No Respite in November

The month of November has been rather ominous for Afghanistan, with the worst suicide attack on a parliamentary delegation, killing 50 persons on November 6, 2007. Even with emergency imposed, Pakistan witnessed yet another serious attack by the jehadis on Pak Army and the ISI, killing 35 persons. Serial blasts after email warning were reported from some cities in India’s largest state, namely, UP. The left extremists in the State of Chhattisgarh eliminated as many as 10 jawans of a paramilitary force engaged on duty.

In a highly significant move on the geopolitical scenario, US President brought together the Jewish and Palestine leaders on the same table for resuming peace-talks.

While economic crime rates in the UK has touched an all-time high, the British government has admitted loss of bank identity for half of its population. The State of UP in India has proposed a bill for tackling Organised Crime with death penalty as an option. The Supreme Court of India has ruled that department proceedings against delinquents need not wait disposal of related court proceedings.

A Cyber University has been functioning in Japan since April this year. A Chinese firm has successfully tested mobile phone connection on top of the Mount Everest. Bangladesh has made its judiciary independent. Malaysia, Iraq and Turkey has plans to build an “Islamic Car” fitted with a compass to find the direction of Mecca. National Disaster Response Force in India has been put in operation. Most powerful armies in the world and many Royal or Presidential Houses march to the tunes of a musical company of Meerut (India). Scientists are on the verge of reading your thoughts even if you are not in a position to talk or depose. Now you can quit normal smoking with e-cigarettes being made available on the internet. Know all these and more in details in the General Information File.

Private Security Industry in India is making great strides. As a part of its strategy to grow in Asia, Swedish Security firm Securitas has signed a deal to buy 49 percent stake in domestic peer Walsons. The Home Minister of India has once again declared the government’s intention to task private security agencies for intelligence collection. Ironically, security guards of a company has lodged complaints with the concerned authority for not getting their dues as per the rules. Industry leaders will have to take a look at that.

And, finally, it is good to know there are now anywhere between 20000 and 30000 armed contractors (read security companies) now operating in Iraq.

D. C. Nath, IPS (Retd.)
Former Special Director, IB (MHA), Govt. of India,
Executive President & CEO,
International Institute of Security and Safety Management,
New Delhi, India.

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Peril in Pakistan

Desperate Times call for desperate measures. And Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is clearly a desperate man as he walks the high wire, trying to be seen acting decisively against extremism on one hand, while following the politics of expediency to survive on the other. The General’s move to impose Emergency rule in Pakistan was not unexpected. He had openly considered this option a couple of months ago, when the Supreme Court overruled his suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on allegations of abuse of power. So it is hardly surprising that he decided to impose martial law at a time when Pakistan’s Supreme Court is – or – was – hearing the case about his eligibility to continue as President. The Court had stayed him from taking oath till it delivered its verdict, which, from all accounts, almost certainly would have invalidated his re-election last month.

Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times, November 05, 2007

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