SF/CRPF personnel KIA details and other updates (November 17, 2010)

1) Government of India has on 1.9.2010, sanctioned 38 Battalions, including two Mahila Battalions in CRPF to be raised during the period from 2009-10 to 2018-19. More details here: Linky
MHA Shri Ajay Maken also had this to say in the Parliament:

The details of CRPF personnel killed is given below:

State 2007 2008 2009 2010 (upto 10.11.2010)
1) Bihar 5 1 0 0
2) Chhattisgarh 28 38 42 113
3) Jharkhand 0 6 12 4
4) Maharashtra 0 0 0 2
5) Orissa 2 0 4 0
6) West Bengal 0 0 0 7
Total 35 45 58 126

Even if one takes the 70+ CRPF personnel killed in the Dantewada massacre, that is still a huge number for Chattisgarh relative to the other fronts. In fact, Singur and Lalgarh have only resulted in a fraction of the deaths seen in Chattisgarh. So should the responsibility fall on the Shri Raman Singh government or are we going to see a passing of the buck to GoI?

SATP has this to add:

About 105 persons, including Security Force (SF) personnel and civilians, were killed in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir till October 2010 as against 123 persons during the same period in 2009, the Government said on November 16, reports Daily Excelsior. "In the State of Jammu and Kashmir there were 432 incidents upto October 31, 2010 in which 66 Security Force personnel and 39 civilians have been killed, as compared to 437 incidents during the corresponding period of 2009, in which 52 Security Force personnel and 71 civilians were killed," Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken told Lok Sabha. He said available reports indicate that Pakistan or Pakistan occupied Kashmir based Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) sponsored terrorist outfits have been involved in a number of terrorist incidents.

A total of 660 incidents have taken place during the period of January 1, 2010 and October 31, 2010 in North Eastern States, reports Daily Excelsior. "The number of civilians killed, in the North Eastern Region, up to October 31, 2010 is 65 as compared to 225 civilians killed during the corresponding period of 2009. Similarly, the number of Security Forces (SFs) killed up to October 31, 2010 in the North East Region is 18, whereas 36 SFs were killed during the corresponding period in 2009," Maken said.

2) India-Nepal border issues: Linky

Some criminals, allegedly from Nepal, removed a border pillar number 382/18, from its original site and installed it 20 feet inside the Indian territory. The border security officers suspect it to be an attempt to trigger unrest between India and Nepal.
...
Former mukhiya of Bhaluahia panchayat under Adapur block, Satyendra Dubey, confirmed about removal of the pillar from its original site. He told The Telegraph that it was not the first-of-its-kind incident and added that several such incidents have also been reported in the past. According to one Shri Narayan Tripathi of Adapur, the miscreants had earlier hosted red and yellow flags in bordering Lal Chhapra village claiming that to be a Nepal land. Later when assistant commandant of SSB Lokesh Kumar Singh and officials of the Nepal Armed Police Force visited the site, it came to the fore that it was a handiwork of Nepali Maoists, he added.

On Gyanendra's visit:

On November 19, 2010 Gyanendra Shah will arrive in New Delhi, where he will stay for two days. Including Dr. Man Mohan Singh and Smt Sonia Gandhi, the former Nepal King will meet some other top politicians of India.

3) Maoist surrender policy: Linky

A 21-year-old woman Maoist apparently promoted up the ranks by rebel spearhead Kishan gave herself up in Bankura today and accused her rebel colleagues of “physically and mentally torturing” her after having “tricked” her into joining them. Rumpa Mahato’s surrender is the first such case in Bankura since the Bengal government announced a rehabilitation package in May for rebels who wish to return to the mainstream. The woman, a deputy commander of the outfit, hails from Salboni in neighbouring West Midnapore but said she chose Bankura because she felt safer there.

ToI says more: Linky

Alleging sexual abuse and mental torture in the hands of her comrades, a woman Maoist squad member surrendered before Bankura SP Pranab Kumar on Tuesday.

4) India-china border roads: Linky

Government has decided to undertake phase-wise construction of 27 roads totaling 804 km in the border areas along the India-China border in the States of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh to be constructed by Ministry of Home Affairs for operational purposes of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). All these roads are strategic border roads and are located in a very high altitude area on Indo-China border. These areas are generally snow bound for more than six months. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the border guarding force is deployed on this border. The selection of construction agencies, preparation of Detailed Project Reports after physical ground survey and other preliminary works took sometime.

Besides topographical problems, some parts of these roads fall in the Reserve Forest areas and Wildlife Sanctuaries. Therefore, the long process of getting statutory environmental clearances under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the approval of the Hon’ble Supreme Court had to be undertaken. The above procedural requirements were time consuming and therefore, the expenditure on the scheme was not as per expectations in the initial two years of the scheme, i.e., 2006-07 and 2007-08. Now these issue have been resolved and the process of construction of roads has commenced. Consequently, the budget provisions made during 2008-09 and 2009-10 for Indo-china border roads have been fully utilized.

The details of fund utilized on the scheme are as follows: (Rs. in crore)
Year Allocation Expenditure Savings
1) 2006-07 Rs. 10.00 Rs. 0.90 Rs. 9.10 (91%)
2) 2007-08 Rs. 50.00 at BE stage (Reduced To Rs. 15 cr. in RE stage) Rs. 6.8523 Rs. 8.1477 (54.313%)
3) 2008-09 Rs. 50.00 Rs. 50.3722 Nil
4) 2009-10 Rs. 334.00 Rs. 334.00 Nil

5) A tidbit of info on Khin Nyunt: Linky

Than Shwe dismissed and jailed Gen. Khin Nyunt, to reduce Chinese influence in the inner coterie of the country’s decision making centre. Khin Nyunt, whose mother was Chinese, and who headed the intelligence apparatus, was suspected as a Chinese mole. He was also instrumental in quiet facilitation of arms transfer from China’s Kunming province to the Naga and the ULFA insurgents in North East India. He also pushed for the road-cum-water way route from Kunming to Myamar’s Indian Ocean sea board for Chinese containers to pass without Myanmar customs inspection. Than Shwe quashed the project. Obviously, the Chinese containers would have goods to hide. More importantly, however, if Chinese containers passed through Myanmar’s territory it would tantamount technically to Myanmar as a dominion under Chinese control.

Another article has this point: Linky

Those familiar with the ruthless manner in which the Myanmar Army crushed the insurgencies of the pro-Beijing Communist Party of Burma (White Flag) and pro-China ethnic minority groups such as the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) will know that though the Army has accepted considerable assistance from China, it will not like Myanmar to become a client-state of China. For this, it requires Indian support and assistance and Indian blessing for its rule. There is goodwill for India in sections of the Army even though it will be difficult to quantify it.

6) UPA's Scam Raj: Linky

1) 2-G spectrum Rs 1,70,000 crore notional loss after Raja's telecom ministry undersells spectrum to shell companies. Then telecom secretary P.J. Thomas now appointed as Chief Vigilance Commissioner.
2) Adarsh society Flats meant for defence personnel and Kargil war widows expanded to include politicians' kin, bureaucrats and defence top brass by Ashok Chavan
3) CWG Rs 8,000 crore rip-off in allocation of rights, procurement of materials by Suresh Kalmadi-led panel
4) IPL Ministers Shashi Tharoor, Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel shown to have dubious links with IPL teams
5) Scorpene Middlemen make hay in the Rs 18,000-crore submarine deal
6) Rice export Private middlemen subvert ban under Kamal Nath's watch to export Rs 2,500 crore of grain
7) Cash-for-votes MPs allegedly offered cash to vote for the government in the trust vote over nuclear deal
8) Prasar Bharati B.S. Lalli stays in office despite Rs 68-crore loss suffered by national broadcaster in a subcontracting deal