WB CM on Nandigram
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“They had occupied the area for 11 months. So our people had no choice.”
‘They’ve been paid back in their own coin,” asserted the chief minister. That instant, the chief minister didn’t seem even remotely concerned about whether he represented the state government or his party. The lines had evidently been blurred.
- Economic Times, 14 Nov 2007
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So the Chief Minister's 'our people' are not really the people of his state ... ... God save the state..
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Nandigram updates - Nov 2007
Mamata Banerjee resigned as Member of Parliament on Saturday in protest against the continued violence in West Bengal's Nandigram: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032372&ch=11/10/2007%205:21:00%20PM
Nandigram turns into 'war zone': http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032375&ch=11/10/2007%2011:12:00%20AM
In a strong criticism of ruling Left Front major CPI(M), West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Friday night termed as ''unlawful and unacceptable'' the manner of recapture of villages in Nandigram: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032348&ch=11/10/2007%2010:29:00%20AM
CPI-M takes on governor: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=1cfd3f6f-48d6-45b3-b223-f0d38d473d80&ParentID=cd51a76e-cd59-4aca-98f8-19affbe3ebdf&MatchID1=4585&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=8&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1151&MatchID2=4587&TeamID3=3&TeamID4=5&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1152&PrimaryID=4585&Headline=Fresh+violence+in+Nandigram%2c+CPI-M+takes+on+governor
RTI effect: Netaji papers to be released- Hindustan Times
The government is finally preparing to make public a selection of secret and controversial documents relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s reported death and subsequent events.
The documents include communications to and from then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the chiefs of intelligence, which had been given to the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee of 1956 and Justice GD Khosla Commission of 1970.
Both had concluded that Netaji died in an air crash in August 1945, a conclusion trashed
by the Justice M.K. Mukherjee Commission in its November 2005 report.
The documents were never allowed to be made public for the next four decades. Till July, the Union Home Ministry also staved off attempts to release them under the Right To Information law saying the documents sought were voluminous, top secret in nature and may lead to chaos in the country if disclosed.
But a Central Information Commission decision in the same month has helped bring about the change in its assessment.
Officials said the Shivraj Patil-led Home Ministry had come around to the view that there really was no fear of a law and order problem if the secret documents were revealed.
Last week, Patil moved the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs to seek a decision on releasing the files.
The documents include communications to and from then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the chiefs of intelligence, which had been given to the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee of 1956 and Justice GD Khosla Commission of 1970.
Both had concluded that Netaji died in an air crash in August 1945, a conclusion trashed
by the Justice M.K. Mukherjee Commission in its November 2005 report.
The documents were never allowed to be made public for the next four decades. Till July, the Union Home Ministry also staved off attempts to release them under the Right To Information law saying the documents sought were voluminous, top secret in nature and may lead to chaos in the country if disclosed.
But a Central Information Commission decision in the same month has helped bring about the change in its assessment.
Officials said the Shivraj Patil-led Home Ministry had come around to the view that there really was no fear of a law and order problem if the secret documents were revealed.
Last week, Patil moved the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs to seek a decision on releasing the files.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
People' s Tribunal Report on 14 March Nandigram Violence
Nandigram violence dubbed ‘state sponsored massacre’
People’s Tribunal Report Says CBI Probe Should Continue
In its final report the People’s Tribunal on Nandigram has called the violence of 14 March 2007 a ‘pre-planned, state-sponsored massacre’ carried out ‘to teach a lesson’ to people opposing the SEZ project on their land.
For executive summary of the report: http://www.labournet.de/internationales/in/peoplestribunal.pdf
People’s Tribunal Report Says CBI Probe Should Continue
In its final report the People’s Tribunal on Nandigram has called the violence of 14 March 2007 a ‘pre-planned, state-sponsored massacre’ carried out ‘to teach a lesson’ to people opposing the SEZ project on their land.
For executive summary of the report: http://www.labournet.de/internationales/in/peoplestribunal.pdf
Sunday, November 04, 2007
WW II : Lesser known facts
WW II pilot saved by parachute made by his mother
Around midnight on June 5, 1944, Private C. Hillman, of Manchester, Connecticut, serving with the US 101st Airborne Division, was winging his way to Normandy in a C-47 transport plane. Just before the jump, Private Hillman carried out a final inspection of his parachute. He was surprised to see that the chute had been packed by the Pioneer Parachute Company of Connecticut where his mother worked part time as an inspector. He was further surprised when he saw on the inspection tag, the initials of his own mother!
SOVIET RAPES IN BERLIN: UNKNOWN TOTAL
The official figures for Berlin rapes by Soviet troops does exist but has never been published. However, Berlin’s former mayor, Ernst Reuter, said that the figure given him was 90,000. In 1945, Berlin had a population of some 2,700,000 of which about 2,000,000 were women. Many rapes of course were never reported and the figure of 90,000 includes only hospitalized cases and doctors reports. Some 10,000 women in Berlin died as a result of rape , many by suicide. The death rate was thought to have been much higher among the 1.4 million estimated victims in East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania. Doctors were besieged by women seeking information on the best way to commit suicide. A charity institution, orphanage and maternity hospital, 'Haus Dehlem ' was forcibly entered by second line Russian troops and pregnant women and women who had just given birth were repeatedly raped. In the Soviet Zone of Germany nearly 90% of females ages between 10 and 80 were raped in what undoubtedly was the largest case of mass rape in history. This included women expelled from the eastern provinces. Among the rape victims were many women who became prominent figures in post-war Germany. Hannelore Kohl, wife of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl was raped when twelve years old, along with her mother while they tried to escape from Berlin on a train heading for Dresden. Hannelore Kohl committed suicide in 2001.
Most German children born in Berlin in 1946 were the result of rape. Women and young girls were forcibly dragged from their homes and raped, the drunken Soviet Mongolian soldiers queuing up to await their turn. For two whole weeks these mass rapes of women continued. Some Jewish women, thinking that their nationality would save them, showed their identity cards to the rapists but none of them could even read. Marshal Zhukov issued orders that any soldier caught in the act of rape after the two week period was up, was to be shot on the spot. Many a Russian soldier met his end this way. No US soldier was ever executed for rape in Germany. As one GI wrote 'Many a sane American family would recoil in horror if they knew how 'our boys' over here conduct themselves'. The psychological effects on many of these rape victims were devastating, future relationships with men became extremely difficult for the rest of their lives. ( Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 2,420 rapes were reported in England, 3,620 in France and more than 11,040 in Germany by the occupying troops.) It is estimated that around two million German women had undergone an illegal abortion in the three years after the war ended.
Around midnight on June 5, 1944, Private C. Hillman, of Manchester, Connecticut, serving with the US 101st Airborne Division, was winging his way to Normandy in a C-47 transport plane. Just before the jump, Private Hillman carried out a final inspection of his parachute. He was surprised to see that the chute had been packed by the Pioneer Parachute Company of Connecticut where his mother worked part time as an inspector. He was further surprised when he saw on the inspection tag, the initials of his own mother!
SOVIET RAPES IN BERLIN: UNKNOWN TOTAL
The official figures for Berlin rapes by Soviet troops does exist but has never been published. However, Berlin’s former mayor, Ernst Reuter, said that the figure given him was 90,000. In 1945, Berlin had a population of some 2,700,000 of which about 2,000,000 were women. Many rapes of course were never reported and the figure of 90,000 includes only hospitalized cases and doctors reports. Some 10,000 women in Berlin died as a result of rape , many by suicide. The death rate was thought to have been much higher among the 1.4 million estimated victims in East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania. Doctors were besieged by women seeking information on the best way to commit suicide. A charity institution, orphanage and maternity hospital, 'Haus Dehlem ' was forcibly entered by second line Russian troops and pregnant women and women who had just given birth were repeatedly raped. In the Soviet Zone of Germany nearly 90% of females ages between 10 and 80 were raped in what undoubtedly was the largest case of mass rape in history. This included women expelled from the eastern provinces. Among the rape victims were many women who became prominent figures in post-war Germany. Hannelore Kohl, wife of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl was raped when twelve years old, along with her mother while they tried to escape from Berlin on a train heading for Dresden. Hannelore Kohl committed suicide in 2001.
Most German children born in Berlin in 1946 were the result of rape. Women and young girls were forcibly dragged from their homes and raped, the drunken Soviet Mongolian soldiers queuing up to await their turn. For two whole weeks these mass rapes of women continued. Some Jewish women, thinking that their nationality would save them, showed their identity cards to the rapists but none of them could even read. Marshal Zhukov issued orders that any soldier caught in the act of rape after the two week period was up, was to be shot on the spot. Many a Russian soldier met his end this way. No US soldier was ever executed for rape in Germany. As one GI wrote 'Many a sane American family would recoil in horror if they knew how 'our boys' over here conduct themselves'. The psychological effects on many of these rape victims were devastating, future relationships with men became extremely difficult for the rest of their lives. ( Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 2,420 rapes were reported in England, 3,620 in France and more than 11,040 in Germany by the occupying troops.) It is estimated that around two million German women had undergone an illegal abortion in the three years after the war ended.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Atom Bomb: President Truman's Press Statement, Aug 6, 1945
From Truman Library online resourses, as available on 1 Nov 2007
The statement says, " With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces".
The statement describes the competetion among the German and US-UK atomic research establishments as the "battle of the laboratories".
Truman writes about the Manhattan project: "We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history - and won." He also describes the project's success as "the greatest achievement of organized science in history".
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A nice documentation about the US decision making process for the first use of atom bomb could be foun d here:http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/70-7_23.htm
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Interestingly today's CNN news informs that the pilot of the B-16 bomber that dropped the first atom bomb has just died at the age of 92.
The statement says, " With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces".
The statement describes the competetion among the German and US-UK atomic research establishments as the "battle of the laboratories".
Truman writes about the Manhattan project: "We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history - and won." He also describes the project's success as "the greatest achievement of organized science in history".
-------------
A nice documentation about the US decision making process for the first use of atom bomb could be foun d here:http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/70-7_23.htm
-------------
Interestingly today's CNN news informs that the pilot of the B-16 bomber that dropped the first atom bomb has just died at the age of 92.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Irish historian claimed that British asked their agents to assassinate Bose
The British told their agents to assassinate India's independence war leader Subhash Chandra Bose in 1941, an Irish historian has claimed.
"Two SOE operatives in Turkey were instructed by their headquarters in London to intercept Bose and kill him before he reached Germany," the Irish professor, who teaches at Trinity College, Dublin, said.
Mr O'Halpin said the SOE operatives in Turkey failed to because Bose reached Germany through Central Asia and the Soviet Union. "Every time [the operatives] checked back, headquarters told them the orders were intact and Bose must be killed if found."
"Two SOE operatives in Turkey were instructed by their headquarters in London to intercept Bose and kill him before he reached Germany," the Irish professor, who teaches at Trinity College, Dublin, said.
Mr O'Halpin said the SOE operatives in Turkey failed to because Bose reached Germany through Central Asia and the Soviet Union. "Every time [the operatives] checked back, headquarters told them the orders were intact and Bose must be killed if found."
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