OBC quota may be split among different castes

The Centre is considering splitting the 27% OBC quota among different backward caste groups in a move that will challenge the overpowering influence of dominant communities like Yadavs and Kurmis and may trigger a resistance.

In what will change the face of backward caste reservation as brought in by Mandal Commission two decades ago, the government plans to divide backward castes into sub-groups based on their socio-economic status. Each bloc would be assigned a part of the 27% reservation quota in central jobs and education, thus saving the weaker backwards from competing with stronger communities which have cornered the quota benefits.

National Commission for Backward Classes chairman M N Rao strongly argued for breaking down of 27% reservation into 'quota within quota' catering to sub-groups of 'real backwards' and prosperous ones, saying OBCs were not a homogenous class but had wide disparity amongst themselves. "A stonecutter and a goldsmith cannot be lumped together and asked to compete for a job," he told TOI, adding that there was a "feeling among real backwards" that benefits were not trickling down.

The government has responded to the commission's proposal by advising it to take up sub-classification after December when the BPL census – an exercise that will help identify the poor and enumerate OBCs – ends.

The proposed move will impact the prospects of different OBCs for central jobs and educational opportunities amid the widespread grievance that stronger groups among backwards like Yadavs and Kurmis in the north and similar ones in other regions have cornered the benefits. Complaints of dominant OBCs getting a disproportionate share of quota benefits have already led states to introduce subdivision.

OBC satraps like Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Yadav may resist the move, dubbing it a machination to split backward unity. There is, however, an element of irony in it for them. For, it is they who insisted on caste-wise enumeration of the poor -- an exercise which will yield data of disparities among backwards, laying the foundation for splintering the OBC quota.

It could trigger a churn in the already volatile backward politics because while the OBC satraps would insist on maintaining status quo, the weaker among backwards may support the classification move. Having played second fiddle to the "forwards among the backwards", these categories, referred to as "most backward castes (MBCs) or extremely backward castes( EBCs)", have now begun to flex their political muscles.

An assortment of castes, they make up the overwhelming majority of the backward population and helped Nitish Kumar end Lalu Prasad's hegemony in Bihar. In neighbouring UP, they have been a powerful complement to Mayawati's dalit base.

On the all-India level, Congress can hope to be a beneficiary. The party's effort to cut into the OBC constituency has not succeeded despite the decision under UPA-1 to extend the OBC quota to central educational institutions. The failure is attributed to the signature of OBC satraps on Mandal quota. Congress can hope to attempt an outreach to the MBCs/EBCs with a move which will have the party's political imprimatur on it.

Importantly, a similar proposal for dividing SCs has polarized dalits into opposing groups, forcing the social justice ministry into a re-think. 

Cops detain IIT boy, extort money for 'porn' on phone

Piyush had not expected his vacation to end in such a nightmare. After a long journey from his home in Chhattisgarh, he got off at Dadar station only to be picked up by a group of railway policemen who snatched his phone and threatened to arrest him for allegedly having pornographic clips on it. They then extorted money out of him after intimidating him with handcuffs and belts inside a locked-up police chowky.

The IIT-Bombay third year student (20), who returned from a summer break on Wednesday afternoon, said, "I was stopped by two policemen. One of them asked me to open my bag and rummaged through my belongings while the other took my phone and started playing with the keypad."

When they found nothing suspicious in the bag, they asked Piyush (name changed) to shut it. When he asked for his phone back, they took him to the chowky on the station platform. "I wondered what was wrong but they started talking roughly. They took me to a small room where another policeman was seated. He said they had found porn clips on my phone and I could go to jail for five years and be fined Rs 1 lakh," recalled Piyush.

They pulled out laminated paper clips of people who they claimed had been nabbed for storing porn on their phone. Piyush demanded they show him what they had found on his phone. "They showed me the phone for a fleeting second. I didn't notice anything. Then, they pulled out a belt and a pair of handcuffs. I was terrified. I didn't know what was going on, or what I should do."

The policemen started demanding Rs 10,000 to settle the matter, claimed Piyush. "I told them that I just had a little more than Rs 2,000 on me. They took the money. Then they noticed an ATM card in my wallet. One of the policemen changed into civilian clothes and took me to a nearby ATM. I withdrew another Rs 5,000 and handed it to him. He demanded to see my bank balance and when he noticed I had about 8,000 rupees there, he demanded more money," said Piyush.

The engineering student pleaded and said his parents had filled his account because he needed to pay the fees. "Then the policeman agreed to let me go." They told Piyush they would delete the porn clips from his phone to spare him further trouble.

Piyush said he didn't know whether to feel relieved at being let go, or cheated, or angry. He went to Powai where he related his experience at the station to the dean of students' affairs, Prakash Gopalan. The dean called in IIT-Bombay's security personnel. "We contacted the senior inspector at the Powai police station to help lodge a complaint and recover the student's money. He in turn contacted the Dadar GRP office," said Gopalan.

Accompanied by the security staff, Piyush went back to Dadar station. Fearing that the matter might make its way to the top, the policemen returned his money. "They requested that I don't file a complaint and offered to give me another Rs 6,000. I refused. Finally they paid me Rs 1,000 more for the 'inconvenience' caused and apologized too," said Piyush.

He realized that this wasn't the first time the policemen had pulled a trick like this. "The entire episode was so perfectly set up." Shivaji Shinde, senior inspector of GRP at Dadar station, said that although there was no formal complaint against the policemen who had taken money from Piyush, they had been moved to another post.

Railway police commissioner Tukaram Chavan said he had often warned his men not to check passengers' mobile phones or laptops. He promised to conduct a departmental inquiry.

This paper will follow the story to see if action is taken against these as-yet-unnamed policemen.

Times View 
Such cases of intimidation and extortion are all-too commonplace— it's just that this time the policemen made the mistake of picking on a student from one of the world's most elite education institutes, instead of poor, helpless people from the margins of society. Merely taking disciplinary action against the errant policemen won't be justice enough. They have not only violated the privacy of a citizen without provocation, they are also guilty of wrongful harassment and extortion. This calls for prosecution of the individual policemen for these criminal offences. Moreover, the victim should be entitled to file for damages in a civil case against the railway police, just as Krittika Biswas is doing for wrongful arrest and detention in New York. Only if both the individual wrongdoers and the institution they represent face serious consequences, will there be a deterrent effect. 

LG and Dell relying on Android to capture Indian mobile market

Summary

Dell is expanding their manufacturing plant in Chennai, India to increase their mobile export quantities. LG is hoping to make a dent in Samsung’s dominance by coming up with 45 handsets in 2011. Dell and LG are betting on Android for their handset portfolios.

The Indian divisions of LG and Dell have committed to Android as their platform choice for mobile products. Google’s Android has helped eliminate a huge barrier for handset manufacturers by allowing them to come up with handsets and concentrate less on the software. According to Android (in India)-focused website AndroidOS.in, LG and Dell have six and four handsets respectively. Motorola, HTC and Samsung are other major manufacturers, each with at least 10 devices in the market.

The Korean brand war between LG and Samsung so far has seen Samsung as the clear leader in mobile. Going forward, LG India is targeting 40% revenues from their mobile and IT businesses and plans to launch up to 45 new handsets this year.

A late entry in the handset manufacturer race, Dell, has tried their hand at Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and Android. At Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Mango event, Dell was conspicuously missing from their hardware partners list. Earlier this year, Dell acknowledged their late entry in mobile but claimed that they will try to cover up lost time with new handsets. Dell is right now expanding their manufacturing plant in Chennai (South India) to increase exports to the Western market. The current break-up of the plant output is 80% to 85% for India and the rest for Western countries. Post expansion, the export quantity will be increased to 30% of plant production.

Apple releases their iPhone handsets in India a year after the US launch, which to users is annoying since these year-old handsets are still sold at a premium while people in the US get the latest iteration. Apple’s reluctance to include India in their initial launch list is difficult to comprehend since people find ways to import the latest handsets. An unlocked iPhone (latest version) is sold at around $600 on launch, which is the price one pays in India for the year-old handset with a two-year contract. Android and iOS are competing for the first spot and if LG and Dell can bring in competitive handsets with the newer versions of Android to India, they can make a mark in the market.

In India, Samsung has been trying to promote their indigenous mobile platform, Bada, for feature phones,  while Android is being used for smartphones. The strategy for LG and Dell to use Android might give them the much required initial traction courtesy of Android’s brand name and Google’s dedication to the platform. Dell has been a hardware manufacturer and focusing on hardware makes sense. Despite the unfortunate failure of Venue Pro, the handset was nicely designed and complemented Windows Phone 7 quite well. If Dell is able to have design quality that leverages Android’s capabilities, they can develop an experience for the user around tablets and phones. LG on the other hand needs to hire some smart handset designers.

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MLA held for pouring petrol into youths' rectum

In a development being seen by many as an embarrassment to ruling JD (U), party MLA Ramsevak Singh (Look at his Crime Meter) was on Tuesday arrested along with his brother, three bodyguards and a driver for allegedly assaulting four youths and pouring petrol into their rectum at Asmat Gola in Gopalganj district's Balesara village on Monday and Tuesday.

Police said the bodyguards of the MLA, who represents Gopalganj's Hathua constituency in the state assembly, assaulted Afroz and Tabrez who are relatives of a winner of the just-concluded panchayat election in the area. On Tuesday, the MLA's bodyguards allegedly took Vishal Singh and Rakesh Dubey to the MLA's house and mercilessly assaulted them, police said and added that the culprits later poured petrol into the rectum of the victims.

As tension prevailed in the village, Gopalganj DM Pankaj Kumar Pal and SP K S Anupam visited the victims. Pal told TOI Vishal and Rakesh were rescued by a police team led by Hathua SDPO Jitendra Kumar Mishra from the MLA's house. "The SP and I also met the Hathua MLA and heard his version," he said and added the medical report confirmed pouring of petrol into the rectum of victims following which an FIR was lodged against the MLA, his brother Ramashray Singh, three bodyguards and a driver.

Villagers said the wife of the MLA's brother contested the election for the post of Balesara mukhia, but lost. The DM admitted that though police were yet to probe the reason behind the crime, it prima facie appeared to be related with the panchayat election.

While the MLA could not be reached for his version as he was in custody, the JD (U) leadership in Patna did not defend its MLA. "Wrong-doers will not be protected even if they belong to our party," party's state president Vashishth Narayan Singh told TOI. He said his party-led NDA government has been working overnight to establish the rule of law and those taking law into their hands must be punished as per the law. 

Dawood Ibrahim now a top global terrorist

Dawood Ibrahim

Dawood Ibrahim

Dawood Ibrahim has evolved from a Mumbai bomber to a full-blown global terrorist. Intelligence agencies in New Delhi believe in the complete radicalization of the D-company boss, as he finds ways to further his terror network, aided by the ISI, and emerge truly as a global threat. 

Dawood's relations with ISI date back to 1993 when he executed the blasts in Mumbai but until a few years ago he was viewed as a logistics man for ISI by Indian agencies. LeT, the other arm of ISI, played the role of the main aggressor. The first Mumbai attack appeared to be one-off terrorist crime by a man focused on his smuggling and extortion operations.

"In the past he was looked upon mainly as a mercenary. LeT was more ideology driven but Dawood and his gang now seem to have merged into LeT," said an official, adding that Dawood now presents as much a danger to India as to the US or any other target country of the jihadis.

The transformation has happened because of his dependence on ISI for his own security as well as his desire for respectability as a jehadi as a protection mechanism. Initially ISI is said to have used him for pumping fake currency into India but as his links with LeT grew, he helped LeT find new recruits in India, mainly in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

His well-documented links with LeT have taken on a menacing proportion because of the growing collaboration between LeT and al-Qaida. LeT, so far focused on J&K and India, has grown in ambition and reach, with evidence piling of its attempts to attack targets in the West.

It was his growing link with al-Qaida which led finally, in 2003, to the US Treasury Department declaring him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGP). As late as January 2010, a US Congressional report warned that Dawood and his gang posed a direct threat to US interests in South Asia.

Post-Osama bin Laden's killing, al-Qaida's dependence on LeT may increase, leading Dawood to use his vast network stretching from South Asia to Middle East to Africa for terror activities. "That is something the Americans need to factor in," said an intel officer.

While calling him a global terrorist, the US said in a press release that Dawood's smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa are shared with bin Laden and his terrorist network.

"Successful routes established over recent years by (Dawood) Ibrahim's syndicate have been subsequently utilised by bin Laden. A financial arrangement was brokered to facilitate the latter's usage of these routes. In the late 1990s, Ibrahim travelled in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban," it said.

Dawood's international infamy grew further in 2010 when it was reported by Germany's 'Der Spiegel' magazine that he had helped efforts to smuggle a group of terrorists linked to al-Qaida into Europe for Mumbai-sytle attacks in Germany. The report said al-Qaida and associated groups were planning to attack Germany's Parliament, Reichstag.

An intelligence source recalls a report from a UN official a few years ago sent to Indian agencies saying that it was Dawood who helped al-Qaida make a huge amount of money through diamond trade. Dawood as a key player in narcotitcs smuggling can also be an asset for the terrorist groups like Taliban who have used the proceeds of opium cultivation to finance their operations.

It is well known that after the US froze al-Qaida related bank accounts in 1999, the terror group bought up diamonds in Africa and used them to launder terror funds. The UN official informed Indian agencies that many of these diamonds were sent to Dawood who got them polished before sending them back to al-Qaida operatives. Experts don't deny that some of the money generated through this trade could have been used to finance 9/11.

Dawood's gang was caught taking arms to Mombasa at the behest of ISI. In India, apart from LeT, Dawood is also said to have financed terror group SIMI. In 2008, it was revealed by government agencies that Dawood had been routing funds to SIMI through an aeronautical engineer, CAM Basheer, from Kerala.

While Dawood is not a named accused in 26/11, the fact that the explosives used during the Mumbai attacks were similar to that of 1993 blasts did not go unnoticed among investigating agencies. Some of the SIM cards seized from the perpetrators were also said to have been traced to the posh Karachi locality where he is said to have lived for many years.

Dawood has shown unflinching loyalty for Pakistan since he escaped to that country in 1993. So much so that many believe he helped finance Pakistan's nuclear programme by working closely with scientist A Q Khan. It is believed by Indian agencies that he helped Pakistan in the procurement of military nuclear material abroad and its passage to Pakistan. He is also said to have set up a factory in Malaysia for manufacturing centrifuges needed for uranium enrichment.

National Defence College is a target in near future: Headley

David Headley

Mumbai attacks co-accused David Headley on Wednesday testified that New Delhi-based National Defence College is on the hit-list of terrorists as 26/11 mastermind Illiyas Kashmiri believes in this way he can kill more Indian brigadiers than what the Pakistan Army could not do in four wars with India.

Within a few months of the Mumbai terror attacks, Kashmiri, who has now emerged as mastermind of 26/11, met Headley, and asked him to go to India again to do surveillance of the National Defence College in New Delhi and a number of Chhabad Houses in various cities of India.

When Headley, accompanied by Pasha, went to see Kashmiri in Waziristan in February 2009, he among the Lashkar-e-Taiba circles had emerged as a "surveillance expert" thus a key element of the planning of the terrorist attack.

"Kashmiri asked me to return to India. He said that his leadership was very upset about the recent Israeli strike on the Gaza strip and (thus) wanted retaliation," Headley said in response to a question, adding that Kashmiri wanted him to identify the Chhabad houses in India.

On the way back he was given a list of Chhabad houses in India by Pasha.

Headley said since he was coming to India again, he was asked by Kashmiri to also visit National Defence College, which he described as a prestigious Indian institution that teaches high level army offices, Colonels and above.

Pasha told him that if "we were able to conduct" attack on NDC then "we will be able to kill more Brigadiers than Pakistan has done in the four wars" with India.