I have seen the report by Mr. Tom Lasseter published on 29.12.2015 under the caption “India Seeks Mystic River From Legend As Water Crisis Gets Worse” with great pain and disappointment. I took the group seriously when they called upon me during their visit to my place, little realizing that they have come with pre-conceived ideas and misplaced notions.
Mr. Lasseter seems to be suffering from a Hindu phobia as he writes about ‘Hindu river’ and the project, ‘alienating minorities, which includes the country’s 172 million Muslims’ , ‘Hindu agenda’ and ‘Singh 37 is a Sikh not a Hindu’.
Lasseter talks of so many irrelevant things ignoring the overwhelming evidence which was shown / provided to him in the form of Revenue Record, Survey of India Topo-Sheets, ISRO’s satellite imagery of the river Saraswati from Glacier to Runn of Kutch, Mapping of paleo-channels flowing in North-West India and reports of experts such as Dr. G.N. Srivastava, Suptdg. Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Chandigarh Circle, Dr. A.R. Chaudhari, Chairperson, Deptt. of Geology, Kurukshetra University and several others eminent scientists from ISRO, ONGC, Central Ground Water Commission, Geological Survey of India etc.
He quotes my photograph with Shri Narendra Modi but misses to see me in standing with Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who very enthusiastically supported our project with his endorsement in our Visitors’ book. He also forgets that it was Governor Shri Babu Mahavir Prasad (A Congress Man), who inaugurated the project in April 2000 on my request. Again, it was the Congress Chief Minister of Haryana, Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who spent Rs. 13 Crores on this project in Distt. Kurukshetra. Last but not the least it was the UPA Govt. which provided over Rs. 1 Crore to construct a Gomukh, Sarovar and Museum at Adi Badri stated by Lasseter in his report as an RSS project.
Bloomberg is held in high esteemed all over the world and I feel sorry that it should have person like Lasseter as their correspondent.
Another Drain Inspector's Report, this time from Bloomberg
It is disgusting to see a rambling, politicking report of Tom Lasseter claiming to report for Bloomberg.
The report smacks of Hindu phobia.
Since Hon'ble CM is mentioned, the CM's office will refute the nonsense being reported as Bloomberg news broadcast through NDTV.
No specific response is called for, the credibility of Bloomberg is in the mud publishing such rubbish reports. It is unfortunate NDTV has become a part of the broadcasting network for falsehood masquerading as news report.
Haryana Govt. officials need not get concerned about unsubstantiated, frivolous comments in the report.
One is reminded of Katherine Mayo's 1927 book titled Mother India about which Mahatma Gandhi commented: "It is the report of a drain inspector sent out with the one purpose of opening and examining the drains of the country to be reported upon, or to give a graphic description of the stench exuded by the opened drains."
Surely, Bloomberg does not come through as an organization which really cares about the water needs of the citizens of Haryana.
Terror elements in Pak can't accept India playing a major role in Afghanistan's development-Qamar Agha,Security Expert on Mazar-I-Sharif
Gunbattle underway near Indian Consulate in Afghanistan
PTI
A Google map image showing Mazar-i-Sharif.
Heavy fighting was on today hours after militants attempted to storm the Indian diplomatic mission in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif as special forces carried out clearing operations with India’s Ambassador here saying all were safe in the Consulate. Clearing operations in Mazar-i-Sharif on by special forces, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha said.
“Heavy fighting going on,” he said, adding that Balkh province’s Governor Atta Muhammad Noor was personally monitoring the situation.
Mr. Sinha, in a tweet, said all were safe in the consulate. Explosions and gunfire rang out last night as militants attempted to storm the Indian diplomatic mission in Mazar-i-Sharif.
Indian and Afghan security forces were jointly engaged in a gun-battle with at least two unidentified attackers, who attempted to strike the Indian consulate here.
In all 4-5 attackers were believed to have launched the attack, sources said.
The sources said a contingent of Afghanistan security forces and India’s Indo Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) were retaliating and combating intermittent gunfire that is emanating from a building near the consulate since last night and it is believed that at least 2-3 attackers are still active out of the total of 4-5 who attempted to storm the heavily guarded complex.
“Two attackers are believed to be killed after security forces engaged them,” they said.
The operation to completely neutralise the attackers, who first hit at about 2115 hours IST yesterday, is still on and gunfire is being exchanged between the two sides even as Afghan forces are trying to get into the consulate building, the sources said.
“All the Indian staff is safe,” they said.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to discuss the terrorist strike on Indian consulate in Afghanistan.
Officials said the gunmen yesterday tried to enter the consulate from its rear end and fired an RPG round which got mis-directed and hit a building called the Alamas wedding hall, about 100 metres from the Indian Consulate building.
At least 4-5 rocket rounds and numerous bullet rounds have been fired towards the Indian complex, they said, but none of them hit the building.
“A tight cordon has been created by the Afghan security forces on the outside and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel in the proximate circle of the consulate,” the sources said.
The forces have been asked to ensure zero movement outside the consulate.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack which came just a day after Pakistani terrorists attacked an IAF base in Pathankot in Punjab.
The attack also comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Kabul on a brief visit on December 25 during which he inaugurated the new building for Afghan Parliament built by India at a cost of $ 90 million.
(This is a developing story and will be updated)
Published: January 4, 2016 11:10 IST | Updated: January 4, 2016 12:28 IST Kabul, January 4, 2016
Bogazkoy Indus Script seal, sēṇa 'eagle' rebus: sena ʻvajra, thunderboltʼ PLUS dhAtu 'strands of rope' Rebus'mineral, metal, ore'
1.032.01 I declare the former valorous deeds of Indra, which the thunderer has achieved; he clove the cloud; he cast the waters down (to earth); he broke (a way) for the torrents of the mountain. [Vr.tra, also called Ahi, is alluded to as condensed accumulation of vapour figuratively shut up or obstructed by a cloud; Indra, with his thunderbolt or atmospheric prowess divides up the augmented mass yielding a vent for the rain to descend on the earth and moisten the fields].
1.032.02 He clove the cloud, seeking refuge on the mountain; Tvas.t.a) sharpened his far-whirling bolt; the flowing waters quickly hastened to the ocean, like cows (hastening) to their calves.
Twisted rope: dhAtu 'strands of rope' Rebus: dhAtu 'mineral, metal, ore' Alternative: मेढा[ mēḍhā ] A twist or tangle arising in thread or cord, a curl or snarl.(Marathi)(CDIAL 10312).L. meṛh f. ʻropetying oxen to each other and to post on threshing floorʼ(CDIAL 10317) Rebus: meḍ'iron'. mẽṛhet ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)
dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast (metal).Rebus 1: dul ‘to cast in a mould’; dul mẽṛhẽt, dul meṛeḍ, 'cast iron'; koṭe meṛeḍ‘forged iron’ (Santali)
Hieroglyph: धातु [p= 513,3] m. layer , stratum Ka1tyS3r. Kaus3. constituent part , ingredient (esp. [ and in RV. only] ifc. , where often = " fold " e.g. त्रि-ध्/आतु , threefold &c ; cf.त्रिविष्टि- , सप्त- , सु-) RV. TS. S3Br. &c (Monier-Williams) dhāˊtu *strand of ropeʼ (cf. tridhāˊtu -- ʻ threefold ʼ RV., ayugdhātu -- ʻ having an uneven number of strands ʼ KātyŚr.).; S. dhāī f. ʻ wisp of fibres added from time to time to a rope that is being twisted ʼ, L. dhāī˜ f.(CDIAL 6773) tántu m. ʻ thread, warp ʼ RV. [√tan] Pa. tantu -- m. ʻ thread, cord ʼ, Pk. taṁtu -- m.; Kho. (Lor.) ton ʻ warp ʼ < *tand (whence tandeni ʻ thread between wings of spinning wheel ʼ); S. tandu f. ʻ gold or silver thread ʼ; L. tand (pl. °dũ) f. ʻ yarn, thread being spun, string of the tongue ʼ; P. tand m. ʻ thread ʼ, tanduā, °dūā m. ʻ string of the tongue, frenum of glans penis ʼ; A. tã̄t ʻ warp in the loom, cloth being woven ʼ; B. tã̄t ʻ cord ʼ; M. tã̄tū m. ʻ thread ʼ; Si. tatu, °ta ʻ string of a lute ʼ; -- with -- o, -- ā to retain orig. gender: S. tando m. ʻ cord, twine, strand of rope ʼ; N. tã̄do ʻ bowstring ʼ; H. tã̄tā m. ʻ series, line ʼ; G. tã̄tɔ m. ʻ thread ʼ; -- OG. tāṁtaṇaü m. ʻ thread ʼ < *tāṁtaḍaü, G.tã̄tṇɔ m.(CDIAL 5661)
Rebus: M. dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻ a partic. soft red stone ʼ (whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ); dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ; Pk. dhāu -- m. ʻ metal, red chalk ʼ; N. dhāu ʻ ore (esp. of copper) ʼ; Or. ḍhāu ʻ red chalk, red ochre ʼ (whence ḍhāuā ʻ reddish ʼ; (CDIAL 6773) धातु primary element of the earth i.e. metal , mineral, ore (esp. a mineral of a red colour) Mn. MBh. &c element of words i.e. grammatical or verbal root or stem Nir. Pra1t. MBh. &c (with the southern Buddhists धातु means either the 6 elements [see above] Dharmas. xxv ; or the 18 elementary spheres [धातु-लोक] ib. lviii ; or the ashes of the body , relics L. [cf. -गर्भ]) (Monier-Williams. Samskritam).
Print of a seal: Two-headed eagle, a twisted cord below. From Bogazköy . 18th c.B.C. (Museum Ankara).
śyēná m. ʻ hawk, falcon, eagle ʼ RV.Pa. sēna -- , °aka -- m. ʻ hawk ʼ, Pk. sēṇa -- m.; WPah.bhad. śeṇ ʻ kite ʼ; A. xen ʻ falcon, hawk ʼ, Or. seṇā, H. sen, sẽ m., M. śen m., śenī f. (< MIA. *senna -- ); Si. sen ʻ falcon, eagle, kite ʼ.(CDIAL 12674) aśáni f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ RV., °nī -- f. ŚBr. [Cf. áśan -- m. ʻ sling -- stone ʼ RV.] Pa. asanī -- f. ʻ thunderbolt, lightning ʼ, asana -- n. ʻ stone ʼ; Pk. asaṇi -- m.f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ; Ash. ašĩˊ ʻ hail ʼ, Wg. ašē˜ˊ, Pr. īšĩ, Bashg. "azhir", Dm. ašin, Paš. ášen, Shum. äˊšin, Gaw. išín, Bshk. ašun, Savi išin, Phal. ã̄šun, L. (Jukes) ahin, awāṇ. &circmacrepsilon;n (both with n, not ṇ), P. āhiṇ, f., āhaṇ, aihaṇ m.f., WPah. bhad. ã̄ṇ, hiṇi f., N. asino, pl. °nā; Si. sena, heṇa ʻ thunderbolt ʼ Geiger GS 34, but the expected form would be *ā̤n; -- Sh. aĩyĕˊr f. ʻ hail ʼ (X ?). -- For ʻ stone ʼ > ʻ hailstone ʼ cf. upala -- and A. xil s.v.śilāˊ -- . (CDIAL 910)vajrāśani m. ʻ Indra's thunderbolt ʼ R. [vájra -- , aśáni -- ]Aw. bajāsani m. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ prob. ← Sk.(CDIAL 11207) See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/mrdu-merhet-med-metal-and-shahdad.htmlमृदु mṛdu, mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'metal' and Shahdad standard comparable to Somayaga yupa & Śyenaciti
S. Kalyanaraman Sarasvati Research Center January 4, 2016
Pathankot attack: Terrorists entered base Jan 1, cabbie who was killed got call from Pakistan, says official
Written by Kanchan Vasdev | Chandigarh | Updated: January 5, 2016 6:18 am
Security personnel check IAF employees near the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot during the third day of the operations against militants on Monday. (Source: PTI)
The terrorists who struck at the airbase in Pathankot in the early hours of January 2 had most likely entered the defence installation during the afternoon of January 1 itself, security officials have told The Indian Express.
Punjab police, security forces and central intelligence agencies knew this on that day and had, therefore, prepared to pre-empt the attack by deploying men and material at the base beginning that afternoon, a top official here said. The state government had alerted New Delhi about the possible terror attack on Pathankot at around noon on January 1, saying that terrorists seemed to have infiltrated into Punjab. It was after the state’s alert, sources said, that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval called an emergency meeting and the National Security Guards (NSG) were sent to Punjab.
Investigations are also on into a possible local angle focusing on why taxi driver Ikagar Singh left his home late in the night after a phone call. Officials said a phone call from Pakistan was made to his number. He left home soon after this, telling his family members that he had received a phone call from a nearby village to take someone to the hospital. The person whose name Ikagar mentioned denied making the phone call.
Sources said the infiltrators were tracked to a thickly forested area inside the air-base around 3.30 pm on January 1 through mobile towers, as they were making phone calls to Pakistan from a local number, the official said. The number belonged to the Superintendent of Police whose vehicle the terrorists had snatched earlier that day, in the pre-dawn hours of January 1.
Several calls were made from that number to Pakistan through the day. The mobile tower areas from which the calls were made indicate the terrorists were already inside the air base, the official said.
“It was at around 3.30 pm on January 1, when the tower location pointed towards the forest area. The forest is known to be thick, lined with heaps of debris. Since we knew that the terrorists must be on a jihadi mission and would be certainly carrying lethal ammunition, it was not sensible to have started the combing operation when it was getting dark. We could not have risked the lives of our troops. Hence, we alerted everyone to ensure that the casualty is minimum,” said a top police source.
“We did not want to take any chances,” a police official said. “The foremost thing was to step up security of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, who were advised to stay put at a safe place. Later, at around 11 pm that night, we got the main doors of all the police stations in Pathankot shut. We wanted to pre-empt a repeat of Dina Nagar. A sentry each was posted at the entrance of each police station.” (On July 27, 2015, three gunmen in Army uniform fired on a bus and attacked the Dina Nagar police station in Gurdaspur killing three civilains anmd four policemen, including an SP).
The Indian Air Force was alerted and the barracks and messes were vacated besides stepping up security at their vital installations, “We knew the jihadis would want to launch an attack by targeting maximum people in sleep. That is the reason they struck at 3 am. And we were fully prepared. The killings were not as many as they might have planned. We have averted a massive tragedy.”
He said the local police officers did not believe the Superintendent of Police, Salwinder Singh, when he complained to the Pathankot police about his abduction. “Even we, at the headquarters, went along with the local police officers. But around noon, after the questioning of the SP and his associates, there were more than one reason to set the alarm bells ringing. Hence, we alerted the centre. By 4.30 pm. the NSG had reached the airbase.”
By then the terrorists had reached the IAF base in Pathankot by successfully crossing the first line of defense manned by Defense Security Corps (DSC). Sources said the police are still in the dark about how the second group, likely comprising two terrorists, entered the IAF base.
“The jihadis are highly motivated and well-trained, they would have brought ammunition along in their backpacks. They would have used Google maps to reach their destination. But the possibility of their getting help from some locals cannot be ruled out. We are probing the possible links of terrorists with the smugglers active on both sides of the border, who could be their local handlers. Also, we are probing Ikagar, the driver who was murdered by terrorists since he got a call from Pakistan and it was only after that he got out of his house at midnight. He was the only one who was murdered and he was the only one who got a call from Pakistan. He was killed,” said the source.
Sources said police are also scrutinising the conduct Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh in the run-up to his encounter with terrorists. A senior police officer said several of his statements do not add up, “We are left wondering what was he doing at that spot at that time of the night in his official car. That, too, without his own driver. Also, we need to answer a question as to how the jihadis left the SP without even injuring him while his associate was almost killed by slitting his neck. It was sheer providence that saved him.”
Lt Col EK Niranjan’s father K Sivarajan and daughter Vismaya in Bangalore after the body of the officer, who died in Pathankot, was brought to the southern city on Monday. (PTI)
New Delhi, Jan. 4: The army aimed cannons mounted on armoured troop carriers at a two-storey building inside the Pathankot air force station from where militants were firing and razed it to rubble to kill the attackers late last night. "We are checking through the rubble slowly," an officer said this afternoon. "I can tell you some human remains have been found but we can't be certain if there were one or two terrorists in the building." In the evening, the National Security Guard's inspector-general (operations), Maj. Gen. Dushyant Singh, confirmed that "we have been able to eliminate a fifth terrorist". He said operations were still on. There is no confirmation whether there are more militants inside the base. The death of Lt Col E.K. Niranjan while examining the body of a militant on Saturday has forced a more gradual combing of the 1,600-acre air force station. Niranjan was killed in a grenade explosion. A militant had booby-trapped his own body before being killed. The sheer amount of firepower that multiple security forces have used in the Pathankot operation that is spilling into its fourth day shows how the course of the battle changed after the deaths of five men from the Defence Security Corps and an air force Garud commando. The security forces needed to use unmanned aerial vehicles, Mil Mi-35 helicopter gunships, mortars, machine guns and, finally, armoured vehicles to pin down the militants. This even after there was specific intelligence, as disclosed by the government, that the attackers had infiltrated the border and were after high-value targets in the Pathankot region. The sustained battle and the heavy casualties - including 20 wounded soldiers - have stirred questions whether the assessment of danger was off the mark. But the government has denied there was either an intelligence failure or a deficiency in coordinating operations. "These were well-trained terrorists and part of a suicide squad. When such kind of fidayeenattack takes place, it has the potential to cause huge damage. The complex is very big. The circumference of the airbase is 24km. Therefore, combing operations are also taking time," Arun Jaitley, the minister for information and broadcasting and finance, said in New Delhi after a meeting of the National Security Council. He said security forces had confined the attackers to the point at which they had entered the station. He said the militants had been kept away from the technical area where aircraft were parked and that the "process is on for two more bodies". That would take the number of militants killed to six though the operational commander has so far confirmed five bodies. Jaitley said "our security forces were completely successful" in ensuring that strategic assets were not damaged. "A lot has been learnt from 26/11. In the 2008 Mumbai assault, more than 180 people were killed. The terrorists were successful in severely denting us. However, this time, our reaction was prompt. The precautionary measures were taken in time. The militants were curtailed at an early stage," said the minister. Security establishment sources said that after the government received information about the militants on the morning of January 1, a general alert had been sounded at all installations in the Pathankot region. The air force station, with a 23km perimeter wall and five gates, stretches to National Highway 1A on one side. On another, it is hugged by a canal, the Barphani Nullah, that eventually flows into the base. The base is divided into domestic and technical areas. The domestic area houses living and administrative quarters. The technical area, apart from the runway, has hangars and workshops. Among the first troops to be called in were the 11 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles (JAKRIF), part of the Mamoon Brigade. They were tasked to protect the technical area. The 1 Para (special forces) were also called in. The JAKRIF men took position before the National Security Guard (NSG) unit from Manesar, near Delhi, reached Pathankot on the night of January 1-2. Initially, Brig. Anupinder Singh Belvi, commander of the Mamoon Brigade, was the task force commander. The responsibility was effectively vested on Maj. Gen. Dushyant Singh later. Although the major general is an army officer - indeed he commanded a division in Jammu neighbouring Pathankot before his current assignment - he is technically deputed to the home ministry that is the parent of the NSG. The overall responsibility for the security of the Pathankot Air Force Station rests with Air Commodore Jagmeet Singh Dhamoon who is the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the base.The preliminary suspicion is that one of two teams of militants had managed to sneak into the base through the canal and had taken up position before the full deployment of troops. The point at which the canal cuts into the compound of the base is barred with an iron grille. Sources in the army said that at first, two columns (of about 100 troops each) were deployed in the technical area. These men engaged the militants after they had attacked the DSC and the Garud on January 1 night. Subsequently, the army deployment was increased to six and then to eight columns. Last night, the militants began firing from a two-storey house that was the single (as opposed to married) airmen's quarters opposite the base canteen. By the time they had entered the building, the men had evacuated. It was this building that the BMPs - the infantry combat vehicles - aimed their cannons at. Indian leads: Pak Pakistan said late tonight that it was working on "leads" provided by India and extended the deepest condolences to the government and people of India on the "unfortunate terrorist incident". An Indian official confirmed that the government had shared details of telephone intercepts. A statement in Islamabad said: "We understand the pain of many families who have lost their dear ones in this tragedy as Pakistan itself is a major victim of terrorism." It added: "Living in the same region and with a common history the two countries should remain committed to a sustained dialogue process. The challenge of terrorism calls for strengthening our resolve to a cooperative approach." The statement came hours after uncertainty crept into the scheduled foreign secretary talks.
The attack at the air base near the border with Pakistan began early Saturday morning and has dragged on as government troops struggle to contain the heavily armed attackers in the sprawling station.
The modus operandi adopted by the terrorists speaks volumes about the precision training they received, says an Intelligence official
After initially refraining from blaming the country, a top government official said on Monday that the terrorists behind the Pathankot airbase attack appeared to have received training from a “professional armed force in Pakistan.” The fidayeen (suicide) squad was more lethal and better trained than the 26/11 Mumbai attackers. They had enough arms and ammunition, including under barrel grenade launchers, for a sustained operation of more than 60 hours against a professional army.
An Intelligence official told The Hindu that establishing the identity of the terrorists would be a challenge because Pakistan would certainly not own them up. Security forces inside the air base have found bodies of five terrorists. A sixth one was blown to pieces when the building he had taken refuge in was brought down with explosives on Monday. DNA samples would be preserved, he said.
A challenge
After the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Pakistan had refused to accept the bodies of nine Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists killed by the security forces. The tenth terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, the only one to have been captured alive, was hanged in a Pune prison in 2013 and his body was buried on the premises.
“We are yet to ascertain the identity of the terrorists as no recoveries have been made. No terrorist group has so far claimed responsibility. The statement by the United Jihad Council (UJC) is only an attempt to give it a Kashmir colour,” said the Intelligence official.
The UJC, an alliance of more than a dozen pro-Pakistan militant groups based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, had claimed responsibility for the air base attack. “The attack is a message by Mujahideen [militants] that no sensitive installation of India is out of our reach,” UJC spokesman Syed Sadaqat Hussain said in a statement.
Two groups
Security agencies believe there were six terrorists and they were divided into two groups — one of 4 and the other with 2 members.
The modus operandi adopted by the terrorists speaks volumes about the precision training they have received, said the official. “They opened fire at a patrol team at 3.30 a.m., an unusual hour to engage with the enemy. They were clearly aware that the level of alertness would be low at that hour. They did not all come out together, but took on the security forces from different directions.
It is suspected that two terrorists might have entered the Pathankot air base before the Superintendent of Punjab Police Salwinder Singh, his jeweller friend Rajesh Verma and cook Madan Gopal were abducted by the other four, and much before an alert was sounded about their presence in the area.
Mr. Verma, who survived a slit throat, told his interrogators that he heard the four terrorists who hijacked their vehicle talking to their handlers, presumably in Pakistan.
The handler apparently ticked them off, asking why they had not been able to enter the air base when two other terrorists had already reached the target. The four explained that they were on their way. They had not been able to reach the base because there were several police pickets on the way.
It is possible that the four terrorists entered the Pathankot air base in the morning of January 1, much before an alarm was sounded to secure all vital installations, the official said.
NIA registers cases
There are strong indications that the terrorists were assisted by a drugs racket operating along the border and the heavy arms and ammunition they used could have been dispatched from Pakistan before they themselves crossed the border. Security agencies suspect the terrorists crossed the border in Punjab through a “controlled operation” executed by a gang involved in the smuggling of narcotics, fake Indian currency and arms.
Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered cases for waging war against India and inciting riots on Monday, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Arms Act, against unknown persons, official sources said.
In the context of Bogazkoy Indus script seal (signifying use of 3 dhAtu to make sena, 'vajra, thunderbolt metal weapon'), it is amusing to recall a speculative account of movements of what the Allchins call 'Indo-Aryan barbarians' in the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE.
The speculative model-building indulged in by the Allchins should be cut out.
In the framework of decipherment of Indus Script Corpora of 7000 inscriptions as catalogus catalogorum of metalwork, Baudhāyana-Śrautasūtra evidence of movements of Vedic people and archaeo-metallurgical evidences, a simple narrative of Bharatam Janam is that India was a sprachbund (a language union, linguistic area) and Mleccha (Meluhha) speakers migrated out of Sarasvati_Sindhu river valleys into Ancient Near East.
This narrative explains the presene of Indus Script (Meluhha) seal in Bogazkoy, dated ca. 1400 BCE. A remarkable coincidence is that the Bogazkoy treaty is dated to the fourteenth century BCE.
Baudhāyana-Śrautasūtra Chapter XVIII.44 contains an important reference attesting to the migrations of two groups of people away from Kurukshetra region (Sarasvati River basin).
"Translation of BSS XIII.44: Ayu migrated eastwards. His (people) are the Kuru-Pancalas and the Kasi-Videhas. This is the Ayava (migration). Amavasu migrated westwards. His (people) are the Ghandhari, Parsu and Aratta. This is the Amavasu (migration).
"According to the correct translation, there was no movement of the Aryan people from anywhere in the north-west. On the other hand, the evidence indicates that it was from an intermediary point that some of the Aryan tribes went eastwards and other westwards.
This would be clear from the map that follows, noted BB Lal (2009).
Bogazkoy Indus Script seal, sēṇa 'eagle' rebus: sena ʻvajra, thunderboltʼ PLUS dhAtu 'strands of rope' Rebus'mineral, metal, ore'
1.032.01 I declare the former valorous deeds of Indra, which the thunderer has achieved; he clove the cloud; he cast the waters down (to earth); he broke (a way) for the torrents of the mountain. [Vr.tra, also called Ahi, is alluded to as condensed accumulation of vapour figuratively shut up or obstructed by a cloud; Indra, with his thunderbolt or atmospheric prowess divides up the augmented mass yielding a vent for the rain to descend on the earth and moisten the fields].
1.032.02 He clove the cloud, seeking refuge on the mountain; Tvas.t.a) sharpened his far-whirling bolt; the flowing waters quickly hastened to the ocean, like cows (hastening) to their calves.
Twisted rope: dhAtu 'strands of rope' Rebus: dhAtu 'mineral, metal, ore' Alternative: मेढा[ mēḍhā ] A twist or tangle arising in thread or cord, a curl or snarl.(Marathi)(CDIAL 10312).L. meṛh f. ʻropetying oxen to each other and to post on threshing floorʼ(CDIAL 10317) Rebus: meḍ'iron'. mẽṛhet ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)
dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast (metal).Rebus 1: dul ‘to cast in a mould’; dul mẽṛhẽt, dul meṛeḍ, 'cast iron'; koṭe meṛeḍ‘forged iron’ (Santali)
Hieroglyph: धातु [p= 513,3] m. layer , stratum Ka1tyS3r. Kaus3. constituent part , ingredient (esp. [ and in RV. only] ifc. , where often = " fold " e.g. त्रि-ध्/आतु , threefold &c ; cf.त्रिविष्टि- , सप्त- , सु-) RV. TS. S3Br. &c (Monier-Williams) dhāˊtu *strand of ropeʼ (cf. tridhāˊtu -- ʻ threefold ʼ RV., ayugdhātu -- ʻ having an uneven number of strands ʼ KātyŚr.).; S. dhāī f. ʻ wisp of fibres added from time to time to a rope that is being twisted ʼ, L. dhāī˜ f.(CDIAL 6773) tántu m. ʻ thread, warp ʼ RV. [√tan] Pa. tantu -- m. ʻ thread, cord ʼ, Pk. taṁtu -- m.; Kho. (Lor.) ton ʻ warp ʼ < *tand (whence tandeni ʻ thread between wings of spinning wheel ʼ); S. tandu f. ʻ gold or silver thread ʼ; L. tand (pl. °dũ) f. ʻ yarn, thread being spun, string of the tongue ʼ; P. tand m. ʻ thread ʼ, tanduā, °dūā m. ʻ string of the tongue, frenum of glans penis ʼ; A. tã̄t ʻ warp in the loom, cloth being woven ʼ; B. tã̄t ʻ cord ʼ; M. tã̄tū m. ʻ thread ʼ; Si. tatu, °ta ʻ string of a lute ʼ; -- with -- o, -- ā to retain orig. gender: S. tando m. ʻ cord, twine, strand of rope ʼ; N. tã̄do ʻ bowstring ʼ; H. tã̄tā m. ʻ series, line ʼ; G. tã̄tɔ m. ʻ thread ʼ; -- OG. tāṁtaṇaü m. ʻ thread ʼ < *tāṁtaḍaü, G.tã̄tṇɔ m.(CDIAL 5661)
Rebus: M. dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻ a partic. soft red stone ʼ (whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ); dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ; Pk. dhāu -- m. ʻ metal, red chalk ʼ; N. dhāu ʻ ore (esp. of copper) ʼ; Or. ḍhāu ʻ red chalk, red ochre ʼ (whence ḍhāuā ʻ reddish ʼ; (CDIAL 6773) धातु primary element of the earth i.e. metal , mineral, ore (esp. a mineral of a red colour) Mn. MBh. &c element of words i.e. grammatical or verbal root or stem Nir. Pra1t. MBh. &c (with the southern Buddhists धातु means either the 6 elements [see above] Dharmas. xxv ; or the 18 elementary spheres [धातु-लोक] ib. lviii ; or the ashes of the body , relics L. [cf. -गर्भ]) (Monier-Williams. Samskritam).
Print of a seal: Two-headed eagle, a twisted cord below. From Bogazköy . 18th c.B.C. (Museum Ankara).
śyēná m. ʻ hawk, falcon, eagle ʼ RV.Pa. sēna -- , °aka -- m. ʻ hawk ʼ, Pk. sēṇa -- m.; WPah.bhad. śeṇ ʻ kite ʼ; A. xen ʻ falcon, hawk ʼ, Or. seṇā, H. sen, sẽ m., M. śen m., śenī f. (< MIA. *senna -- ); Si. sen ʻ falcon, eagle, kite ʼ.(CDIAL 12674) aśáni f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ RV., °nī -- f. ŚBr. [Cf. áśan -- m. ʻ sling -- stone ʼ RV.] Pa. asanī -- f. ʻ thunderbolt, lightning ʼ, asana -- n. ʻ stone ʼ; Pk. asaṇi -- m.f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ; Ash. ašĩˊ ʻ hail ʼ, Wg. ašē˜ˊ, Pr. īšĩ, Bashg. "azhir", Dm. ašin, Paš. ášen, Shum. äˊšin, Gaw. išín, Bshk. ašun, Savi išin, Phal. ã̄šun, L. (Jukes) ahin, awāṇ. &circmacrepsilon;n (both with n, not ṇ), P. āhiṇ, f., āhaṇ, aihaṇ m.f., WPah. bhad. ã̄ṇ, hiṇi f., N. asino, pl. °nā; Si. sena, heṇa ʻ thunderbolt ʼ Geiger GS 34, but the expected form would be *ā̤n; -- Sh. aĩyĕˊr f. ʻ hail ʼ (X ?). -- For ʻ stone ʼ > ʻ hailstone ʼ cf. upala -- and A. xil s.v.śilāˊ -- . (CDIAL 910)vajrāśani m. ʻ Indra's thunderbolt ʼ R. [vájra -- , aśáni -- ]Aw. bajāsani m. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ prob. ← Sk.(CDIAL 11207) See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/mrdu-merhet-med-metal-and-shahdad.htmlमृदु mṛdu, mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'metal' and Shahdad standard comparable to Somayaga yupa & Śyenaciti
[quote]In a treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni between Suppiluliuma and
Shattiwaza, c. 1380 BC), the deities Mitra, Varuna, Indra, andNasatya (Ashvins) are invoked. Kikkuli's horse training text (circa 1400 BC) includes technical terms such as aika (Vedic Sanskriteka, one), tera (tri, three), panza (pañca, five), satta (sapta, seven), na (nava, nine), vartana (vartana, round). The numeral aika "one" is of particular importance because it places the superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper (Vedic Sanskriteka, with regular contraction of /ai/ to [eː]) as opposed to Indo-Iranian or early Iranian (which has *aiva; compare Vedic eva "only") in general...For the pronunciation of the sounds transcribed from cuneiform asšandz, seeProto-Semitic language#Fricatives.
“To the east of the Caspian it appears hat the Indo-Aryans moved south into the Iranian plateau around 2000 BCE, and we find the first evidence of their language at this time. The Kassite rulers of Babylon at the opening of the sixteenth century bore what were probably Indo-Aryan names, as did the Mitannian rulers of the succeeding cnturies. A treaty of the Hittite king Subiluliuma and the Mitannian Mattiwaza of c. 1380 mentions the Aryan gods Mitra, Indra and Varuna, all familiar from the Rigveda itself, and among the Bogazkoy tablts is a treatise of horse training by Kikkui of Mitanni using chariot racing ters in virtually pure Sanskrit. As far as is known, during the first half of the second illennium the Iranian speaking tribes were still located further north, in the southern parts of Central Asia, in Sogdia and Bactria, while the Indo-Aryans fanned out across Iran, and also eastwards into India proper. It is believed that after some centuries the Iranians too advanced southwards into Iran, around the fourteenth century BCE, probably thereby displacing some of the earlier Indo-Aryans who in turn moved on to the east. Thus we would expect there to hve been at least two main periods of Indo-Aryan migration into north-western India and Pakistan, the first or early period dating from around 2000 BCE, and the second some six centuries later. We have now reached the point where we may consider the evidence from the Indian subcontinent in more detail, and we may begin by discussing the linguistic evidence. The Indo-Aryan languages of India have been divided into two major groups by Grierson and subsequent scholars. The first, which has been called 'non-Sanskritic' or 'pre-Vedic' (also known as Dardic), comprises a small cluster of languages spoken in the mountains of the north-west, in Gilgit, Chitral, Kafiristan and Laghman. It has been argued that these languages, which are not directly related to the Sanskritic languages, represent a separate and perhaps somewhat earlier movement of Indo-Aryans southwards from Central Asia directly into the mountains, in the Pamirs and eastern extremities of the Hindu Kush. The second group has been called 'Sanskritic' or 'Vedic', and its speakers are supposed to have moved southwards further west, through the passes of the Hindu Kush and Kopet Dagh ranges, into Iran and Afghanistan. It was this second group which spread out, some westwars towards Mesopotamia, and some turned eastwards entering the Indus plains, probably by a variety of routes. What is not clear and perhap can never become cear from the very limited evidence avaiable, is whether any members of the first 'pre-Vedic' group also entered India and Pakistan by these wester routes, or whether any of the earlier settlers who entered the north-western valleys ever moved on into the plains of India and Pakistan proper.A further interesting theory was advanced in the last century by Hoernle, arguing that certain differences within the modern Indo-Aryan languages of India proper might be explained by reference to two main waves of immigrants: an earlier [represented by an 'outer band' of languages – Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Sindhi and Kashmiri] and a later represented by a central group of langguages, comprising mainly Hindi, Rajasthani and Panjabi. This theory has not been universally accepted, but some scholars have believed that the languages of the outer band might represent elements surviving from an earlier, possibly even 'pre-Vedic', wave, while those of the central group might represent a later, 'Vedic' wave. Another, perhaps more plausible, theory would make the outer band languages an earlier was of the Vedic group itself. The linguistic models we have outlines are based upon the modern Indo-Aryan languages and their ditributions, and they necessariy provide very slender evidene upon which to base theories relating to the first arrival of Indo-Aryan speaking peoples, nearly four millennia ago. It must also be recognized that the models offer very little, if any, hope of establishing absolute chronologies of any kind. We mentioned above the Mitannian and Hurrian evidence for the presence of Indo-Aryan speaking peoples, including experts in the management of chariots, on the western borders of Iran in the middle of the second millennium. No such positive evidence is yet known from India and it can only be expected to come from the discovry of texts or inscriptions. Furthermore, the chronological position of the Rigveda and other Vedic and late Vedic texts is necessarily extremely vague. All this makes our aim of relating linguistic and archaeological evidence problematic, and we must allow for several possible hypotheses, none of whih at the present can be firmly established or rejected. Another difficulty which we now encounter is that while it may be reasonably simple to identify archaelogical cultures with the movements of Indo-Iranian speaking people in the sparsely populated steppes, it is quite a different matter to make such identifications when these same peoples moved down into southern Centra Asia, Iran or India, where there were already substantial populations of agriculturistswith long established settlements and craft and cultural traditions. If we are to recognize the arrival or presence of the Indo-Aryan barbarians, it is probable that it will be in the form of evidence of cultural contacts between the two communities, rathern than the sudden or total extinction of one by the other. It seems likey that the Aryans would have brought with them not only their 'secret weapon'– the horse-and fire-cults, and perhaps such distinctive traits as their burials. However, they would largely have taken over the crafts and settlement sites of the existing populations, whom in general they came to dominate. We must also expect different types of culture contact in different situtions: among the small population units of the Himalayan valleys there would have been many fewer specialized crafts for the immigrants to exploit, while in the comparatively more sophisticated, richer and more populous plains there must have been rather mre.”(Bridget Allchin, Raymond Allchin, 1982, The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan, Cambridge Univ. Press, p. 301)
The so-called 'fire-cult' is relatable to the evidence of Binjor yajna kunda with an octagonal yupa in the Vedic tradition. See:
AB Bardhan, a respected leader of the Communist Party of India passed away last week. A rare leader, Bardhan is different from the icons the mainline polity is familiar with today. He was simple and therefore honest. Leaders like him are only remembered for their simplicity in personal life and probity in public life. Many political leaders had lived and died, some of them most powerful and popular. Yet, only a few are remembered for probity. Whether it is Sardar Patel or Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri or Kamaraj, Ram Manohar Lohia or Deendayal Upadhyaya, Jayaprakash Narayan or Achyut Patwardhan, AK Gopalan or Acharya Kripalani, Morarji Desai or Nanaji Deshmukh, Kushabhau Thakre or Inderjit Gupta, Namboodiripad or Madhu Dandavate — to mention only a few names cutting across all political parties — they are all recalled for their probity first. Many of them stood equally for truth. I recall with gratitude that when the Indian Express was raided and I was arrested in March 1987 on false charges, it was the CPI leader Inderjit Gupta who defended me in Parliament against the powerful Ambanis and government!
But whenever such honest leaders pass away, they seem to leave an enlarging vacuum behind with steadily declining number of people like them — committed and honest. The malady, which began in politics, gradually extended to media barons and journalists, academics and professionals and even bureaucrats and judges — particularly in Delhi where from the nation is governed. And there are no courageous media owners like Ramnath Goenka or Cushroo Irani now. No Mulgaonkar or George Verghese in journalism today. Many successful journalists own properties and farms which will be businessmen’s envy. The despicable practices of some media owners, which includes laundering bribes into their coffers, will dwarf the adventures of the most seasoned buccaneers in business. Yet, these perfidious media men claim the sacred constitutional rights for which men like Goenka fought at the cost of the viability of their own papers.
How did a nation which won freedom by the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of nationalists, who cast aside their life and even destroyed their families in nation’s cause, so quickly descend to such low, post-independence? Where did the rot begin? It all began after the advent of Indira Gandhi in the late 1960s. She changed the paradigm of politics based on ethics and probity to the paradigm of power and success. She asserted her raw power first by defeating her own party candidate whose nomination she had signed just weeks earlier, demonstrating the importance of success and irrelevance of ethics. She is remembered for the power she wielded for 16 long years.
In contrast, her predecessor Lal Bahadur Shastri, who ruled the country for a mere tenth of her tenure, is recalled for his simplicity and probity. Though both won wars with Pakistan, they symbolised two divergent paradigms. Indira was powerful. Shastri was simple. She did not respect honesty greatly. Shastri was a symbol of probity. Known as the ‘homeless home minister’ of India, Shastri lived in a rented house in Lucknow in his home state UP, and in a government accommodation in Delhi.
Shastri did not even need all of his Delhi accommodation. He occupied just two small rooms. His sons got married in simple ceremonies under the mango tree in the backyard of the two rooms. When Shastri resigned as union railway minister owning ‘moral responsibility’ for an accident, he forthwith surrendered his official car and stood in queue in bus stand to catch a bus to home.
Later, after he had resigned under the Kamaraj Plan, Ramnath Goenka saw him waiting in bus stand and picked him to home. As he repeatedly bemoaned the moral decline after Shastri, Goenka used to recall him tearfully. Shastri was born in a poor family, led a simple personal life, austere family life, ethical public life & finally died a poor man. When he died, all that Shastri had had was an old car which he had purchased on monthly instalment. Instead of celebrating such a great man, after he died, the Congress party turned so ungrateful that it humiliated him and refused state honours for his funeral and wanted his body to be taken to Allahabad for cremation. It was only after his wife, Lalita Devi, fought with the party, the great leaders relented to cremate him with national honours at the spot which is now the Vijay Ghat.
Advent of Indira shifted the core of Indian polity from celebrating honesty and ethics to worshipping success and power. For the first time in the history of free India, corruption charges were made against the Prime Minister which, of course, she couldn’t care less, turning a hitherto shy polity turned into a shameless one.
This shift in polity manifested in the character of the Lutyens of Delhi. With power naturally concentrated in the national capital Delhi, the different government offices, tribunals, and courts generate opportunities — genuine and dishonest — for the Lutyens to amass income and wealth which no other geography in India could provide. Austerity ceased to be a virtue, even became a burden in public life. Ostentation became acceptable, even venerated among the Delhi elites. With globalisation and liberalisation bringing in an avalanche of easy money into Delhi, whatever little respect virtues and the virtuous commanded declined rapidly. Wealth and power became the exclusive indices of success. Delhi changed forever, for the worse. The Lutyens of Delhi began revelling in ostentation. It is at the elite parties in Delhi, the English-speaking Lutyens meet, gossip, build and destroy others’ name and goodwill and decide the ecosystem of governance of India. The powerful elite club includes politicians, media barons and editors, bureaucrats and touts some of who masquerade as journalists.
This elite, secular, modern and powerful club, which has no connect with the Indian people, influence all governments, parties, bureaucrats and the policies they formulate. No party or government has been free from their pernicious sway. They constitute the biggest distortion of government, public life and polity. They virtually control the national media discourse which is echoed all over the country. They cannot and will not allow honest media or pubic discourse. Posing as heavyweight liberals, seculars and intellectuals, they justify dishonest politics. Political survival of non-Lutyens in Delhi is difficult unless this elite Lutyens club endorses them.
The situation appeared hopeless a couple of years back. But an unprecedented change was thrown up in the 2014 elections when the people elected Narendra Modi — a rank outsider and unknown to the Lutyens of Delhi. The Lutyens and Modi are a poles apart. The Lutyen Delhi is comfortable only in English and Modi is not. It loves elite parties which Modi keeps away from. Lutyens love to gossip and Modi wouldn’t listen even to them. For the Lutyens, he is a stranger. Modi faces their challenge which is also an opportunity. He can keep away from the Lutyens, which he does, and thus keep his government away from perfidy and corruption. But he does pay the huge cost — their intense hostility — for keeping away from them.
Not only Modi, but many of his colleagues and bureaucrats too avoid the Delhi Lutyens. In the process, the Lutyens have lost their power over the powers. The Lutyens cannot allow Modi government to succeed which will mean their defeat and irrelevance — something which they cannot accept. Modi is still the last and the best chance to break the Delhi Lutyens circuit’s strangle hold over national polity.
If he succeeds, there is scope for honest leaders like AB Bardhan, who emerge only outside Delhi Lutyens circuit, to regain respect and relevance. Otherwise they will, of course, exist, but as marginalised and endangered species in national polity and at the mercy of Lutyen mafia of Delhi.
The rest of Modi’s term is crucial not only for him and his government but also for probity in public life.
A source said the CBI, which is also investigating the case, has already moved a request for a red corner notice against Michel for his arrest in connection with irregularities in the Rs 3,700 crore chopper deal.
Officials investigating the case are confident that Michel's arrest will help the agency crack and arrest the actual beneficiaries in the deal.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had in a report tabled in Parliament in 2013 alleged that former national security advisor M K Narayanan and former IAF chiefs S P Tyagi and Fali H Major were among key officials who tweaked various specifications that finally resulted in the 12 VVIP helicopters deal with AgustaWestland. The 2010 deal is under investigation both in Italy and India for alleged kickbacks.
The ED had registered a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) last year against the accused. Later, in a property attachment order, the agency had alleged that bribes were paid by Michel, Gerosa and Haschke to Indians to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland of UK, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica of Italy.
The ED has already attached five properties in Delhi and the national capital region, some of which belong to Tyagi's cousins who are also being investigated under PMLA.
The Tyagi brothers are accused of laundering the "proceeds of crime" in the chopper deal and have been accused of acquiring immovable assets worth over Rs 6 crore using this money.
Chidambaram's wife named in Saradha chargesheet http://toi.in/YBasea via @timesofindia----Family of Chors including cousin BCCI Muthiah
Chidambaram's wife named in Saradha chargesheet
TNN | Jan 5, 2016, 04.42 AM IST
Target me directly don't haras...
Target me directly don't harass my son: Chidambaram to Modi govt
Target me directly don't haras...
02:00
KOLKATA: The CBI on Monday named Nalini Chidambaram, the wife of former finance minister P Chidambaram, in the sixth supplementary chargesheet filed in the Saradha scam on Monday.
Nalini was named neither as witness nor accused, but as one privy to certain information on the controversial channel deal. The CBI said it might look into the information she was privy to "at a later stage".
"She was a lawyer of Manoranjana Singh, one of the accused in the Saradha case. Her name came up as her fee had been paid from Saradha money," said a CBI officer on Monday.
Nalini's name first cropped up in the purported letter from Saradha boss Sudipta Sen to CBI in April 2013, where it was claimed that she had been paid from Saradha accounts.
According to an SFIO report on the Saradha muddle, Nalini was the sole arbitrator of the deal signed between Sudipta and Saradha group on June 21, 2010. The report claims that she was "seemingly" paid for her professional services as lawyer.
Sources say that during questioning, Manoranjana claimed that the MoU and agreement between Saradha and GNN India were drafted by NC Associates in Chennai as Nalini was looking after her corporate affairs. The Saradha boss had earlier claimed before investigators that the deal was drafted in favour of Manoranjana.
There have been questions about how much Nalini was paid but no CBI officer would comment on it. The case is being probed by three central investigating agencies: CBI, ED and SFIO. Banking details with the investigators reportedly reveal that Nalini was paid Rs 65.85 lakh between June 2010 and September 2012. But the TDS filed by the Saradha group shows a payment of Rs 1.5 crore to her from March-June 2011. A TDS of Rs 15 lakh was deducted from that, say sources.
What has surprised investigators is the number of emails Sudipta sent to Nalini to try and establish his credibility. In an email on October 2011, Sudipta tells Nalini that he "had not done due diligence of the company (GNN India) beforehand". He believed Nalini's "presence, her name and her fame in the world" had given them the "confirmation that everything will be correctly executed". The Saradha boss had told her that a Trinamool Congress MP and Saradha vice-president Somnath Dutta could give her "an appraisal report" of the company.
According to sources, Manoranjana started getting sceptical about Saradha's background and expressed her misgivings to Nalini. In an email in September 2011, Manoranjana reportedly told Nalini that many of Sudipta's "clandestine and dubious" operations were under the investigation of RBI, Sebi and CID in Kolkata and Assam.
Notices from ED and income tax department had become 'a part of his life', she wrote, reportedly telling Nalini that "no business of Sudipta Sen makes money" and that he "loses money in each one of them". The chargesheet details the role of Manoranjana and Santanu Ghosh — both of whom are in custody — in the Saradha muddle.
After receiving information from Smt. Kamlesh confirming the availability of the two articles of Dr. Satya Prakash, Shri Vipin Kumar ji traveled to Jodhpur OrientalResearch Institute and has obtained the following camera-scanned (because the pages of the journal were very brittle) and other scanned copies of the articles in reference to the ancient Yupa Pillar inscriptions of Rajasthan.
The community of researchers in civilization studies owe a debt of gratitude to Vipin Kumar ji (vedastudy@gmail.com)
for the dediction with which he has made this treasure trove of research documents available.
I am extremely grateful to Shri Vipin Kumar ji, who is a student of Dr. Fatah Singh, former Director of Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur. Jeevema s'aradah s'atam, Vipin Kumar ji and Smt. Kamlesh ji.
The insights provided by Dr. Satya Prakash in the JRIHR article (1968) are emphatic that the Yupa inscriptions record the performance of Vedic Yajnas.
“No other state of India has yielded as many Yajastambhas as the present united State of Rajasthan. All these pillars are dated in Krita era (Malava era) and are interesting from several points of view. The existence of these pillars in Kotah, Jaipur, Udaipur, Tonk and Bharatpur areas of Rajasthan is a definite proof of the performance of Vedic sacrifices in these areas in the early centuries of the Christian era, to which period these belong on the bsis of the times mentioned in them in the corresponding Malava Samvat. These inscriptional religious pillars were set p immediately after the performance of Vedic sacrifices. All these pillars are indicative of the performance of Vedic sacrifices (Vedic Yajnas) in various areas of Rajasthan and are inscribed in the Brahmi script and in Sanskrit language and belong to the 3rd and 4thcenturies of the Christian era, but we can trace the tradition of putting up inscribed pillars to pre-christian era, to which period belong the pillars and Incribed rock edict of Asoka at Bairat, which was, then a stronghold of Buddhist faith. The inscription (Dr. R. Sahni mentions in his excation report on Bairat that the Yupa devices were also found used on the Yaudheya coins of about the beginning of the Christian era) from Ghoshundi, near Nagri the old Madhyamika Nagri (in the present Cchittorgarah ditrict) of the days of Patanjali's Mahabhashya mentioning the performance of a horse sacrifice is also very interesting. This is s a proof of the fact that Nagri and its vicinity was not only the centre of Buddhist activities and Greek incursions but it was also a stronghold of Brahminical faith and horse sacrifices were performed there.It was also the centre of Samkarshana Vasudeva worship in whose honour a stone enclosure (Silaprakara) was constructed there...An inscriptional reference to the performance of Vajapeya sacrifice is also available from an epigraph of the 4th century AD to which period belongs a Yupa pillar also. A terracotta seal found by Col. Hendley at Sambhar during excavations by him was studied by DR Sahni and he interprets the principal impression as displaying a sacrificial post (Yupa) surrounded by a railing. The upper portion of the post is bent down to about the middle of the shaft taken by Sahni to display the mystic symbol Swastika while the sixth one as showing a triangular pattern with five cross bars. This last device appears to represent the ladder by which the sacrificer and his wife ascended to the top of the Yupa and looking in the different directions silently enchanted prayers and offered by Prajapati 17 pieces of salt tied up to Pippala leaves. The setting up of Yupas in the celebration of Yajnas stands recorded in the Atharva Veda. Several ancient inscriptions on stone and other monumental evidences show the performance of such sacrifices done I the 5th or the 6th centuries AD also. Let us now discuss the details of the Yupa pillar inscriptions.”
Bibliography (embedded document copies):
Yupa pillars of Rajasthan, JRIHR, Vol. IV, No. 2, April-June 1968
Rajasthn ke hastalikhita grantha Bhandar; Rajasthan ka puratattva – Satya Prakash (Maru Bharti,Pilani, Vol. I, No. 2, February 1953)Bichpuria, Nagar Yupa Krita (Vikram Samvat 321 CE 264)
D. Agarchand Nagda, Rajasthan through the Ages, vol. 1, Chapter IV, 1966
S. Kalyanaraman Sarasvati Research Center January 5, 2016
Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/zyujcxl sēṇa 'eagle' Indus script hieroglyph, senmurv (Ancient Persian) are Ancient Near East intimations of (army) weapon-making, smelting ores
Print of a seal: Two-headed eagle, a twisted cord below. From Bogazköy . 18th c.B.C. (Museum Ankara).
śyēná m. ʻ hawk, falcon, eagle ʼ RV.Pa. sēna -- , °aka -- m. ʻ hawk ʼ, Pk. sēṇa -- m.; WPah.bhad. śeṇ ʻ kite ʼ; A. xen ʻ falcon, hawk ʼ, Or. seṇā, H. sen, sẽ m., M. śen m., śenī f. (< MIA. *senna -- ); Si. sen ʻ falcon, eagle, kite ʼ.(CDIAL 12674) aśáni f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ RV., °nī -- f. ŚBr. [Cf. áśan -- m. ʻ sling -- stone ʼ RV.] Pa. asanī -- f. ʻ thunderbolt, lightning ʼ, asana -- n. ʻ stone ʼ; Pk. asaṇi -- m.f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ; Ash. ašĩˊ ʻ hail ʼ, Wg. ašē˜ˊ, Pr. īšĩ, Bashg. "azhir", Dm. ašin, Paš. ášen, Shum. äˊšin, Gaw. išín, Bshk. ašun, Savi išin, Phal. ã̄šun, L. (Jukes) ahin, awāṇ. &circmacrepsilon;n (both with n, not ṇ), P. āhiṇ, f., āhaṇ, aihaṇ m.f., WPah. bhad. ã̄ṇ, hiṇi f., N. asino, pl. °nā; Si. sena, heṇa ʻ thunderbolt ʼ Geiger GS 34, but the expected form would be *ā̤n; -- Sh. aĩyĕˊr f. ʻ hail ʼ (X ?). -- For ʻ stone ʼ > ʻ hailstone ʼ cf. upala -- and A. xil s.v.śilāˊ -- . (CDIAL 910) vajrāśani m. ʻ Indra's thunderbolt ʼ R. [vájra -- , aśáni -- ]Aw. bajāsani m. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ prob. ← Sk.(CDIAL 11207) See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/mrdu-merhet-med-metal-and-shahdad.htmlमृदु mṛdu, mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'metal' and Shahdad standard comparable to Somayaga yupa & Śyenaciti
sḗnā f. ʻ army ʼ RV.Pa. sēnā -- f. ʻ army ʼ, Dhp. seṇa, KharI. sena, Pk. seṇā -- f., Sh. sĩ f., K. sīna f., OAw. sena f., H. sen f., Si. sen.sainika -- , *sainiya -- , saínya -- ; sēnāṅga -- , sēnāpati -- . sēnāṅga n. ʻ component part of an army ʼ VarBr̥S. [sḗnā -- , áṅga -- 1] Si. senan̆ga, senaga ʻ multitude, army ʼ (prob. ← Sk.).sēnāpati m. ʻ leader of an army ʼ AitBr. [sḗnā -- , páti -- ] Pa. sēnāpati -- , °ika -- m. ʻ general ʼ, Pk. sēṇāvaï -- m.; M. śeṇvaī, °vī, śeṇai m. ʻ a class of Brahmans ʼ, Ko. śeṇvi; Si. senevi ʻ general ʼ. (CDIAL 13587-13589)
Senmurv: orthographic representation during the historical periods shows an eagle or a bird ligatured to a jackal. krōṣṭŕ̊ ʻ crying ʼ BhP., m. ʻ jackal ʼ RV. = krṓṣṭu -- m. Pāṇ. [√kruś] Pa. koṭṭhu -- , °uka -- and kotthu -- , °uka -- m. ʻ jackal ʼ, Pk. koṭṭhu -- m.; Si. koṭa ʻ jackal ʼ, koṭiya ʻ leopard ʼ GS 42; -- Pk. kolhuya -- , kulha -- m. ʻ jackal ʼ < *kōḍhu -- ; H. kolhā, °lā m. ʻ jackal ʼ, adj. ʻ crafty ʼ; G. kohlũ, °lũ n. ʻ jackal ʼ, M. kolhā, °lā m.(CDIAL 3615) Rebus: kolhe 'smelter' kol 'working in iron' kolle 'blacksmith' kolimi 'smithy, forge'. "Simurgh (/ˌsɪˈmərɡ/; Persian: سیمرغ), also spelled simorgh, simurg, simoorg or simourv, also known as Angha (Persian: عنقا), is a benevolent, mythical flying creature. The figure can be found in all periods of Greater Iranian art and literature and is also evident in the iconography of medieval Armenia, the Byzantine empire, and other regions that were within the sphere of Persian cultural influence.[clarification needed] The mythical bird is also found in the mythology of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and is called Kerkés, Semrug, Semurg, Samran, and Samruk. The name simurgh derives from Middle PersianPahlavi sēnmurw (and earlier sēnmuruγ), also attested in Middle PersianPāzand as sīna-mrū. The Middle Persian term derives in turn from Avestan mərəγō Saēnō "the bird Saēna", originally a raptor, likely an eagle, falcon, or sparrowhawk, as can be deduced from the etymological cognate Sanskrit śyenaḥ ("raptor, eagle, bird of prey") that also appears as a divine figure. Saēna is also a personal name, which is root of the name. The most prestigious award given by Fajr International Film Festival, Iran's major annual film festival, is called the Crystal Simorgh, after the mythical creature. This is an excerpt from the article Senmurw from the Wikipedia free encyclopedia. A list of authors is available at Wikipedia." http://www.cyclopaedia.info/wiki/Senmurw http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/05/simorg.html?view=magazine.
The Simurgh on the wall of church Samtavisi. A Simurgh is a kind of bird, in the mythology of Persia, Armenia, Turkey, and areas covered by the Byzantine Empire, perhaps the equivalent of the Roc or Rukh - this one certainly looks like a gryphon.
Fragment: Eight-Pointed Star with Griffins. Syria, 10th century weft-patterned tabby weave, silk, Overall - h:40.30 w:30.50 cm (h:15 13/16 w:12 inches). Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1941.292. Cleveland Museum of Art.
Sassanian silver gilded ewer (6th/early-7th centuries CE), 33 cm high. This ewer with a loop-shaped handle has a typical Sassanian shape and classically balanced proportions. The ewer's body is decorated with two medallions surrounded by wreaths containing Zoroastrian mythological creatures known as simurgh. The front of the body is decorated with an exotic flower, a symbol of the Tree of Life.
Sassanian silver plate with a simurgh. The winged creature in the centre is a senmurw of simurgh from Zoroastrian mythology and has the shape of a bird with the head of a dog,the claws of a lion and the tail of a peacock.The simurgh roosts in the Tree of Life and when he takes flight,the leaves of the tree shake making all the seeds to fall out.Therefore,the simurgh is considered to bestow fertility,good fortune and glory. Zoroastrianims is a ancient iranian religion .
Iran (possibly) Central Asia (possibly, made) 7th century to 8th century (made) weft-faced compound silk twill, one repeat This patterned silk fragment with a green ground and greenish-yellow pattern shows the fabulous creature, the sēnmurw, enclosed in a roundel of pearls. Part bird, part beast, the sēnmurw is a creation of Sasanian art
Two griffons back-to-back. 11th Century: Two griffons back-to-back. Silk serge an wool. Fragment; from a reliquary. Byzantine. Musee de Valere, Sion, France.
11th Century: A hippocampus and an elephant. Silk serge. Details of a large piece of material decorated with hippocampi (senmurv), elephants and winged horses in contiguous medallions. Spanish. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. Image 2
Simurgh , Persian also spelled simorgh, simurg, simoorg or simourv, is a benevolent, mythical flying creature. It is sometimes equated with other mythological birds such as Arabic Anqā or Persian Homā The figure can be found in all periods of Greater Iranian art and literature and is also evident in the iconography of medieval Armenia , the Byzantine empire and other regions that were within the sphere of Persian cultural influence ..
A simurgh (‘anqa’, a mythical bird) and, above, a bird that appears to be a hoopoe but is labeled ‘aq’aq (magpie).From a copy of ‘Ajā’ib al-makhlūqāt wa-gharā’ib al-mawjūdāt (Marvels of Things Created and Miraculous Aspects of Things Existing) by al-Qazwīnī (d. 1283/682). Neither the copyist nor illustrator is named, and the copy is undated. The nature of paper, script, ink, illumination, and illustrations suggest that it was produced in provincial Mughal India, possibly the Punjab, in the 17.
Rectangular fragment outlined with plain bands in relief. Central piece, circular medallions outlined with “pearl-frames” a senmurv coming out of the circle.
Prime Minister's Office (05-January, 2016 16:41 IST )
PM receives telephone call from Pak PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a call this afternoon from Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif regarding the terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase.
Prime Minister Modi strongly emphasized the need for Pakistan to take firm and immediate action against the organizations and individuals responsible for and linked to the Pathankot terrorist attack. Specific and actionable information in this regard has been provided to Pakistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif assured Prime Minister Modi that his government would take prompt and decisive action against the terrorists.
Hieroglyph narrative of a tiger tied to a rope (to be tied to a pillar, stake): mēthí m. ʻ pillar in threshing floor to which oxen are fastened, prop for supporting carriage shafts ʼ AV., °thī -- f. KātyŚr.com.,
mēdhī -- f. Divyāv. 2. mēṭhī -- f. PañcavBr.com., mēḍhī -- , mēṭī -- f. BhP.1. Pa. mēdhi -- f. ʻ post to tie cattle to, pillar, part of a stūpa ʼ; Pk. mēhi -- m. ʻ post on threshing floor ʼ, N. meh(e), miho, miyo, B. mei, Or. maï -- dāṇḍi, Bi. mẽh, mẽhā ʻ the post ʼ, (SMunger) mehā ʻ the bullock next the post ʼ, Mth. meh, mehā ʻ the post ʼ, (SBhagalpur)mīhã̄ ʻ the bullock next the post ʼ, (SETirhut) mẽhi bāṭi ʻ vessel with a projecting base ʼ.2. Pk. mēḍhi -- m. ʻ post on threshing floor ʼ, mēḍhaka<-> ʻ small stick ʼ; K. mīr, mīrü f. ʻ larger hole in ground which serves as a mark in pitching walnuts ʼ (for semantic relation of ʻ post -- hole ʼ see kūpa -- 2); L. meṛh f. ʻ rope tying oxen to each other and to post on threshing floor ʼ; P. mehṛ f.,
mehaṛ m. ʻ oxen on threshing floor, crowd ʼ; OA meṛha, mehra ʻ a circular construction, mound ʼ; Or. meṛhī,meri ʻ post on threshing floor ʼ; Bi. mẽṛ ʻ raised bank between irrigated beds ʼ, (Camparam) mẽṛhā ʻ bullock next the post ʼ, Mth. (SETirhut) mẽṛhā ʻ id. ʼ; M. meḍ(h), meḍhī f., meḍhā m. ʻ post, forked stake ʼ.mēthika -- ; mēthiṣṭhá -- . mēthika m. ʻ 17th or lowest cubit from top of sacrificial post ʼ lex. [mēthí -- ]Bi. mẽhiyā ʻ the bullock next the post on threshing floor ʼ.mēthiṣṭhá ʻ standing at the post ʼ TS. [mēthí -- , stha -- ] Bi. (Patna) mĕhṭhā ʻ post on threshing floor ʼ, (Gaya) mehṭā, mẽhṭā ʻ the bullock next the post ʼ.(CDIAL 10317 to, 10319) mēḍhā ‘stake’ rebus: meD 'iron', med 'copper' (Slavic)
The terracotta cake found in Kalibangan has the hieroglyph of a warrior: bhaTa 'warrior' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace', thus reinforcing the smelting process in the fire-altars. Smelters might have used bhaThi 'bellows'.bhástrā f. ʻ leathern bag ʼ ŚBr., ʻ bellows ʼ Kāv., bhastrikā -- f. ʻ little bag ʼ Daś. [Despite EWA ii 489, not from a √bhas ʻ blow ʼ (existence of which is very doubtful). -- Basic meaning is ʻ skin bag ʼ (cf. bakura<-> ʻ bellows ʼ ~ bākurá -- dŕ̊ti -- ʻ goat's skin ʼ), der. from bastá -- m. ʻ goat ʼ RV. (cf.bastājina -- n. ʻ goat's skin ʼ MaitrS. = bāstaṁ carma Mn.); with bh -- (and unexpl. -- st -- ) in Pa. bhasta -- m. ʻ goat ʼ, bhastacamma -- n. ʻ goat's skin ʼ. Phonet. Pa. and all NIA. (except S. with a) may be < *bhāsta -- , cf. bāsta -- above (J. C. W.)]With unexpl. retention of -- st -- : Pa. bhastā -- f. ʻ bellows ʼ (cf. vāta -- puṇṇa -- bhasta -- camma -- n. ʻ goat's skin full ofwind ʼ), biḷāra -- bhastā -- f. ʻ catskin bag ʼ, bhasta -- n. ʻ leather sack (for flour) ʼ; K. khāra -- basta f. ʻ blacksmith's skin bellows ʼ; -- S. bathī f. ʻ quiver ʼ (< *bhathī); A. Or. bhāti ʻ bellows ʼ, Bi. bhāthī, (S of Ganges) bhã̄thī; OAw. bhāthā̆ ʻ quiver ʼ; H. bhāthā m. ʻ quiver ʼ, bhāthī f. ʻ bellows ʼ; G. bhāthɔ,bhātɔ, bhāthṛɔ m. ʻ quiver ʼ (whence bhāthī m. ʻ warrior ʼ); M. bhātā m. ʻ leathern bag, bellows, quiver ʼ, bhātaḍ n. ʻ bellows, quiver ʼ; <-> (X bhráṣṭra -- ?) N. bhã̄ṭi ʻ bellows ʼ, H. bhāṭhī f.
*khallabhastrā -- .Addenda: bhástrā -- : OA. bhāthi ʻ bellows ʼ .(CDIAL 9424) bhráṣṭra n. ʻ frying pan, gridiron ʼ MaitrS. [√bhrajj] Pk. bhaṭṭha -- m.n. ʻ gridiron ʼ; K. büṭhü f. ʻ level surface by kitchen fireplace on which vessels are put when taken off fire ʼ; S. baṭhu m. ʻ large pot in which grain is parched, large cooking fire ʼ, baṭhī f. ʻ distilling furnace ʼ; L. bhaṭṭh m. ʻ grain -- parcher's oven ʼ, bhaṭṭhī f. ʻ kiln, distillery ʼ, awāṇ. bhaṭh; P. bhaṭṭhm., °ṭhī f. ʻ furnace ʼ, bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ; N. bhāṭi ʻ oven or vessel in which clothes are steamed for washing ʼ; A. bhaṭā ʻ brick -- or lime -- kiln ʼ; B. bhāṭi ʻ kiln ʼ; Or. bhāṭi ʻ brick -- kiln, distilling pot ʼ; Mth. bhaṭhī, bhaṭṭī ʻ brick -- kiln, furnace, still ʼ; Aw.lakh. bhāṭhā ʻ kiln ʼ; H. bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ, bhaṭ f. ʻ kiln, oven, fireplace ʼ; M. bhaṭṭā m. ʻ pot of fire ʼ, bhaṭṭī f. ʻ forge ʼ. -- X bhástrā -- q.v.bhrāṣṭra -- ; *bhraṣṭrapūra -- , *bhraṣṭrāgāra -- .Addenda: bhráṣṭra -- : S.kcch. bhaṭṭhī keṇī ʻ distil (spirits) ʼ.*bhraṣṭrāgāra ʻ grain parching house ʼ. [bhráṣṭra -- , agāra -- ]P. bhaṭhiār, °ālā m. ʻ grainparcher's shop ʼ.(CDIAL 9656, 9658)
kūtī = bunch of twigs (Skt.)The bunch of twigs = kūdī, kūṭī(Skt.lex.) kūdī (also written as kūṭī in manuscripts) occurs in the Atharvaveda(AV 5.19.12) and KauśikaSūtra (Bloomsfield's ed.n, xliv. cf. Bloomsfield,American Journal of Philology, 11, 355; 12,416; Roth, Festgruss anBohtlingk, 98) denotes it as a twig. This is identified as that of Badarī, the jujube tied to the body of the dead to efface their traces. (See Vedic Index, I, p. 177).Rebus: kuṭhi'smelting furnace‘; koṭe ‘forged metal’ (Santali)
Kalibangan065 Cylinder seal impression. Note the scarf of the person ligatured to a tiger.
dhaṭu m. (also dhaṭhu) m. ‘scarf’ (WPah.) (CDIAL 6707);
Rebus: dhātu ‘mineral (Pali).
kola 'tiger' Rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolhe 'smelter'
kūtī = bunch of twigs (Skt.)The bunch of twigs = kūdī, kūṭī(Skt.lex.) kūdī (also written as kūṭī in manuscripts) occurs in the Atharvaveda(AV 5.19.12) and KauśikaSūtra (Bloomsfield's ed.n, xliv. cf. Bloomsfield,American Journal of Philology, 11, 355; 12,416; Roth, Festgruss anBohtlingk, 98) denotes it as a twig. This is identified as that of Badarī, the jujube tied to the body of the dead to efface their traces. (See Vedic Index, I, p. 177).Rebus: kuṭhi'smelting furnace‘; koṭe ‘forged metal’ (Santali)
kuṭi 'tree' Rebus: kuṭhi'smelting furnace‘; koṭe ‘forged metal’ (Santali)(Phonetic determinant of the twig on the horns of the woman ligatured to the tiger'
karat.i, karut.i, kerut.i fencing, school or gymnasium where wrestling and fencing are taught (Ta.); garad.i, garud.i fencing school (Ka.); garad.i, garod.i (Tu.); garid.i, garid.i_ id., fencing (Te.)(DEDR 1262).
Rebus 1: करडा [ karaḍā ] Hard fromalloy--iron, silver &c. Rebus 2: khara_di_ = turner (G.)
Hieroglyph: karã̄ n. pl. ʻ wristlets, bangles ʼ (Gujarati) Rebus: khAr 'blacksmith' kola 'woman' Rebus: kolhe 'smelter' kol 'working in iron' kolle 'blacksmith' kolimi 'smithy, forge'.
Pathankot attack - Nation salutes Lt Col Niranjan - TV9
How NSG commandos neutralized the terrorists at Pathankot Air Force base
PTI | Jan 5, 2016, 07.20 PM IST
Pathankot attack: 300 NSG commandos use smart weapons to combat terrorists
NEW DELHI: About 300 'black cat' commandos of the elite counter-terror force, NSG, deployed an assortment of most sophisticated assault weapons and "buster" ammunition tools to neutralise the terrorists who had sneaked into the Air Force base in the border town of Pathankot.
In one of the longest running counter-terror operations in the country, the National Security Guard (NSG) suffered minor and major injuries to its 21 personnel, besides the death of its bomb squad Commanding Officer Lt Col E K Niranjan, since the first detachment of about 160 commandos flew out from the Palam military airbase on January 1 on an IAF transport aircraft.
Sources privy to the operation said two more similar special strike units, with a strength of about 80 'black cats' each, were airlifted to Pathankot from Delhi on January 2 and 3. They joined their 'buddies' thick in operations at the sprawling airbase, house to the fighter Squadrons of the IAF.
They said it was a "New Year call" to the 24x7 'on alert' counter-terrorist unit based at its garrison in Manesar sometime in the afternoon on January 1 and the commandos of the Special Action Group (SAG) were airborne by 1500 hours.
The call to air-dash to Pathankot was made by the Union Home Ministry to the NSG headquarters, which quickly asked its Force Commander in Manesar to prepare the commando team for assault.
The first team were led by NSG Inspector General (Operations) Major General Dushyant Singh even as Director General R C Tayal camped in Pathankot from Sunday.
The sources said the NSG commandos made extensive use of their special weapons like MP-5 assault rifles, Glock pistols, corner-shot guns and a heavy cache of door and wall-busting explosive charges to corner and eliminate the holed-up terrorists.
The sources said the NSG commandos made extensive use of their special weapons like MP-5 assault rifles, Glock pistols, corner-shot guns and a heavy cache of door and wall-busting explosive charges to corner and eliminate the holed-up terrorists.
They said the 'buster' tools, as they are called, were also used during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks when NSG used them to blow off locked rooms and passages of five-star hotels but some of them used this time were the enhanced variants which the force has procured post the Mumbai operation.
Two terrorists, the sources said, were killed by the NSG men when they were hiding and launching continuous fire and lobbing grenades from a room where the family quarters of the Defence Security Corps (DSC) is located in the airbase. The room was later demolished by the use of heavy fire.
By PTI | 5 Jan, 2016, 08.11PM IST http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/pathankot-attack-300-nsg-commandos-use-smart-weapons-to-combat-terrorists/articleshow/50456476.cms?prtpage=1 | Wednesday , January 6 , 2016 |
Operation Pathanblot
- The Telegraph reproduces the accounts by the Union government on the Pathankot air station attack over the past two days and holds them up against information gleaned from the ground and from conversations with defence sources
SUJAN DUTTA IN NEW DELHI AND IMRAN AHMED SIDDIQUI IN PATHANKOT
Manohar Parrikar, defence minister: I can see some gaps but I do not think there is any compromise on security. Everything will be clear after investigation. On the ground: Never before has a military installation had a full day's advance notice and failed to prevent attackers from entering the facility. The infiltration of Air Force Station Pathankot- with or without the alert - is probably the most glaring of the "gaps" in the security grid that Parrikar referred to this afternoon at the base. The defence minister said in the same breath: "But I do not think there is any compromise on security." Civilians and the uninitiated will wonder what to call six armed intruders - at the last count - entering an airbase near the border other than "compromise on security". The minister himself said the attackers were armed with "AK-47s, under-barrel grenade launchers (modified to fire mortars), knives and at least 40kg to 50kg of bullets and three to four dozens of magazines". Try walking into Fort William in Calcutta uninvited on any given day. You don't need to lug AK-47s and the rest of the aforesaid baggage to feel unwelcome in the largely peaceful eastern base.
Parrikar: The technical area - housing aircraft, helicopters and possibly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - is safe. Arun Jaitley, information and broadcasting and finance minister: The intelligence inputs helped, that is why the attack was contained and the terrorists were contained far from the assets. On the ground: By all accounts so far, the attackers could not reach the technical area and seemed to have brushed past it. But the terrorists did enter the base. Air Force Station Pathankot is a frontline airbase, co-located with army infantry, armoured, artillery and special forces units. The wall around it is 10 feet high, with two feet of concertina coil at the top. The airbase is one of the largest anywhere in the country and one of the most strategically located. Pathankot was among the first targets of the Pakistani air force in the last full-fledged war in 1971 and was targeted even before that. Yet, six terrorists managed to enter the base and keep the forces engaged for days. The government is yet to answer how it arrived at the smug initial assessment that security had not been compromised. Parrikar: The army cannot perform civil duty to set up check posts on the passages (asked how the terrorists entered the base despite advance information). On the ground: A forward base like Pathankot should be prepared round the clock against infiltration, irrespective of whether there is an alert. The air force station is roughly shaped like a teardrop. The National Highway 1A to Jammu and Kashmir passes by it. At one end, the Barphani Nullah - a canal really - cuts an arc outside the perimeter wall before entering the compound and then flowing out in another smaller arc. It flows below the wall through iron grilles. The militants - or at least one team of them - are suspected to have cut through the grille. Another team is suspected to have cut through barbed wire fencing on a short stretch of the wall that was partly damaged in floods last year. The militants were heavily armed. Six healthy men can easily share a load of 50kg-plus between them and not raise an eyebrow in many places. But when that load turns out to be rifles with under-barrel grenade launchers, especially in the sensitive Pathankot area, they should normally have been spotted easily. Airbases have not been attacked before - all the more reason why they should be on their toes. In October 2001 - about two months before Parliament was attacked on December 13 - militants had tried to break into the base in Srinagar. An army quick reaction team shot and killed them on the wall before they could enter. Parrikar conceded on Tuesday that "my worry is how they managed to enter". Jaitley: Five personnel died in flash action, when the terrorists attacked first. Only one person was killed in the encounter that went on for two days. The lieutenant colonel (E.K. Niranjan of the NSG) was killed in an accident. On the ground: In judging a military encounter, the body count matters: which side lost how many? In this instance, seven Indian soldiers were killed by six militants in a military installation. Militarily, it is ignominy. Jaitley: Such operations continue for a long time... the operations in Mumbai (26/11) also continued for a long time. On the ground: The parallel with Mumbai is contentious. One does exist: both groups hijacked civilian vehicles (boat in Mumbai, an SUV before stopping a police vehicle in Pathankot). But that is about where the parallels between 26/11 and Pathankot end. Most glaringly, the targets in Mumbai were civilian and commercial institutions: a railway station, two five-star hotels, a hospital, a cinema, a café and a Jewish community centre. None of these was or is expected to be guarded in the manner of a military installation. Certainly not one like Air Force Station Pathankot. Parrikar: I have told them not to take any risk. We have lost one person in a booby trap, so no more losses.... On the ground: The actual encounter lasted 38 hours. In a military installation that is way too long. One reason for the prolonged operation is that superiors told juniors to minimise casualties after the initial fatalities. The militants who attacked the Pathankot base most definitely had military-level training to continue fighting in the way they had for three days. Their first victims were from the air force commando and the Defence Security Corps (DCS). The air force commando, Garud, was guarding one entrance to the technical area. Four DSC men - all retired soldiers - were killed in the guardroom before one killed an attacker and was shot himself. Despite their commitment, the DSC is not equipped to take on fighting-fit terrorists. All of which brings up these questions: why was the NSG called in? What happened to the Indian defence forces? Isn't the army, tasked with protecting the country, capable of defending itself? COMMAND CONFUSION The answers, based on the accounts of multiple sources, paint a picture of confusion and a chain of command weighed down by too many generals. Authorities in Delhi effected three changes of command during the operation in Pathankot in moves that left the field operatives wondering who was actually in charge. The confusion at the top resulting from the presence of multiple agencies - the air force, army, NSG, BSF and Punjab police - was evident in the dribs and drabs of mixed-messaging from the battlefield, usually through sources from different agencies, some reporting to the defence ministry and some to the home ministry. Union home secretary Rajeev Mehrishi said in his media briefing on Sunday that the decision on the operation was taken at a meeting chaired by the national security adviser, Ajit Doval, with the service chiefs and the heads of the intelligence agencies on the afternoon of January 1. The changes were actually effected on the evening and the night of January 1-2, more than 12 hours after New Delhi had received intelligence on the infiltration from Pakistan with inputs that they could attack a high-value target in the Pathankot area. The area, often called a "chicken's neck" because it is between the border and the Himalaya, is thick with military installations: apart from the air force station itself there are two divisional headquarters of the army, along with their infantry, armoured and artillery brigades. It is likely that by the afternoon of January 1, one or more of the militants had actually sneaked into the airbase. The first officer to be put in command of the operations against the killers was Brig. Anupinder Singh Belvi, commander of the Mamoon (51) Brigade, co-located with the Pathankot airbase, under the army's 29 Division. The brigadier reached the air force station with troops for a recce on the evening of January 1. Later in the night, about 90 minutes before the first exchange of fire in which the air force commando, Garud Gursewak Singh, was killed, the inspector-general (operations) of the NSG, Maj. Gen. Dushyant Singh, landed in Pathankot with about 160 of his men. They had been despatched from Manesar near Delhi. NSG AND ARMY The NSG officer wanted to take command. The brigadier replied he had received no orders to hand over command. Under the rules of business of government, the army almost never operates under a police force. The NSG describes itself as a federal contingency force. It reports to the Union home ministry. The army reports to the defence ministry. The confusion was sorted out after the brigadier was told that the NSG would lead the operations and the army was to support it with two columns and a squad of special forces. Accordingly, the brigadier asked for two columns of the 11 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles under their commanding officer and teams of the 1 Para (special forces) to be deployed at the Pathankot airbase. Special forces are an offensive tactical wing, not expected to be put in charge of defences such as perimeter security. The army was aghast that that was the brief being given to them. This was about an hour before "first contact", the first sighting of a team of the militants by an air force unmanned aerial vehicle. The army columns were told to take charge of the technical area. That is the area the militants were seeking to enter and could not. The NSG went scouring the grounds in the less sensitive domestic area for the militants. The NSG is made up of two wings: the Special Action Group (SAG) and the Special Rangers Group (SRG). The SAG mostly has army personnel seconded to the Union home ministry who are usually deputed for two years. The SRG has mostly select personnel from the central police forces. Unlike an army special force unit - where soldiers serve in all counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist environments - the NSG is usually not used as a first responder. Its training is mostly oriented to operations in urban built-up areas. The army brigadier, the first responder in Pathankot, had to hand over command not only on orders from above but also to an officer who was superior in rank to him, the major general with the NSG. Maj. Gen. Dushyant Singh is himself quite familiar with the zone. He was the commander of the 26 division in Jammu before his current assignment. Around 10 in the morning of January 2, by when the air force commando, Gursewak, had been killed while trying to defend an entrance into the technical area, the senior-most air force officer in the region reached the air force station: Air Marshal S.B. Deo, the chief of the Western Air Command, headquartered in New Delhi. An air marshal is the equivalent of a lieutenant general, senior to a major general. Also, Pathankot was in his area of responsibility. The immediate responsibility for the air station vests with Air Commodore Jagmeet Singh Dhamoon, the air officer commanding. The air marshal is a distinguished fighter pilot who was director-general (air operations) before taking over as the air officer commanding-in-chief of the Western Air Command. The securitisation of the Pathankot air force station, however, was a ground operation. In effect, both the brigadier and the major general were junior to him. Not to be outdone, also on the afternoon of January 2, the director-general of the NSG - the major general's immediate boss - R.C. Tayal, landed in Pathankot. The officers who were immediately in Pathankot or in the vicinity of the air force station, the brigadier and the air commodore, had more than one senior watching them on the field. The Border Security Force (BSF), under the Union home ministry, did not want to be left out of the action. It also despatched a deputy inspector-general (border range) to the air force station. The confusion created by the presence of so many uniformed luminaries in the field of battle - too many generals - was reflected at the political level, unsurprisingly. On the evening of January 2, Union home minister Rajnath Singh tweeted, after being fed information from the wings under his ministry, that he was extending his congratulations to the forces because they had successfully neutralised five attackers. Later, the home minister had to delete his tweet. In the event, the encounter continued for 30 more hours.
New Delh: Highly-placed intelligence sources said they have come to the chilling determination on the basis of intelligence intercepts and from contacts in jehadi groups. They said the extensive training session at one of the Pakistani airbases included several dry runs of breaching the security perimeter: a lesson the terrorists put to lethal use when they managed to enter the Pathankot base.
The use of weapons, including UBLs, or under barrel guns- improvised versions of AK -47 assault rifles which can be used as mortar launchers- point to the rigorous planning which went into the attack that has set back the prospect of a fresh effort at normalization of ties.
The precise information gleaned from intercepts and contacts within Jaish's local collaborators, according to sources, set the tone for Narendra Modi's conversation with Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday afternoon, with the PM citing the evidence that links the terrorist attack to Pakistan.
Sources said when Modi asked his Pakistani counterpart to swiftly deliver on his promise of co-operation, he meant prompt action against the seven jehadi terrorists belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad.
According to sources, the PM told Shaif about the evidence NSA Ajit Doval has shared with his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Khan Janjua about the "Gang of 7" which includes JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar and his younger brother Mufti Abdur Rauf Asghar.
Doval's list also includes Maulana Ashfaq and Haji Shakqur (some channels have introduced him as Hafiz Ahmad Shaqur), leading Jaish operatives from Bahawalpur who played a key role in engineering the attack on the IAF station.
When contacted, Doval declined to confirm that he had passed on to Janjua the names of Pathankot plotters along with precise details like passport numbers, phone numbers and residential addresses.
Others on his list are Jaan Ali Kasif of village Dosirah in Charsada district and Saifullah and Iftikhar, both from Shakargarh. Intercepts with Indian agencies have identified Kasif, who carries Pakistani passport no SV- 1797281, as the trainer of the group.
The specific details came amid speculation that Indian security forces may have captured alive at least one of the fidayeen raider or penetrated local collaborators of Jaish.
However, there was no official confirmation.
Significantly, among the Pak-based jehadi groups, Jaish has always been considered to be more vulnerable to Indian intelligence agencies.
Saifullah and Iftikhar, who currently run an organization Shoba-e-Dawat in Sialkot, helped launch the jehadi group into India from their home town Shakargarh.
Masood Azhar and his brother Abdur Rauf Asgar have been running a religious seminary Markaz-e-Usman-O-Ali on Bahwalpur's Railway Link Road and use the front of Al Rahman Trust to raise funds for their jehadi game-plan against India.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday referred complaint on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s British citizenship issue to the Ethics Committee of Parliament. The Speaker has acted on BJP MP Maheish Girri’s complaint based on party’s senior leader Subramanian Swamy’s expose of Rahul declaring himself a British citizen in a company floated by him in the UK.
“One MP had sent a complaint to me regarding this. Whenever an MP sends a complaint to the Speaker, it is referred to the committee as per rules. That particular complaint has been referred to the Ethics Committee,” Mahajan told PTI over phone when asked about the issue.
The Ethics Committee, consisting of 15 MPs from various parties, is headed by BJP’s veteran leader LK Advani.
Rahul in 2003 floated a company called Backops Limited. In the Annual Accounts and Balancesheets submitted before British authorities, Rahul during 2005 and 2006 declared himself as a British Citizen. In the company documents Rahul declared himself as a resident of the UK by providing two addresses in London. These London addresses were never disclosed to Indian authorities by Rahul in any of his affidavits.
The company was wound up in 2008. In some documents like Certificate of Incorporation, he declared himself as Indian citizen. Rahul had 65 per cent shares and his partner Ulrick McKnight had 35 per cent shares in the company.
McKnight is a US citizen and son-in-law of former Union Minister Eduardo Faleiro. He was also co-Director of Rahul’s another wound-up Indian company Backops Services Limited.
Reacting to Swamy’s allegations made in mid November, Congress party said that it was only a typo mistake in the citizen column made by Rahul. Congress accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP’s ‘Dirty Tricks Department Chairman’ Swamy for colluding to malign their leader.
Swamy had made complaints to Modi and Mahajan seeking expulsion of Rahul from Lok Sabha by conducting a probe on the declaration of British citizenship by Rahul in his UK registered company documents.
Girri, who is an MP from East Delhi, had earlier maintained that it was necessary that people should get to know the reality in this issue as he requested the Speaker to initiate an appropriate inquiry.
Blame Pakistani Spy Service for Attack on Indian Air Force Base
A days-long assault on a major Indian air force base is the work of a terror group created by Pakistan’s ISI, sources say—threatening to derail a potential thaw between the states.
The Pakistani intelligence service is behind the recent attack on a major Indian air force base in Punjab using a terrorist group it created 15 years ago, according to well-informed press and other knowledgeable sources. The attack is designed to prevent any detente between India and Pakistan after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise Christmas Day visit to Pakistan.
The escalating violence between the two nuclear-weapons states, which have already fought four wars, threatens to get worse. The Pakistani intelligence service has the capability to launch more attacks with little notice, at some point prompting a vigorous Indian response.
On Dec. 31, a team of terrorists infiltrated across the Pakistani border into India. On Saturday they assaulted the Pathankot air base, one of India’s largest air force installations near the border. At least seven Indian soldiers were killed in the fighting, which lasted for days. On Sunday, the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan was also attacked by gunmen.
Both attacks are the work of the Pakistani terror group Jaish e Muhammad, according to reliable press reports. JEM was created in 2000 by Mualana Masoud Azhar, a longtime Pakistani terrorist leader. Azhar was captured in India in 1994 after taking western hostages in Kashmir. In December 1999 a group of terrorists hijacked an Air India jet flying from Nepal to India and diverted it to Afghanistan. They demanded the release of Azhar and his colleagues in return for the passengers and crew.
And they got it, thanks to help from the Pakistani intelligence service ISI and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to accounts of the hijacking based on the Indian officials who negotiated with the terrorists for the hostages’ freedom.
The Afghan Taliban assisted the hijackers once they got to Afghanistan. Once Azhar was traded for the hostages, the ISI took him on a public victory tour through Pakistan to raise money for the jihad against India, and he announced the formation of Jaish e Muhammad, or the Army of Muhammad, in early 2000. JEM received training and weapons from the ISI and worked closely with al Qaeda.
In December 2001, JEM terrorists working with terrorists from another ISI-backed group, Lashkar e Tayyiba (LET), attacked the Indian parliament building in New Delhi. That attack prompted India to mobilize its military, and a tense standoff went on for nine months. Only intense mediation by President Bush’s national security team averted war.
Azhar kept a low profile for several years after LET’s 2008 attack on Mumbai, but he reappeared publicly in 2014, giving fiery calls for more attacks on India and the United States. His group is technically illegal in Pakistan but enjoys the continuing patronage of the ISI.
The ISI is under the generals’ command and is composed of army officers, so the spies are controlled by the Pakistani army, which justifies its large budget and nuclear weapons program by citing the Indian menace. Any diminution in tensions with India might risk the army’s lock on its control of Pakistan’s national security policy. The army continues to distinguish between “good” terrorists like JEM and LET and “bad” terrorists like the Pakistani Taliban, despite decades of lectures from American leaders.
India's Modi on surprise Pakistan visit to meet PM
Houston Chronicle
The army has long distrusted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has advocated a detente with India since the 1990s. An army coup in 1999 sent him into exile in Saudi Arabia for a decade. His warm embrace of Modi on Christmas Day in his home in Lahore undoubtedly angered the generals.
Modi’s visit was the first by an Indian prime minister in more than a decade. It was also Sharif’s birthday and the birthday of Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Jinnah. Modi’s decision to visit and the warm family greeting Sharif extended set the stage for a planned resumption of formal diplomatic negotiations between the two countries scheduled for later this month.
So far New Delhi has not canceled the planned talks. Modi’s advisers are well aware of the double game the Pakistani army plays and the differences inside the Pakistani establishment. After four wars with Pakistan and a nuclear arms race, Indian experts understand the complexity of the dynamics inside Islamabad. The Indians have accepted Prime Minister Sharif’s public condemnation of the attack and promised to provide evidence of JEM’s role to his government, including cellphones captured in the attack.
A snub for China, North Korea nuclear test shows Beijing’s waning influence
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying says China opposes the North Korean nuclear test during a briefing at the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing. (Ng Han Guan/AP)
BEIJING — It was a snub to China, and a signal that Beijing’s influence is waning.
North Korea may have explained Wednesday’s reported hydrogen bomb test as a response to U.S. “hostility,” but experts say it may more accurately reflect deteriorating relations with China.
The question now is how Beijing will respond: Not by abandoning its troublesome ally, experts agree, but perhaps by punishing it still further. Whether that would have any effect is even more in doubt.
“In a way, this is a protest against Beijing,” said Bo Zhiyue, director of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre at the Victoria University of Wellington. “They are saying: ‘we can do whatever we want. This shows our independence and we don’t need your approval.’”
If North Korea’s claim is true, its fourth nuclear bomb test and first hydrogen bomb explosion would mark a significant step forward in its nuclear capability, and a major challenge to the outside world — including to China which has long expressed its displeasure with Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
On Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said North Korea had “ignored” objections from the international community. “China firmly opposes this,” it said in a statement. “We urge North Korea to fulfill its promise of denuclearization, and stop any actions that would worsen the situation.”
Spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news conference that Beijing had not been warned in advance of the test and would summon the North Korean ambassador in Beijing to lodge a protest.
But experts say Beijing’s influence over Pyongyang has waned since Kim Jong Un took over in North Korea at the end of 2011 and Xi Jinping became president of China in 2013. The two men have not met since then, with Xi even snubbing his counterpart by visiting South Korea first in 2014.
In October, there was talk of thaw when Xi sent an envoy to attend a military parade in Pyongyang with a signed letter carrying the Chinese president’s “best wishes” to Kim.
But relations were swiftly sent back into the deep freeze in two short days in December, when Kim declared his country had developed a hydrogen bomb. Within 48 hours, North Korea’s glamorous girl group, the Moranbong Band, abruptly packed their bags and headed home, just hours before a high-profile concert in Beijing. That was less than a month ago.
“The Moranbong Band incident basically revealed North Korea’s intentions, and you could see that communication between China and North Korea is quite bad,” said Xuan Dongri, the director of Northeast Asia Studies at Yanbian University in northeast China. “China and North Korea’s understanding of each other is deteriorating further.”
Xuan said the main target of North Korea’s nuclear test might have been the United States and South Korea, “but it also wanted to send a stronger protest message to China. North Korea wants more help from China.”
Victoria University of Wellington’s Bo said a key problem in the relationship has been the centralization of power in Beijing under President Xi.
Instead of a multi-faceted policy towards North Korea that existed under previous president Hu Jintao, with some senior leaders advocating engagement and others taking a harder line, Xi is now calling all the shots, he said, while simultaneously insisting Party officials not question his decisions publicly.
Since Xi has not met Kim, and has his hands full with other domestic and foreign policy challenges, there is little meaningful dialogue taking place, and very little internal debate on how best to influence Pyongyang, Bo said.
“You need to have a connection, if you want to convince or persuade the other side,” said Bo. ‘If you don’t have a connection, where is the leverage?”
Bo said Xi was “caught in a dilemma,” unwilling to hew closer towards the U.S. approach of isolating and punishing North Korea, but “powerless” to prevent North Korea’s nuclear program.
At the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing, Paul Haenle said that even though the North Koreans had pointed to the United States as a justification for their test, “the real attention is focused on China,” and how it will respond.
No one is expecting a complete breakdown in Sino-North Korean ties, nor are they expecting Pyongyang to abandon a nuclear program that has become a key pillar of its regime’s declared legitimacy, at least not in the foreseeable future.
“Beijing will face increased pressure both domestically and internationally to punish and rein in Kim Jong Un and to ultimately force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons,” said Yanmei Xie, senior China analyst with the International Crisis Group in Beijing. “But there is likely to be a repeat of the worn playbook of denunciation, tightening of sanctions, and calling for resurrection of the six party talks.”
North Korea pulled out of “six-party talks” with South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan over its nuclear program in 2009. On Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua said those talks were “only practical and effective way to solve the North Korea problem.”
China is North Korea's largest trading partner and supplies most of its neighbor's oil and gas, as well as about half of its foreign aid. But it has been unwilling to pull the plug for fear of toppling the regime.
Haenle said China was likely to move cautiously, but did not rule out it taking a tougher line.
“I don't think we can overlook the fact that Xi is a new and fundamentally different kind of Chinese leader,” he added, citing his historic move to meet Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou in November as an example.
“While analysts have plenty of evidence to justify their assessments that China won't change course, I think we need to be open to the possibility that China could respond differently this time,” Haenle argued.
“North Korea’s defiance is not only an untenable burden on China’s image as a credible and strong leader on this issue, but will also lead to an enhanced U.S. security posture in the region and increased cooperation between the U.S. and its Asia-Pacific allies – not something Beijing wants.”
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said the test left China no choice but to support further United Nations sanctions towards North Korea. But the Crisis Group’s Xie said nothing would be done that might upset Beijing’s bottom line.
“For Beijing, a nuclear armed North Korea is uncomfortable and disturbing, but a regime collapse in Pyongyang, leading to mass chaos next door and potentially a united Korean Peninsula with Washington extending its influence northward to China's doorstep, is downright frightening,” Xie added.
Simon Denyer is The Post’s bureau chief in China. He served previously as bureau chief in India and as a Reuters bureau chief in Washington, India and Pakistan.
Here are five questions about North Korea’s nuclear programme and its impact on regional diplomacy and security:
Q: Can North Korea’s claim be believed?
A. Experts broadly agree that the country probably carried out some kind of nuclear explosion but are sceptical over the “hydrogen” assertion.
The first clue that something happened came with reports of a 5.1 magnitude earthquake near the North’s nuclear test facility. North Korean state television later announced that it was a hydrogen bomb test.
But Australian nuclear policy and arms control specialist Crispin Rovere said that “the seismic data that’s been received indicates that the explosion is probably significantly below what one would expect from an H-bomb test”.
“So initially it seems to be that they’ve successfully conducted a nuclear test but unsuccessfully completed the second-stage hydrogen explosion.”
Moreover, a hydrogen bomb is a much more powerful atomic weapon and it can devastate whole cities in one explosion. Hiroshima and Nagasaki both were atomic bombs and till date Hydrogen bombs have never been used in war.
North Korea is continuing with their test programme without regard to what the world thinks, Christopher Hill, former US chief negotiator to the six-party talks aimed at the North’s denuclearisation, told the BBC.
“We have a big problem regardless of how large the explosion was today,” Hill said.
Q. What does the test mean for international relations and diplomacy in Northeast Asia?
A. Most of all, it will mark a new low point in relations between North Korea and neighbouring China, which has been the country’s main diplomatic supporter for decades.
Beijing’s patience has run increasingly thin as it strongly opposes Pyongyang’s nuclear development and sees it as a factor for instability on the Korean peninsula, where it has strong trade relations with North Korean rival South Korea.
North Korea said it had successfully conducted a test of a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device on Wednesday morning. The announcement on North Korean state TV followed detection of a 5.1 magnitude earthquake near its known nuclear test site earlier on Wednesday.
“The republic’s first hydrogen bomb test has been successfully performed at 10:00 am on January 6, 2016, based on the strategic determination of the Workers’ Party,” a state television news reader said.
Read more: Japan terms N Korea’s H-bomb test as unacceptable, significant threat to national security
The surprise announcement complicates already difficult efforts to curb the country’s push for a working nuclear arsenal. A hydrogen, or thermonuclear device, uses fusion in a chain reaction that results in a far more powerful explosion than the fission blast generated by uranium or plutonium alone.
Read more: S-Korea vows measures to make North pay price for fourth nuclear test
The fourth test was carried out after an “artificial” earthquake was detected near the country’s main nuclear testing site on Wednesday morning.
Speculation that the regime in Pyongyang had conducted a surprise nuclear test rose after seismologists from South Korea, China and other countries said they were confident the earthquakehad been caused by an explosion. Read More:White House vows appropriate response to N. Korea ‘provocations’
“Beijing will face increased pressure both domestically and internationally to punish and rein in Kim Jong-Un and to ultimately force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons,” said Yanmei Xie, International Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst of Northeast Asia based in Beijing.
“But there is likely to be a repeat of the worn playbook of denunciation, tightening of sanctions, and calling for resurrection of the six party talks.”
Relations with South Korea are also likely to suffer, with attempts to improve dialogue and reduce tensions along their heavily fortified border to come under renewed pressure. Japan, a target of previous North Korean threats, is likely to increase its guard.
Q. Why now?
A. Kim, who has carried out numerous purges of senior officials since coming to power after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il in December 2011, is believed to constantly need to solidify his power base and demonstrate achievements even greater than those of his father and grandfather, North Korea’s founder Kim Il-Sung.
The announcement also comes just two days before his January 8 birthday and also in advance of an expected congress of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party -- the first such gathering in 35 years.
“The purpose of this is firstly to display to the world that it has acquired a new technology as to the nuclear weapons programme,” said Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo and an expert on North Korea.
“Secondly, with the (claimed) development of hydrogen nuclear weapons, Kim Jong-Un now has a ‘great achievement’ that even Kim Il-Sung or Kim Jong-Il could not realise.”
Q. What’s next?
A. Past North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile tests have been followed by condemnatory United Nations Security Council resolutions and additional sanctions.
Diplomats said that the UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on North Korea on Wednesday.
“This clearly violates UN Security Council resolutions and is a grave challenge against international efforts for non-proliferation,” said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The US Geological Survey reported a 5.1 magnitude quake that South Korea said was 30 miles from the Punggye-ri site where the North has conducted nuclear tests in the past.
If confirmed, the test would mark a significant advance in the isolated state's strike capabilities and raising alarm bells in Japan and South Korea.
The UN Security Council is planning to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the reported test, the US mission to the United Nations said.
The test, the fourth time North Korea has exploded a nuclear device, was ordered by young leader Kim Jong-Un, state media said.
“The first H-bomb test was successfully conducted at 10:00 (0130 GMT) on Wednesday,” North Korea's official KCNA news agency said.
The claim of miniaturising, which would allow the device to be adapted as a weapon and placed on a missile, would pose a new threat to the United States and its regional allies, Japan and South Korea.
Experts recreate Harappan-era smelting process at IIT-Gandhinagar
TNN | Jan 6, 2016, 10.42 AM IST
Ahmedabad: Metals played an important part in evolution of civilizations across the globe as the `ages' such as bronze and iron denote the technological prowess to extract the metals for making tools and weapons. Harappan civilization was no different as the archaeologists have found a number of copper, bronze and iron artifact during excavations.
How did they smelt the ores and why different regions had different processing techniques? It were the questions that drove Professor Jonathan Mark Kenoyer from University of Wisconsin-Madison for recreating a furnace at IIT-Gandhinagar with the institute's faculties and students from Monday . Professor Kenoyer is known as pioneer in experimental archaeology and has conducted similar experiments earlier.
"Sites such as Dholavira have copper artifact whose isotope signature matches with the copper ore found from near Ambaji. We are using a similar ore for the experiment. Gujarat was one of the early regions to have seen use of copper and bronze during Harappan era.The ancient artisans used other metals to strengthen copper. While one finds zinc and lead in artifact from a few sites in Gujarat, they are not present in some other," said Kenoyer. He added that the metal was used to make ornaments and tools.
The team prepared a furna ce and started the process with small granules of copper ore which was heated at a high temperature with wind-blown mechanism to extract the metal. Kenoyer said that they have got very encouraging results in past two days. The team is also trying to replicate the 1,000-year-old method to make Wootz Steel with a group of iron smiths from Rajasthan.
Technology is not the be-all and end-all of life. It has to serve the poor and provide them opportunities to realise their full potential. I congratulate TIFAC for articulating a remarkable vision document reaching out to the poor.
Kalyanaraman
Published: January 6, 2016 19:00 IST | Updated: January 6, 2016 19:05 IST Mysuru, January 6, 2016
Be vigilant so no one culture dominates others: Technology Vision 2035 document
PTI
PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the inaugural session of the 103rd Indian Science Congress at University of Mysore in Mysuru on Sunday.
Technology-guided cultural practices enrich the existing cultural diversity of the nation and do not replace it, states the document prepared by country’s technology think-tank TIFAC.
Against the backdrop of “intolerance” debate in the country, the Technology Vision 2035 document released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi says people should be “especially vigilant” that no one culture is able to dominate others.
Stating that diversity in culture and languages is a key defining feature of India, the Technology Vision 2035 prepared by the country’s technology think-tank also said that caution has to be exercised to ensure that technology-guided cultural practices enrich the existing cultural diversity of the nation and do not replace it.
“Diversity in culture and languages are a key defining feature of India. These are at the very core of India’s existence and are its very soul, giving our country its various hues of differences and harmony and making us a vibrant nation,” said the document prepared by Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous organisation under the Department of Science and Technology.
Stating that vision for India in 2035 cannot be complete without envisaging how this core aspiration-expectation would influence or be shaped by the realities of that time, it said regarding cultural diversity and vibrancy, we would like India to be “as advanced as possible technologically and as rooted as possible culturally.
“Cultural diversity and vibrancy is one among the twelve prerogatives that should be available to each and every Indian,” said the vision document released by Mr. Modi at the inaugural session of the 103rd Indian Science Congress in Mysuru on Sunday.
It also said ensuring the attainment of these prerogatives is the core of our technology vision for India.
Noting that cultural practices have very strong tendencies to influence us, it said, more often than not these influences are subtle and hidden and this is where the power of cultural practices truly lies.
“We need to be especially vigilant that no one culture is able to dominate others. Ever since the invention of the printing press, the advancement of technology in society has tended to promote monocultures.”
“Caution has to be exercised to ensure that technology guided cultural practices enrich the existing cultural diversity of the nation and do not replace it,” it said.
However, given the right direction, technology could help us in preserving and enhancing the rich cultural diversity of India.
Properly deployed, cultural diversity is a national asset and power multiplier, it added.
1.164.45 Four are the definite grades of spech; those Brahman.as who are wise know them; three, deposited in secret, indicate no meaning; men speak the fourth grade of speech. [Four are: catva_ri va_kparimita_ pada_ni: the language of the mantras, the kalpa, the bra_hman.a and laukika, or current speech (Taittiri_ya Samhita_ 1.31.2); those bra_hman.as: bra_hman.a_ ye mani_s.in.ah: bra_hman.a_ = those acquainted with the s'abdabrahma, brahma as the word, or, the yogis, mystics; fourth grad eof speech: va_k, speech, was created fourfold, three kinds of which are in the three regions, the fourth amongst the pas'us; the form on earth, associated with Agni is in the rathantara; the form in the firmament, associated with Va_yu, is in the Va_madevya mantras; that which is in heaven, with A_ditya, is Br.hati_, or in the thunder (stanayitnau); whatever else was more than this was placed amongst the pas'us, lit., animals; here the bra_hman.as are implied: atha pas'us.u tato ya_ va_g atiricyate ta_m bra_hman.es.u adaduh; thus, the bra_hman.as speak both languages, that of the gods and that of man (tasma_d bra_hman.a_ ubharyo va_cam vadanti ya_ ca deva_na_m ya_ ca manus.ya_n.a(m (Nirukta 13.9)].
Vedic Sanskrit older than Avesta, Baudhayana mentions westward migrations from India: Dr N Kazanas
An artistic reconstruction of the city of Harappa. Photo: www.sci-news.com
By Nithin Sridhar
The Aryan Question: Part 4
The Aryan question has been hanging for many decades without any definite conclusion, but with a lot of controversies and politics being played around it. In the quest to bring out the various facets of the Aryan issue, NewsGram decided to interview various scholars who have worked extensively towards unraveling the mystery of Aryan issue.
In this fourth instalment of ‘The Aryan Question’ series, NewsGram brings an exclusive interview with renowned Greek Indologist and author of many books on Aryan issue, Dr Nicholas Kazanas.
Interview withDr Nicholas Kazanas
Nithin Sridhar: What is the role of linguistics in analyzing the history and movement of world languages? Is the linguistic approach enough to determine the history and culture of any particular group of people?
Dr. Nicholas Kazanas: The very first thing to say is that any interested party should read my recent publication ‘Vedic & Indo-European Studies’ (2015 Aditya Prakashan, N. Delhi) wherein I present all refutations of the AIT and all evidence for the Out of India thesis. A subtitle should read “All the linguistic evidence for Indigenism”.
The role of linguistics by itself is small since, of itself, it cannot give dates. Linguists do offer dates, but these are mere conjectures and of no value. Comparative linguists make enormous claims about their “science” but, in fact, this is not a science since it can make no truthful predictions the way Physics and Biology do. The so-called law of universal and homogeneous change in the same environment has no universal application and, therefore, no validity (as I show with many examples in my book, especially IE (Indo-European) original retroflex |ṛ| into Avestan).
Dr Nicholas Kazanas
Linguistics depends on the documentation. When it enters an undocumented or poorly documented area and period, it makes conjectures which afterwards turn out to blunder. It can tell us much about the culture of a people, but only if there is ample documentation and for antiquity, ample archaeological material.
NS: Can you please explain the process by which the linguists arrive at the homeland of a particular language or that of a proto-language? What are the factors that determine the fixing up of such homelands?
N Kazanas: Linguists arrive at homelands through conjecture and where the homelands exist, through literary evidence and archaeological materials. Every case involves comparisons. In the end, it is the historical approach and its discipline that determines the result.
The fact is that apart from very certain cases like China, Japan, and some African peoples, other homelands like that of the IEans or the Uralic people remain uncertain.
Frankly, I find the concern with homelands and the reconstruction of protolanguages of little value. Linguistics should be concerned with the four states of language as briefly stated in the Ṛigveda 1.164 and later in Bhartṛhari.
NS: In the case of fixing a homeland for Proto-Indo-European languages, several hypotheses have been put forward. Central Asia, Pontic Steppes, and even India have been considered as a contender. Mainstream scholars who have propounded AIT/AMT, have largely accepted the Pontic steppes as a homeland. What is your view on the issue? Can you shed more light on this?
N Kazanas: The IE Urheimat has been placed in many areas from the Baltic lands to Central Asia and, of course, India.
The Pontic Steppe is purely conjectural. It has gained large acceptance only through mechanical repetition. Neither linguistic nor paleontological and archaeological evidence supports this homeland. And for these reasons, seasoned archaeologists like Renfrew (of Cambr. Britain, now become linguist) opted for other regions like the south-of-Caucasus area (or North-eastern Turkey cum Armenia).
JV Day, a mainstreamer, has shown in two studies (1994, 2001) that this is not a very probable homeland. The people of the Kurgan culture (Pontic Steppe), he asserts, did not, according to cranioskeletal remains, proceed further south or west of Hungary!
Another mainstreamer, S Zimmer, admitted in 2002 in a debate with me, that the period we are dealing with and the matter of the IE homeland and migrations obscure and problematic.
NS: You have strongly argued against any invasion or migration of Aryan language speakers into India. Can you elaborate regarding the evidence that best establish a non-invasion, non-migration scenario?
N Kazanas: The AIT started as a sociological explanation of the caste system by French and then British writers in the second half of the 18th cent. Some said the Mesopotamians, others the Egyptians, had invaded and established the four castes. Some English scholars rejected this. But the idea of invasion stuck.
Max Müller introduced into this (comparative) linguistics and promulgated the dates of Ṛigveda composition c 1200 BCE, of Atharvaveda c 1000 and so on. So the invasion had to have occurred c 1500.
This is all nonsense. Müller’s evidence was only a ghost story in Kathāsaritsagarawhich had one Kātyāyana whom Müller identified with the sūtra-writer of the 3rd cent BCE and so concocted the chronology in neat 200-year periods. In this he no doubt had to consider the chronology of Greek history, which was a basic element for the European culture and Bishop Usher’s date for the beginning of creation c 4000 BCE.
Anyway, Müller himself rejected this his own early view later in life declaring that the Ṛg Veda could have been as early as 5000 BCE. This is not usually stated by invasionists.
Archaeology has not found any invasion or immigration. The culture in Saptasindhu is, according to it, native and continuous until c600 BCE when the Persians invaded.
But, proponents of the AIT proceeded to modify their pet theory constantly. What the invasion became in the 1990’s a peaceful immigration; then in the 2000’s a peaceful treacle of small waves that left no archaeological trace and more recently the date of entry was pushed back to 2000 BCE.
All post-2003 studies of DNA travels have shown a movement out of India, not into it. And this should have sufficed. However, there are other kinds of evidence, linguistic facts.
I have shown by comparing more than 400 lexemes (nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbs) with a common stem in three IE languages (not two as is the usual, but wrong practice) that of these Sanskrit lack about 50 (and most of these are of doubtful IE descent as they are found only in Italic, Celtic and Germanic tongues and are of recent usage); Germanic and Greek lack about 150 and the others 200 and more. Thus, Sanskrit has more of the common stock of vocabulary than any other IE language. (Kazanas 2015, ch 1, 2, 3).
I have also demonstrated that Sanskrit is far older than Avestan and that Avestan broke away from the wider Saptasindhu, the land of the seven rivers, moving north-westwards.(2015, ch4).
I showed also that the isoglosses could have spread only from larger Saptasindhu, probably the Bactria area and not from the Pontic Steppe and the Kurgan culture (2015, ch5).
So much for linguistic evidence. Literary evidence also tells the same tale. The Ṛigveda hymn 6.61.9,12 says that goddess Sarasvatī has made the five Vedic tribes spread beyond the seven sister-rivers. Then hymn 4.1.3 says that the Vedic people have been “here” (in Saptasindhu) all the time; 5.10.6 and 10.65.11 that the Vedic sages and the Aryan customs should spread over the earth.
Baudhāyana’s Śrautasūtra 18.4 mentions two migrations of the Vedic people. One was eastward, the Āyava. The other was westward, the Āmāvasa, and this produced the Gāndāris (Gandhāra and Bactria), the Parśus Persians and the Arattas (of Urartu and/or Ararat on the Caucasus?).
Map showing the “seven rivers and Sarasvatī”; various sites with Harappan artefacts far from Saptasindhu; also the two movements eastward by Āyu and westward by Amāvasu.
NS: How would you explain the intimate relationships shared by various European languages with Sanskrit, in a non-invasion, non-migration scenario?
N Kazanas: I would not think of attempting to explain the affinities in the IE family of languages as anything but the result of migrations.
Some claim that there are random resemblances without any further implications. In other words, there is no real relationship. But this is an absurd position: for the verb |is| we have Sanskrit asti, Greek esti Latin est and so on; for the noun |mother| we have Sanskrit mātar, Greek mētēr, Latin māter and so on; for |family|kind|tribe| Sanskrit janas, Greek genos, Latin genus; for |serpent| we have Sanskrit sarpa, Greek herpe-ton, Latin serpens, and so on. And so on for hundreds of lexemes. The odds against a familial relationship for chance resemblances are trillions.
Others again claim vaguely that there were “waves of transmission”. But this too is impossible. The waves travel in a medium (water, air). What was the medium here and what was the transmitter? Only people speak a human language. Therefore, people must have travelled – if this involved only traders!
NS: Some scholars have pointed that, Rigvedic people were different from Harappan people. Some even identify Harappan people with Dravidian culture and Indus script with Dravidian language family. What is your view on this?
N Kazanas: There are many conjectures about the Indus script. Some see a form of Old Vedic; others Dravidian; others magic symbols.
The fact is we do not know what the Indus script signifies.
But the Indus (or Harappan) seals and many other artefacts suggest articles of the post-Vedic general Hindu culture. I would not say that it is Sanskritic or Dravidian. The yogic figure among animals is usually identified with Lord Śiva paśupati (lord of the animals). Surely Śiva is not exclusively Sanskritic nor exclusively Dravidian.
BB Lal, the famous archaeologist has published two studies on the continuity of the representations on the seals: 2002 The Sarasvatī flows on, Delhi, Books International, and 2009 How Deep Are the Roots of Indian Civilisation Delhi, Books International. If anything, the evidence herein adduced shows a Sanskritic continuity that we find in the whole of North India, including Bihar and Bengal.
NS: Some AMT scholars also argue that, migrating Aryan speakers spread their language and culture on the native Indians through a process of assimilation. What is your view on this?
N Kazanas: The proponents of the AIT have since the 1990’s changed their tune from plain invasion to immigration to small, peaceful waves that left no traces on the native culture other than the language!
This last view is, even more, absurd than the previous ones. Because it raises, even more, difficult questions.
Now, we all know that Vedic is not a simple language like modern Hindī or Spanish. So how and why would the Indian (or Harappan) natives adopt such a difficult, highly inflected language? Such an adoption could have come about only through coercion and coercion implies conquest, complete and total.
I might add, that by the end of the 15th cent CE, Greece was almost totally conquered by the Muslims (except for some islands). Yet the Greeks never adopted the language of the Muslims except for some words – which happens even when there is only a friendly relationship. The Hindus did not adopt wholly the Persian language in the Middle Ages after their submission. But Urdu remained in the North, a mixture of Persian and Hindī and Hindī absorbed much Arabic vocabulary.
The linguistic result is one that only coercion and conquest could have produced, not a peaceful entry of small successive waves.
Another paradox left unexplained by non-indigents is this. The Harappans had a script but left no literature. The incoming Vedic had no script, were illiterate but had an enormous literature in the Vedic Hymns and perhaps other pieces!
Note also that at the time of (supposed) entry c 1700 BCE, the Harappans had a much higher culture than the nomadic Aryans and were moving eastward to the Gangetic plain. Why would the immigrants stay in desiccated lands?
NS: Another argument proposed by AMT scholars is that Avestan was older than Vedic Sanskrit. They further point out that, neither do the Zoroastrians show any memory about the geography of India nor do the Avestan literature shows any familiarity with Indus River. Thus, it is argued that only a migration from Iran into India must have been possible and not otherwise. What is your view regarding this? How to reconcile this with a non-invasion scenario?
N Kazanas: Mainstreamers, of course, will propose emphatically that Avestan is older than Sanskrit. It is one of their props for claiming that the Indoaryans moved from ancient Persia into Saptasindhu. But I have yet to see one rational demonstration of this. All such claims are based not on actual evidence, but on reconstructions of proto-languages which are sheer conjectures and in any case, prove nothing and sheer assertions!.
It is not true at all that Avestan shows no memory of the geography of India. In theGathas, there is mention of some 16 places the Avestan people travelled before settling in Persia and one of them is Hǝptahǝndu! This is a transliteration of Saptasindhu, land of the seven rivers. Now the name or this collocation sapta sindhavaḥ (plural) occurs in several Rigvedic hymns, but nowhere in the Avestan hymns.
Avestan has also the river name Haraxvaitī which again is a transliteration ofSarasvatī. This again is a singular occurrence in Avestan. The word hara- has no other cognates in the language. But the word saras ‘rapid-motion, pool’ has cognates not only in Vedic (verb √sṛ > si-sar-ti, sar-ati, lexemes sṛtvan ‘nimble’, sarit, saraṇa,etc. but also in other IE languages: Greek hallo-, Latin salio, Tocharian salate, all ‘leap’.
Now it would be utterly absurd – would it not?– to claim that the Indoaryans came from Persia, bringing the name Haraxvaitī and changing it to Saras-vaitī (one who has rapids, whirlpools) so that saras would engender other cognates with √sṛ ! On the other hand, it is quite rational to say that the Avestan people moved out of Saptasindhu taking with them the name Hǝptahǝndu and the river Haraxvaitī.
I present 42 pages of evidence showing that Vedic is much older than Avestan in chapter 4 of my 2015 publication. In these pages, I refute R Schmitt’s 2009 claim for Avestan anteriority point by point. I challenge anyone to disprove me in the same way!
Pottery from Indus Valley Civilization. Photo: http://selfstudyhistory.com
NS: You have often argued for an older date for Rigveda than the conventional dating of 1200 BC. A recent seminar of Sanskrit scholars in India has also arrived at a much older date than presently accepted using astronomical and literary evidence. Can you shed light regarding evidence that point towards Rigveda being composed long before than currently believed? What according to you is a probable date for Rigvedic composition? And how an older dating affects the currently mainstream theory of Aryan migration?
N Kazanas: Earlier, I pointed out that the conventional dating of the RV c1200 is based on the mechanical repetition of Müller’s ridiculous early conjecture based on a ghost story and some Eurocentric ideas.
It is not only astronomical references, some of which have been disputed. There is much more, linguistic and literary evidence.
It would be foolhardy to assign a definite date(s) because there is no such definite evidence. What we can and should assert with certitude is that the RV was composed on the whole before the rise of the Indus-Sarasvatī (Harappan) culture c3000. Tradition wants the RV to have been completed by, say, 3100. And this is as far as one can go.
The archaeological evidence, and particularly expert archaeologists of the area, Possehl and Bridget Allchin, tell us that Sarasvatī stopped flowing down to the ocean at about 3800 BC. Consequently, the hymns that praise Sarasvatī as “best-river, best mother, best goddess” etc. must have been composed before that date. Otherwise, the Indus would have been the best river!
The Rigvedic hymn 6.61.9,12 saying that Sarasvatī (goddess and river) spread the 5 tribes beyond Saptasindhu must also have been composed at that date or before.
Then there are certain (more than 10) common items among the Harappan archaeological evidence that are not found mentioned in the RV but are found abundantly in post-Rigvedic texts, especially Brāhmaṇas and Sūtras.
iṣṭakā ‘brick’, not mentioned, but we find the stone, wood and mud.
Urbanisation, not mentioned; the word pur means ‘defense, protective construction’ and is rather super-natural (and sometimes metallic!).
No ruins – even though after 1900 BC many towns were abandoned.
No cotton – but skin, wool and tree-bark are mentioned.
Fixed altars or hearths are not found – but are plentiful in Brāhmaṇas.
Then, no allusions to iconography – painting, relief or statuary. And so on with several more items.
True, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. But if we read a modern novel set in a big city and find no mention of Russia and unified Germany, no mobile telephones, no coloured television, no free Mandela, no Princess Diana and so on, then we know that it was written at about 1980 or before.
NS: Some scholars argue that if there was a migration, it was out of India and not into India. What is your assessment of it? Are there any pieces of evidence that point towards a migration out of India?
N. Kazanas: The evidence for the OIT (Out of India Theory) is chiefly linguistic and, of course, the reversal of the mainstream AIT.
Sanskrit is, on the Preservation Principle, the oldest of the IE sister-languages. And most scholars agree that it preserves most of the Proto-Indo-European features in phonetical, lexical, and syntactical areas, particularly the roots. It itself is a derivative showing change and attrition.
I have no archaeological training and cannot evaluate the evidence in this field encompassing Central Asia, Persia, Pontic Steppe and North Europe. But I would ask in all seriousness established IEan archaeologists like Kuzmina, Mallory et al, to re-examine the evidence amassed putting aside, if possible, their customary views about the correctness of the AIT. Look at the evidence afresh. I feel sure they shall find much to indicate an Out of India Movement.
A clarification here. The real spread in the OIM took place from Bactria, not Saptasindhu itself. First the Vedics moved there as Baudhāyana says, then spread north and north-west in small or large waves.
In 1997 Joanna Nichols also proposed on her reading of the linguistic evidence that the central area of dispersal was Bactria.
NS: Can you share any latest developments or discoveries regarding the Aryan issue? What are the implications of these discoveries?
N Kazanas: I am afraid I have retired for some years and no longer follow the latest publications- after 2012. So I can say very little about recent developments.
But in many publications, I detect a strong element of vanity and ambition to be original. A recent 2014 publication by an Indian has little linguistic evidence, much unreliable archaeology and cites only one of my works, an essay of 2002 (!!) ignoring more than 20 publications since then.
Again, I repeat that one who really cares about these issues should read my 2015 publication.
ANI 
“We did not want to take any chances,” a police official said. “The foremost thing was to step up security of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, who were advised to stay put at a safe place. Later, at around 11 pm that night, we got the main doors of all the police stations in Pathankot shut. We wanted to pre-empt a repeat of Dina Nagar. A sentry each was posted at the entrance of each police station.” (On July 27, 2015, three gunmen in Army uniform fired on a bus and attacked the Dina Nagar police station in Gurdaspur killing three civilains anmd four policemen, including an SP).
Subramanian Swamy 
![Panel with a Griffin [Byzantine; Possibly from Greece or the Balkans] (2000.81) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art](http://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c4/4b/e7/c44be702b7def9378a548aba3dd168f1.jpg)
