Pak Army Chief Says 'Terrorist Backbone Broken'

Islamabad : Pakistani army has “broken” the backbone of terrorists and will soon prevail over them, its powerful chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said today in an apparent riposte to US concerns about his force’s capability to take on militants.

“The terrorist backbone has been broken and Inshaallah we will soon prevail,” Kayani said in his address at a passing out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Let me assure you that we in the Pakistan Army are fully aware of the internal and external threats to our country. In the war against terrorism, our officers and soldiers have made great sacrifices and have achieved tremendous success,” he said.

Kayani’s comments came three days after Admiral Mike Mullen, America’s top military official, warned that the ISI’s longstanding links with the Haqqani militant network are at the core of Pakistan’s strained and problematic relations with the United States.

Earlier this month, a White House report had noted that Pakistan’s fight against militancy was making little progress.

The report further said that Pakistan had “no clear path to defeating the insurgency ... despite the unprecedented and sustained deployment of over 147,000 forces”.

However, Kayani said in his address that the people of Pakistan “value their freedom and independence more than anything else and consider no sacrifice too great to preserve it.”

“It is therefore for the people of Pakistan to remain optimistic and keep the dream of a strong and prosperous Pakistan alive. We must never forget that we all owe it to our future generations. I have no doubt that all of us together can achieve it,” he said.

“People of Pakistan have the capacity and the will to do it, whatever the difficulties and challenges. Let us revive our promise once again to make Pakistan a strong country worthy of its name and aspiration of its people,” he said.

Kayani called on the cadets who passed out of the military academy to fulfil their responsibilities despite the grave dangers and difficulties they would face. PTI

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NATO Initiates Drone Attacks In Libya

Tripoli/Washington  : Intensifying its air attacks on Gaddafi’s forces, NATO fired its first Predator drone strike today, destroying a Libyan government multiple rocket launcher near Misurata.

The NATO strike came as a big boost to rebels who were coming under fierce attack Gaddafi’s forces which were forcing them to retreat with heavy shelling and firing, using human shields, the BBC reported.

The Western nations have pledged to fight hard to see the end of the 41-year rule of 68-year-old Muammar Gaddafi.

Forces loyal to Gaddafi have decided to withdraw from the western besieged city of Misurata in a bid to allow the local tribes to find a solution to the deepening civil war.

“The situation in Misurata will be dealt with by the tribes around Misurata and Misurata’s residents and not by the Libyan army,” Khaled Kaim, Libya’s deputy foreign minister, told reporters.

“We will leave the tribes around Misurata and Misurata’s people to deal with the situation, either using force or negotiations,” he said late last night.

Kaim said the Libyan army had been given an “ultimatum” to stop the rebellion in Misurata, 200 km east of the capital Tripoli.

“There was an ultimatum to the Libyan army: if they cannot solve the problem in Misurata, then the people from (the neighbouring towns of) Zliten, Tarhuna, Bani Walid and Tawargha will move in and they will talk to the rebels. If they don’t surrender, then they will engage them in a fight,” he was quoted as saying by Al-Jazeera news channel.

Amid the looming humanitarian crisis, fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi’s forces raged in Misurata, with reports saying that at least 10 people were killed.

Hours after the announcement of a shift in tactics in Misurata by the Libyan regime, NATO pounded what appeared to be a bunker near Gaddafi’s compound in central Tripoli.

Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said three people were killed by the “very powerful explosion” in a car park near the embattled leaders Bab al-Aziziyah compound.

Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, has admitted that while the NATO air strikes had weakened the Libyan forces, the conflict was moving into “stalemate”.

Mullen, speaking to US troops in Iraq yesterday, said the fighting in Libya is “moving towards stalemate”, even though US and Nato air strikes have destroyed 30-40 person of Gaddafi’s ground forces.

US Senator John McCain, who became the most high-profile Western politician to visit Benghazi yesterday,praised the rebels as his “heroes” and sought international recognition for the opposition’s Transitional National Council (TNC). PTI

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17 Killed In Beijing Building Fire: State Media

Beijing  : At least 17 people were killed and 24 injured in a building fire today, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported, quoting local police.

The fire broke out about 1 am (1700 GMT yesterday) in a four-story building in the Daxing district in the capital’s southern suburbs, the agency quoted police as saying, adding that the blaze had been put out.

It gave no other details, such as what might have caused the fire.

A woman official who answered the phone at the local government headquarters in Jiugong town, where the fire took place, said she could not confirm Xinhua’s casualty count, but added that an investigation had been launched.

Deadly fires are common in China and are typically blamed on lax observation and enforcement of fire-safety measures.The government routinely orders nationwide safety crackdowns after particularly deadly fires, but such disasters continue to occur.In November, a fire engulfed a high-rise apartment building in Shanghai, leaving 58 people dead.

A preliminary investigation blamed that inferno on careless work by unlicensed welders who ignited nylon netting swathing the building, which was being renovated to improve energy efficiency. (AFP)

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All Eyes On 7 Key Members of Sathya Sai Trust

Puttaparthi : With the death of Sathya Sai Baba, all eyes are on seven key people associated with his powerful Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT), who may call the shots from now on. With Baba leaving a huge spiritual empire of an estimated Rs 40,000 crore ($9 billion) but not a successor, the following people may decide on the coming events at Puttaparthi in Anantapur district.

Trust secretary K Chakravarthi: A former Indian Administrative Service(IAS) official and the only trust member with cheque signing power. A former district collector of Anantapur, Chakravarthi, who hails from Tamil Nadu, quit the IAS on Baba's advice and joined him in 1981. Considered an authority on financial matters, he served as the registrar of the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning till 1994, when Baba made him the trust secretary.

Trust members - S V Giri: Former IAS official who served as chief vigilance commissioner. He too resigned his job in 1998 to join as the vice chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai University. He was instrumental in building a network of Sai educational institutions.

PN Bhagwati: A former chief justice of India, he is the most well-known and respectable face of the trust. A staunch devotee of Baba, he joined the trust as its member on Baba's advice.

Indulal Shah: A chartered accountant turned entrepreneur. He is the founder and international advisor of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations and runs the global network of Sai institutions.

Venu Srinivasan: The chairman and managing director of TVS Motors heads the Indian chapter of the Sai network of institutions.

RJ Ratnakar: The only family member of Sai Baba on the trust. Baba made his nephew a member in 2010 in place of his father Janakiram, who died in 2005. The 39-year-old runs a cable TV network in Puttaparthi and owns a petrol bunk.

Baba's personal caregiver Satyajit: Though not a member of the trust, he was very close to Baba as his personal caregiver. Last year, Baba is believed to have suggested that Satyajit should become a member of the trust. The 33-year-old, also hailing from Tamil Nadu, has done his MBA from Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He had joined the Sathya Sai school at the age of five.


The Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations were founded in 1960.  The organisation, from small beginnings in a remote little hamlet in Puttaparthi, has grown into a well-knit global organisation. It has its units across the country and in over 170 countries.Prasanthi Council, headquartered in Prasanthi Nilayam in Puttaparthi, oversees the functioning of Sai Organisations worldwide.

It consists of the All-India president, the chairman of the overseas organisations and a few senior members of the Sai family appointed by Baba himself.

The policies, decisions and directives of the Prasanthi Council are handed down through the state-level units and central coordinators to the entire organisation, right down to the grass-roots levels for assimilation and implementation.

Structure of Sai organisations :

* All-India president guides and supervises activities of organisations in all states

* All-India president assisted by all-India coordinators of spiritual, educational and service wing and also zonal coordinators for eastern, western, southern and northern regions of the country

* Every state has state president who appoints district coordinators who in turn selects convenors of Sai Samithi (centre). Every Samithi has own spiritual, educational and service coordinator

* The overseas organisation is structured into regions. Every region has one or more central coordinators appointed by overseas chairmen of International Sai Organisation. Central coordinators disseminate policies, directives and messages received from the Prasanthi Council.

* Every country which has 10 or more Sai Centres has a central council which selects the head of every Centre.

* Each Sai Centre has a minimum of nine members.

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Vaastu Dosham In Hospital That He Built, Says Sai's Relative

Puttaparthi  : Sathya Sai Baba had the 220-bed Sri Sathya Sai Baba Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (SSSIHMS) set up in 1991 in a record 11 months over an area of 80 acres to offer free specialized medical treatment to the poor.However, the hospital's tryst with Sai Baba and his family members continues to be jinxed.

The godman was the fifth person from the family to die in the hospital.''We always felt that the hospital had 'vaastu dosham' (problems) and this was proved yet again with the death of Sai Baba. We had asked doctors to shift him to another ICU or Bangalore super-specialty hospital but our pleas were turned down,'' said a relative not wanting to be named.

Immediate relatives and family members, who rushed to the hospital in Prasanthi Gram around 7.30 am as soon as they were told about his passing on, said they cannot come to terms with the fact that he died in the same hospital which he had got built. ''There's a lot of negativity in the hospital. But no one believed us,'' said an inconsolable family member.

Sai Baba's elder brother Ratnam Sesham Raju died in 1984.Venkamma, second among Sai Baba's siblings, died in the ICU in 1993. His second sister Parvathamma died four years later. Sources said that until sometime ago, food used to be cooked in the house of Parvathamma's granddaughter Chetana Raju, who heads the Eswaramma Women's Welfare Trust.

In 2003, Baba's younger brother Janakiramiah also died in the hospital. Janakiramaiah played a key role in the Sai Central Trust affairs till he was alive.

His son R J Rathnakar is a member of the trust. ''Among all family members, Rathnakar's mother Meenakshamma is very close to Sai Baba. He used to take 'ragi mudda' and groundnut chutney made at her home,'' a relative recalled.While another cousin died of heart attack in 2005, some distant relatives also passed away in the hospital.

Meanwhile, some angry relatives complained that Sai Baba was not given proper treatment.

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Abandoned Baby Shall Reincarnate As Prema Sai

Puttaparthi,  If the words of Halagappa, ardent devotee of Sathya Sai Baba, are to be believed, it was in the early 60s itself that Baba had broached the issue of his reincarnation as Prema Sai, in a village on the banks of Cauvery,  near Srirangapatna.

Though Baba did not reveal the name of the village, he said it would be called Gunaparthi, Halagappa claimed, adding that he did not insist on knowing the village name as he was under the impression that the village may be called Gunaparthi after Baba's reincarnation.

Even Puttaparthi got its name after Baba's birth there, he adds.According to Halagappa, Sai Baba's reincarnation will be found deserted on the banks of the river Cauvery. A fisherman will take this baby home and groom him, and he will be named Prema Sai.

This will be the third avatar of Sai Baba in this world, he said, pointing out that the claim of reincarnation by Sathya Sai Baba dates back to 1963.

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Lawn of native grasses beats traditional lawn for lushness, weed resistance

A lawn of regionally native grasses would take less resources to maintain while providing as lush a carpet as a common turfgrass used in the South, according to a study by ecologists at The University of Texas at Austin's Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. "We created a lawn that needs less mowing and keeps weeds out better than a common American lawn option," said Dr. Mark Simmons, director of the center's Ecosystem Design Group, noting that this new approach could have a huge impact on pocketbooks and the environment.

Simmons led the study comparing common Bermudagrass to seven native grasses that will be published online this week in the journal Ecological Engineering.

Commercial and residential lawns cover about 40 million acres – more American landscape than any traditional agricultural crop. But keeping that turfgrass looking good takes more time, effort and money than it could and carries an environmental price tag.

U.S. lawn maintenance annually consumes about 800 million gallons of gasoline, $5.2 billion of fossil-fuel derived fertilizers and $700 million in pesticides. Up to two thirds of the drinking water consumed in municipalities goes to watering lawns.

"Most lawns use a single grass species, which requires inputs to maintain," Simmons said. "The goal was to develop a more ecologically stable, natural alternative for lawns that are so important to many Europeans and Americans."

Simmons knew that the species co-existing in natural grasslands can thrive without human intervention from living and studying in southern England near where Jane Austen once lived, and in the grasslands of South Africa. To test whether a mixture of grasses provides a good lawn, Simmons and colleagues Michelle Bertelsen, Dr. Steve Windhager and Holly Zafian used funding from Walmart to establish multiple plots of grasses in an open field at the center.

Co-author Bertelsen is an ecologist at the Wildflower Center. Windhager previously directed landscape restoration research at the center and is now chief executive officer of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Zafian was a center research assistant and is now a graduate student at Texas State University – San Marcos.

For the study, plots of non-native Bermudagrass were established from commercially available seeds alongside plots of Buffalograss in various combinations with other native, short grass species. In 2009, the researchers applied different mowing and other regimes to the two-year-old turf plots.

The traditional turfgrass and the native grasses responded the same to mowing once or twice a month, to two watering regimens and to the equivalent of foot traffic. However, the turf of seven native grasses produced a carpet that was 30 percent thicker in early spring than the Bermuda turf. As temperatures climbed into mid-summer and all the lawns thinned, the mixed native turfgrass still stayed 20 percent thicker than Bermuda.

"If we had mowed more frequently, the Bermudagrass might have become denser because of the way it grows," Simmons said, "but the point was to find something that took less work to maintain than Bermuda and other traditional turfgrasses."

Although Buffalograss also retained its lushness into summer, the mixed native turfgrass beat both single species (monoculture) turfgrasses in weed resistance. When dandelion seeds were added by hand, those plots grew half as many dandelions as the Buffalograss or Bermudagrass plots.

To see if the mixed native turfgrass would also outperform the others under conditions such as very light watering, he and his colleagues will conduct the next research phase later this year. The answer under some conditions will likely be a yes because the multiple species in natural grasslands are thought to allow them to respond better to different conditions over time.

How soon American lawns benefit from the findings depends partly on whether native grasses become more commercially available. The native grass combination that will likely work best will also vary with location, Simmons noted.

"This is just the first step to showing that having multiple grass species, basically creating a stable ecosystem that is a lawn, may have advantages for some turfgrass applications," Simmons said. "But we need to apply the findings to different settings to move away from solely having lawns that rely on us for life support."

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