Saturday 27 December 2014

'much more dangerous than we think'

The first western journalist in the world to be allowed extensive access to Isis territories in Syria and Iraq has returned from the region with a warning: the group is "much stronger and much more dangerous" than anyone in the west realises.

Jurgen Todenhofer, 74, is a renowned German journalist and publicist who travelled through Turkey to Mosul, the largest city occupied by Isis, after months of negotiations with the group's leaders.

"Of course, I've seen the terrible, brutal video and it was one of my main concerns during the negotiations as to how I can avoid (the same fate)," he said.

Once within Isis territory, Todenhofer said his strongest impression was "that Isis is much stronger than we think here". He said it now has "dimensions larger than the UK", and is supported by "an almost ecstatic enthusiasm that I have never encountered in any other warzone".

"Each day, hundreds of willing fighters arrive from all over the world," he told tz. "For me it is incomprehensible."

Isis's fighters themselves sleep, he said, in barracks formed from "the shells of bombed-out houses". They number around 5,000 in Mosul, and are spread so widely that were the US to bomb them all "they would have to reduce the whole of Mosul to ruins", he said.

Todenhofer says that this ultimately means Isis cannot be beaten by Western intervention or air strikes - despite US claims last week that they have proven effective. "With every bomb that is dropped and hits a civilian, the number of terrorists increases," he said.

Most concerning of all, he said, was Isis fighters' belief that "all religions who agree with democracy have to die".

He said the view that kept being repeated was that Isis want to "conquer the world" and all who do not believe in the group's interpretation of the Quran will be killed. The only other religions to be spared, Todenhofer said, were the "people of the book" — Jews and Christians.

In his view, Isis will soon come to the west to negotiate a level of co-existence. "The only ones who could stop this now are the moderate Iraqi Sunnis," he said, adding: "If you want to defeat an opponent, you must know him."

AKSHAY CHAUDHARY(A2305412301)

Sunday 14 December 2014

Social Communication : Semester VI

Dear Students

We start with the Semester VI and the subject we are going to learn is titled as: Social Communication.

We shall be learning Social Communication Essentials, Workplace Interpersonal Skills, Visual Code/Etiquette in the first three modules.
The fourth module is PROSE with Four Essays/Stories to be read and discussed at the end of these three modules.

·   Secret of Socrates -  Dale Carnegie
·   My Financial Career-Stephen Leacock
·  The Luncheon - W. Somerset Maugham
·   The National Flag - Jawahar Lal Nehru


We shall be starting our sessions with the same 'Willingness to Learn' and will move ahead to accomplish a good understanding of the syllabus.

This is not just a syllabus to be covered, Social Communication is a skill to be mastered.
I look forward to a Learning Journey with you All!


Parveen