Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan bares all

A copy of ‘rogue’ Pakistani scientist A Q Khan’s four-page letter reached his long-time journalistic contact Simon Henderson in 2007. In fact, in the letter, Khan tells his wife, “Get in touch with Simon Henderson and give him all the details.’’ Henderson says when he acquired the copy of the letter, he was shocked. His acquaintance with Khan goes back to the late 1970s, but it was never intimate, and consisted of occasional interviews and conversations. Describing the letter as “extraordinary’’, Henderson says it outlines in numbered paragraphs Pakistan’s nuclear co-operation with China, Iran and North Korea, and also mentions Libya. In one para that is bound to embarrass Beijing, Khan writes about how Pakistan helped China in enrichment technology in return for bomb blueprints. “We put up a centrifuge plant at Hanzhong (250 km southwest of Xian), Khan writes. The Chinese gave us drawings of the nuclear weapon, gave us 50 kg of enriched uranium, gave us 10 tonnes of UF6 (natural) and 5 tonnes of UF6 (3%).’’ UF6 is uranium hexafluoride, the gaseous feedstock for an enrichment plan. On Iran, the letter says: “Probably with the blessings of BB [Benazir Bhutto] General Imtiaz [Benazir’s defence adviser, now dead] asked me to give a set of drawings and some components to the Iranians. The names and addresses of suppliers were given to the Iranians.’’ On North Korea: “[A nowretired general] took $3 million through me from the North Koreans and asked me to give drawings and machines.’’ Henderson does not explain why he waited nearly two years to make the letter public, but writes sympathetically about Khan, who is held largely incommunicado under house arrest.Henderson’s Sunday Times expose also implicates the US and other Western powers, who he says, shoved Islamabad’s proliferation (while blaming it solely on Khan) under the rug to get their cooperation in the war on terror. The move also saved the US from embarrassment since it was asleep on the watch when Pakistan began its nuclear proliferation and then winked at it when it was discovered, all the while lavishing billions in military supplies on its unstable client state.

Somewhere in Chhattisgarh....

An intelligence input about a Maoist arms manufacturing unit led security forces to launch one of the biggest joint anti-Naxalite operations — Green Hunt — against the Red ultras inside Chinta Gufa area of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh . The gunfight that followed led to the killing of eight Naxalites and one COBRA commando with nearly 1,000 personnel surrounding a hideout amid firing from both sides. However, agency reports said 24 Maoists had been killed. Though the security forces — COBRA, CRPF and state police — had conducted operations in nearby areas in the wake of ambushes laid by ultras in the past, the decision to enter the Maoists’ den was proactive. Help has also been taken from police in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. “It is the first time security forces could reach the Chinta Gufa forest area, considered a major Naxalite hideout,” said an official. Though the arms manufacturing unit was busted on Thursday, the rebels there had fled the area. The others, who were first on the defensive, resisted forces only on Friday, killing COBRA assistant commandant Manoranjan Singh and injuring four jawans. Police said nearly 200 Naxalites have been surrounded and combined forces are fast approaching a key hideout.

Mysore Dasara

The pomp and splendour is simply awesome.

Somewhere along the LAC....

In a first, IAF landed an AN-32 transport aircraft at Nyoma Advanced Landing Ground in eastern Ladakh, 23km from the Line of Actual Control with China. The AN-32 aircraft, flown by Shaurya Chakra awardee Group Captain S C Chafekar, carried Western Air Command chief Air Marshal NAK Browne and Northern Army Commander Lt Gen P C Bhardwaj, said Col D K Kochari, PRO, Northern Command. Nyoma ALG, at an altitude of 13,000 feet, is the third airfield operationalized by IAF in Ladakh in the last 17 months. It had opened an ALG at Daulat-Beg-Oldie (DBO), the world’s highest airfield at 16,200 feet, in May 2008. The second ALD was opened at Fuk Che in November 2008. Col Kochari said, ‘‘After deliberating on all aspects and with the help of reconnaissance, it was concluded that Nyoma could be developed for fixed-wing operations as well,’’ and added, ‘‘The Herculean task of developing ALG to required standards for fixed wing operations was undertaken by Engineer Regiments of 14 Corps.’’ The joint development of Nyoma by IAF and Army in extreme weather conditions is another step towards enhanced coordination between the two services. Nyoma’s development would also ensure that movement in the area continues when road traffic gets affected during the harsh winters. It will also enable improved communication network in the region, facilitating economical ferrying of supplies as well as promotion of tourism.

Western Freight Corridor update

After over three years of negotiation and planning, the western arm of the dedicated freight corridor will finally get on the fast track with the union Cabinet approving a Japanese loan of Rs 17,700 crore. The loan under the Japanese Overseas Development Assistance will be used to fund a 920-kilometre stretch between Rewari (Haryana) and Vadodara (Gujarat) in the western freight corridor. The western corridor, which will cover a distance of distance of 1,483 km of double line diesel track from JNPT to Dadri via Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Palanpur- Phulera- Rewari is expected to cost Rs 26,124 crore. The project is expected to be completed by 2017. "The ODA loan is a soft loan with very low interest of 0.2% per annum that is to be repaid in 30-40 years with a moratorium of 10 years," minister of information and broadcasting Ambika Soni said after the Cabinet meeting. It will start with an engineering services loan of approximately Rs 130 crore.

Inflation enters positive territory

Rising food prices have pushed inflation into the positive territory after a gap of 13 weeks.
The wholesale price index-based inflation rose to 0.12% for the week ending September 5,up from(-)0.12% in the previous week, raised concerns that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could raise rates sooner than expected. The food articles' inflation jumped to 15.4%for the week ended September 5,up from 14.8% in the previous week. Inorder to check soaring food prices, the union Cabinet asked states to regulate stocks of sugar, pulses, paddy , rice and edible oilseeds that traders can keep till September, 2010. The government had earlier empowered states to impose limits on sugar stocks till January 8, 2010, and on pulses, paddy , rice and edible oilseeds till September, 2009.
Buildup inflation in the financialyear so far--or inflation between April 1 and September 5-- was 5.86%, compared to a buildup of 6.62% in the corresponding period of the previous year. India may need to raise interest rates earlier than other countries as inflationary pressures are building up, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao had said at a seminar in the Capital on Tuesday . Subbarao projected an inflation rate of more than 5.2% by March 2010.
However, he said RBI would not reverse its expansionary monetary policy unless the recovery in the economy was secure.

Mohali Airport gets going

All decks were cleared for the construction of an international airport at Mohali with the signing of an agreement for the formation of a joint venture company (JVC), titled Chandigarh International Airport Private Limited. The partners in the project will include the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). Airports Authority of India chairman V P Aggarwal, GMADA Chief Administrator V P Singh and HUDA Chief Administrator T C Gupta signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of India, Punjab and Haryana governments at the headquarters of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in New Delhi.
Punjab Civil Aviation Secretary Vishwajeet Khanna said: "The airport, which will house both international and domestic terminals as well as a cargo hub, will provide a huge economic boost to the northern region.The project is expected to be completed in two years."
Sources said that the JVC board will have nine members, and will include civil aviation secretaries of both Punjab and Haryana as directors and member (finance) of AAI will be chairman. The airport will be developed over 300 acres of land at Jheourheri village in Mohali.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the two states and the Centre on January 4, 2009.
The Union government holds 51 per cent of the equity share while the Punjab and Haryana governments hold a stake of 24.5 per cent each. Earlier, a non-official resolution was passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha naming the airport as Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh International Airport, which has been forwarded to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
A response is still awaited on the issue.