Dec/13/2011

Sukhoi aircraft crashes, both pilots safe

A Sukhoi—30 MKI fighter aircraft of the IAF on Tuesday crashed soon after taking off from Lohegaon airbase near here but both the pilots managed to bail out safely.

“Both the pilots flying the aircraft ejected in time and landed safely. They have been evacuated and taken to the base for medical attention,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Gerard Galway said.

The aircraft, which was on a routine mission, had taken off from Lohegaon airbase at 1245 hours. It crashed at 1310 hours, he said.

“A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the crash and an IAF team has been rushed to the site of the wreckage,” he said in New Delhi.

He said the aircraft lost contact with the base after apparently developing a technical problem, but the pilots managed to eject out safely in time. No casualty was reported on the ground, he said.

Pune Collector Vikas Deshmukh said the plane caught fire after crashing at an open forest department land. Fire tenders from the vicinity had been rushed to the spot, he said.

This is the third crash of the Russian origin Su-30 fighter planes since they were inducted into the IAF in 1997.

Tuesday’s crash is the eighth mishap involving IAF fighter aircraft this year. Seven MiG series aircraft had crashed earlier this year.

Before the SU-30 accident, a MiG-21 Bison had crashed in Sirsa in Haryana on December 2. During last three years, the IAF has lost 30 fighter aircraft and 10 helicopters in various crashes.

26 defence personnel including 13 pilots have lost their lives in these crashes along with six civilians on the ground.

The first crash involving a Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft took place near Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan in 2009, 12 years after its induction in the IAF.

The second accident involving air-superiority SU—30 fighter aircraft took place in December 2009 near Indian Army’s Chandan firing range in Jaisalmer district, south-west of the Pokhran range.

A CoI was ordered after both the incidents and due corrective measures were taken on basis of the recommendations of the inquiries, IAF sources said.

Sukhoi’s 20 Squadron ‘Lightinings’ and 30 Squadron ’Rhinos’ are based in Pune and the 24 Squadron ‘Hawks’ are located in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. IAF has begun deployment of these aircraft in north-eastern region as well.

Cabinet defers decision draft Food Security Bill

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday deferred a decision on the draft Food Security Bill that seeks to give legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to about 64 per cent of the country’s population.

“The discussion on the draft food bill remained inconclusive and the matter has been deferred for the next week. The discussion will continue again next week,” a Cabinet Minister, who was present in the meeting, said.

In the proposed law, beneficiaries have been divided into two categories —— priority households and the general households. Priority households are the same as the families under the below poverty line in the existing public distribution system, while general households above poverty line families.

The government plans to cover up to 75 per cent of the rural population, with at least 46 per cent under priority households. In urban area, up to 50 per cent of the people will be covered, of which 28 per cent are under priority category.

The bill seeks to provide 7 kg of rice and wheat to per person per month to priority households at Rs 3 and Rs. 2 per kg, respectively. Persons under the general households would get at least 3kg at 50 per cent of the minimum support price.

Once the law is implemented, the food subsidy bill is expected to go up to about Rs. 95,000 crore from Rs 63,000 crore in the last fiscal, while foodgrains requirement would go up to 61 million tonnes from 55 million tonnes.

Under the present PDS, the government provides 35 kg of wheat and rice per month to 6.52 crore BPL families at Rs 4.15 and Rs 5.65 per kg, respectively. About 11.5 crore APL families gets between 15 and 35 kg of wheat and rice per month at Rs 6.10 and Rs 8.30/kg, respectively.

The bill provides for cash reimbursement if the government fails to provide subsidised foodgrains because of natural calamities such as drought and floods.

President will decide on Afzal Guru’s mercy petition: Govt

On the occasion of tenth anniversary of Parliament attack, the government on Tuesday said the mercy petition of Afzal Guru, who was sentenced to death for the terror strike, is with the President and it is the Rashtrapati Bhavan which has to take a call on it.

“The matter is with the President and it is for the President to decide,” Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh told reporters here.

The Home Ministry had submitted the Afzal Guru’s case to the President’s Secretariat for a decision on July 27, 2011 with the recommendation that the clemency petition should be rejected.

Guru was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 Parliament attack and the order to sentence him to death was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on October 20, 2006.

However, Guru’s execution was stayed following a mercy petition filed by his wife. He remains on death row since then.

Earlier, the Delhi government too in its recommendation to the Home Ministry had favoured execution of Guru, an issue which has been hanging fire for years and has been a subject matter of intense political controversy.

The Constitution does not give any time limit for the President to decide any clemency petition.

Supreme Court urges ‘sanity and sensitiveness’ on Mullaperiyar

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Urging for “sanity and sensitiveness”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Tamil Nadu and Kerala to maintain restraint on their statements on the Mullaperiyar dam row, lamenting that they were adding fuel to the fire instead of dousing it.

A five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Justice D.K. Jain, asked Tamil Nadu to ensure that the water level in the dam does not exceed 136 feet but declined to entertain Kerala’s plea for reducing the level to 120 feet.

It also asked the Centre to clarify its position on Tamil Nadu’s plea for deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to protect the dam from possible vandalism.

“Both the parties instead of dousing the fire are adding fuel to it. There has to be sanity and sensitiveness,” the Bench observed, while referring to the hostile atmosphere prevailing in the two States over the century-old dam issue.

Death toll in Syria exceeds 5,000: U.N.

The death toll from Syria’s crackdown on a 9-month-old uprising has exceeded 5,000 people, the top U.N. rights official says, as Syrians close their businesses and keep children home from school as part of a general strike to pressure President Bashar Assad to end the bloodshed.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Monday at least 300 children were among those killed in the Assad regime’s attempts to stamp out the revolt, and that thousands of people remained in detention.

Speaking at the United Nations, Ms. Pillay said she told Security Council members of the increase in deaths during an afternoon briefing, and said she recommended that the council refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, the permanent war crimes tribunal, for investigation of possible crimes against humanity.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, said Ms Pillay’s briefing “underscores the urgency of the present moment,” and urged the U.N. Security Council to take concrete steps to bring the violence to an end.

Assad has shown no little sign of easing his crackdown, despite mounting international pressure, including a recent spate of economic sanctions from the EU, the Arab League and Turkey, that are punishing the Syrian economy, a dangerous development for the government in Damascus.

Now, the open—ended strike by Syrian businesses also takes direct aim at Syria’s already ailing economy. It is designed to erode Assad’s main base of support the new and vibrant merchant classes who have benefited in recent years as the president opened up the economy.

If the economy continues to collapse, Assad could find himself with few allies inside the country, where calls are growing by the day for him to step down. The authoritarian president is already struggling under international isolation and suffocating sanctions.

It is difficult to gauge the strength of the strike because the regime has banned most foreign journalists and prevented local reporters from moving freely. But there were signs it was being widely observed in particular in centers of anti—government protest- the southern province of Daraa, the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, the northwestern region of Idlib and in the restive city of Homs.

The opposition wants the strike to remain in force until the regime pulls the army out of cities and releases thousands of detainees.

“Only bakeries, pharmacies and some vegetable shops are open,” said one resident of Homs who asked that his name not be published for fear of reprisals. He said those stores stayed open because they sell essential goods.

In addition to the strike, he said, security was tight in Homs on Monday with agents deployed at every intersection. The crackle of gunfire erupted sporadically.

“There is a terrifying security deployment in Homs,” he said.

Activists said a new round of clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors began Sunday with a major battle in the south and spread to new areas Monday, raising fears the conflict is spiraling toward civil war.

The British—based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says new clashes between soldiers and defectors were reported Monday in Idlib in the north, and that fighting continued for a second day in southern Daraa province. Four members of the security forces were killed as a result of the clashes there, the Observatory said. A day earlier, army defectors set several military vehicles ablaze in a prolonged battle in Daraa province.

At least 16 people were reported killed nationwide on Monday, most of them in Homs, according to various activist networks.

Late Monday, assailants blew up a pipeline in the Homs village of Saan that transports natural gas from Egypt to Syria, according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

The uprising has grown increasingly violent in recent months as defecting soldiers fight back against the army and once—peaceful protesters take up arms to protect themselves against the military assault.

The revolt has raised concerns of a regional conflagration, given Syria’s strategic importance in the Middle East with alliances in Iran and with the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Amid the violence, the government pushed ahead with municipal elections that the opposition has dismissed as a meaningless concession that falls far short of their demands for Assad to give up power.

Witnesses said turnout was low. The opposition does not consider the vote a legitimate concession by the regime because it coincides with the deadly crackdown on anti—government protesters. The regime had touted the vote as a reform measure because some new rules were introduced recently allowing more people to run in the election.

“The number of voters is very small,” said Mohamed Saleh, an activist in Homs. He said security in the city was very tight and people were too scared to go out. “Even in normal days, people did not give much attention to municipal elections,” he said.

Since the uprising began, Assad has made several gestures of reform. But after nine months, the opposition is demanding nothing less than the downfall of the regime.

As the violence continues, there are fears that the conflict could morph into a civil war and exacerbate long—standing sectarian tensions.

Syria is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, but Assad and the ruling elite belong to the tiny Alawite sect, which accounts for about 10 percent of the population.

The political domination by Alawites has bred seething resentments, which Assad tried to tamp down by enforcing the strictly secular ideology of his Baath Party.

But as the popular uprising surged, and Sunni army conscripts refused to fire on civilians, Assad called heavily upon his Alawite power base to crush the resistance, feeding sectarian tensions of the kind that fueled civil wars in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon.