Centre has no will to tackle terrorism, Naxalism: Modi

Rajkot: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lashed out at the Central government saying that it had failed to curb terrorism and Naxalism and lacked the will to do it.

"The government at the Centre has no will to tackle terrorism," said Modi after unfurling the tricolour at the Rajkot Municipal Corporation cricket ground here.

"It's a demand of time to take strict action against terrorism which the United States did after 9/11 and since then terrorists didn't dare to target the country," he said adding that it was unfortunate that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed terrorism and Naxalism "as a mere serious issue".

Quoting a UN report, Modi said India did not have strict laws to prevent terror acts and added that he would stand by the government and extend all possible support if it has a will and concrete plan to curb terrorism.

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The Chief Minister said that while Singh, in his speech on Sunday, urged farmers to enhance agricultural production he did not utter a single word about rotting food grains.

The PM's silence on the issue is like rubbing salt on wounds, he added.

On Kashmir, Modi said "I want to warn the Central government that the Kashmir issue is very sensitive and they will have to take people of the nation into confidence before reaching to any conclusion."

Modi also remembered leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and other freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for India's independence.

"Gujarat has always shown a new path to the country. Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel led the country for freedom and now Gujarat is leading the country in many fields like agriculture, education and petrochemicals," he said.

World's lakes getting hotter, more than the air: NASA

Washington: A first-of-its-kind NASA study is finding nice cool lakes are heating up - even faster than air.

Two NASA scientists used satellite data to look at 104 large inland lakes around the world and found that on average they have warmed 2 degrees (1.1 degree Celsius) since 1985. That's about two-and-a-half times the increase in global temperatures in the same time period.

Russia's Lake Ladoga and America's Lake Tahoe are warming significantly and the most, said study co-author Simon Hook, a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif. Tahoe has heated up by 3 degrees (1.7 degrees Celsius) since 1985, while Ladoga has been even hotter, going up by 4 degrees (2.2 degrees Celsius).

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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Hook and his colleague used several satellites and looked at thermal infrared images of the lakes in winter and summer. They also confirmed the numbers by comparing them to buoy data.

"It fits with what we see with air temperature measurements," Hook said. "We were surprised that in some places the lakes appear to be warming more than the air temperature."

The next question to look at is why the lakes seem to be warming faster than the air or land, Hook said. One reason could be the way lakes warm -- in a more gradual manner than land but also slower to cool.

NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, who was not part of the study, said the research made sense and adds another independent measuring system to show that the world is warming up. Eleven different indicators -- including air temperature, humidity, snow cover, ocean heat content -- show statistically significant man-made global warming, while no environmental measurements show otherwise, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Warming lakes is No. 12 and "another brick in the wall," said University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver.

Overall, 41 lakes increased temperatures in a statistically significant way, with another 59 individually warming but not enough to be considered significant. Only four showed temperature drops, but not significantly, Hook said.

When author Narendra Modi spoke in English

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Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is now an author. His book - 'Convenient Action - Gujarat's Response To Challenges of Climate Change' was released in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The 250 page book essentially talks about the steps taken by the Gujarat government for environment protection.

The release function was attended by former President APJ Abdul Kalam and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chief RK Pachauri. But more than the book, what caught everybody's attention was Modi's address to gathering in English, something that he rarely does.

"We can have conferences after conferences, but I think one simple action is better than a million good intentions. My book documents such simple actions," Modi said adding the book is a humble attempt to document steps taken by his government to meet the challenges of climate change.

The book, however, has few figures on emission levels in Gujarat. It merely showcases his pet projects like the river basin links, water treatment plants and the lone experimental BRTS corridor in Ahmedabad.

"I am neither an expert on climate change nor a professional writer, but I have written from the core of my heart," he said.

After former US Vice-President and Nobel laureate Al-Gore, Modi became the second political leader to write a book on climate change, said an official of Macmillan Publishers India Ltd, which published the book.

Nobel award winner Pachauri praised Modi for his efforts in dealing with the issue. "Political will is required to take unpopular decisions to save our climate," he said adding that the Gujarat Chief Minister has shown the way.

Pachauri recalled that Modi, along with his team of IAS officers, had come to him to understand the issue of climate change and spent an entire day with him.

Kalam also praised Modi's initiative and asked the Chief Minister to take steps to make Gujarat the carbon neutral state of India.

Interestingly, Modi was silent on Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's performance at the climate change summit in Cancun - on India warming up to emission benchmarks. His party has been protesting against this in Delhi, but Modi hinted that he was launching his book, not controversies. (With PTI Inputs)

Narendra Modi pens book on climate change

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New Delhi: As a state head, every Chief Minister ought to take steps to fight climate change. But Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to have taken his responsibility a bit too seriously.

Going the Al-Gore way, Modi has written a book called 'Convenient Action: Gujarat's Response to Challenges of Climate Change'. To be released next week, the book runs into 250 pages. It is Modi's first book in English and has been published by Macmillan Publishers.

"Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Gujarat has effectively handled a lot of issues and they have provided solutions. So this book is purely about climate change and how Gujarat has responded," says Sanjay Singh of Macmillan Publishers.

The book release function on December 21 will be presided over by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

Praising Modi's move, Dr RK Pachauri, the chief of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said, "I am very happy that Narendra Modi has written this book. I haven't seen it but the very fact that he's focussed on this is worth praising." Pachuri will be the chief guest at this function.

With this book, 'green crusader' Modi has become the second politician in the world, after former US Vice-President Al Gore, to pen a book on climate change.

[SASIALIT] RE: Narendra Modi invites Taslima to Gujarat

---

I think this whole thing of crucifying an author because he/she wrote
something is absurd, and lacks any merit.

I think if a certain section of people feel that some book has offended them
let them issue a warning to their own members not to read the book. This
could hurt the author because then the book will not sell.

However, to beat up an author because he/she wrote something is to go to
extremes. The people who do the beating or vandalizing may not have read the
book themselves. Do they follow literature as to know what boundaries the
author transgressed?

Freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution of India and authors
should be assured of the freedom of writing freely to encourage debate and
discussion. If a certain section finds it objectionable it would be better
to ask them not to buy the book. End of the matter.

I have read Taslima's "Shame" and find nothing objectionable in the book.
Taken in isolation, the book has nothing that is offensive compared to some
other books that are in circulation. What Taslima is against is a few people
who do not have the courtesy to read her books taking up on behalf of their
faith to attack and hurt her. Her answer to them should be "If you have read
my books, tell me what part of it (chapter and verse) you do not like." Then
come and discuss the issue with me.

My tuppence worth!

John Matthew






>
> Srini, her approach to humanism, to secularism, to church-state separation
> -- has caught on wildly.  Among people who wield pens, not swords.
>
> And while we're mixing metaphors, if you're going to kill the chef because
> you didn't like his pudding, maybe you should only eat at home.
>
> - AjitD
>
>
> > Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2007 19:14:35 -0800
> > From: srini_nagul at yahoo.com
> > To: sasialit at mailman.rice.edu
> > Subject: [SASIALIT] RE: Narendra Modi invites Taslima to Gujarat
> >
> >
> >
> > Ajit Sanzgiri  wrote:> Taslima's views are dated and old hat and do not
> deserve glorification. But the
> >> Koran, Vedas and the Bible are .... not dated or old hat ?
> >
> > Difference lies in the pudding. If her approach or gospel is really so
> good, why has it not already caught on ?!
> >
> > Regards
> > -Srinivas
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------
> > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

Narendra Modi talks about good governance, welfare state

Narendra Modi talks about good governance, welfare state

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is preparing himself to start battle against political opponents within the party and against the other parties to prove his dominance in state politics again. This was the effect of election time that Modi has started talking about the need of right kind of governance by terming it necessary in present situation in the country.

He criticized, while speaking in a summit in New Delhi, the show-case policy practiced by most governments today. He blamed that governments highlighted just one aspect, one side of development.

Modi said that this is need of the time for us people to understand that India is a federation of states and the political leaders will have to recognize the potential of different states. The leaders will have to ensure the development of the environment of healthy competition among the states.

Modi said:

This is necessary to create parameters for development and create passion among people to see development as a mission. We should remember how the people had taken the independence as mission sixty years ago.

The political leadership has to learn from Gandhi how he was able to make the struggle for freedom a countrywide movement. Modi said that Ram Rajya to him is nothing but the concept of a welfare state.

He also talked about the developmental work started and completed during his rule in Gujarat. He said that people had demanded a few hours of electric supply from him when he had come for the first time in Gujarat. Gujarat was a power-starved state.

Modi claimed that within 1000 days the state got 23 lakh electric poles, 56000 new transformers installed across the cities. He claimed to ensure 24-hour electric supply with the same infrastructure and the same staff.

Modi also said that the drop out rate in education sector in the state has come down drastically from 49% to 3% during his governance. He said that the people of Gujarat will decide his fate and he is accountable to none but the people of Gujarat.

On the question of his desire of becoming PM of the country one day, Modi said that he was never a man of elections and had never contested any election before becoming the CM. The party told him to take the responsibility in Gujarat and he is leading his party in the forthcoming Gujarat elections to gain voters votes and confidence for next term.