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National Herald case: HC terms Gandhis’ applications as ‘infructuous’
Updated: October 15, 2015 16:01 IST | PTI

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi during the during a rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. File photo
The Congress leaders had alleged that a "different treatment" was meted out to a challenge filed by them in the case.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday termed as “infructuous” the applications moved by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and some other party leaders alleging a “different treatment” was meted out to a challenge filed by them in the National Herald case.
The Congress leaders in their application had opposed the transfer of the case from the court of Justice Sunil Gaur who had part-heard the matter for eight months to another court of Justice P S Teji.
Justice Gaur on Thursday termed their “applications” as infructuous as the matter has been listed before him by the high court registry.
The judge also said that he had not recused from the matter and added that the petitions came back to him as it was part-heard by him.
Even senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Sonia Gandhi, agreed with the court that the applications had become infructuous and also added that they can be withdrawn.
The court, thereafter, said it will hear arguments in the matter later in the afternoon.
The Gandhis in their application had said their petition challenging a trial court order in the case was transferred in violation of the procedures and practice being followed by the court.
The application also said that their challenge petition ought to have been listed before the bench of Justice Gaur before whom the matter was pending for over eight months and was heard by him at length on several occasions.
“The matter being actually part heard ought to have been listed before the bench of Justice Sunil Gaur before whom the matter was pending for over eight months and was heard by him at length on several occasions.
“Even as per the established procedure and practice of this court, the registry ought to have placed this matter before the very same Judge where the matter was part heard especially when the same has been clarified and appended to the Roster Modification Notice itself,” the application said. -------------------------------------------------
Pak raising Kashmir issue at UN is ‘out of context’ : India
Published at Thu Oct 15 2015 15:57 IST

India, on Wednesday, said that Pakistan raising the Kashmir issue at UN forums was ‘out of context’ and constituted a clear interference into internal affairs.
In one of the Right of Replies, Abhishek Singh, First Secretary in the Indian Mission to the UN, said that Pakistan instead of using Right of Replies, should use the right of introspection to view the direction in which the nation is going.
Pakistani envoy to UN Maleeha Lodhi raised the issue of Kashmir in earlier UN general assembly plenary session. However, Singh dismissed the comments of Lodhi on Kashmiri issue.
ISIS India plan revealed: Lone wolves needed not modules, says IB report Posted by: Vicky Nanjappa | Thu, Oct 15, 2015, 14:19 [IST] New Delhi, Oct 15: The ISIS has had its eyes set on India for a long time, now it is part of their Global Islamic Council. While it was being widely debated that the ISIS is setting up modules, an Intelligence Bureau report states that their plan is to launch lone wolf attacks in India. A team of the Intelligence Bureau monitoring the jihadi content has learnt that the ISIS only wants to stage lone wolf attacks in India for now. All the content that was monitored suggested that the ISIS has been increasingly circulating content on how to stage a lone wolf attack. The highest number of hits for lone wolf attack related details are from India and the United States of America. Stage lone wolf attacks advises ISIS to Indians: The ISIS material off late are all pertaining on how to stage a lone wolf attack. The material available suggests that they want Indian youth to train themselves and stage such attacks. The idea is to destruct and convey the message for the ISIS. Material has been posted on how to prepare bombs. Further the messages also urge the youth to source guns and carry out a Fidayeen strike. [Govt blocks two websites, Facebook pages of ISIS propaganda] The ISIS in its messages were targeting youth from Kashmir and Maharashtra, in particular, according to the IB report. They are aware that they will get youth easily in Kashmir as several areas are conflict ridden. Moreover, the highest number of views for the ISIS propaganda has come from the states of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra. The ISIS is trying to target the conflict zones in the country, the report also states. Hence, there is a great deal of emphasis in the North Eastern states and also Jammu and Kashmir. The ISIS feels that the propaganda has to spread and it is only through such attacks can the outfit makes its mark in India. The advantage of a lone wolf attack for any terror group: Terror groups changed their modus operandi a few years back. They hardly operate in modules these days. Operating in a module would be there would be a structure and communication. This often comes under the scanner of the intelligence agencies. [How India will fight the ISIS with Russia] Moreover, after the 9/11 attack the nose of the intelligence has been sharper than ever. It is impossible to track down a person who is planning a lone wolf strike. It is one person who radicalizes himself, plans and strikes all by himself. This way the plan is never leaked. Moreover, it is zero investment for a terror group which does not have to bother with infiltrations or funding. However, if the strike is successful then the terror groups claim the credit free of cost and in the bargain spread their propaganda as well. This was seen in the recent attacks at the United States of America where lone wolves struck and the al-Qaeda took the credit.

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/india/isis-india-plan-revealed-lone-wolves-needed-not-modules-says-ib-report-1900000.html
No more rate cuts by RBI's Raghuram Rajan for next 18 months?
Thursday, 15 October 2015 - 1:56pm IST | Place: Bengaluru | Agency: Reuters

Central bank seen cutting rates once more before end-Q1 2017 | Economists lower GDP growth estimates | Inflation on track to meet RBI's March 2017 target * Raghuram Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India PTI
The Reserve Bank of India is forecast to cut its main lending rate just once more over the next 18 months, despite weak inflation and a slowing economy, according to a Reuters poll.
Weakening inflation and concern that a China-led global slowdown was weighing on Asia's third-largest economy pushed India's central bank to cut the repo rate to a 4 1/2-year low of 6.75% last month, taking many by surprise.
But the RBI is unlikely to move again any time soon, according to the poll of over 25 economists taken in the past week, and the next cut of 25 basis points won't come until the April-June 2016 quarter.
September's cut reflected the RBI's "comfort with the path of inflation in the next 12-15 months, while recognizing the need to support the economy in an increasingly challenging global backdrop," wrote economists at Deutsche Bank.
In his statement after the policy meeting, Governor Raghuram Rajan said the Bank chose to front-load policy easing due to widespread concerns about growth worldwide and in India.
However, economists predict growth this fiscal year and next will be slower than estimated three months ago, just 7.5% and 7.8% respectively, although faster than China's, where growth will be 6.5% in 2016.
A July poll predicted a 7.6% expansion this year and 8.2% next, but those forecasts came before official data showed economic growth slowed to 7% in the quarter ending in June. New Delhi is targeting 8% over the next two years.
"For India to meet its true potential, reforms will need to be bolder. Until then, GDP growthis likely to recover more gradually," Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC, wrote in a note.
Despite the slowdown, India's economy remains a favourable destination for global investors, although reforms in taxation, land acquisition and labour markets are pending in parliament and political opposition has so far stalled them from coming into force.
Oil prices have slumped over 50% since June 2014 and inflation has cooled sharply in India, falling to 4.41% in September from double-digit rates just two years ago.
Inflation is likely to accelerate, the poll showed, limiting the RBI's scope to ease policy as aggressively as it did in 2015, when it cut the repo rate four times.
Economists expect inflation to average 4.9% to 5.5% in each quarter until the end of next year, much lower than the RBI's January 2016 target of 6%. It is also likely to meet Rajan's 5% by March 2017 goal.
Russian forces show might in Syria, and west takes notice
Steven Lee Myers & Eric Schmitt,NYT News Service | Oct 15, 2015, 12.44PM IST
A bomb is released from Russian Su-34 strike fighter in Syria.
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WASHINGTON: Two weeks of air and missile strikes in Syria have given western intelligence and military officials a deeper appreciation of the transformation that Russia's military has undergone under President Vladimir V Putin, showcasing its ability to conduct operations beyond its borders and providing a public demonstration of new weaponry, tactics and strategy.

The strikes have involved aircraft never before tested in combat, including the Sukhoi Su-34 strike fighter, which Nato calls the Fullback, and a ship-based cruise missile fired more than 900 miles from the Caspian Sea, which, according to some analysts, surpasses the US equivalent in technological capability.

Russia's jets have struck in support of Syrian ground troops advancing from areas under the control of the Syrian government and might soon back an Iranian-led offensive that appeared to be forming on Wednesday in the northern province of Aleppo. That coordination reflects what US officials described as months of meticulous planning behind Russia's first military campaign outside former Soviet borders since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Taken together, the operations reflect what officials and analysts described as a little-noticed — and still incomplete — modernization that has been underway in Russia for several years, despite strains on the country's budget. And that, as with Russia's intervention in neighboring Ukraine, has raised alarms in the west.

In a report this month for the European Council on Foreign Relations, Gustav Gressel argued that Putin had overseen the most rapid transformation of the country's armed forces since the 1930s.

"Russia is now a military power that could overwhelm any of its neighbors, if they were isolated from western support," wrote Gressel, a former officer of the Austrian military.

Russia's fighter jets are, for now at least, conducting nearly as many strikes in a typical day against fighters opposing the government of President Bashar al-Assad as the US-led coalition targeting the Islamic State has been carrying out each month this year.

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Syrian troops gain as Putin defends strikes

The operation in Syria — still relatively limited — has become, in effect, a testing ground for an increasingly confrontational and defiant Russia under Putin. In fact, as Putin himself suggested on Sunday, the operation could be intended to send a message to the United States and the west about the restoration of the country's military prowess and global reach after decades of post-Soviet decay.

"It is one thing for the experts to be aware that Russia supposedly has these weapons, and another thing for them to see for the first time that they do really exist, that our defense industry is making them, that they are of high quality and that we have well-trained people who can put them to effective use," Putin said in an interview broadcast on state television. "They have seen, too, now that Russia is ready to use them if this is in the interests of our country and our people."

Russia's swift and largely bloodless takeover of Crimea in 2014 was effectively a stealth operation, while its involvement in eastern Ukraine, though substantial, was conducted in secrecy and obfuscated by official denials of direct Russian involvement. The bombings in Syria, by contrast, are being conducted openly and are being documented with great fanfare by the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, which distributes targeting video in the way the Pentagon did during the Persian Gulf war in 1991.

That has also given officials and analysts far greater insight into a military that for nearly a quarter-century after the collapse of the Soviet Union was seen as a decaying, insignificant force, one so hobbled by aging systems and so consumed by corruption that it posed little real threat beyond its borders.

"We're learning more than we have in the last 10 years," said Micah Zenko, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, noting the use of the new strike fighters and the new cruise missile, known as the Kalibr. "As it was described to me, we are going to school on what the Russian military is capable of today."

The capabilities on display in Syria — and before that in Ukraine — are the fruits of Russia's short, victorious war in Georgia in 2008. Although Russia crushed the US-trained forces of Georgia's government, driving them from areas surrounding the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Russia's ground and air forces performed poorly.

The Russians lost three fighter jets and a bomber on the first day of the war that August, and seven overall, according to an analysis conducted after the conflict. Russian ground forces suffered from poor coordination and communication, as well as episodes of so-called friendly fire.

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Shias in Iraq hailing Vladimir Putin for Syria push

In the war's aftermath, Putin, then serving as prime minister, began a military modernization program that focused not only on high-profile procurement of new weapons — new aircraft, warships and missiles — but also on a less-noticed overhaul of training and organization that included a reduction in the bloated officer corps and the development of a professional corps of noncommissioned officers.

Russian military spending bottomed out in the mid-1990s but has risen steadily under Putin and, despite the falling price of oil and international sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea, it has surged to its highest level in a quarter-century, reaching $81 billion, or 4.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product, a common measure of military expenditure.

The Russian advancements go beyond new weaponry, reflecting an increase in professionalism and readiness. Russia set up its main operations at an air base near Latakia in northwestern Syria in a matter of three weeks, dispatching more than four dozen combat planes and helicopters, scores of tanks and armored vehicles, rocket and artillery systems, air defenses and portable housing for as many as 2,000 troops. It was Moscow's largest deployment to the Middle East since the Soviet Union deployed in Egypt in the 1970s.

"What continues to impress me is their ability to move a lot stuff real far, real fast," Lt Gen Ben Hodges, the commander of US army forces in Europe, said in an interview.

Since its air campaign started September 30, Russia has ramped up its air strikes from a handful each day to nearly 90 on some days, using more than a half-dozen types of guided and unguided munitions, including fragmentary bombs and bunker busters for hardened targets, US analysts said.

Russia is not only bringing some of its most advanced hardware to the fight, but it has also deployed large field kitchens and even dancers and singers to entertain the troops — all signs that Moscow is settling in for the long haul, US analysts said.

"They brought the whole package," said Jeffrey White, a former Middle East analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "It showed me they could deploy a decent-sized expeditionary force."

For now, Russia's focus in Syria is mainly an air campaign with some 600 marines on the ground to protect the air base in Latakia. Putin has excluded the idea of sending in a larger ground force to assist the Syrians.

Michael Kofman, an analyst with the CNA Corp, a nonprofit research institute, and a fellow at the Kennan Institute in Washington who studies the Russian military, said that the operations over Syria showed that Russia has caught up to the capabilities that the United States has used in combat since the 1990s. That nonetheless represented significant progress given how far behind the Russians had fallen.

"Conducting night strikes, with damage assessments by drones, is a tangible leap for Russia into a mix of 1990s and even current western combat ability," he said.

The Russian air force suffered a series of training accidents over the spring and summer — losing at least five aircraft in a matter of months — which Kofman described as "teething pains" as pilots increased operating tempo under Putin's orders. Even so, Russia's aviation is "often painted in the west as some sort of Potemkin village, which is not the case."

He and others said that the biggest surprise so far has been the missile technology on display. The cruise missiles fired from Russian frigates and destroyers in the Caspian Sea were first tested only in 2012. With a range said to reach 900 miles, they had not been used in combat before, and despite the loss of four cruise missiles that crashed in Iran in one salvo, they represent a technological leap that could prove worrisome for military commanders in Nato. He noted that the advances in missile technologies improved the precision and firepower even of aging, Soviet-era ships or aircraft.
Breather for Adani, coal mine project gets go-ahead in Australia
Thursday, 15 October 2015 - 12:25pm IST | Place: Melbourne | Agency: PTI * 123
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The federal court in August had revoked the original approval due to a bureaucratic bungle over two vulnerable species -- the yakka skink and the ornamental snake. * Gautam Adani dna Research & Archives
Indian mining giant Adani's plan to build one of the world's largest coal mines got a new lease of life on Thusday after the Australian government gave its re-approval to the 16.5 billion controversy-hit project but with "strictest conditions" amid environmental concerns.
Over two months after an Australian court revoked the environmental approval for the project, Environment Minister Greg Hunt signed the papers, giving Adani the re-approval with conditions imposed that take into account community issues and would ensure that the company meets the highest environmental standards.
The federal court in August had revoked the original approval due to a bureaucratic bungle over two vulnerable species -- the yakka skink and the ornamental snake.
Stating that Adani's project was given re-approval "in accordance with national environment law", Hunt said his nod for the project considered additional information provided by Adani and environmental groups.
The approval would be "subject to 36 of the strictest conditions in Australian history," he said.
"The conditions I have imposed take into account issues raised by the community and ensure that the proponent must meet the highest environmental standards," Hunt was quoted as saying by ABC News.
"The rigorous conditions will protect threatened species and provide long-term benefits for the environment through the development of an offset package," he said. Hunt said he would personally approve the measures before mining can start.
Meanwhile, Adani Australia on Thursday welcomed the latest announcement and said the re-approval by the federal government made it clear that concerns have been addressed, reflected in rigorous and painstaking conditions.
Adani stressed that what was required for companies planning major job creating and infrastructure generating projects in Australia is certainty on approvals.
"It is certainty over the remaining approvals that is now key to the company progressing its plan to deliver mine, rail and port projects in Queensland that will deliver 10,000 direct and indirect jobs, and $22 billion in taxes and royalties to be reinvested back into community services," the statement said.
"Consistent with our public statements over the past several months, we look forward to the remaining government approvals and decision processes being dealt with promptly to ensure these job creating projects get back on track, so the much needed economic benefits of this project can commence and we can continue with our aspiration to build a long term future with Queensland," the company said.
Conservationists fears that the project threatens the Great Barrier Reef and vulnerable species while worsening global climate change.
EU's Need for Turkey to Halt Refugee Flow Collides With History James G Neuger
October 15, 2015 — 4:30 AM IST

Thousands of refugees wait to enter a reception center on the island of Lesbos on Oct. 14. More than 500,000 migrants have entered Europe so far this year. Of that number four-fifths of have paid to be smuggled by sea to Greece from Turkey, the main transit route into the EU. Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images * Leaders meet in Brussels with $1.1 billion on the table * Merkel set to reach out as Turkey's leverage increases
The European Union needs Turkey more than ever to halt the flow of refugees from the Middle East -- and has little to offer in return.
With its decade-old bid to join the 28-nation union stalled, Turkey will be the topic without being at the table at a summit of EU leaders Thursday in Brussels. On the same mission, ChancellorAngela Merkel of Germany, the biggest single refugee destination, plans to travel to Istanbul on Sunday to meet Turkish leaders.
Relations have been all downhill since EU membership talks with Turkey began in 2005, years before civil war in neighboring Syria sent refugees streaming toward Europe. Turkey is stymied in part by Cyprus, its Mediterranean rival, and an anti-expansion mood in northern Europe. Meantime, a blossoming Turkish economy fed the sense that the country of 77 million could get along fine on its own.
“Many people in the EU are regretting the unproductive approach they had to the accession negotiations with Turkey, blocking the process and creating a deep sense of resentment in Ankara,” saidAmanda Paul, an analyst at the European Policy Centre in Brussels. “If it were going along normally, it would be easier to reach this sort of agreement with Turkey.”
Contacts are so strained that after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan went to Brussels on Oct. 5 to consider an “action plan” on migration, Turkish officials said the plan wasn’t discussed. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s spokesman downgraded it to “an accord in principle to undertake a process.”

After Syria descended into war in 2011,European governments were content to let neighboring states such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan cope with the refugee influx. Only once Turkey amassed 2.2 million and they started heading northwest did European leaders wake up, finding themselves in the biggest refugee crisis since World War II.
Germany, with a population of 81 million, is being roiled by this year’s expected arrival of at least 800,000 refugees, which is causing strains in Merkel’s governing coalition.
Turkish ‘Burden’
“Turkey fears that even more refugees will come because the fighting in Syria isn’t letting up,” Merkel said Wednesday in a speech in eastern Germany. “I will fly to Turkey on Sunday to see how we can help on the ground so Turkey’s burden is shouldered more widely.”
EU leaders hope to shut the Turkish migration route by offering the country up to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to shelter Syrians and Iraqis on Turkish soil. Money is all Turkey is likely to get.
QUICKTAKEEurope’s Refugee Crisis
“The EU is naive to think that Turkey will solve the EU’s problems,” Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Wednesday in Bratislava. “And Turkey is probably expecting too large benefits in exchange.”
Reviving the membership bid is a non-starter and EU officials are non-committal about offering Turks visa-free travel to Europe, a concession Turkey is keen on.
While visa-free travel is one of few inducements the EU can offer to neighbors, it faces hurdles in a Europe marked by the rise of anti-foreigner political parties. Ukraine asked in 2008 and is still waiting.
Democratic Standards
Engaging with Erdogan risks turning EU leaders into recruits for his party in the campaign for Nov. 1 parliamentary elections. Erdogan has endured regular EU criticism for stifling dissent, notably by cracking down on peaceful protesters in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in June 2013.
The EU’s annual report on Turkey’s observance of EU democratic standards was postponed from Wednesday until later in October. Amid concern that the EU will shower Erdogan with political gifts, EU President Donald Tusk said in a pre-summit letter that the goal is an EU-Turkey accord to stem the refugee flow and “concessions will only be justified when this goal is achieved.”
Erdogan’s call for a “safe zone” for refugees inside Syria also won’t be among the concessions. European governments, mindful of the no-fly zone over Libya in 2011, say that would be a job for the United Nations.
“Turkey increasingly feels the need to build a safe zone within Syria to stop the flow of people,” said Oner Bucukcu, an analyst at SDE, a research center in Ankara. “Yet it is not clear whether EU will back that project in any way.”