chances that BN will get a two-thirds parliamentary majority in the 13th general elections?

Are significantly more voters likely to vote for BN candidates in the coming elections than in the last one?

Look to the independent voter surveys and election analyses - do any of them point to a high degree of certainty that BN will capture a two-thirds majority?

Because that is what needs to happen for Najib to be guaranteed his position.

Where does that leave you? You may be one of the many Malaysians with deep misgivings over BN or its component parties, their policies or the direction they have taken the country in the last 55 years.

But at the same time, you may feel that the country is on the right track under Najib's stewardship and you may be willing to give him five more years at the helm, so long as he leads and controls the policies of the party in power.

On the strength of this, you may be ready to cast your vote in favour of whichever BN MP is running in your constituency, in the belief that a vote for that BN MP is a vote to keep Najib as prime minister.

But your vote may not buy you what you seek.

Between your vote and what you seek are 13.1 million registered voters and the internal power play of a political coalition whose policies and conduct you do not agree with.

So when deciding who to vote, look to the party not its titular leader, because the party can change its leadership without checking with you first.

Vote based on the party's policies, track record and conduct, not only on those of its current leader.

Before using the currency of your vote, weigh the costs and risks of what it is you are purchasing.

Ask yourself if you could live with the next level of leadership of the political party leading your country if your favoured candidate gets the boot.

Ask yourself if you are willing to take the risk that the policies of the leader that you favour may expire along with his position in a few months' time.

Don't allow the gloss and spin of the election campaign to be the basis of your vote.

As with the purchase of any advertised product, before casting your vote, find the fine print, conduct your own research and be certain of what it is you are buying.

With the current BN campaign, you are not seeing the fine print.

Not your fault; the fine print is invisible.

But let me summarise what it says:

Seller does not warrant that final product will be as advertised.
Seller reserves the right to replace product with a completely different or inferior product.
The final product provided is non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

And remember: if you are unhappy with the uncertainty of what is on offer, you are free to see what other products are on the market.

Or, choose not to buy this time around.

The decision is yours.

But since your fate is tied to mine, I hope the decision is an informed and well thought out one.

Hindraf's right struggle, but wrong path

By Maniam Sankar

N Ganesan, replying for Hindraf chief P Waythamoorthy, has succeeded in demonising the good Mariam Mokhtar for daring to question the tactics of Waythamoorthy.

If Hindraf cannot engage in cultured discussion and rebuttals, all of Mariam's comments about Hindraf's desperation and misplaced self-importance will be shown to be true.

And using Mariam to demand answers of Anwar Ibrahim highlights that and Hindraf's impotence and perhaps growing irrelevance.

Hindraf has a serious point in wanting to reverse 50 years of neglect.
However, their's is not the only way.

If they don't realise that and work with those with some common interests, they will destine themselves to oblivion.

If Ganesan's letter is indicative of their thinking, Hindraf is already on that path.

Uthaya forces three-way fights in Pakatan seats

The Human Rights Party will force three-cornered fights in eight Pakatan Selangor seats that are largely strongholds of Pakatan senior leaders.

The Hindraf offshoot today announced their intention to contest in three parliamentary and its accompanying state seats: Kota Raja (Seri Andalas and Seri Muda), Kuala Selangor (Ijok and Bukit Melawati) and Kelana Jaya (Seri Setia).

Their leader P Uthayakumar (centre in photo) will be vying for both a state and parliamentary seat.

"Our candidate for P111 Kota Raja and N49 Seri Andalas will be P Uthayakumar," said HRP's protem national treasurer A Sugumaran at a press conference today.

HRP is one of the factions that resulted from a multiple split in the Hindu rights movement Hindraf after its milestone street protest in 2007.

Uthayakumar's brother Waythamoorthy heads another offshoot that has been attempting to court both Pakatan Rakyat and BN with its blueprint to solve the problems of the Indian community.

Uthaya upbeat on winning

Uthayakumar said he has chosen to run in Kota Raja because the constituency has roughly 29 percent Indian voters, whom he expects to support his movement.

He expects the 44 percent Malay voters to be split between BN and Pakatan.

He is counting on getting the full Indian vote and a part of the Chinese vote to secure him a safe win.

He added that BN is unlikely to have a strong presence due to the absence of Felda voters, Orang Asli and army postal voters that are the ruling party’s "fixed deposit".

Uthayakumar said their theme for the election will be 'Send the first Hindraf MP to Parliament'.

He said having a Hindraf rep in the house will be able to solve the problems of poverty and statelessness afflicting the Indian community.

“If I have power, I can do a lot more, but up to now all I can do is to highlight the issues,” he said.

HRP, an attempt to turn the Hindraf movement into a political force, has however been frustrated by the Registrar of Societies’ rejection of their application.

Bersih sets rules for caretaker govt, candidates

Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga says any politician who violates the prohibitions listed in their guidelines will be blacklisted by the coalition.

PETALING JAYA: Impatient with the authorities’ feet-dragging over the matter, the coalition for free and fair elections, Bersih 2.0, today launched a guideline for the caretaker government, as well as code of conduct for Election 2013 participants.

“This is the right time, as the parliament was dissolved yesterday and a caretaker government is now in place. Since no one is interested in issuing guidelines for the caretaker government, Bersih has issued it,” said Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga at a press conference today.

“Basically a caretaker government can’t do much. Delivery of services, security… all of these the caretaker government must provide to everybody without fear or favour or bias,” she explained.

According to the guidelines she read out, a caretaker government is unable to:

make major policy decisions that are likely to commit an incoming government;

make significant appointments;

enter major contracts or undertakings;

announce new financial grants in any form whatsoever or promises thereof;

lay foundation stones etc., or projects or schemes of any kind; and

make any new promises of construction of infrastructure or the carrying out of public projects.

Last Thursday, Election Commission (EC) chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said it had no power to make guidelines for the caretaker government as there was no provision under the constitution and law.

De facto law minister Nazri Aziz, meanwhile, said last week he was requesting the Attorney-General’s Chambers to set the guidelines for the caretaker government, but Bersih today pointed out he was too slow.

“It’s a bit late by now, if the guidelines aren’t out by the time the Parliament is dissolved. But they can always refer to our guidelines,” said Ambiga.

Universal standards


Meanwhile, the code of conduct for participants of the 13th general election prepared by Bersih prohibits speech that promotes ill-will and hostility, smear campaigns, intimidation and violence, and election offences.

It also emphasised the freedom of journalists and election observers to carry out their duties.

Ambiga said that the list of rules was adopted from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 1994 Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections, the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom, the Election Commission of India, and the Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate of the Australian Capital Territory.

“The reason we set out the IPU declaration and resolution is because Malaysia has been a member since 1967. We also sit on the Human Rights Council.

“So all these standards we refer to are universal standards. As members, we have a moral duty to abide by standards and regulations. Nobody can therefore say they aren’t aware,” she said.

Name and shame

When asked what sanctions would be placed on individuals who violated the guidelines, Ambiga said Bersih would name and shame them.

“There will be consequences,” she promised. “We will keep an eye on them, on all the candidates. So whoever breaches this code of conduct, we will take them to task.

“This is the people enforcing and demanding the best conduct from our potential leaders. If the candidates breach this rule, we will blacklist them on our website.”

But she said that all individuals would be given a chance to explain themselves and apologise before being blacklisted.

Maria Chin Abdullah, who is a Bersih steering committee member, said that they already had two potential candidates for their blacklist: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Hishammuddin had last month blamed the opposition pact for the increasing political violence, saying that they had riled up BN supporters with their derogatory labels of the police force.

Meanwhile, after Najib announced the Dewan Rakyat’s dissolution, Zahid had tweeted yesterday: “we shall move to the warzone to kill all adversed (sic) politicial intruders.”

“What does he mean and why does he use such harsh words? ‘Kill’? are we entering the war zone?” Maria said.

“We will give them a chance to refute before blacklisting. And even after they are blacklisted, they can come to us and rectify.”

Najib, Palani will decide on Samy’s ‘request’

The former MIC president has indicated that he is a winnable candidate and wants to contest again in Sungai Siput.

PUTRAJAYA: Although former MIC president S Samy Vellu has declared himself as a “winnable candidate” in the 13th general election, his position will only be decided by Barisan Nasional chairman Najib Tun Razak and MIC president G Palanivel.

MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam said only Najib and Palanivel could decide on the selection of candidates and constituencies representing the party although certain leaders had strong confidence in contesting and ensuring victory for the MIC and BN.

“The question of who will be the candidates and representing which constituencies will be finalised by the MIC president and BN chairman. Anyone can say anything, but only the two leaders have the power to decide [for the MIC],” he told reporters, here today.

Subramaniam was asked to comment on the statement by Samy Vellu who had expressed his strong desire to contest again in the Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency after failing to defend the seat he had held since 1974, in the 12th general election.

In the 2008 general election, the former works minister lost in Sungai Siput, which had long been an MIC stronghold, to Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj from the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) by a majority of 1,821 votes.

Following the dissolution of Parliament yesterday, Samy Vellu, who is the Malaysian special envoy to India and South Asia for infrastructure, said he was prepared to contest if the prime minister decides that he is the right candidate for BN.

Man claims he was shot by police

(The Star) - Mahendran underwent surgery at the hospital and upon being discharged, found out he is being investigated by the Sentul police for attempted murder and is currently on police bail.

A 24-year-old man has claimed that he was shot by four men who identified themselves as policemen when he refused to get out of his car.

S. Mahendran who lives in Sentul said the incident occurred at 5am on March 3 when he was leaving a restaurant in his car along Jalan Khalsa off Jalan Ipoh here.

“Three men in plainclothes and on motorcycles pulled up next to me at the traffic junction and identified themselves as policemen.

“They ordered me out of the car. I refused and instead asked them to show their police identity cards first,” he said during a press conference held with Suaram at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Mahendran, who is unemployed, said he had been a victim of two robberies in 2012 and most recently in February this year and was afraid the men in plainclothes could be posing as bogus cops.

He drove to a police station in Jalan Kasipillay and the trio on motorcycles trailed him there. A fourth man claiming to be a policeman also asked him to get out of the car.

“I feared for my safety and decided to leave but as I was driving off, I knocked into one of the motorcycles belonging to the men. The next thing I heard was gun shots and I felt pain in my left thigh,” he said, adding that the group did not pursue him.

Mahendran called his father, who lives in Klang, and the father told him to get a friend to drive him to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang.

Mahendran underwent surgery at the hospital and upon being discharged, found out he is being investigated by the Sentul police for attempted murder and is currently on police bail.

“I have lodged a police report on the matter and hope the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters or Bukit Aman would look into my case,” he said.

He added that he is astounded by the alleged policemen opening fire outside a police station and having the cheek to investigate him for attempted murder.

Sentul OCPD Asst Comm Zakaria Pagan confirmed the case and said police are investigating.

Najib hands out citizenship papers to Indians ahead of polls

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today handed out documents Datuk Seri Najib Razak handing over a citizenship certificate to Ng Hiang Moon. – Saw Siow Fengto help solve the citizenship status of some “stateless” Indians, a key issue for the community, just ahead of Election 2013 expected to be held soon.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman said today’s event, which saw him giving out birth certificates, entry permits and citizenship papers to 120 recipients of which a majority of them are Indians, showed he had kept the promise he made immediately after taking office in April 2009.

“After 100 days of me leading this administration, I had promised to solve the registration problem as soon as possible. I made it one of the 12 key promises,” he told about 1,000 people who attended the documents distribution event in Sentul here.

“From then on, the government had worked hard to achieve that target,” added the Pekan lawmaker, who will be seeking his own mandate as prime minister in the upcoming polls.

He claimed Putrajaya had to date solved 219,000 cases involving citizenship documents while half of the 7,600 applications for identity documents from the Indian community from 2012 to this year had been solved.

The success in achieving the “tough task”, was credited to his flagship Government Transformation Plan (GTP) which changed the mindset of the relevant ministry to adopt a radical solution to the problem, added Najib.

The GTP was trumpeted as one of the many achievements of the Najib administration on live television just days before the BN chairman announced the dissolution of Parliament yesterday.

In its push for the country’s third biggest electorate, the opposition claimed the Najib administration had failed to address the “stateless” Indian problem, alleging there are 300,000 Malaysia-born Indians still without papers as a result of racial discrimination.

The federal opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat (PR) said it would gather the 300,000 in a protest in front of the National Registration Department in Putrajaya but only 300 had turned up.

PR had also included in its elections manifesto the pledge to solve all 300,000 cases within 100 days should it be voted into power but Najib today dismissed the idea as “impossible”.

“I asked the officers of the home ministry, if it was possible to do this. They told me ‘no’. Why? Because first, there are no 300,000. And even if there are, this means they have to solve 3000 cases a day. That is impossible,” he said.

“This is just another one of their false promises, their lies,” Najib said, an argument often repeated by members of the ruling coalition to counter PR’s elections pledges.

Polling day is expected to be held by the end of April and Najib is scheduled to unveil BN’s manifesto this Saturday.

He had often boasted of how his government have offered voters a better social and economic future based on realistic reformist policies and but needed a stronger mandate to continue with his “unfinished” work.

“I am responsible for all Malaysians, I want a government that can give social justice... we will return to Putrajaya because our work is unfinished.

“But with a stronger mandate, you will see a greater transformation,” he said.

Earlier today the prime minister said he was “cautiously optimistic” BN would “win big” in the 13th general election, but stressed that the ruling coalition had to work hard and minimise internal problems.

Yesterday former president of BN’s Indian component party Datuk Seri Samy Vellu said he believed the ruling coalition will garner a bigger majority with Indian support.

India's US$35 Touchscreen Tablet Circus

It's no Apple...

(Asia Sentinel) Former HRD minister Kapil Sibal behind Aakash fiasco
It was a project of great national pride - to beat the rest of the world to an affordable touchscreen tablet for online education delivery. Touted in 2009 by Kapil Sibal, then Minister of Human Resource Development as India's low-cost US$35 tablet breakthrough for students, the Aakash made headlines around the world.

The Aakash is now making headlines for failure.

DataWind, the company that pitched the idea to Kapil, received 1.4 million prepaid orders by February 2012. But instead of delivering promptly, DataWind offered 'rebates' for its higher-priced US$77 and US$96 UbiSlate 7 models, angering consumers who refused to take the up-sell bait. Many who did receive their US$35 Aakash found its screen awkward, its battery life too short and with annoying glitches. Many more were left angry with neither tablet nor cash.

Although DataWind secured the tender for 100,000 units for subsidized distribution to schools, the company's second deadline passed at the end of March after it missed its December shipment date. Only 20,000 have been supplied so far - a shortfall of 80 percent on a globally publicized government breakthrough claim.

Suneet Singh Tuli CEO of DataWind blamed India Customs' verification process for the delay in delivery. Declaring his commitment to the Indian hi-tech industry, Tuli claimed that "In addition to the four new Indian manufacturing partners for the Aakash 2 tablets, DataWind has also set up India's first touch-screen lab in Amritsar." He reiterated that the outstanding units for the HRD tender are being readied for shipment to the Indian Instititute of Technology in Bombay - the executing agency.

The made-in-China Aakash
Another embarrassment occurred when President Pranab Mukherjee officiated at a high-profile presentation of the Aakash last November, puffed with national pride. The new HRD minister, Pallam Raju, and minister of state Shashi Tharoor beamed alongside him. But then India Ink, a news website owned by the New York Times, reported on Nov. 26 that its investigations into the Aakash found the units had actually been sourced from four Chinese manufacturers. Telephone and email checks by India Ink with the Chinese firms confirmed that components and assembly of the hardware were executed there.

Suneet Singh Tuli told India Ink that "for expediency sake we had the motherboards and kits manufactured in our Chinese subcontractor's facilities, and then the units have been 'kitted' in China at various manufacturers," Tuli said the assembly, and programming was done at DataWind's lab in Amritsar and in Delhi.

New minister reviews Aakash project
Minister Sibal's successor at HRD, Pallam Raju, has appointed two review committees to report on the project and DataWind - pending a new tender deferred from February for 5 million units. One committee is headed by Prof Goverdhan Mehta who is chairman of the board of governors at IIT Jodhpur and the other is headed by NIIT Chairman Rajendra Pawar. Prof Mehta's report has reportedly been submitted to the ministry which is waiting for Rajendra Pawar's before deciding which way to turn on the embarrassment.

IIT Jodhpur was originally charged with supervising the DataWind contract. However the Jodhpur tech guardians squabbled with Datawind over testing procedures and specifications, with bitter recriminations following between the vendor and the testing institution. The HRD ministry under Kapil Sibal intervened to switch technical supervision to IIT Bombay and to referee the contract.

Pallam Raju, however, is shifting thinking away from obsessing with hardware manufacture. The new HRD minister prefers to focus on the education content eco-system and 'last-mile' connectivity for students and teachers to access via tablets. There are a range of tablets at the US$35 price point now as hardware components get cheaper, giving consumers better screen quality, battery life and reliability.

The HRD minister feels students should be able to decide freely which tablet to buy while the ministry focuses on connectivity and availability of content as its mission.

"Aakash will enable you to access content," Raju said. "But there are others which have come up...Students will pick whatever serves their purpose better and is affordable. Developing the product as content is an ongoing exercise. Production of the hardware is where the project failed."

Netizens scathing in cyber-chatter
Meanwhile the cyber-chatter on the Aakash has been vicious, ranging from dismay at using the IITs as "testing labs for junk products" to describing Kapil Sibal as a serial scam-master for the Congress Party. He was the minister in charge of the Telecoms ministry when the 2G scandal surfaced. He dismissed the massive losses to the government as 'nominal' although India's Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) assessed a 'presumptive loss' to the treasury of US$33 billion.

At his prior science and technology portfolio, Kapil had a grand vision to build a database of 500,000 Indians resident in the US. A CAG report implicated him in favoring a particular company for the tender to build the database. Payments were made but the project was abandoned "with only 16 percent of the work completed."

Kapil is now lodged at the communications and information technology ministry where his refusal to remove Article 66A of the Information Technology Act used to arrest two schoolgirls for complaining on Facebook about the shutdown of Mumbai on the death of Bal Thackeray*, led to activists hacking his personal website in November 2012 to post this message: "Born with a below-60 IQ he thought he could mess with the Internet and let his party suppress freedom of speech."

*Bal Thackeray was a xenophobic champion of ethnocentric exclusivity for Maharashtra state against what he saw as an invasion of immigrants from Bihar, Rajasthan and South India. He founded the Shiv Sena as a political party and organized goons to terrorize 'foreigners' who applied for jobs at Maharashtra institutions. He wielded such influence of terror that actors, politicians and businessmen paid homage at his funeral which brought Mumbai to a standstill. He is on public record as an admirer of Adolf Hitler.

(Cyril Pereira is a regular contributor to Asia Sentinel)

GE13: Polls date likely by end of April

The Star
by RAZAK AHMAD and MAZWIN NIK ANIS

PETALING JAYA: Now that the Dewan Rakyat has been dissolved to pave way for the 13th general election, the focus is on polling, which is expected to be held before the end of this month.

However, we will have to wait a few more days for the exact date because the Election Commission will only decide next week as seven states did not dissolve their legislatures yesterday.

Despite no clear indication, the most speculated polling date is April 27, which is a Saturday when most Malaysian elections have been held, with nomination at least 11 days earlier on April 16.

Under the Constitution, polling must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of the De-wan Rakyat.

For the 2008 general election, the Dewan Rakyat was dissolved on Feb 13 that year, the EC gave itself 10 days to prepare for nomination, which was fixed for Feb 24 with polling on March 8. This means a gap of 25 days between dissolution and polling.

Polling in the past two general elections took place on a weekend. So, if the trend continues, the first available weekend 25 days after dissolution is April 27.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the commission was waiting for all states to notify it of their dissolution before meeting early next week to decide on the nomination and polling dates.

“Hopefully, by the end of Thursday (today), we would have received notification on the dissolution of all state assemblies by the respective speakers,” he told The Star.

At press time, Malacca, Perlis, Perak, Terengganu, Pahang and Sabah had dissolved their state assemblies while Johor and the four Pakatan Rakyat-controlled states of Kedah, Kelantan, Selangor and Penang are expected to disband their legislatures today.

With the dissolution of Parliament, both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat have hit the ground running for their showdown.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will chair the Umno supreme council meeting at 9am today, followed by a session with Barisan component party presidents.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister will unveil the Barisan manifesto at a Perhimpunan Janji 1Malaysia Rakyat Didahulukan event at Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil.

The Pakatan leadership council will hold a meeting on elections preparations today at the PKR headquarters here.

Newsflash: Anwar Ibrahim Di Lenggong Perak 04/04/2013

Open Letter to Tengku Razaleigh: Time to Take a Bold Stand

by Koon Yew Yin

As the election date draws nearer, it is important that all politicians wishing to take part should make known to the public what they stand for.

Among our political leaders, there are few that have earned the respect of Malaysians in the same way that Tengku Razaleigh has. Through his actions he has struck many as a man of honour, decency, good sense and ability. These qualities – not superhuman virtues – are the ones needed at the helm of the nation to guide us through this difficult time of racial and religious extremism, and unquenched opportunism and power craze.

On what Tengku Razaleigh stands for, there is little or no doubt. However, given his marginalization in the mainstream media, many Malaysians may not be aware of his political philosophy. This philosophy which I heard him elaborate on in Ipoh in 2012 could serve as the template for the nation’s political development. It has served as the template for my book, Malaysia: Road Map for Achieving Vision 2020.

I call on all election candidates – as well as parties – across the political divide to read and endorse Tungku Razaleigh’s 10 principles contained in his speech to the Perak Academy event. These ‘10 Golden Political Principles’ are necessary to ensure Malaysia’s political future, irrespective of whichever coalition party wins the elections.

Ku LI’s Ten Golden Political Principles

1. All political parties are required to include in their constitutional objectives the equality of citizenship as provided for in the Federal Constitution.

2. An economic and political policy that political parties propagate must not discriminate against any citizen.

3. All parties shall include and uphold constitutional democracy and the separation of powers as a fundamental principle.

4. It shall be the duty of all political parties to adhere to the objectives of public service and refrain from involvement in business, and ensure the separation of business from political parties.

5. It shall be the duty of all political parties to ensure and respect the independence of the judiciary and the judicial process.

6. All parties shall ensure that the party election system will adhere to the highest standards of conduct, and also ensure that the elections are free of corrupt practices. Legislation should be considered to provide funding of political parties.

7. It shall be the duty of all parties to ensure that all political dialogues and statements will not create racial or religious animosity.

8. All parties undertake not to use racial and communal agitation as political policies.

9. To remove and eradicate all barriers that hinder national unity and Malaysian identity.

10. To uphold the Federal and State Constitutions and its democratic intent and spirit, the Rule of Law, the fundamental liberties as enshrined in Part II of the Malaysian Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Taking a Stand on Party of Choice Based on Principle

If adhered to by the winning coalition, these principles – not what are in the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat elections manifestos – can provide an important foundation for rebuilding our Malaysian unity which has been undermined by the likes of Ibrahim Ali, Perkasa and sadly too, the former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir.

Whilst Tengku Razaleigh does not need to publicly restate his political philosophy, there is an urgent need for him to decide whether he should stand as an UMNO candidate or on some other platform and to announce this decision to the public as soon as possible. Now is the correct time for put his principles into practice.

Should Tengku Razaleigh decide to stand as a candidate of UMNO – a party lacking in the political integrity and ethical standards that he has espoused – I and many other Malaysians who have the deepest respect for him – will feel badly disappointed and let down.

We are sure he is aware of the saying, “It is better to die with honour, than to live without.”

PAS Will Not Mediate In Johor PKR-DAP Quarrel

JOHOR BAHARU, April 4 (Bernama) -- Johor PAS will not be mediator in the quarrel between DAP and PKR, which appears to be worsening over the allocation of seats in the state for the 13th general election (13GE).

Its commissioner Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed said he regarded the quarrel between two of the partners in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as "small" and did not require the intervention of a third party.

He also believed that the Johor DAP-PKR tiff would not affect PR's preparations and cooperation in facing the 13GE in the Barisan Nasional stronghold.

Besides tussling over the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat, PKR and DAP are also quarrelling over which of the two parties should be contesting the Johor Jaya and Tangkak state seats and Segamat parliamentary seat.

The recent announcement that DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang would be contesting in Gelang Patah, had upset Johor PKR chairman Datuk Chua Jui Ming who decided to take a "long leave" from party activities. Following this, the state PKR leadership stated that it would not compromise anymore with DAP in the allocation of seats.

Meanwhile, Mahfodz said Johor PAS would be fielding candidates in eight parliamentary seats and 29 or 30 state seats in this general election.

He, however, declined to say where PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub would be contesting, although there were reports saying that he would be vying for the Pulai parliamentary seat and Nusajaya state seat.

Four Years Of Building A Brighter Future - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- The core of the country's transformation is national unity irrespective of race or religious belief, with nobody should be left behind as the country moves ahead to developed nation status, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

In his www.1malaysia.com.my blog posting today, Najib said the concept of 1Malaysia was born together with various initiatives that benefit the people till this day.

"From housing and healthcare to food and education, you can find many 1Malaysia-themed programmes that provide affordable and quality services for all Malaysians," he said.

He said the Economic Transformation Programme had delivered real results in this regard, and while many countries remain mired in debt and low growth, Malaysia had raced ahead.

"Last year, for instance, our economy grew at an average rate of 5.6 per cent, bringing new jobs and prosperity to the people," he said.

On political transformation, Najib said since 2009, he had answered the people's calls for greater freedoms through a package of political reforms that represent the greatest increase in civil liberties since Independence.

"These include repealing the Internal Security Act, allowing greater student participation in politics, liberalising media laws and introducing the Peaceful Assembly Act. I also look forward to repealing the Sedition Act and replacing it with legislation more suited to our times," he said.

On global leadership, he said it was important for Malaysia to maintain strong ties with its allies and neighbours and to act as a positive influence in the world.

"In this regard, we have worked hard and in good faith to help encourage lasting peace in troubled parts of our region.

"And through the Global Movement of the Moderates, we have also tried to bridge the differences between East and West and show Islam in its true light, as a religion of peace. The Global Movement of the Moderates has been praised by leaders across the world, including (United States) President (Barack) Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron," he said.

Najib said new, online channels had also been opened to facilitate easier communication between the people and the government.

"Through Facebook and Twitter, I have enjoyed sharing information as well as listening to what the people have to say. The era of 'government knows best is truly over," he said.

He said although the country had accomplished a lot, there were still so much left to do.

"So, let us move forward together, and enjoy four more years of progress and prosperity," he added.

P. Uthayakumar Bakal Bertanding di Parlimen Kota Raja

Parti Hak Asasi Manusia (HRP) akan menampilkan P. Uthayakumar sebagai calon bertanding untuk pilihanraya umum nanti di kawasan parlimen Kota Raja Dan Dewan Undangan Negeri, Dun Sri Andalas. Ketika bercakap kepada media di Ibu negara, beliau berkata, pencalonannya adalah bagi memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat India miskin di negara ini.

Tolong kilk link dibawah untuk menonton video :

 http://www.mobtv.my/current_affairs-3096.html