Conceptually speaking terrorism is a dynamic concept and India being one of the oldest victims of terrorism has witnessed many facets of it.As India increasingly goes online, the dangers posed by Internet terrorism are beginning to escalate. Cyberterrorism in India has now grown in to an extremely dynamic phenomenon which is not easy to track. Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad; almost all the terrorist attacks on the Indian soil in recent past have established an e-connection; a dangerous nexus between the virtual world and the real terrorists.

Once again, Indian cities are under terrorist radar and vulnerable to lethal attacks. In a matter of 24 hours, two big cities -Bangalore, in the south and Ahmadabad, in the western part of the country were targeted. This shows the entrenched capability of the terrorists to carry out attacks on urban centres and create mayhem by killing innocent people. 

This is the second and final part of article series on Naxalite Menace.

There seems to be no end to the spate of spine chilling incidents of mob violence. The alarming regularity at which such incidents are taking place leaves no doubt in the minds of the people that our country is on the verge of civil unrest. All in the name of democratic dissent, getting quick justice and a perceptible pessimism about bringing the offenders to book, people resort to vandalism, physical thrashing, killing and lynching every now and then.

The Naxalite/Maoist movement in Orissa is gaining momentum gradually along with State government’s proposed industrial zones. The red rebels have virtually set up ‘liberated zones’ along with industrial hubs in Orissa by adopting new line of operations by mixing up both democratic and violent means to consolidate their position in these areas. Both the means are being used considering the geographical, social and political situations on the ground. As far as tribal regions are concerned, Naxalites are using violent means to maintain their support base.

Analyze this: A week long protest, riot and looting in Haiti due to spiraling food prices led to the ouster of the Prime Minister and announcement of $10 million feeding program by the World Bank during an emergency meeting in Washington in April. The 9000 strong UN peace keeping force is still in dilemma to face the ‘hungry mob’ in Haiti. Approximately 10,000 workers clashed with police near the capital in Bangladesh over the rising food price. At least dozens of people, including 20 police officials, were injured in the violence in Dhaka. In Egypt, the revolt over food is mounting.

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001 resulted in a historic partnership between the U.S. and Pakistan. Pakistan emerged as a key ally of the U.S. in the global war to counter terrorism. Though barely realized, in February 2008 this war entered a new phase. The U.S. had thus far fought the war against terrorism with the support of the dictatorial regime of the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The parliamentary elections in Pakistan in February 2008 transferred political authority in favor of the democratically elected government.

Global climate politics is finally at home. Much controversial Environmental Conservation levy bill passed without a debate in Sri Lanka Parliament on April 9, 2008. According to Environment Minister Champika Ranawaka the Bill is based on the ‘polluter pays principle’. While the tax itself not justified in the Bill, the question remain why the levy charged for electronic items, phone bills and electricity bills for the climate adaptation Fund.

This year there are two days for World Water Day celebration! On March 20, the UN observed as the water day due to reasons unknown but could be drawn out of the long weekend. In 1992, the UN General Assembly designated March 22 as ‘World Water Day’ to draw international attention to the critical need of safe drinking water worldwide.

India has just joined trillion dollar GDP club just before the usual Finance Minister’s budget speech this year. The fifth consecutive budget presentation by the incumbent finance minister (FM) P Chidambaram is itself a rare achievement which was only rivaled by his present Prime Minister. When Dr. Manmohan Singh was finance minister, the Congress party government then, didn’t worry about the Earth Summit or climate change but just opened the Indian market for the west (waste!) world to plunge into it.