Hindu Briefs 13th November 2012

Project Lakshya streamlines LPG supply

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has launched Project Lakshya to reduce waiting time for delivery of LPG cylinders and track duplicate connections, by enrolling the assistance of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) through a new software.

Kukis threaten blockade

The Kuki Statehood Demand Committee (KSDC) has announced that it will enforce an indefinite economic blockade against Manipur from Thursday morning. The demand is a long-standing one. One Kuki rebel group, which is a signatory to the suspension of operations with the Union government, drew flak recently when it demanded a separate Kuki homeland.

Karzai wants India to grab Afghan mining opportunities

SAIL-led consortium close to winning four out of five blocks in Asias biggest untapped iron ore deposits.

Four pacts signed including on tapping mineral resources

Cleric to lead new Syrian opposition bloc

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/cleric-to-lead-new-syrian-opposition-bloc/article4092118.ece http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/tepid-response-to-us-move/article4092219.ece

Syrian opposition factions which agreed on Sunday in Qatar to form a new coalition to fight President Bashar al-Assad have elected cleric Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib to head the bloc. A 60-member National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces was formed on Sunday, after several days of heated negotiations in Doha. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had declared that the Paris-based SNC, comprising mainly of expatriates could no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition as it did not reflect the needs and aims of soldiers fighting on the ground in Syria. Damascus slammed the Doha conference as a new form of foreign interference that aims to market an old product in a new form.

Qatada wins appeal

Abu Qatada, controversial radical cleric once dubbed Osama bin Ladens right hand man in Europe, Won an appeal against his deportation to Jordan where he faces terror charges, Blow to the British governments bid to deport him on grounds that he poses a threat to security

Controlling the auditor

The committee headed by former CAG V.K. Shunglu - went into the charges of corruption in the conduct of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Recommended making CAG a multi member Committee. Government has been at the receiving end of a series of damning reports by the CAG on 2G spectrum, the Commonwealth Games and coal allocations. It is seen as a conspiracy to undermine the independent functioning of the CAG, and interpreted the move as directed at the incumbent, Vinod Rai

Whether or not a multimember body is better than a single-member body is open to debate, and any change should be preceded by wide-ranging consultations. The government should strengthen Indias premier audit body by allowing it to function with greater autonomy and freedom and with an updated mandate that unambiguously covers public-private partnerships (PPPs) and the use of public monies by non-governmental organisations.

Afghanistans fraught future

Cross-border firing with Pakistan has become a major irritant in bilateral relations with the frequency of such incidents increasing over the past couple of years. Pakistans intelligence services allege, that their Afghan counterparts are backing the militia of Islamist warlord Maulana Fazlullah in tit-for-tat retaliation against the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorates backing for the jihadist networks led by Sirajuddin Haqqani. Karzais government has been criticised for incredible levels of corruption. Afghan National Army - undertrained and under-resourced, but has demonstrated an improved capacity to stage operations needed to keep key cities and transport arteries secure after United States combat troops withdraw in 2014. Post-2014, western support for Afghanistan will diminish. There is no doubt that an Afghanistan in meltdown will hurt the entire region, providing jihadist movements that threaten Central Asia, China and Pakistan a fresh lease of life.