Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said that India is ready to face any challenge and those who wished to weaken it would be disappointed.
Delivering the Bhimsen Sachar Memorial Lecture here on Saturday, Dr. Singh said, "India knows how to rise to a challenge."
"A united India has made history this past century and a united India will continue to do so in the march of progress. Those who wish to weaken our unity and hurt our nation should remember that India has always endured and emerged stronger. The force of history is on our side. Those who wish to see us diminished will be solely disappointed," he added.
"We will not betray the sacred memory of people like Bhimsen Sachar who dedicated their lives to build a new India free from the fear of war, want and exploitation," Dr. Singh said.
He urged all political parties to eschew the temptation of focussing on narrow agendas.
Relations between India and Pakistan have simmered after the former blamed the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba, for the spate of terror attacks in India.
India has blamed Pakistan of backing out of its earlier commitment to take action against those involved in the terror attacks and has asked Islamabad to stop terrorist outfits operating from its soil.
On the contrary, Pakistan has denied any links to the assault and has promised to cooperate with India in investigations into the assault, if provided with proof.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
I welcome emergence of 'Hindu terrorists': Thackeray
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Tuesday said he would welcome emergence of 'Hindu terrorists'.
"If they (Hindu terrorists) are (behind the September 29 Malegaon blast), I would be glad. Terrorists should be born among Hindus, I have begun to feel," he said in an interview given to his party's mouthpiece 'Samaana'.
"Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col P S Purohit (arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast) have been victimised...What was their fault? Something might have been done to take on fanatic Muslims..." he said.
Talking about those who lit candles in front of Taj Hotel after the last month's terror attacks, he said, "Those who party at the Taj have lost their watering holes. Hence this outrage. Where were these people when other terror attacks took place?"
Thackeray said his party would soon give a call for Maharashtra bandh. The saffron outfit had called a statewide shutdown over the Malegaon probe and farmer suicides but it was called off in view of the November 26 attacks in Mumbai.
On cross-border infiltration, Thackeray said: "Top army commanders are spotless. They are men of discipline. But corruption is rampant in the border areas. How Bangladeshi Muslims can come through the border? What is the use of border check-posts then?"
"If they (Hindu terrorists) are (behind the September 29 Malegaon blast), I would be glad. Terrorists should be born among Hindus, I have begun to feel," he said in an interview given to his party's mouthpiece 'Samaana'.
"Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col P S Purohit (arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast) have been victimised...What was their fault? Something might have been done to take on fanatic Muslims..." he said.
Talking about those who lit candles in front of Taj Hotel after the last month's terror attacks, he said, "Those who party at the Taj have lost their watering holes. Hence this outrage. Where were these people when other terror attacks took place?"
Thackeray said his party would soon give a call for Maharashtra bandh. The saffron outfit had called a statewide shutdown over the Malegaon probe and farmer suicides but it was called off in view of the November 26 attacks in Mumbai.
On cross-border infiltration, Thackeray said: "Top army commanders are spotless. They are men of discipline. But corruption is rampant in the border areas. How Bangladeshi Muslims can come through the border? What is the use of border check-posts then?"
Monday, December 22, 2008
Taj, Trident step towards normalcy
A day after the Taj Mahal tower threw open its door to the public, the mood outside the hotel wing was upbeat with regulars and tourists thronging the area to catch a glimpse of the iconic building.
Visitors were frisked and checked following heightened security, with policemen and private security personnel guarding the heritage wing, allowing a single entry and exit point.
Photographers, outside the fortified building, seemed to be busy with people vying to get themselves clicked in front of the 105-year-old structure and the adjoining tower wing which fell to the terrorist strike on November 26.
"The Taj is like a second home to many. I have visited the place earlier and am here to express my solidarity with the people. I hope India will come together to face the crisis," said Eric Winstein From USA, who visited Mumbai for the second time with his family.
Siddique, a taxi-driver at the Gateway of India, facing the Taj, said, "roads leading to the twin towers were choc-a-bloc on Sunday when Mumbaikars turned up in large numbers to pay homage to the victims and martyrs, firmly putting behind the 59-hour siege that shocked the city."
"Today, the situation has returned to normal as the two hotel majors take a step towards redefining hospitality," he said.
However, Trident-Oberoi, under tight security, sported a calm look with not many people around.
"We have hardly seen anyone here since the morning. On any other day, at least seven to eight cabs are hired in the morning hours...but there's a lull today," a cabbie outside the Trident said.
"The situation is likely to become normal in around 15-30 days," he said.
A part of both the hotels -- The Taj Towers of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers and the Trident of the Oberoi-Trident -- were reopened yesterday after a hiatus of three weeks following the bloody Mumbai terror siege.
Both hotels saw a lot of activity over the past few days with their staff working hard to restore the glory of the hotels.
Trident hotel, which suffered losses upto Rs 45-50 lakh during the siege, began its reopening ceremony with a multi-religious prayer meeting involving guests, prominent citizens and staff.
At the ceremony, all the 540 employees of the hotel were honoured for putting their lives at risk to save several guests at the hotel on the night of the terror strikes.
Visitors were frisked and checked following heightened security, with policemen and private security personnel guarding the heritage wing, allowing a single entry and exit point.
Photographers, outside the fortified building, seemed to be busy with people vying to get themselves clicked in front of the 105-year-old structure and the adjoining tower wing which fell to the terrorist strike on November 26.
"The Taj is like a second home to many. I have visited the place earlier and am here to express my solidarity with the people. I hope India will come together to face the crisis," said Eric Winstein From USA, who visited Mumbai for the second time with his family.
Siddique, a taxi-driver at the Gateway of India, facing the Taj, said, "roads leading to the twin towers were choc-a-bloc on Sunday when Mumbaikars turned up in large numbers to pay homage to the victims and martyrs, firmly putting behind the 59-hour siege that shocked the city."
"Today, the situation has returned to normal as the two hotel majors take a step towards redefining hospitality," he said.
However, Trident-Oberoi, under tight security, sported a calm look with not many people around.
"We have hardly seen anyone here since the morning. On any other day, at least seven to eight cabs are hired in the morning hours...but there's a lull today," a cabbie outside the Trident said.
"The situation is likely to become normal in around 15-30 days," he said.
A part of both the hotels -- The Taj Towers of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers and the Trident of the Oberoi-Trident -- were reopened yesterday after a hiatus of three weeks following the bloody Mumbai terror siege.
Both hotels saw a lot of activity over the past few days with their staff working hard to restore the glory of the hotels.
Trident hotel, which suffered losses upto Rs 45-50 lakh during the siege, began its reopening ceremony with a multi-religious prayer meeting involving guests, prominent citizens and staff.
At the ceremony, all the 540 employees of the hotel were honoured for putting their lives at risk to save several guests at the hotel on the night of the terror strikes.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
This is a mega telecom scam, cries CPM
The CPM on Friday accused Communication Minister A Raja of misleading the Parliament on the issuance of new telecom licences at throw away prices that allegedly cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 1,00,000 crores and demanded that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh look into it.
"This is a mega telecom scam. New telecom licences have been given on first-come, first-serve basis at the prices fixed in 2001. The market value of these licences is roughly seven times higher now," CPM Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury told reporters in New Delhi.
The existing mobile operators under the umbrella of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had also opposed the decision of issuing new licences at a fixed price of Rs 1,651 crore for pan-India coverage.
Raja had defended the decision, saying that as late as in March 2007, just two months before he took charge from his predecessor Dayanidhi Maran, new licences were given to existing players at the same price.
Yechury said the government should have adopted a policy of open auction to arrive at market-determined price for issuing new licences and spectrum.
Asked whether CPM has joined hands with the COAI for opposing the new policy, the party's leader Nilotpal Basu denied this and said that they were also demanding an enquiry into allocation of additional spectrum to existing players beyond their eligibility.
Raja, in reply to a question in Parliament, had claimed that neither the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) nor the telecom regulator TRAI had raised any objection to the allocation of spectrum to 2G telecom service providers on a first-come, first-serve basis.
"This is nothing but an attempt to mislead Parliament, obfuscate matters and conceal the truth," Yechury said.
Yechury said that in a letter dated November 15, the CVC had expressed dissatisfaction over an earlier response of the DoT to the Commission's queries on the policy for allocation of spectrum. The CVC had asked for specific issues including clarification with regard to Swan Telecom selling their equity at high value.
As far as TRAI is concerned, it had said that the DoT violated the recommendations of the regulator while allocating new licences to 2G telecom operators.
The CPM has demanded immediate action on the part of the Prime Minister in this regard.
"Failure to initiate probe into the matter and fix responsibility, undertake steps to retrieve the lost revenues and review the entire gamut of spectrum allocation policies would make the entire Cabinet complicit with this gigantic scam," he said.
"This is a mega telecom scam. New telecom licences have been given on first-come, first-serve basis at the prices fixed in 2001. The market value of these licences is roughly seven times higher now," CPM Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury told reporters in New Delhi.
The existing mobile operators under the umbrella of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had also opposed the decision of issuing new licences at a fixed price of Rs 1,651 crore for pan-India coverage.
Raja had defended the decision, saying that as late as in March 2007, just two months before he took charge from his predecessor Dayanidhi Maran, new licences were given to existing players at the same price.
Yechury said the government should have adopted a policy of open auction to arrive at market-determined price for issuing new licences and spectrum.
Asked whether CPM has joined hands with the COAI for opposing the new policy, the party's leader Nilotpal Basu denied this and said that they were also demanding an enquiry into allocation of additional spectrum to existing players beyond their eligibility.
Raja, in reply to a question in Parliament, had claimed that neither the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) nor the telecom regulator TRAI had raised any objection to the allocation of spectrum to 2G telecom service providers on a first-come, first-serve basis.
"This is nothing but an attempt to mislead Parliament, obfuscate matters and conceal the truth," Yechury said.
Yechury said that in a letter dated November 15, the CVC had expressed dissatisfaction over an earlier response of the DoT to the Commission's queries on the policy for allocation of spectrum. The CVC had asked for specific issues including clarification with regard to Swan Telecom selling their equity at high value.
As far as TRAI is concerned, it had said that the DoT violated the recommendations of the regulator while allocating new licences to 2G telecom operators.
The CPM has demanded immediate action on the part of the Prime Minister in this regard.
"Failure to initiate probe into the matter and fix responsibility, undertake steps to retrieve the lost revenues and review the entire gamut of spectrum allocation policies would make the entire Cabinet complicit with this gigantic scam," he said.
Friday, December 19, 2008
India destined to become world's knowledge park: PM
India is destined to become the knowledge park of the world and the Indian government is geared make this destiny a reality, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared Friday.
Inaugurating PanIIT 2008, the three-day global conference of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni through a video conference from New Delhi, he said: 'The government is setting up several higher education institutes towards this mission'.
The prime minister added: 'If we are to become knowledge superpower all sectors should be ready for scientific and technical knowledge.'
The government has sanctioned setting up of eight IITs, 30 central universities, 10 National Institutes of Technology, 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology, five Indian Institutes of Science Education, two new schools of architecture, 373 new colleges and over 1000 polytechnics, he informed.
According to Manmohan Singh, there is an urgent need to strengthen the research capability of IITs so that more research activities are done by them.
At the grass roots level, a series of school scholarship schemes have been launched by the government to provide access to quality education for under-privileged sections of the society, the prime minister said.
Acknowledging the contribution made by the 170,000 IIT graduates in various technology breakthroughs, he said: 'Vast majority of IIT alumni have become leaders in different fields - science, business, and policy making bodies.'
In his address, principal scientific adviser R. Chidambaram said national development and national security are two sides of the same coin.
'The second national knowledge network has put India at par with developed countries on the scientific field. We are in the process of strengthening the technology delivery systems for the rural areas,' he added.
Inaugurating PanIIT 2008, the three-day global conference of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni through a video conference from New Delhi, he said: 'The government is setting up several higher education institutes towards this mission'.
The prime minister added: 'If we are to become knowledge superpower all sectors should be ready for scientific and technical knowledge.'
The government has sanctioned setting up of eight IITs, 30 central universities, 10 National Institutes of Technology, 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology, five Indian Institutes of Science Education, two new schools of architecture, 373 new colleges and over 1000 polytechnics, he informed.
According to Manmohan Singh, there is an urgent need to strengthen the research capability of IITs so that more research activities are done by them.
At the grass roots level, a series of school scholarship schemes have been launched by the government to provide access to quality education for under-privileged sections of the society, the prime minister said.
Acknowledging the contribution made by the 170,000 IIT graduates in various technology breakthroughs, he said: 'Vast majority of IIT alumni have become leaders in different fields - science, business, and policy making bodies.'
In his address, principal scientific adviser R. Chidambaram said national development and national security are two sides of the same coin.
'The second national knowledge network has put India at par with developed countries on the scientific field. We are in the process of strengthening the technology delivery systems for the rural areas,' he added.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Mumbai attacks show up India's technology shortcomings
Indian police are grappling with global positioning systems (GPS), satellite phones and Google Earth images on the trail of the Mumbai attackers and finding themselves hobbled by technological inadequacy.
So far, police have found four GPS handsets, one satellite phone, nine mobile phones and computer discs with high-resolution images and maps of the 10 sites that were attacked. The use of the Internet to make calls has also hampered the investigation.
"The use of technology has made it very difficult for us," Param Bir Singh, a top officer in Mumbai's anti-terrorism team, told Reuters.
"For the people we are dealing with, money is not a problem, and even the ones that are not very educated are trained in all manner of devices and know how to make interception difficult."
The lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai attack reportedly told interrogators in Mumbai the 10 gunmen, who led the three-day siege that killed 179 people, were shown videos and Google Earth images of the targets during their training in camps in Pakistan.
"They probably used the GPS for navigation and the satellite phone when they were on the sea, and then used the mobile phones to stay in touch with their handlers during the operations," Rakesh Maria, lead investigator of the police, has said.
Ratan Shrivastava, a defence expert at consultancy Frost & Sullivan and a former army officer, said "hostile groups" that have attacked India have always used very sophisticated technology and were typically very well-trained in the use of technology.
"While the Indian armed forces are well-equipped and our intelligence services have the capability to take on these technologies, there is very little coordination between them and the police, which is ill-equipped," he said.
He said a large part of the intelligence gathered these days is from monitoring the airwaves and intercepting conversations and e-mails but India lacked the resources and coordination to analyse and respond to the intelligence.
Mumbai police acknowledge the difficulties and the militants' apparent ease with sophisticated technology.
Singh said militants used VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and satellite phones, making it harder to intercept conversations. They also used multiple phone cards for mobile phones and routed e-mails through servers in different locations, which make it harder to trace.
There were also some reports they used BlackBerry devices to scan the news after the siege began, but the police have denied finding BlackBerry devices on the gunmen.
Security analyst Ajai Sahni was dismissive of Indian police forces' standard-issue weapons.
"Our police are still running around with lathis (sticks) and World War-II era rifles. We are simply not equipped to respond to a sophisticated system of this kind."
SECURITY HAZARD
In Mumbai, a public interest litigation filed by a city lawyer has sought a ban on Google Earth for providing easy access to "sensitive" defence and civilian establishments, which poses a security hazard to the country, according to local newspapers.
Earlier this year, Indian security agencies expressed fears the BlackBerry e-mail device could be used by militants to send e-mails that could not be traced or intercepted.
The telecoms ministry in July cleared the service.
Google Earth is putting checks in place to alert governments when sensitive images are downloaded, but militants around the world have used off-the-shelf technologies to stay ahead of bigger, better-funded agencies, security analyst Sahni said.
So banning these services is no solution to tackling terror.
"If you ban something, people will still find ways to get around it," he said, pointing to India's earlier attempts to curb mobile phone use in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir and the restive northeast.
"And where will you draw the line? Will we ban mobile phones all together, and ban automobiles and airplanes because they are also be used by attackers?"
So far, police have found four GPS handsets, one satellite phone, nine mobile phones and computer discs with high-resolution images and maps of the 10 sites that were attacked. The use of the Internet to make calls has also hampered the investigation.
"The use of technology has made it very difficult for us," Param Bir Singh, a top officer in Mumbai's anti-terrorism team, told Reuters.
"For the people we are dealing with, money is not a problem, and even the ones that are not very educated are trained in all manner of devices and know how to make interception difficult."
The lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai attack reportedly told interrogators in Mumbai the 10 gunmen, who led the three-day siege that killed 179 people, were shown videos and Google Earth images of the targets during their training in camps in Pakistan.
"They probably used the GPS for navigation and the satellite phone when they were on the sea, and then used the mobile phones to stay in touch with their handlers during the operations," Rakesh Maria, lead investigator of the police, has said.
Ratan Shrivastava, a defence expert at consultancy Frost & Sullivan and a former army officer, said "hostile groups" that have attacked India have always used very sophisticated technology and were typically very well-trained in the use of technology.
"While the Indian armed forces are well-equipped and our intelligence services have the capability to take on these technologies, there is very little coordination between them and the police, which is ill-equipped," he said.
He said a large part of the intelligence gathered these days is from monitoring the airwaves and intercepting conversations and e-mails but India lacked the resources and coordination to analyse and respond to the intelligence.
Mumbai police acknowledge the difficulties and the militants' apparent ease with sophisticated technology.
Singh said militants used VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and satellite phones, making it harder to intercept conversations. They also used multiple phone cards for mobile phones and routed e-mails through servers in different locations, which make it harder to trace.
There were also some reports they used BlackBerry devices to scan the news after the siege began, but the police have denied finding BlackBerry devices on the gunmen.
Security analyst Ajai Sahni was dismissive of Indian police forces' standard-issue weapons.
"Our police are still running around with lathis (sticks) and World War-II era rifles. We are simply not equipped to respond to a sophisticated system of this kind."
SECURITY HAZARD
In Mumbai, a public interest litigation filed by a city lawyer has sought a ban on Google Earth for providing easy access to "sensitive" defence and civilian establishments, which poses a security hazard to the country, according to local newspapers.
Earlier this year, Indian security agencies expressed fears the BlackBerry e-mail device could be used by militants to send e-mails that could not be traced or intercepted.
The telecoms ministry in July cleared the service.
Google Earth is putting checks in place to alert governments when sensitive images are downloaded, but militants around the world have used off-the-shelf technologies to stay ahead of bigger, better-funded agencies, security analyst Sahni said.
So banning these services is no solution to tackling terror.
"If you ban something, people will still find ways to get around it," he said, pointing to India's earlier attempts to curb mobile phone use in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir and the restive northeast.
"And where will you draw the line? Will we ban mobile phones all together, and ban automobiles and airplanes because they are also be used by attackers?"
Indian economic outlook uncertain - Subbarao
The near-term outlook for the Indian economy remains uncertain, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is ready to follow up last weekend's aggressive rate cuts if needed to boost the economy, Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Thursday.
Asia's third-largest economy is struggling to fend off damage from the global credit crisis. Last weekend, the Reserve Bank of India cut its key short-term rates by 1 percentage point and the government unveiled a fiscal package including $4 billion of extra spending.
"The situation way forward is quite uncertain. The RBI will take appropriate action as and when required," Subbarao told reporters after a board meeting in the eastern city of Kolkata.
"The RBI will continue to closely monitor the developments in the global and domestic financial markets and will take swift and effective action as appropriate."
The RBI would also work to minimise stress on the economy, and Subbarao said the sharp fall in inflation would be a consideration at the next scheduled policy review on Jan. 24.
The annual inflation rate fell to an 8-month low of 8 percent at end November, data showed on Thursday. The inflation rate had peaked at 12.91 percent in early August.
"Certainly, the development will reflect on our next policy (review)," Subbarao said when asked whether the central would revise downwards its inflation forecast for 2008/09.
On Wednesday, Subbarao said growth projections for the financial year ending in March 2009 may be revised downwards and 2009/10 may be a "more difficult year".
Evidence of a sharp slowdown is surfacing consistently in several sectors such as automobiles, textiles, exports, real estate and many analysts expect overall economic expansion to slow to 7 percent in 2008/09.
The RBI's board approved a previously announced 40 billion rupee refinance facility for the National Housing Bank for liquidity support to the housing sector.
It also approved a 50 billion rupee refinance facility to the Exim Bank to help struggling exporters.
Asia's third-largest economy is struggling to fend off damage from the global credit crisis. Last weekend, the Reserve Bank of India cut its key short-term rates by 1 percentage point and the government unveiled a fiscal package including $4 billion of extra spending.
"The situation way forward is quite uncertain. The RBI will take appropriate action as and when required," Subbarao told reporters after a board meeting in the eastern city of Kolkata.
"The RBI will continue to closely monitor the developments in the global and domestic financial markets and will take swift and effective action as appropriate."
The RBI would also work to minimise stress on the economy, and Subbarao said the sharp fall in inflation would be a consideration at the next scheduled policy review on Jan. 24.
The annual inflation rate fell to an 8-month low of 8 percent at end November, data showed on Thursday. The inflation rate had peaked at 12.91 percent in early August.
"Certainly, the development will reflect on our next policy (review)," Subbarao said when asked whether the central would revise downwards its inflation forecast for 2008/09.
On Wednesday, Subbarao said growth projections for the financial year ending in March 2009 may be revised downwards and 2009/10 may be a "more difficult year".
Evidence of a sharp slowdown is surfacing consistently in several sectors such as automobiles, textiles, exports, real estate and many analysts expect overall economic expansion to slow to 7 percent in 2008/09.
The RBI's board approved a previously announced 40 billion rupee refinance facility for the National Housing Bank for liquidity support to the housing sector.
It also approved a 50 billion rupee refinance facility to the Exim Bank to help struggling exporters.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Pakistan's Lashkar arrests met with Indian mistrust
Pakistan confirmed on Wednesday the arrest of two men named by India as planners of the militant attack on Mumbai, but a senior Indian official described Pakistani actions so far as "eyewash".
Two operations commanders with the Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadi group, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah were being held, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told journalists in Multan city.
"They have been detained for investigation," he said, providing the first official confirmation since Lakhvi's arrest in a raid on a Lashkar camp in Pakistani Kashmir on Sunday.
India has put the official death toll in the Mumbai attack at 179, and public anger with Pakistan is running high.
The United States has engaged in intensive diplomacy to stop tensions mounting between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan and keep Islamabad focused on fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda threat on its border with Afghanistan.
While other media have reported up to 40 people had been arrested, Pakistani intelligence officials told Reuters only around a dozen people have been detained, mostly in the raid on a camp outside Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir.
Pakistan military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said an operation against banned militant organisations remained underway, and was being carried out in several places.
The prime minister said he had no up-to-date information on whether Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, was also detained, as some media have reported.
SCEPTICISM ABOUNDS
Pakistan has been advised by the United States to take swift, transparent action to cooperate with India in the investigation into the slaughter in India's financial capital.
Islamabad, however, has said anyone arrested and accused of involvement in the Mumbai attack will be tried in Pakistan.
Scepticism abounds in India over the sincerity of Pakistan's actions because of alleged past ties between the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and groups like Lashkar and Jaish that had fought Indian rule in Kashmir.
"This is an eyewash. We want action that meets our concern," a senior Indian government official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.
"There is no modicum of doubt about the complicity of elements of Pakistan, including the ISI," the official said.
A Pakistani daily, The News, reported on Tuesday there were also arrests made and records seized during raids on offices of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) charity in the Mansehra and Chakdra districts of North West Frontier Province.
The charity, which has thousands of followers, is widely regarded as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India has asked the U.N. Security Council to add JuD to a U.N. terrorist list.
Pakistan has kept the charity on a watchlist after banning both Lashkar and Jaish in 2001, when their raid on the Indian parliament almost caused a fourth war with India.
MORE SUICIDE SQUADS OUT THERE?
Having interrogated one gunman caught alive, Indian police have released names and photographs of the nine shot dead in the three-day assault, and revealed where they came from in Pakistan.
They were part of a group of 30 trained for suicide missions, a top police officer said.
"The other 20 were trained to carry out other missions. They did not come to India, they must have gone elsewhere," Deven Bharti, a deputy police commissioner, told Reuters on Wednesday.
Investigations into possible links with home-grown Indian Islamist militants have focused on five suspects.
Police were following up leads related to two Indian Muslims caught in northern India in February. One had maps of Mumbai that highlighted several city landmarks hit in the attack.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said there was no doubt the militants behind the attack operated from Pakistan.
Neither Azhar nor his Jaish group have been mentioned as suspects in the attack on Mumbai.
But Azhar is one of the most-wanted men in India, and was on a list of 20 militants and criminals New Delhi asked Pakistan to hand over in the wake of the attacks to show its cooperation.
Representatives of the Azhar family and intelligence officials told Reuters on Tuesday that media reports the jihadi leader was under house arrest were incorrect.
Confusion over his status was sown by Pakistan's Defence Minister Chaudhry Mukhtar Ahmed in comments to the Indian news channel CNN-IBN, and a report in The News daily.
Chaudhry told Reuters he had not been confirming anyone's arrest, but merely repeating names already carried in the media.
(Additional reporting by Asim Tanveer in Multan, Augustine Anthony in Islamabad, Rina Chandran in Mumbai, Alistair Scrutton in New Delhi)
Two operations commanders with the Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadi group, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah were being held, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told journalists in Multan city.
"They have been detained for investigation," he said, providing the first official confirmation since Lakhvi's arrest in a raid on a Lashkar camp in Pakistani Kashmir on Sunday.
India has put the official death toll in the Mumbai attack at 179, and public anger with Pakistan is running high.
The United States has engaged in intensive diplomacy to stop tensions mounting between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan and keep Islamabad focused on fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda threat on its border with Afghanistan.
While other media have reported up to 40 people had been arrested, Pakistani intelligence officials told Reuters only around a dozen people have been detained, mostly in the raid on a camp outside Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir.
Pakistan military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said an operation against banned militant organisations remained underway, and was being carried out in several places.
The prime minister said he had no up-to-date information on whether Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, was also detained, as some media have reported.
SCEPTICISM ABOUNDS
Pakistan has been advised by the United States to take swift, transparent action to cooperate with India in the investigation into the slaughter in India's financial capital.
Islamabad, however, has said anyone arrested and accused of involvement in the Mumbai attack will be tried in Pakistan.
Scepticism abounds in India over the sincerity of Pakistan's actions because of alleged past ties between the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and groups like Lashkar and Jaish that had fought Indian rule in Kashmir.
"This is an eyewash. We want action that meets our concern," a senior Indian government official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.
"There is no modicum of doubt about the complicity of elements of Pakistan, including the ISI," the official said.
A Pakistani daily, The News, reported on Tuesday there were also arrests made and records seized during raids on offices of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) charity in the Mansehra and Chakdra districts of North West Frontier Province.
The charity, which has thousands of followers, is widely regarded as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India has asked the U.N. Security Council to add JuD to a U.N. terrorist list.
Pakistan has kept the charity on a watchlist after banning both Lashkar and Jaish in 2001, when their raid on the Indian parliament almost caused a fourth war with India.
MORE SUICIDE SQUADS OUT THERE?
Having interrogated one gunman caught alive, Indian police have released names and photographs of the nine shot dead in the three-day assault, and revealed where they came from in Pakistan.
They were part of a group of 30 trained for suicide missions, a top police officer said.
"The other 20 were trained to carry out other missions. They did not come to India, they must have gone elsewhere," Deven Bharti, a deputy police commissioner, told Reuters on Wednesday.
Investigations into possible links with home-grown Indian Islamist militants have focused on five suspects.
Police were following up leads related to two Indian Muslims caught in northern India in February. One had maps of Mumbai that highlighted several city landmarks hit in the attack.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said there was no doubt the militants behind the attack operated from Pakistan.
Neither Azhar nor his Jaish group have been mentioned as suspects in the attack on Mumbai.
But Azhar is one of the most-wanted men in India, and was on a list of 20 militants and criminals New Delhi asked Pakistan to hand over in the wake of the attacks to show its cooperation.
Representatives of the Azhar family and intelligence officials told Reuters on Tuesday that media reports the jihadi leader was under house arrest were incorrect.
Confusion over his status was sown by Pakistan's Defence Minister Chaudhry Mukhtar Ahmed in comments to the Indian news channel CNN-IBN, and a report in The News daily.
Chaudhry told Reuters he had not been confirming anyone's arrest, but merely repeating names already carried in the media.
(Additional reporting by Asim Tanveer in Multan, Augustine Anthony in Islamabad, Rina Chandran in Mumbai, Alistair Scrutton in New Delhi)
Morgan Stanley cuts India's 2009/10 GDP forecast
Morgan Stanley on Wednesday cut its forecast for India's economic growth in the fiscal year beginning April 2009 to 5.3 percent from 5.7 percent, citing a higher cost of capital which could crimp domestic demand.
It expects the economy to grow 7 percent in this fiscal year, compared with 9.0 percent last year.
"Dislocation in global capital markets has resulted in a sharp reversal in capital inflows, pushing up cost of capital," Morgan Stanley said in a note.
With the domestic banking system already witnessing tight liquidity conditions, foreign exchange outflows at the same time have resulted in a disruptive spike in the cost of capital, it explained.
Over the last few years, India's gross domestic product accelerated higher than its potential growth, helped by large capital inflows, the note said.
Morgan Stanley said recent central bank measures are unlikely to reduce the cost of capital in a meaningful manner before domestic demand and underlying credit demand decelerate sharply.
Morgan Stanley expects the central bank to cut its key lending rate by 125 basis points to 5.25 percent by the end of 2009, along with additional measures to support liquidity.
It expects much of the cut by March 2009, by which time it expects the repo rate at 5.5 percent.
But it does not see any scope for an aggressive fiscal policy response from the government given its large fiscal deficit and high public debt.
The central bank on Saturday slashed its key interest rates by 1 percentage point in order to boost growth and shore up investor confidence amid signs of an economic slowdown.
It expects the economy to grow 7 percent in this fiscal year, compared with 9.0 percent last year.
"Dislocation in global capital markets has resulted in a sharp reversal in capital inflows, pushing up cost of capital," Morgan Stanley said in a note.
With the domestic banking system already witnessing tight liquidity conditions, foreign exchange outflows at the same time have resulted in a disruptive spike in the cost of capital, it explained.
Over the last few years, India's gross domestic product accelerated higher than its potential growth, helped by large capital inflows, the note said.
Morgan Stanley said recent central bank measures are unlikely to reduce the cost of capital in a meaningful manner before domestic demand and underlying credit demand decelerate sharply.
Morgan Stanley expects the central bank to cut its key lending rate by 125 basis points to 5.25 percent by the end of 2009, along with additional measures to support liquidity.
It expects much of the cut by March 2009, by which time it expects the repo rate at 5.5 percent.
But it does not see any scope for an aggressive fiscal policy response from the government given its large fiscal deficit and high public debt.
The central bank on Saturday slashed its key interest rates by 1 percentage point in order to boost growth and shore up investor confidence amid signs of an economic slowdown.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Blast incidents in Assam have anguished Assamese
The recent bomb blast in a passenger train at Diphu Railway Station in Assam's Karbi Anglong District was a reminder to the local Assamese of the serial bomb blasts in the State just over a month ago on October 30.
The recent blast incident at Diphu left at least three killed and 23 wounded. The blast went off in an Inter city passenger train at Diphu Railway Station about 300 kilometers east of Assam's main city of Guwahati.
The passenger train was heading from Lumding Railway Station to Tinsukia in Upper Assam.
Sameer Goswami, the Chief Public Relation Officer of the North East Frontier Railway, on the occasion said: "There was a bomb blast inside a second class general compartment coach. The position was third from train engine in which 2 persons were killed and so far we have got information on injury of 15 persons and it may be a little more in number."
Police are suspecting the hand of Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF), a militant group active in Assam.
Two hours after the morning explosion, a Karbi militant also gunned down two members of a Hindi-speaking family in Karbi Anglong district.
The string of events coincided with the KLNLF 'indefinite economic blockade' on national highways and rail tracks in the State.
Assamese have reacted strongly to the train blast. Residents believe that this incident will not help anyone and will rather delay any hope of returning peace and normalcy in the State.
Bibiram Deori, a local resident, said: "The blast in DIPHU left many people killed and injured. All of them were commoners. The government should provide security to the people and the talks should be held with the militants groups so that these things do not happen."
Rashmi, a local resident said: "People were already terrorized by serial blasts on October 30, and now there was a blast in DIPHU. The militants are creating problems for us by exploding bombs in passenger trains. We appeal to the militants to please don't cause disturbance in the lives of common people. The government should also take appropriate steps otherwise more people will be affected."
On October 30, at least 81 persons were killed and over 350 injured, in eleven places across four towns of Assam during the explosions. The blasts took place in Ganeshguri, Fancy Bazaar, District court area, Dispur Road and Paan Bazaar.
The violence has not only disrupted the general life but also severely affected the development of the State. By Peter Alex Todd
The recent blast incident at Diphu left at least three killed and 23 wounded. The blast went off in an Inter city passenger train at Diphu Railway Station about 300 kilometers east of Assam's main city of Guwahati.
The passenger train was heading from Lumding Railway Station to Tinsukia in Upper Assam.
Sameer Goswami, the Chief Public Relation Officer of the North East Frontier Railway, on the occasion said: "There was a bomb blast inside a second class general compartment coach. The position was third from train engine in which 2 persons were killed and so far we have got information on injury of 15 persons and it may be a little more in number."
Police are suspecting the hand of Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF), a militant group active in Assam.
Two hours after the morning explosion, a Karbi militant also gunned down two members of a Hindi-speaking family in Karbi Anglong district.
The string of events coincided with the KLNLF 'indefinite economic blockade' on national highways and rail tracks in the State.
Assamese have reacted strongly to the train blast. Residents believe that this incident will not help anyone and will rather delay any hope of returning peace and normalcy in the State.
Bibiram Deori, a local resident, said: "The blast in DIPHU left many people killed and injured. All of them were commoners. The government should provide security to the people and the talks should be held with the militants groups so that these things do not happen."
Rashmi, a local resident said: "People were already terrorized by serial blasts on October 30, and now there was a blast in DIPHU. The militants are creating problems for us by exploding bombs in passenger trains. We appeal to the militants to please don't cause disturbance in the lives of common people. The government should also take appropriate steps otherwise more people will be affected."
On October 30, at least 81 persons were killed and over 350 injured, in eleven places across four towns of Assam during the explosions. The blasts took place in Ganeshguri, Fancy Bazaar, District court area, Dispur Road and Paan Bazaar.
The violence has not only disrupted the general life but also severely affected the development of the State. By Peter Alex Todd
Monday, December 8, 2008
Congress wins three states, BJP retains two
The Congress Party is back in power in Rajasthan and Mizoram and retained Delhi; while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been able to hold Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The emerging results to Assembly polls show a 3:2 split in favour of Congress, providing a much-needed boost to the Congress-led UPA just ahead of general elections due in April-May 2009.
Congress headed for a hatrick today in Delhi, bagging 42 seats, leaving its rival BJP way behind with 23 seats.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and five of her cabinet colleagues were among the successful candidates of Congress in the keenly contested electoral battle for the 70-member House.
In Mizoram, the Congress was back in power after a decade when it got a majority routing the ruling Mizo National Front.
The party secured 21 of the 23 seats for which results have been declared in a House of 40. Two-time Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla won from both Serchhip and South Tuipui seats.
BJP can draw some satisfaction by retaining two states -- Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
In Madhya Pradesh, BJP got an absolute majority winning 122 seats and leading in 14 contituencies in the 230-member assembly.
The Congress has won on 53 seats and is leading in 21. Others have got 16 and are leading in four constituencies.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has won the Budhni seat, defeating his nearest Congress rival Mahesh Rajput by a margin of nearly 40,000 votes.
In Rajasthan, the Congress is bracing up to form the next government. Of the results and trends available for all the 200 seats the Congress has won 88 and is leading in 7.
The Party is, however, falling short of the half way mark. It will have to depend on the support of some independents to form the Government.
BJP has bagged 67 and is leading in 12 seats. Others have got 18 seats and are leading in 8.
Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje has won the Jhalarapatan seat while Congress's chief ministerial candidate Ashok Gehlot won from Sardarpura seat.
The emerging results to Assembly polls show a 3:2 split in favour of Congress, providing a much-needed boost to the Congress-led UPA just ahead of general elections due in April-May 2009.
Congress headed for a hatrick today in Delhi, bagging 42 seats, leaving its rival BJP way behind with 23 seats.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and five of her cabinet colleagues were among the successful candidates of Congress in the keenly contested electoral battle for the 70-member House.
In Mizoram, the Congress was back in power after a decade when it got a majority routing the ruling Mizo National Front.
The party secured 21 of the 23 seats for which results have been declared in a House of 40. Two-time Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla won from both Serchhip and South Tuipui seats.
BJP can draw some satisfaction by retaining two states -- Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
In Madhya Pradesh, BJP got an absolute majority winning 122 seats and leading in 14 contituencies in the 230-member assembly.
The Congress has won on 53 seats and is leading in 21. Others have got 16 and are leading in four constituencies.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has won the Budhni seat, defeating his nearest Congress rival Mahesh Rajput by a margin of nearly 40,000 votes.
In Rajasthan, the Congress is bracing up to form the next government. Of the results and trends available for all the 200 seats the Congress has won 88 and is leading in 7.
The Party is, however, falling short of the half way mark. It will have to depend on the support of some independents to form the Government.
BJP has bagged 67 and is leading in 12 seats. Others have got 18 seats and are leading in 8.
Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje has won the Jhalarapatan seat while Congress's chief ministerial candidate Ashok Gehlot won from Sardarpura seat.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Tata, Mahindra to pass tax cut to customers
Vehicle makers Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra will pass on a 4 percent reduction in central value-added tax to customers, they said on Sunday.
The government announced an across-the-board cut in the ad valorem cenvat (central value added tax) rate on all products other than petroleum and products where the rate was already less than 4 percent.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, maker of utility vehicles and tractors, would pass on the reduction across all its products, said Pawan Goenka, its president of automotive business.
"In fact for our high-end models we will try and see if we can do better than 4 percent," Goenka said on CNBC TV 18.
Earlier India's top vehicle maker Tata Motors Ltd said it would pass the excise reduction in central value-added tax on to its customers.
"Tata Motors will pass on to customers the benefit that will come in through the cut in cenvat. This is across products -- passenger and commercial vehicles," the company said in a statement. The details were still being worked out, it added.
Separately, top car maker Maruti Suzuki Ltd's chief said on television the reduction in cenvat would lead to a reduction in car prices by 4 percent.
"So far as I understand it, it will be applicable on all products, and it should be applicable to automobile manufacturers, too," Chairman R.C. Bhargava told CNBC TV18.
"It will be passed on to the customers."
India's automobile sector has been hit by the global and local liquidity crunch, rising interest rates and a slowing economy.
Maruti's November car sales fell 24.4 percent from a year ago, Tata's vehicle sales were down 30 percent, and Mahindra & Mahindra's fell 39 percent.
10 queries Advani poses to government on Mumbai terror
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) senior leader L.K. Advani has posed 10 pointed questions to the Manmohan Singh government in the light of the terrorist strike in Mumbai.
Advani's newly launched website has listed the 10 questions under the title 'Questions government must answer':
(1) Why did the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government not implement the recommendations of various committees on internal security?
(2) What efforts did the UPA government make with the rulers in Islamabad to secure the extradition of Karachi-based mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind of the 1993 serial blasts?
(3) How did the terrorists smuggle large quantities of weapons and ammunitions into Mumbai despite enough intelligence with the government of an imminent terror strike?
(4) Why did the government not take effective preventive action despite ample warnings from numerous intelligence sources over several months that terrorist strikes in Mumbai were imminent?
(5) Is it intelligence failure or colossal government failure that has resulted in the carnage and destruction in Mumbai?
(6) How many cases of terrorist attacks in India since 2004 have been fully investigated? How many guilty persons have been convicted?
(7) After repealing POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act), why are the sundry Congress leaders now talking about tough anti-terror legislation?
(8) Why has the UPA government not acted upon the death sentence of Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in the terrorist attack on the Indian parliament on Dec 13, 2001, even after the Supreme Court upheld it?
(9) The home minister and defence minister made specific (mention) in parliament and other forums about terror threats from sea routes, but didn't act upon the information. Are they consultant to the government or ones running the government?
(10) This very sea route was used to smuggle explosives for the serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993, which killed over 250 innocent people. Were those blasts not warning enough?
Advani's newly launched website has listed the 10 questions under the title 'Questions government must answer':
(1) Why did the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government not implement the recommendations of various committees on internal security?
(2) What efforts did the UPA government make with the rulers in Islamabad to secure the extradition of Karachi-based mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind of the 1993 serial blasts?
(3) How did the terrorists smuggle large quantities of weapons and ammunitions into Mumbai despite enough intelligence with the government of an imminent terror strike?
(4) Why did the government not take effective preventive action despite ample warnings from numerous intelligence sources over several months that terrorist strikes in Mumbai were imminent?
(5) Is it intelligence failure or colossal government failure that has resulted in the carnage and destruction in Mumbai?
(6) How many cases of terrorist attacks in India since 2004 have been fully investigated? How many guilty persons have been convicted?
(7) After repealing POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act), why are the sundry Congress leaders now talking about tough anti-terror legislation?
(8) Why has the UPA government not acted upon the death sentence of Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in the terrorist attack on the Indian parliament on Dec 13, 2001, even after the Supreme Court upheld it?
(9) The home minister and defence minister made specific (mention) in parliament and other forums about terror threats from sea routes, but didn't act upon the information. Are they consultant to the government or ones running the government?
(10) This very sea route was used to smuggle explosives for the serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993, which killed over 250 innocent people. Were those blasts not warning enough?
Tackle your problems, don't blame Pakistan: LeT chief to India
India should focus on its internal problems instead of accusing Pakistan of complicity in the Mumbai terror attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has said, while his deputy has blamed an Indian intelligence agency for the terror bombing of a Peshawar blast that killed more than two dozen people.
Addressing a gathering of thousands of people, including hundreds of women, during Friday prayers at Lahore's Jamia Masjid, Saeed said India was indulging in politics of accusations and was blaming Pakistan to hide its internal problems, a posting Sunday on the website of the Jamaat-ul Dawah, as the LeT is now known, read.
'He said there are several ongoing separatist movements in India which were begun in reaction to the excesses of Hindu Brahmins, especially the denial of peaceful co-existence to Muslims. Yet, he said, no power in the world cares what atrocities are committed against Muslims,' the posting read.
According to Saeed, US Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen 'were quick to exert pressure on Pakistan after the Mumbai events, yet why don't they exert pressure on India to safeguard the rights of its minorities?'
'Where was the American Secretary of State when the Babri Masjid was martyred and when thousands of innocent Muslims were slaughtered in Gujarat?' he asked.
In a separate web positing, Saeed's deputy Hafiz Abdur Rahman Makki said India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) external intelligence agency was behind the Peshawar blast.
'He blamed Indian consulates in Afghanistan as being behind the planning and execution of incidents of terrorism inside Pakistan,' the posting read.
In an interview to IANS in Islamabad Saturday, Makki said that 'we don't kill people', even as he accused India of using Pakistan 'like a punching bag' in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks that killed 172 people.
'We don't kill people. Our mission is to spread the word of Islam and Allah's message on earth. And we are not Lashkar-e-Taiba, we are Jamaat-ul Dawah,' Makki said.
India - as well as US experts - say the LeT is one of the principal suspects for the Mumbai terror strikes.
The US government's Excluded Parties List System names the LeT as one of the alternate identities of the Jamaat-ul Dawah.
Addressing a gathering of thousands of people, including hundreds of women, during Friday prayers at Lahore's Jamia Masjid, Saeed said India was indulging in politics of accusations and was blaming Pakistan to hide its internal problems, a posting Sunday on the website of the Jamaat-ul Dawah, as the LeT is now known, read.
'He said there are several ongoing separatist movements in India which were begun in reaction to the excesses of Hindu Brahmins, especially the denial of peaceful co-existence to Muslims. Yet, he said, no power in the world cares what atrocities are committed against Muslims,' the posting read.
According to Saeed, US Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen 'were quick to exert pressure on Pakistan after the Mumbai events, yet why don't they exert pressure on India to safeguard the rights of its minorities?'
'Where was the American Secretary of State when the Babri Masjid was martyred and when thousands of innocent Muslims were slaughtered in Gujarat?' he asked.
In a separate web positing, Saeed's deputy Hafiz Abdur Rahman Makki said India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) external intelligence agency was behind the Peshawar blast.
'He blamed Indian consulates in Afghanistan as being behind the planning and execution of incidents of terrorism inside Pakistan,' the posting read.
In an interview to IANS in Islamabad Saturday, Makki said that 'we don't kill people', even as he accused India of using Pakistan 'like a punching bag' in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks that killed 172 people.
'We don't kill people. Our mission is to spread the word of Islam and Allah's message on earth. And we are not Lashkar-e-Taiba, we are Jamaat-ul Dawah,' Makki said.
India - as well as US experts - say the LeT is one of the principal suspects for the Mumbai terror strikes.
The US government's Excluded Parties List System names the LeT as one of the alternate identities of the Jamaat-ul Dawah.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
India faced 4,100 terror attacks from 1970 to 2004
India faced more than 4,100 terrorist attacks between 1970 and 2004, accounting for more than 12,000 fatalities, according to the Global Terrorism Database.
The database is maintained by the University of Maryland and the US National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).
START's Terrorist Organisation Profiles (TOPs) collection has information on 56 groups known to have engaged in terrorism in India, including the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
About 12,540 terrorist-related fatalities in India between 1970 and 2004 - an average of almost 360 fatalities per year from terrorism in India. These fatalities peaked in 1991 and 1992, when 1,184 and 1,132 individuals (respectively) were killed in such incidents, a University of Maryland statement said.
These figures are on the lower side as official figures in India put the toll at around 70,000 deaths.
Terrorists in India have employed a variety of attack types over time, 38.7 percent of terrorist events were facility attacks, 29.7 percent were bombings (in which the intent was to destroy a specific facility), and 25.5 percent were assassinations. Last week's terror attacks in Mumbai, which left at least 183 dead, would be classified as a series of coordinated facility attacks.
The database is maintained by the University of Maryland and the US National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).
START's Terrorist Organisation Profiles (TOPs) collection has information on 56 groups known to have engaged in terrorism in India, including the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
About 12,540 terrorist-related fatalities in India between 1970 and 2004 - an average of almost 360 fatalities per year from terrorism in India. These fatalities peaked in 1991 and 1992, when 1,184 and 1,132 individuals (respectively) were killed in such incidents, a University of Maryland statement said.
These figures are on the lower side as official figures in India put the toll at around 70,000 deaths.
Terrorists in India have employed a variety of attack types over time, 38.7 percent of terrorist events were facility attacks, 29.7 percent were bombings (in which the intent was to destroy a specific facility), and 25.5 percent were assassinations. Last week's terror attacks in Mumbai, which left at least 183 dead, would be classified as a series of coordinated facility attacks.
FOCUS - Mumbai attacks a wake-up call for hotel security
The terror attacks in Mumbai last week have been a chilling reminder to India's hotels to step up investments in security and surveillance systems, experts say.
Indian hotels spend a mere 3 percent of the project cost on building management systems, including security. That is less than half the spending in China and United States where 7-8 percent of the project cost is on security alone.
"So far the security was more for surveillance, general monitoring. They have to be intrusive," said Pramoud Rao, managing director, Zicom Electronic Security Systems.
Last week, armed Islamist militants attacked the Taj Mahal Palace and the Trident-Oberoi - two of Mumbai's best known luxury hotels - and other landmarks in a 60-hour frenzy, killing 171 people, many at the hotels, where scores were held hostage.
For security, hotels in India, largely rely on cameras with playback on site. Some have metal detectors and fewer still use scanners for small bags while cars were perfunctorily checked, leaving gaping holes in security, experts said.
Multiple checks including complete car scans, guests' identification requests, all-luggage scans and action-sensor cameras fed offsite can help plug these gaps, they said.
The industry's security "must be beefed up," P.R.S. Oberoi, Chairman of EIH Ltd owner of the Trident-Oberoi told a press meet on Saturday. "I think all hotels are vulnerable."
"None of us are competent to really know what we need, so we are going to get security experts for what to do. We are not security experts."
After the attacks, hotels in India's financial hub, including The Four Seasons, Hyatt, and the Marriott are stepping up security at their properties, they said.
TAKING GUARD
"If it is going to be an icon, they are forced to spend more on security," said B. Muthukumaran, chief consultant on security practice, Gemini Communications Ltd, referring to the 105-year-old Taj property.
"A three or a two-star hotel, which is not so prominent, there has to be security. It need not be as highly sophisticated," he added.
India's electronic securities market is expected to grow 23 percent annually till 2012. The market in India, home to a billion people that has seen repeated terror attacks, was at just 11.5 billion rupees in 2007, a Frost & Sullivan report showed.
The global market is worth $48 billion, it added.
But the challenge is second-guessing an attacker's mind, said Chender Baljee, chairman of Royal Orchid Hotels, which runs 11 hotels across India.
"You really have to think ahead of what terrorists are thinking, trying to find a gaping hole in the security system is a real challenge," he said.
While nothing could have actually stopped the militants from attacking, security systems can control the extent of damage, said Zicom's Rao. "No security system in the world can stop somebody from doing anything," he said.
"But if my bag is screened, if I am checked and screened, I can do minimum damage, not maximum damage, so... the damage of whatever I am planning will be of much lesser intensity."
Monday, December 1, 2008
Will Mumbai terror attacks change Bollywood fundamentally?
As Mumbai tries to recover from the terror attacks that shook and shocked the city, speculation is rife whether these strikes would effect fundamental changes in the portrayal of violence in films and other media.
Cinema halls have been symbolically shut, film releases deferred, live shows cancelled and England' cricket tour truncated. But will the slowdown in showbiz be the only reaction or would tinsel-town denizens take a leaf out of Hollywood's book and take stock of the social purpose of entertainment?
When the twin towers of ther World Trade Center fell in the Big Apple, Hollywood had made a conscious decision to stop and think before letting anything insensitive or offensive go on the marquee. Films depicting violence were dropped or rewritten, actors like Bruce Willis declared they would not do violent films and demand for movies with family values shot up.
It is widely known that post 9/11, Hollywood executives met with White House advisor Karl Rove to discuss ways by which the media system might in some sense serve what amounts to a propaganda agenda. The initial - and persistent - skittishness of Hollywood to have any perceived connections with 9/11 seems to have fallen into place immediately following the siege. On Sep 12, 2001, the intended Oct 5 release date of an Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller called 'Collateral Damage' was postponed, and the film's promotional campaign was altered to remove this slogan: 'The War Hits Home!'.
At around this same time, a trailer for Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man' was withdrawn in the light of its depiction of the World Trade Center as a landmark.
Though by now it is no great revelation to say the changes brought about by 9/11 in the world of mainstream films did not last too long but the terrorist attacks of Sep 11, 2001 seem to have to date traumatised the artistic and show-business sectors into a near silence.
Columnist Michael H. Price observes that the first major-studio movie to deal semi-directly with 9/11 was New Yorker Spike Lee's '25th Hour' (2003), a crime melodrama that opens with a view of the Ground Zero setting. It was as late as 2005 when Danny Leiner's 'The Great New Wonderful' depicted 9/11's impact on those not connected to the immediate attacks.
After 'The Great New Wonderful', Paul Greengrass' 'United 93' came that dealt with the thwarted hijacking of that day that prepared mass audience to the overtly sentimentalised tribute that Oliver Stone pays with 'World Trade Center'. All in all, Hollywood producers are till date treading cautiously with respect to 9/11.
Though Hollywood is rarely a good example to follow, but an increasing number of Indian audiences are feeling that it is time for our filmmakers to pay heed to warnings by social commentators against glamourisation of violent and socially deviant behaviour in films and by extension, in other media.
The argument that exploitative violence in entertainment media does not generate more violence holds true, but on the other hand social commentators say that such depiction increases negativity in society.
According to a media study, 'Mounting evidence suggests that negative perceptions of women in entertainment can affect women in real life. Research examining onscreen violence toward women finds that emotional desensitisation can occur after viewing as few as two films with sexually degrading and violent themes.
Studies also show that men who view a number of films in which women are portrayed in sexually degrading situations become increasingly less disturbed by violence against women and less sympathetic toward female victims of violence. In addition, films initially found demeaning to women are judged to be less so after prolonged exposure.'
Here is hoping that post the terror attacks in Mumbai, the entertainment industry of India would consider a 'take stock moment'.
Cinema halls have been symbolically shut, film releases deferred, live shows cancelled and England' cricket tour truncated. But will the slowdown in showbiz be the only reaction or would tinsel-town denizens take a leaf out of Hollywood's book and take stock of the social purpose of entertainment?
When the twin towers of ther World Trade Center fell in the Big Apple, Hollywood had made a conscious decision to stop and think before letting anything insensitive or offensive go on the marquee. Films depicting violence were dropped or rewritten, actors like Bruce Willis declared they would not do violent films and demand for movies with family values shot up.
It is widely known that post 9/11, Hollywood executives met with White House advisor Karl Rove to discuss ways by which the media system might in some sense serve what amounts to a propaganda agenda. The initial - and persistent - skittishness of Hollywood to have any perceived connections with 9/11 seems to have fallen into place immediately following the siege. On Sep 12, 2001, the intended Oct 5 release date of an Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller called 'Collateral Damage' was postponed, and the film's promotional campaign was altered to remove this slogan: 'The War Hits Home!'.
At around this same time, a trailer for Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man' was withdrawn in the light of its depiction of the World Trade Center as a landmark.
Though by now it is no great revelation to say the changes brought about by 9/11 in the world of mainstream films did not last too long but the terrorist attacks of Sep 11, 2001 seem to have to date traumatised the artistic and show-business sectors into a near silence.
Columnist Michael H. Price observes that the first major-studio movie to deal semi-directly with 9/11 was New Yorker Spike Lee's '25th Hour' (2003), a crime melodrama that opens with a view of the Ground Zero setting. It was as late as 2005 when Danny Leiner's 'The Great New Wonderful' depicted 9/11's impact on those not connected to the immediate attacks.
After 'The Great New Wonderful', Paul Greengrass' 'United 93' came that dealt with the thwarted hijacking of that day that prepared mass audience to the overtly sentimentalised tribute that Oliver Stone pays with 'World Trade Center'. All in all, Hollywood producers are till date treading cautiously with respect to 9/11.
Though Hollywood is rarely a good example to follow, but an increasing number of Indian audiences are feeling that it is time for our filmmakers to pay heed to warnings by social commentators against glamourisation of violent and socially deviant behaviour in films and by extension, in other media.
The argument that exploitative violence in entertainment media does not generate more violence holds true, but on the other hand social commentators say that such depiction increases negativity in society.
According to a media study, 'Mounting evidence suggests that negative perceptions of women in entertainment can affect women in real life. Research examining onscreen violence toward women finds that emotional desensitisation can occur after viewing as few as two films with sexually degrading and violent themes.
Studies also show that men who view a number of films in which women are portrayed in sexually degrading situations become increasingly less disturbed by violence against women and less sympathetic toward female victims of violence. In addition, films initially found demeaning to women are judged to be less so after prolonged exposure.'
Here is hoping that post the terror attacks in Mumbai, the entertainment industry of India would consider a 'take stock moment'.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Two Mumbai terrorists were from Bradford, Leeds
At least two of the terrorists who attacked Mumbai earlier this week hailed from Bradford or Leeds and monitored reports of their murderous spree on sites, including the BBC.
According to the Sun, the gang looked for web updates and live footage on the net to help them prolong their three-day rampage that has left at least 195 dead and 295 injured.
It was further reported that at least five BlackBerry handsets were used for conversations, instructions and to surf British websites.
Key figures in the gang equipped themselves with BlackBerrys to monitor British news if the power was cut to televisions.
"There was a lot of content from the English media - not just in London but Urdu and Arabic sites that are very strong in the north of England. We have started analysis on this and will pass it on to Scotland Yard," a senior National Security Guard officer was quoted, as saying.
Mumbai's chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said two Britons were involved.
An army source said last night: "British passports were found on two terrorist bodies - young men aged 25-30.
"It's possible that they picked them up as they rampaged through the hotel rooms, but security forces and police are investigating the possibility that they were British citizens from Pakistani families. Other terrorists appeared to have connections with Mauritius. All those involved so far are linked to Pakistan," he said.
Meanwhile British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has reportedly spoken with his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh. Brown also warned that it was "too early" to reach any conclusions about British involvement.
Bradford West MP Marsha Singh said he was "appalled" by reports that British Asians from the city could be involved.
He told The Sun: "I'm hoping it is wrong. I've spoken to Muslims in Bradford and they are disgusted as well. The community as a whole is gutted by this."
Last night a Foreign Office source insisted there was "no evidence" of British involvement.
According to the Sun, the gang looked for web updates and live footage on the net to help them prolong their three-day rampage that has left at least 195 dead and 295 injured.
It was further reported that at least five BlackBerry handsets were used for conversations, instructions and to surf British websites.
Key figures in the gang equipped themselves with BlackBerrys to monitor British news if the power was cut to televisions.
"There was a lot of content from the English media - not just in London but Urdu and Arabic sites that are very strong in the north of England. We have started analysis on this and will pass it on to Scotland Yard," a senior National Security Guard officer was quoted, as saying.
Mumbai's chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said two Britons were involved.
An army source said last night: "British passports were found on two terrorist bodies - young men aged 25-30.
"It's possible that they picked them up as they rampaged through the hotel rooms, but security forces and police are investigating the possibility that they were British citizens from Pakistani families. Other terrorists appeared to have connections with Mauritius. All those involved so far are linked to Pakistan," he said.
Meanwhile British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has reportedly spoken with his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh. Brown also warned that it was "too early" to reach any conclusions about British involvement.
Bradford West MP Marsha Singh said he was "appalled" by reports that British Asians from the city could be involved.
He told The Sun: "I'm hoping it is wrong. I've spoken to Muslims in Bradford and they are disgusted as well. The community as a whole is gutted by this."
Last night a Foreign Office source insisted there was "no evidence" of British involvement.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Q+A - Who could be behind the Mumbai attacks and why?
Militants armed with automatic weapons and grenades attacked luxury hotels, hospitals and a famous tourist cafe in India's commercial capital Mumbai late on Wednesday, killing at least 101 people.
* WHO IS BEHIND THE ATTACKS?
The attacks were claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen in an e-mail to news organisations. Deccan is an area of southern India.
But it is not clear if the claim is genuine, and analysts say the bombings are almost certainly the work of a different group.
The most likely perpetrators, they say, are either the Indian Mujahideen or Lashkar-e-Taiba.
* WHO ARE LASHKAR-E-TAIBA?
Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of the largest Islamic militant groups in South Asia, based in Pakistan and fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. Security analysts say it is a well-funded and highly organised group that sympathises with al Qaeda.
Lashkar-e-Taiba denied being behind the Mumbai attacks and said it condemned them.
The group was blamed for bomb attacks on markets in New Delhi that killed more than 60 people in 2005, as well as an assault on India's parliament in 2001 that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of a fourth war.
* WHO ARE THE INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN?
Indian police say the Indian Mujahideen is an offshoot of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), but that local Muslims appear to have been given training and backing from militant groups in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.
SIMI has been blamed by police for almost every major bomb attack in India, including explosions on commuter trains in Mumbai two years ago that killed 187 people.
Police said the Indian Mujahideen may also include former members of Bangladeshi militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami.
The group first emerged during a wave of bombings in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in November 2007, sending an e-mail to media outlets just before some of the bombs exploded.
They have since claimed responsibility for multiple bomb attacks in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and New Delhi.
* WHO DOES INDIA BLAME?
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the attacks were probably plotted by a group based in a neighbouring country.
But Indian governments often blame neighbouring Pakistan or sometimes Bangladesh for supporting or harbouring militant groups which have launched attacks on Indian soil.
* WHAT CAN BE INFERRED FROM THE ATTACKERS' TACTICS?
The Mumbai attacks were unusual in that they involved coordinated attacks by gunmen on multiple targets, hostages were taken, and foreigners were specifically targeted.
Several analysts say these tactics point to Lashkar-e-Taiba as being involved. The attacks on symbolic targets designed to gather maximum publicity, and the specific targeting, point to a group following al Qaeda ideology and tactics.
The attacks also show a considerable degree of sophistication, another factor pointing to an experienced group like Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The Indian Mujahideen have also surprised police with the sophistication of their attacks, however, although until now these have always been bomb attacks on Indian targets.
In May, the Indian Mujahideen made a specific threat to attack tourist sites in India unless the government stopped supporting the United States in the international arena.
The threat was made in an e-mail claiming responsibility for bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the tourist city of Jaipur. The mail declared "open war against India" and included the serial number of a bicycle used in one of the bombings.
* WHAT CAN BE INFERRED FROM THEIR DEMANDS?
A man speaking Urdu with a Kashmiri accent phoned an Indian TV station, offering talks with the government and accusing the Indian army of killing Muslims in Kashmir. This suggests the attackers are involved with a Kashmiri group like Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The demands of the Indian Mujahideen -- like their targets -- have always tended to be much more domestic. The group issued an e-mail threat in September to attack Mumbai but directed its anger at the Mumbai police anti-terrorist squad, accusing them of harassing Muslims.
"If this is the degree your arrogance has reached, and if you think that by these stunts you can scare us, then let the Indian Mujahideen warn all the people of Mumbai that whatever deadly attacks Mumbaikars will face in future, their responsibility would lie with the Mumbai ATS and their guardians," it said.
India V/s Pakistan....War goes on INTERNET
Even as India and Pakistan renew efforts to resolve contentious issues through dialogue, it seems that a virtual war is going on between the two countries in cyberspace.
The latest news is that the official website of the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) has been hacked by pro-Pakistan hackers.
It is believed that the hacker who claimed himself to be Pakistani, also fiddled with website of a news channel and that of Bank Of Baroda. However, when accessed in the last evening, both these websites were found to be in the working condition.
As per the officials, there was no ‘secret’ information on the website of www.cidap.gov.in and it was also open to the public. Therefore it has not affected the department in any way. However, the Cyber Crime Wing of the CID is leaving no stone unturned to locate the hacker taking help of his ip address.
The hacker boasts: “HackeD By ZombiE_KsA. You have been owned by Pakistani 133 t h 4xOrz ….. Indians script kiddies you guyz hack Paki OGRA website lol. See what i DID your ….. Indian CID? HackeD lol.”
Speaking on this, Additional DGP (Law and Order) A K Khan said, “The hacking is real but it has not caused any damage to the CID or any other department. It appears that someone wanted to prove that he could hack our website and he did”.
The latest news is that the official website of the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) has been hacked by pro-Pakistan hackers.
It is believed that the hacker who claimed himself to be Pakistani, also fiddled with website of a news channel and that of Bank Of Baroda. However, when accessed in the last evening, both these websites were found to be in the working condition.
As per the officials, there was no ‘secret’ information on the website of www.cidap.gov.in and it was also open to the public. Therefore it has not affected the department in any way. However, the Cyber Crime Wing of the CID is leaving no stone unturned to locate the hacker taking help of his ip address.
The hacker boasts: “HackeD By ZombiE_KsA. You have been owned by Pakistani 133 t h 4xOrz ….. Indians script kiddies you guyz hack Paki OGRA website lol. See what i DID your ….. Indian CID? HackeD lol.”
Speaking on this, Additional DGP (Law and Order) A K Khan said, “The hacking is real but it has not caused any damage to the CID or any other department. It appears that someone wanted to prove that he could hack our website and he did”.
Uncertainty grips Mumbai after attacks
A sudden cracking sound on the street in India's financial capital Mumbai on Friday sent people diving to the ground for cover or scurrying behind cars and other barriers.
Policemen cocked their guns, took position and scoured the rooftops of nearby buildings for attackers. There were none.
No one could say what the sound was but it was in an area far from locations where commandos were trying to flush out suspected Islamist militants.
But fear was palpable after a series of attacks in the city that killed 121 people and wounded almost 300.
"When you have a terrorist shooting down people in stations and on roads, how can anyone feel safe any more?" asked Pankaj Angre, a shopkeeper, as many others on the street nodded in agreement.
"This attack is different because it's not a car bomb or a fixed target. This time people have been attacked where they are most vulnerable -- on roads and at railway stations.
"There is an atmosphere of fear, anger and suspicion. It's like living in a war zone where no one cares."
The city of almost 18 million prides itself as living on the edge. It's at the vanguard of India's emerging economic prowess and the location of its Bollywood film industry, but it is also home to organised crime syndicates and abject poverty.
It has been the target of militant attacks before, including a series of bomb blasts in 1993 that killed at least 260 people and wounded hundreds more at the stock exchange and several other landmarks.
Just two years ago, more than 180 people died when Islamist militants set off bombs on commuter trains used by millions of people every day.
But Mumbai recovered quickly from those attacks.
"UNCANNY KNACK FOR NORMALCY"
On Friday, streets were deserted across much of downtown southern Mumbai. Shops were closed and attendance was low in offices. But hundreds were clustered around the locations where the commandos were engaged in action, held back by police.
Elsewhere the city appeared to be functioning as usual. Trains on the city's rail network, the lifeblood of the metropolis, were running on time.
"This uncanny knack for normalcy springs from the fact that this is a financial centre," said Prahlad Kakkar, an advertisement guru and a prominent Mumbai resident.
"But there is boiling anger in the people. They are helpless and scared like never before because of the nature of the attack. The fear has come home, that it can be me next."
Others said the normalcy sprang from the need for the city's vast number of poor to continue their daily grind.
"It's more about momentum of life. Momentum of survival," said Rahul Bose, a prominent Bollywood actor.
"But this is the last straw. Now it looks like people can stroll the shores with bags full of bombs and grenades and the police can't do a thing.
"If politicians can't build flyovers, provide water, drainage, health care -- (that) doesn't matter," said Bose.
"But at least someone please stop these terrorists from killing in such a brazen manner and with such regularity."
50 bodies were scattered through the Taj
The Navy's elite Marine Commandos held a press conference in Mumbai where they claimed to have seen about 50 dead bodies during the flush out operation of the Taj hotel.
Gunfire and explosions continued to erupt from the Taj Hotel as a lone militant fought on. The crack commandos seemed to grant their foes a grudging respect for their military know-how and planning.
"These people were very, very familiar with the hotel layout and it appeared they had carried out a survey before," the chief of the elite Naval Commando Unit (MARCOS or Marine Commandos), his face covered with a black scarf and sunglasses, told reporters.
"A very determined lot, remorseless," he said, adding that he had seen around 50 bodies scattered through the Taj hotel, including at least 12 in a single room.
"He is moving in two floors, there is a dance floor area where apparently he has cut off all the lights. And sometimes he gets holed up into some of the rooms, and he has made the area dark," Lieutenant-General N. Thamburaj told reporters.
"This morning while carrying out the operation we heard the sound of a lady and a gentleman, so it is possible that this terrorist has got two or more hostages with him," he added.
Guests who escaped the hotel told of bodies littered in the corridors, although one Briton said the attackers had released some women hostages when they started to panic in the early stages of the siege.
They also found grenades, ammunition, dried fruits and almonds -- signs, they said, that the attackers had been prepared to sustain themselves during a long siege.
"We are not aware how many have been killed," the commando said of the battle at the Taj.
Gunfire and explosions continued to erupt from the Taj Hotel as a lone militant fought on. The crack commandos seemed to grant their foes a grudging respect for their military know-how and planning.
"These people were very, very familiar with the hotel layout and it appeared they had carried out a survey before," the chief of the elite Naval Commando Unit (MARCOS or Marine Commandos), his face covered with a black scarf and sunglasses, told reporters.
"A very determined lot, remorseless," he said, adding that he had seen around 50 bodies scattered through the Taj hotel, including at least 12 in a single room.
"He is moving in two floors, there is a dance floor area where apparently he has cut off all the lights. And sometimes he gets holed up into some of the rooms, and he has made the area dark," Lieutenant-General N. Thamburaj told reporters.
"This morning while carrying out the operation we heard the sound of a lady and a gentleman, so it is possible that this terrorist has got two or more hostages with him," he added.
Guests who escaped the hotel told of bodies littered in the corridors, although one Briton said the attackers had released some women hostages when they started to panic in the early stages of the siege.
They also found grenades, ammunition, dried fruits and almonds -- signs, they said, that the attackers had been prepared to sustain themselves during a long siege.
"We are not aware how many have been killed," the commando said of the battle at the Taj.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Held hostage in Taj, city-based Vaibhava recounts her 7 hours in captivity
As Vaibhava Rele, the Pune-based professional who does line production for films and documentaries, wound up the meeting with her crew at the Sea Lounge of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai on Wednesday around 10 pm, she had little idea that the night ahead would turn out to be the most harrowing one of her life.
"I was sitting there with my crew when at 10.15 pm there was the sound of gunfire. There was a wedding on in the ballroom opposite so initially no one reacted very sharply. It didn't even sound too dangerous and many thought it was part of the raucous celebrations," recounts Rele, adding that there were about 25 people in all on the first-floor lounge at that time.
"Just then a group of five to six people barged in and shouted that there were people outside with guns. In a flash the hotel staff shut the door to the lounge and switched off all the lights. In minutes there were gunshot sounds all over and bullets whizzed through the door. We had taken refuge behind pillars and were then asked to lie down flat. We were petrified - it would have been so simple for them to just shoot the lock and come in but astonishingly they didn't do that and in a few minutes the firing ceased," she said.
"About 15 minutes later there was this huge blast. I guess it was the first of the many hand grenades. After that it was a like a Diwali party - they were throwing hand grenades left, right and center. We could hear glass shattering and there was a loud wail of a woman who sounded like a foreigner. Even in our room it were the foreigners who were panicking the most and demanding to know where the cops and the army was," Rele recounted.
But there was worse to follow as small interludes of silence kept being shattered by grenade blasts.
"After what seemed like a very long time we heard police sirens. By this time, the terrorists had reached the sixth floor and were chucking down grenades and the lobby had caught fire. From across we could hear the mayhem at the marriage party and see grenades whizzing past the windows. It was numbing," relates Rele, a mother of two.
By 3 am the false ceiling started to give way. The sprinklers were switched on and everyone lying on the floor were soon in a pool of water. "We had prostrated on the floor and were all wet but of course, no one thought much of that. At about 4.15 am there was this gentleman from the fire brigade who came up to the window and broke it open and one by one we were evacuated," she said reliving the most eagerly awaited moment of her life.
Rele adds there were quite a few senior executives and families in the room with her and is all praises for the staff that handled the exigency commendably. "There was one senior executive called Sarita who was amazing. Even when we all went outside down the ladder, she was the last one to come, even after the waiters," said Rele who first called up her husband and sisters-in-law in Pune once she got out of the hotel.
"I had been in touch with them all through and of course, they too were worried. By the time I reached out, my battery was dead. I borrowed the first phone I saw and called up. The children were sleeping when all this was going on. We didn't tell them anything till morning," said Rele who reached her Baner residence in Pune on Thursday afternoon.
"The predominant feeling now of course is of relief. We could have been easily shot - either while inside or when climbing down the ladder. Actually while we were in we never realised the magnitude of the attack. We kept thinking it would be over in a few hours - can't believe it is still on," concludes the 38-year-old.
"I was sitting there with my crew when at 10.15 pm there was the sound of gunfire. There was a wedding on in the ballroom opposite so initially no one reacted very sharply. It didn't even sound too dangerous and many thought it was part of the raucous celebrations," recounts Rele, adding that there were about 25 people in all on the first-floor lounge at that time.
"Just then a group of five to six people barged in and shouted that there were people outside with guns. In a flash the hotel staff shut the door to the lounge and switched off all the lights. In minutes there were gunshot sounds all over and bullets whizzed through the door. We had taken refuge behind pillars and were then asked to lie down flat. We were petrified - it would have been so simple for them to just shoot the lock and come in but astonishingly they didn't do that and in a few minutes the firing ceased," she said.
"About 15 minutes later there was this huge blast. I guess it was the first of the many hand grenades. After that it was a like a Diwali party - they were throwing hand grenades left, right and center. We could hear glass shattering and there was a loud wail of a woman who sounded like a foreigner. Even in our room it were the foreigners who were panicking the most and demanding to know where the cops and the army was," Rele recounted.
But there was worse to follow as small interludes of silence kept being shattered by grenade blasts.
"After what seemed like a very long time we heard police sirens. By this time, the terrorists had reached the sixth floor and were chucking down grenades and the lobby had caught fire. From across we could hear the mayhem at the marriage party and see grenades whizzing past the windows. It was numbing," relates Rele, a mother of two.
By 3 am the false ceiling started to give way. The sprinklers were switched on and everyone lying on the floor were soon in a pool of water. "We had prostrated on the floor and were all wet but of course, no one thought much of that. At about 4.15 am there was this gentleman from the fire brigade who came up to the window and broke it open and one by one we were evacuated," she said reliving the most eagerly awaited moment of her life.
Rele adds there were quite a few senior executives and families in the room with her and is all praises for the staff that handled the exigency commendably. "There was one senior executive called Sarita who was amazing. Even when we all went outside down the ladder, she was the last one to come, even after the waiters," said Rele who first called up her husband and sisters-in-law in Pune once she got out of the hotel.
"I had been in touch with them all through and of course, they too were worried. By the time I reached out, my battery was dead. I borrowed the first phone I saw and called up. The children were sleeping when all this was going on. We didn't tell them anything till morning," said Rele who reached her Baner residence in Pune on Thursday afternoon.
"The predominant feeling now of course is of relief. We could have been easily shot - either while inside or when climbing down the ladder. Actually while we were in we never realised the magnitude of the attack. We kept thinking it would be over in a few hours - can't believe it is still on," concludes the 38-year-old.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Mumbai under attack, 101 killed, 600 injured
Gunmen killed at least 101 people in a series of attacks in India's financial capital Mumbai and troops began moving into two five-star hotels on Thursday where Western hostages were being held, local television said.
Gunfire and explosions were heard at the landmark Taj Mahal hotel and thick plumes of smoke rose from the building, witnesses said. There were also explosions at the Oberoi hotel and firing at a hospital where gunmen were surrounded.
"The terrorists are throwing grenades at us from the rooftop of the Taj and trying to stop us from moving in," Ashok Patil, a police inspector said.
Police said at least 600 people were wounded in the attacks which also targeted a railway station and the Cafe Leopold, perhaps the most famous restaurant and hang-out for tourists in the city.
An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen said it was behind attacks, television channels said. The previously little known group sent an email to news organisations claiming responsibility.
"I guess they were after foreigners, because they were asking for British or American passports," said Rakesh Patel, a British witness who lives in Hong Kong and was staying at the Taj Mahal hotel on business. "They had bombs."
"They came from the restaurant and took us up the stairs," he told a TV news channel, smoke stains all over his face. "Young boys, maybe 20 years old, 25 years old. They had two guns."
India has suffered a wave of bomb attacks in recent years.
The latest attack, apparently aimed at least partly at prosperous Western tourists, is bound to spook investors in one of Asia's largest and fastest-growing economies.
Hemant Karkare, the chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai, was killed during the attacks, police said.
"We have shot dead four terrorists and managed to arrest nine suspected terrorists," PD Ghadge, a police officer at Mumbai's central control room, told Reuters.
Japan's Foreign Ministry said one of its nationals was killed in the Mumbai attacks and one injured.
TRAPPED HOTEL GUESTS
Mark Abell, a British lawyer, said he had locked himself inside his Oberoi hotel room after hearing two explosions.
Several hundred people had been evacuated from the Taj hotel, one witness said, but many more remained inside, some calling for help from the fifth floor. Firefighters broke windows to reach trapped guests.
"We came down the fire exit, but I think they took some more people, they are trying to get to the roof," one foreigner told local television. "I think about 15 people (have been taken hostage), about half of them are foreigners."
In Washington, the White House and US President-elect Barack Obama condemned the attacks, as did France, current President of the European Union, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
A European official was among the wounded.
"My hotel is surrounded by police and there are gunmen inside," European lawmaker Ignasi Guardans told Spanish radio from the Taj. "We are in contact with some deputies inside the hotel, with one in a room and another hidden in the kitchen. There's another official hurt and in hospital."
Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said there were around four or five attackers in each of the two hotels.
"They have attacked hotels, they have attacked the hospitals, they have attacked the railway station," he said.
KOREANS, EUROPEANS CAUGHT UP IN ATTACKS
A driver told Reuters at least 50 Koreans were stuck inside the Taj with their drivers waiting outside.
"We were just getting ready to pick them up, when we heard the first blast, police did not let us get past and they (the Koreans) are not answering the phones," Deepak Aswar, the driver said. Europeans were also caught up in the attacks.
"I was in the restaurant inside Oberoi and I saw this series of gunshots and death which I don't want to see again," a Spaniard who declined to give his name told Reuters.
"I crawled out into the kitchen and waited there, until I sensed it was all quiet and seemed over."
Maharashtra state police chief A.N. Roy said attackers had fired automatic weapons indiscriminately, and used grenades, adding that they were still holed up in some buildings.
Sourav Mishra, a Reuters reporter, was with friends at the Cafe Leopold when gunmen opened fire around 9:30 p.m. He was injured and is in St George's Hospital.
"I heard some gunshots around 9:30. I was with my friends. Something hit me. I ran away and fell on the road. Then somebody picked me up. I have injuries below my shoulder," Mishra said from a hospital bed he was sharing with three other people.
Another Reuters reporter saw a hospital ward full of injured people with bullet and shrapnel wounds. Many people were crying as the injured were brought in on trolleys.
Gunfire and explosions were heard at the landmark Taj Mahal hotel and thick plumes of smoke rose from the building, witnesses said. There were also explosions at the Oberoi hotel and firing at a hospital where gunmen were surrounded.
"The terrorists are throwing grenades at us from the rooftop of the Taj and trying to stop us from moving in," Ashok Patil, a police inspector said.
Police said at least 600 people were wounded in the attacks which also targeted a railway station and the Cafe Leopold, perhaps the most famous restaurant and hang-out for tourists in the city.
An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen said it was behind attacks, television channels said. The previously little known group sent an email to news organisations claiming responsibility.
"I guess they were after foreigners, because they were asking for British or American passports," said Rakesh Patel, a British witness who lives in Hong Kong and was staying at the Taj Mahal hotel on business. "They had bombs."
"They came from the restaurant and took us up the stairs," he told a TV news channel, smoke stains all over his face. "Young boys, maybe 20 years old, 25 years old. They had two guns."
India has suffered a wave of bomb attacks in recent years.
The latest attack, apparently aimed at least partly at prosperous Western tourists, is bound to spook investors in one of Asia's largest and fastest-growing economies.
Hemant Karkare, the chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai, was killed during the attacks, police said.
"We have shot dead four terrorists and managed to arrest nine suspected terrorists," PD Ghadge, a police officer at Mumbai's central control room, told Reuters.
Japan's Foreign Ministry said one of its nationals was killed in the Mumbai attacks and one injured.
TRAPPED HOTEL GUESTS
Mark Abell, a British lawyer, said he had locked himself inside his Oberoi hotel room after hearing two explosions.
Several hundred people had been evacuated from the Taj hotel, one witness said, but many more remained inside, some calling for help from the fifth floor. Firefighters broke windows to reach trapped guests.
"We came down the fire exit, but I think they took some more people, they are trying to get to the roof," one foreigner told local television. "I think about 15 people (have been taken hostage), about half of them are foreigners."
In Washington, the White House and US President-elect Barack Obama condemned the attacks, as did France, current President of the European Union, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
A European official was among the wounded.
"My hotel is surrounded by police and there are gunmen inside," European lawmaker Ignasi Guardans told Spanish radio from the Taj. "We are in contact with some deputies inside the hotel, with one in a room and another hidden in the kitchen. There's another official hurt and in hospital."
Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said there were around four or five attackers in each of the two hotels.
"They have attacked hotels, they have attacked the hospitals, they have attacked the railway station," he said.
KOREANS, EUROPEANS CAUGHT UP IN ATTACKS
A driver told Reuters at least 50 Koreans were stuck inside the Taj with their drivers waiting outside.
"We were just getting ready to pick them up, when we heard the first blast, police did not let us get past and they (the Koreans) are not answering the phones," Deepak Aswar, the driver said. Europeans were also caught up in the attacks.
"I was in the restaurant inside Oberoi and I saw this series of gunshots and death which I don't want to see again," a Spaniard who declined to give his name told Reuters.
"I crawled out into the kitchen and waited there, until I sensed it was all quiet and seemed over."
Maharashtra state police chief A.N. Roy said attackers had fired automatic weapons indiscriminately, and used grenades, adding that they were still holed up in some buildings.
Sourav Mishra, a Reuters reporter, was with friends at the Cafe Leopold when gunmen opened fire around 9:30 p.m. He was injured and is in St George's Hospital.
"I heard some gunshots around 9:30. I was with my friends. Something hit me. I ran away and fell on the road. Then somebody picked me up. I have injuries below my shoulder," Mishra said from a hospital bed he was sharing with three other people.
Another Reuters reporter saw a hospital ward full of injured people with bullet and shrapnel wounds. Many people were crying as the injured were brought in on trolleys.
Hotel Taj witnesses India's bloodiest siege
The globally renowned Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba here, just opposite to historic Gateway of India was not lucky the third time around. The heritage hotel which bore the brunt of the 1993 serial blasts and again in 2003 at the Gateway of India, now played the mute witness to one of the bloodiest seize situation ever to be undertaken in the country.
The famous dome of the hotel which is a landmark of the Mumbai skyline was engulfed in thick smoke as the encounter went on and area reverberated with blast sounds and staccato of automatic weapons. Army and other forces engaged the militants in the main lobby which symbolises the grandeur of the hotel.
Eyewitnesses say that the fire was seen coming out of the main dome and flames soon spread to other domes as well. The entire top floor was in the grip of heavy fire and severely damaged during the seize which claimed lives of several of its customers.
The flames were seen coming from windows of the top-floor as fire-fighters tried hard to evacuate the trapped and douse the flames. The indiscriminate firing by a group of hardcore militants in the century-old hotel on Wednesday left several of its patrons killed and injured and tens of foreign tourists trapped as forces tried to clear it from killers holed inside.
The Taj was first hit during the 1993 serial blasts in which a bomb went off in a car parked opposite the heritage site. The Hotel again became the epicentre of 2003 terrorist attack as bombs went off at stone throw distance from it.
The historical hotel was commissioned by Steel man of India, Jamshedji Tata after, according to folklore, he was denied entry into one of the grandest hotels of its time Watson's Hotel as it was meant for 'Whites only.
The famous dome of the hotel which is a landmark of the Mumbai skyline was engulfed in thick smoke as the encounter went on and area reverberated with blast sounds and staccato of automatic weapons. Army and other forces engaged the militants in the main lobby which symbolises the grandeur of the hotel.
Eyewitnesses say that the fire was seen coming out of the main dome and flames soon spread to other domes as well. The entire top floor was in the grip of heavy fire and severely damaged during the seize which claimed lives of several of its customers.
The flames were seen coming from windows of the top-floor as fire-fighters tried hard to evacuate the trapped and douse the flames. The indiscriminate firing by a group of hardcore militants in the century-old hotel on Wednesday left several of its patrons killed and injured and tens of foreign tourists trapped as forces tried to clear it from killers holed inside.
The Taj was first hit during the 1993 serial blasts in which a bomb went off in a car parked opposite the heritage site. The Hotel again became the epicentre of 2003 terrorist attack as bombs went off at stone throw distance from it.
The historical hotel was commissioned by Steel man of India, Jamshedji Tata after, according to folklore, he was denied entry into one of the grandest hotels of its time Watson's Hotel as it was meant for 'Whites only.
Air India considering fare cut, Jet to slash salaries
State-owned carrier Air India is considering a fare cut and is likely to make an announcement soon, but private airlines Jet Airways and Kingfisher are in no mood to follow suit, with Jet even working out on a salary cut of its pilots.
With recession eating into its bottomline, Jet Airways is likely to announce a 20 percent cut in the salaries of its pilots, engineers and some other staff. An announcement to this effect is expected soon.
According to people familiar with the development, Jet's pilots and engineers have expressed their opposition to a salary cut and are considering their response.
The airline employs around 13,200 personnel, of whom around 2,000 draw salaries in the bracket of Rs.100,000-plus a month. These officials comprise mainly pilots and maintenance engineers.
According to an Air India official, the carrier could reduce its fares by 10-12 percent some time in December following a cut in avitation turbine fuel (ATF) surcharge. The airline is contemplating fare cut following a request from Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Saturday.
'The fare cut would be done taking into account losses and expenses. You can expect an announcement soon,' an Air India official told IANS.
Patel said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here Nov 22 that airlines ought to cut fares because of falling ATF prices.
'Now fuel prices have come down. You must match it with the perception or else you'll lose people's sympathy,' Patel, flanked by Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya, had said.
State-run oil companies slashed ATF prices by 12 percent Nov 15, bringing down the price to Rs.39,767 per kilolitre from Rs.41,417 per kilolitre. With this price cut, the ATF or jet fuel prices are at par with levels that prevailed in September last year.
With recession eating into its bottomline, Jet Airways is likely to announce a 20 percent cut in the salaries of its pilots, engineers and some other staff. An announcement to this effect is expected soon.
According to people familiar with the development, Jet's pilots and engineers have expressed their opposition to a salary cut and are considering their response.
The airline employs around 13,200 personnel, of whom around 2,000 draw salaries in the bracket of Rs.100,000-plus a month. These officials comprise mainly pilots and maintenance engineers.
According to an Air India official, the carrier could reduce its fares by 10-12 percent some time in December following a cut in avitation turbine fuel (ATF) surcharge. The airline is contemplating fare cut following a request from Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Saturday.
'The fare cut would be done taking into account losses and expenses. You can expect an announcement soon,' an Air India official told IANS.
Patel said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here Nov 22 that airlines ought to cut fares because of falling ATF prices.
'Now fuel prices have come down. You must match it with the perception or else you'll lose people's sympathy,' Patel, flanked by Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya, had said.
State-run oil companies slashed ATF prices by 12 percent Nov 15, bringing down the price to Rs.39,767 per kilolitre from Rs.41,417 per kilolitre. With this price cut, the ATF or jet fuel prices are at par with levels that prevailed in September last year.
Ship sunk by Indian Navy was Thai fishing trawler: IMB
A suspected pirate vessel that was destroyed by Indian Navy last week in the Gulf of Aden was in fact a Thai fishing trawler which had been hijacked, the International Maritime Bureau confirmed on Wednesday.
Noel Choong, head of the IMB's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur said one Thai crew member died when the Indian frigate 'INS Tabar' attacked the trawler on November 18 in waters near Somalia, which is infested with pirates.
The Indian Navy's attack was earlier heralded as heroic and several maritime bodies felt that navies patrolling in the region should take cue and be active like INS Tabar.
Fourteen crew members are still missing while a Cambodian sailor was rescued four days back, Choong said.
The Bureau received a report about the mistake by the Indian Navy from the Thai trawler's owner Bangkok-based Sirichai Fisheries.
"The Indian Navy assumed it was a pirate vessel because they may have seen armed pirates on board the boat which has been hijacked earlier," Choong said.
Choong said Sirichai Fisheries found out about the mishap after speaking to the Cambodian sailor, who is in a hospital in Yemen.
"We are sad by the incident and it is unfortunate," Choong said and hoped that the incident will not affect anti-piracy operation by the multi-coalition navies there.
Noel Choong, head of the IMB's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur said one Thai crew member died when the Indian frigate 'INS Tabar' attacked the trawler on November 18 in waters near Somalia, which is infested with pirates.
The Indian Navy's attack was earlier heralded as heroic and several maritime bodies felt that navies patrolling in the region should take cue and be active like INS Tabar.
Fourteen crew members are still missing while a Cambodian sailor was rescued four days back, Choong said.
The Bureau received a report about the mistake by the Indian Navy from the Thai trawler's owner Bangkok-based Sirichai Fisheries.
"The Indian Navy assumed it was a pirate vessel because they may have seen armed pirates on board the boat which has been hijacked earlier," Choong said.
Choong said Sirichai Fisheries found out about the mishap after speaking to the Cambodian sailor, who is in a hospital in Yemen.
"We are sad by the incident and it is unfortunate," Choong said and hoped that the incident will not affect anti-piracy operation by the multi-coalition navies there.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
NRI admits killing wife, another person
An Indian accused of killing his estranged wife and another person in a New Jersey church has, in a videotaped confession, admitted shooting them and said he would have killed everyone in the building if he had a machine gun at that time, according to authorities. Joseph Pallipurath, a native of Kerala, who fatally shot his 24-year-old wife Reshma James, who wanted to end the "abusive marriage", and critically wounded a third person, admitted to Sunday's shooting after he surrendered peacefully at a motel near Atlanta on Monday, Georgia prosecutor Eric Crawford said.
The accused also agreed to return to New Jersey when he was produced in a court in Georgia. Pallipurath also did not apologise express remorse for the crime he committed, Crawford was quoted as saying by media.
The accused told authorities that he believed that church members were blocking his attempts to contact his wife, Crawford said. The couple had an arranged marriage just a year ago and Reshma had suffered abuse right from the initial days of her marriage in Kerala, which continued here, police said.
Reshma had left him about three months ago to stay with her cousin in New Jersey and obtained a restraining order against him. Pallipurath had drove across US on Sunday from California to New Jersey, to persuade his wife Reshma to return to him and then shot her when she spurned him.
He was on run after the shooting in which another man Dennis John Mallosseril, 23, who maintained the church's website, was also killed when he attempted to intervene between the couple. A third person, James' cousin, Silvy Perincheril,47, who was shot in the head remains in critical condition.
The accused also agreed to return to New Jersey when he was produced in a court in Georgia. Pallipurath also did not apologise express remorse for the crime he committed, Crawford was quoted as saying by media.
The accused told authorities that he believed that church members were blocking his attempts to contact his wife, Crawford said. The couple had an arranged marriage just a year ago and Reshma had suffered abuse right from the initial days of her marriage in Kerala, which continued here, police said.
Reshma had left him about three months ago to stay with her cousin in New Jersey and obtained a restraining order against him. Pallipurath had drove across US on Sunday from California to New Jersey, to persuade his wife Reshma to return to him and then shot her when she spurned him.
He was on run after the shooting in which another man Dennis John Mallosseril, 23, who maintained the church's website, was also killed when he attempted to intervene between the couple. A third person, James' cousin, Silvy Perincheril,47, who was shot in the head remains in critical condition.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
India strong enough to endure crisis
Describing India as a 'key economic theatre' that will shape future growth prospects of the world economy, minister for overseas Indian affairs, Valayar Ravi said the country has the 'capacity and resilience' to weather the global financial turmoil.
"For our part the growth in technology, innovation and the size of the market in India combined with the demographic advantage that we hold, makes India a key economic theatre that will substantially shape future growth prospects of the global economy," he said.
In his inaugural address to the convention of the National Federation of Indian Associations in Seattle, Ravi, the minister for overseas Indian affairs said India is on its way to grow at over seven per cent despite the raging economic crisis worldwide.
"We are witness to the biggest taxpayer bailouts of international banks and corporates across the USA and Europe, unprecedented, in history," Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs said.
"Yet, India remains stable and our economy continues on a high growth trajectory. We are on course to record a growth of between 7 to 7.5% this year," he said, adding Indian economy has both the "capacity and resilience" to weather the storm.
Lauding the election of Barack Obama as the next US President,
Ravi said it sent a message of inclusive and equitable growth to the outside world.
"The election of Obama as the next President has sent an inspiring and profound message to the world the message of inclusive and equitable growth, of peace and prosperity," Ravi said.
He also saluted the efforts of the Indian American community in facilitating the conclusion of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, and said the landmark agreement is a 'historic milestone' in the country's march to becoming an economic powerhouse.
"It marks the beginning of a new and exciting period in our history. It also enables us to meet the development needs across several sectors of the economy without compromising our commitment to non-proliferation. I wish to salute the efforts of the Indo-American community in supporting and facilitating the conclusion of this pioneering agreement," he said.Pak to release 101 Indian prisoners
Pakistan today said it would release 101 Indian prisoners, a majority of them fishermen, as a goodwill gesture ahead of a meeting between the interior secretaries of the two countries later this week. Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik said 99 Indian fishermen and two other prisoners would be freed before the meeting of Pakistan's interior secretary and India's home secretary here on November 25.
Malik also said that Pakistan expected India to reciprocate the goodwill gesture. There are hundreds of Pakistanis languishing in Indian prisons and they should be freed at the earliest, he said.
Leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney told PTI that he had been informed by officials that the Indian prisoners were likely to be freed tomorrow or the day after. He said the two Indian prisoners being released had completed their prison terms.
"There are many other Indian prisoners who have completed their sentences but are still in jail. I have also taken up their case with the authorities," he said.
During their day-long meeting, Pakistan's interior secretary and India's home secretary are expected to discuss measures for countering terrorism and drug trafficking and liberalising the visa regime between the two countries. The two sides are also expected to take up the exchange of civilian prisoners, human trafficking, illegal immigration and measures to counter counterfeit currency, sources said.
The talks will be part of the fifth round of the composite dialogue launched by India and Pakistan four years ago.Tuesday, November 18, 2008
I may be a 'bachcha', but so are most Indians: Rahul Gandhi
In a polite riposte to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Rajnath Singh who called him a 'bachcha' (child), Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said he should keep in mind that 70 percent of people in the country were young like him.
'Yes, I am still a bachcha for a senior leader like Rajnath Singh. I really respect him and agree with whatever he says as I do not have even half the experience he has," Gandhi told a news conference here.
He was in Amritsar along with former chief election commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh to review preparations for Indian Youth Congress (IYC) elections in Punjab.
"Compared to the likes of Rajnath Singh and others, I am still a bachcha. I am a much younger person. I think in a completely different way than how they think. They think politically.'
Rajnath Singh had dubbed Gandhi a bachcha when he was asked by Shekhar Gupta, in his Walk the Talk programme on NDTV, on what he thought of the Congress MP and his politics.
'However, fortunately or unfortunately for him (Rajnath Singh), 70 percent people of India who are powering the country are also bachchas," Gandhi said sarcastically.
Punjab is the first state where IYC elections are being held in a new democratic manner.
The move has been initiated by Gandhi who wants to replicate the same in other states to give greater representation to grassroots workers.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Forum of Indian Regulators advises open access regime
The Forum of Indian Regulators has recommended the introduction of open access system so that consumers have a choice in buying power.
"Consumers should be given the freedom to buy cheaper power through open access system and the distribution licensees should work out a mechanism to provide such facility to the consumers," said Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) chairman Pramod Deo.
Under the open access system, the consumer may be connected to a particular distribution licensee but he has the option to buy power from other licensees as and when desired, he elaborated.
Deo, who attended a meeting of the power regulators, here on Friday, said the forum will soon host a website to educate consumers about the open access regime.
The chairman said the forum wants that state governments should immediately give functional autonomy to the state load dispatch centres (SLDCs) to promote competition through open access.
The forum has also recommended penalising distribution licensees by reducing their return on equity if they fail to ensure availability of distribution network as per norms and meet the projected demands of the consumers.
The forum has decided that distribution licensees should be mandated to procure at least 5% green energy of their total requirement to fulfill the target of the national action plan on climate change, Deo said.
Yuvraj's all-round display powers India to victory
Yuvraj Singh clobbered his second successive century and then scalped four key wickets as India maintained their stranglehold over England by thrashing the visitors by 54 runs in the second cricket one-dayer here today.
The Indians rode on Yuvraj's scintillating 118 to post a competitive 292 for nine and then bundled out England for 238 in 47 overs to take a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.
The 26-year-old Yuvraj, who recovered from a back injury just in time to be drafted into the team, came out with a stunning all-round display to play the pivotal role in India's victory on a rather slow track at the Maharani Usharaje Trust ground.
Yuvraj, who had blasted an unbeaten 138 off just 78 balls in the first one-dayer in Rajkot to mark his return to form, not only notched up his tenth century but also helped the hosts recover from an early slump which saw them tottering at 29 for three at one stage.
He then proved his ability as a left-arm spinner by returning dream figures of 10-0-28-4 which included the prized scalps of Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and Owais Shah.
The Punjab swashbuckler stitched 134 runs for the fourth wicket with the in-form Gautam Gambhir (70) while the lanky Yousuf Pathan provided the late sparks to the innings with an savage unbeaten 50 off just 29 balls.Sunday, November 16, 2008
India can borrow $39 billion from IMF, World Bank
To help tide over the credit crisis, India can avail of loans worth $39 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters late on Friday night. India can borrow up to $30 billion (up five fold) from the IMF to infuse short-term liquidity through low conditional loans.
This will have to be repaid within nine months. "But with reserves of $200 billion, we really don't need this," Ahluwalia said.
India can borrow an additional $9 billion from the World Bank, $3 billion a year, for development infrastructure projects. This is part of the $100-billion kitty that the bank has made available.
"We are saying they need to go further," Ahluwalia said. It's evident that the pressure for governance reforms at the IMF and the Bank is mounting.
On the eve of the G20 summit on financial markets and the world economy, where heads of state and finance ministers have been invited, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed geo-political issues with outgoing US President George W. Bush over dinner at the White House. In a separate but concurrent dinner, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Ahluwalia and economic affairs secretary Ashok Chawla met their G20 counterparts.
"We used the opportunity to brief them on what we think is our position for this summit," said Ahluwalia, who also met former secretary of state Madeliene Albright and former Congressman Jim Leash, representing US President-elect Barack Obama and US Vice President-elect Joe Biden. "We need governance reforms (in the IMF) and that reform needs to reflect the new economic reality," Ahluwalia said, referring to the increased vote share of developing economies.
He said while reforms in the IMF and the Bank may take time, countries like India should find a place in the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), as "broadbasing the FSF can happen faster." Ahluwalia said, "History has shown that these tendencies rise during recessions.
We should complete the Doha round.".
Indian American CEO shot dead in Silicon Valley
An Indian American CEO and director of a semi-conductor company in Silicon Valley was shot dead allegedly by one of his disgruntled former employees, who was let go recently, the police said.
The police have identified the victim as Sid Agrawal of SiPort Inc, a semi-conductor company based in Santa Clara.
Two others were killed in the Friday afternoon shooting at the company's Office. One of them was being identified as Brian Pugh, vice-president of the firm. The name of the third victim, a woman, has not been released.
The suspect has been identified as Jing Wu, 47, an engineer, who was fired by the company recently.
SiPort Inc website said Agrawal was Electrical Engineering graduate from India's IIT Kanpur.
This is the second such incident in a month involving an IIT graduate. Last month, Karthik Rajaram, an IIT graduate who lost his job, shot dead his wife, three sons and his mother-in-law.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
India celebrates planting its flag on moon
India rejoiced Saturday at joining an elite club by planting its flag on the moon as the country s space agency released the first pictures of the cratered surface taken by its maiden lunar mission. A probe sent late Friday from the orbiting mother spacecraft took pictures and gathered other data India needs for a future moon landing as it plummeted to a crash-landing at the moon s south pole, said Indian Space Research Organization spokesman B.R. Guruprasad.
The box-shaped probe was painted with India s saffron, white and green flag, sparking celebrations in the country that is striving to become a world power. The tricolor has landed, the Hindustan Times said in a banner headline, while The Asian Age proclaimed India is big cheese.
As India s economy has boomed in recent years, it has sought to convert its newfound wealth built on the nation s high-tech sector into political and military clout. The moon mission comes just months after it finalized a deal with the United States that recognizes India as a nuclear power, and leaders hope the mission will further enhance its prestige.
This momentous achievement shall be etched in the history of India as a grateful tribute to our scientific community for their resolute efforts to take India to a global leadership position, said Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party. To date only the U.S., Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China and now India have sent missions to the moon.
But while the celebrations conjured up images akin to that of the U.S. flag unfurled on the moon by Apollo astronauts, India s flag is most likely scattered over a wide swath of the moon s Shackleton crater after the probe slammed into the surface at more than 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) per hour. The violent landing was planned and Indian scientists hope to study the images and data sent back by the probe during its 25-minute descent to prepare for a future soft landing, Guruprasad told The Associated Press.
It carried a video imaging system, a radar altimeter and a mass spectrometer. The video imaging system took pictures of the moon s surface, while the altimeter measured the rate of descent of the probe and the mass spectrometer studied the extremely thin lunar atmosphere.
Guruprasad said the pictures that were released were raw images and that scientists had not yet analyzed the information sent by the probe. It was the first stage of a two-year mission aimed at measuring not only the surface of the moon, but what lies beneath.
The probe was one of 11 payloads on the spacecraft Chandrayaan-1. Chandrayaan means moon craft in ancient Sanskrit.
India plans to follow the mission by landing a rover on the moon in 2011 and, eventually, with a manned space program, though this has not been authorized yet.
India feels outsourcing won't be an issue in ties with US
India said on Saturday that the incoming Obama Administration in the US has given an assurance to it that the policies to strengthen bilateral ties will continue and felt that outsourcing, a hot topic during the Presidential polls in US, will not be an issue.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who met former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, deputed by President-elect Barack Obama to meet world leaders currently in Washington for the G-20 summit, said the transition administration gave a lot of assurances that the change in policies started during the Clinton era would continue.
"They assured us that the new Administration would continue to strengthen the relations between the two countries," Ahluwalia told reporters on his meeting with Albright. Democratic Congressman Jim Leech was also present in the meeting.
"We raised things that the (G-20) summit would discuss and tried to ascertain their views," he said.
Ahluwalia said he did not raise the reported desire of Obama to send former President Bill Clinton as his special envoy on Kashmir. "Neither was it raised nor did we take it up," he said.
To a question on Obama's reported reservations on outsourcing, he said he did not feel that one could judge what the new Administration would do on the issue just on the basis of what was said in election speeches.
Friday, November 14, 2008
India on the moon, with tricolour
India Friday became the fourth country in the world to land a man-made object on the lunar surface when its moon impact probe (MIP), with the tricolour painted on it, landed on the earth's only natural satellite at 8.31 p.m. after ejecting from the Chandrayaan-I spacecraft.
The MIP impacted on the moon's surface 25 minutes after it was separated from Chandrayaan at 8.06 p.m., orbiting at 100 km above.
'We have given the moon to India. We have successfully placed our national flag on the lunar surface. In this auspicious month of Karthika, the moon has been very favourable to us,' a beaming G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), announced amidst thunderous applause by space scientists and officials.
To savour the historic event, former president and rocket scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and former ISRO chairman U.R. Rao were present at the space agency's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) on the outskirts of Bangalore.
'On Jawaharlal Nehru's 119 birthday, the space scientists have gifted the moon to millions of Indian children. I am proud of ISRO. The success of Chandrayaan mission demonstrates the creative leadership of Nair and the technological excellence of our scientists,' Kalam told reporters after witnessing the complex manouvres from the spacecraft control centre at Istrac.
It may be recalled that the modern Indian space programme was initiated in 1962 when Nehru was the prime minister.
The 34 kg boxed shaped probe, with the saffron, white and green colours of the Indian flag painted on all its four sides, hit the lunar surface in the designated area of Shackleton crater, near the South Polar region.
'A series of automatic operations were carried out by firing the spin up rockets after achieving a safe distance of separation from Chandrayaan. With the firing of its retro rocket, the probe slowed down and started its rapid descent towards the lunar surface,' Nair pointed out.
Soon after the probe mission was accomplished, Chandrayaan disappeared behind the moon in its two-hourly orbit. Before going out of sight, the payloads in the 519 kg spacecraft captured all the pictures taken by the video imaging system of the MIP and recorded the data relayed by the radar altimeter and the mass spectrometer of the probe.
ISRO plans to use the data for its future lunar soft landing missions. Information from the instruments was radioed to Chandrayaan-1 by the descending probe. The spacecraft recorded the data in its onboard memory for later readout.
The crash landing of the 375 mm x 375 mm x 470 mm MIP, a honeycomb structure carrying a radar altimeter, a video imaging system and a mass spectrometer, raised a cloud of dust that will be analysed by the scientists, yielding a host of data about the composition of the moon. But well before that, the video imaging system and the mass spectrometer had obtained data that will enable the scientists to analyse if the moon has water, if it has anything that can be used as fuel for nuclear fusion, hopefully even the age of the moon. The landing of the MIP comes 50 years after the first man-made object landed on the lunar surface. The other countries that landed probes on the moon are the former USSR, the US and China.
Miss India USA pageant to raise funds for Bihar flood victims
The popular Miss India USA pageant this year would raise funds for the Bihar flood victims, organisers of the beauty competition have said.
The 27th edition of the Nationwide Miss India USA is scheduled to be held in New Jersey Nov 23, in which some two dozen Indian-American beauty queens representing their respective states of the US are expected to participate.
'Part of the proceeds will go for the relief of Bihar flood victims,' said Dharmatma Saran, chairman and founder of the pageant Thursday. Some 2.3 million people in North Bihar have been badly affected by massive floods, said to be one of the worst in the state in recent memory.
Saran said Prakash Jha, a well-known producer/director from Bihar, would be attending the pageant to promote the fundraising. Jha is currently touring various parts of the US raising money for Bihar flood victims.
In its 27th year, Miss India USA is the oldest Indian pageant outside India. Winner of this competition would represent the US in the 18th annual Miss India Worldwide pageant to be held in South Africa Feb 14 next year.
India, UAE to set up labour grievance redressal cell
India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will set up a grievance redressal mechanism soon to solve labour-related issues involving expatriate Indian workers in this Gulf nation.
This was agreed upon at a meeting between Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and UAE Minister for Labour Saqr Gobash Saeed Gobash in Abu Dhabi Thursday, according to a statement issued by the Indian embassy in the UAE.
There are around 1.5 million expatriate Indian workers in the UAE and a large number of them are engaged as contract labourers in the country's construction sector.
The new grievance redressal mechanism, comprising officials of the Indian mission in Abu Dhabi and the UAE labour ministry, will help to quickly examine and dispose of labour-related issues.
'The two ministers noted the excellent contribution being made by Indian workers in the UAE in the development of various projects and applauded their high sense of discipline and dedication,' the embassy statement said.
'The two ministers also reviewed various aspects of recruitment and contracting of Indian workers and discussed ways in which the present system could be improved for the benefit of the workers.'
The UAE minister also reiterated his ministry's commitment to improving the living and working conditions of expatriate workers in the country.
The two ministers also expressed satisfaction at the progress made in labour-related issues through the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, a series of continuing joint meetings between major labour sending and receiving countries and the UAE's new initiative to launch a pilot project to improve the living and working conditions of expatriate Asian workers.
At the Global Forum for Migration and Development held in Manila last month, Labour Minister Gobash had announced the pilot project, which, he said, would involve 3,000 Indian and Filipino workers.
According to Gobash, the governments of the UAE, India and Philippines will collaborate towards the development of the project with expert inputs from the Arab Labour Organisation, the International Labour Organisation and the International Organisation on Migration.
The overall goal of the project is to test a range of practical measures that will serve to improve the quality of life and work of contractual workers.
Indians workers comprise 42.5 percent of the total labour force in the UAE and 65 percent of them are in the blue-collar category.
Ravi also invited Gobash to visit India to pursue the bilateral dialogue on labour issues, which the latter accepted.
Taslima Nasreen 'forced' to leave India again
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has again been "forced" to leave India after her brief stay India, prompting the controversial writer to question the country's alleged secular credentials.
The writer, who returned to India on August 8, said she had to leave on October 15 following the government's dictum. "Yes, I was forced to leave India once again... The government gave me resident permit for 6 months with a secret condition that I must leave the country in a few days," she said in an e-mail interview.
The ex-physician-turned-feminist author, who is under attack from Muslim fundamentalists for her book 'Lajja', said she is now somewhere in Europe, delivering lectures.
Taslima's second exit from India comes seven months after she was forced to leave the country in view of protests by fundamentalist groups against her presence in New Delhi.
Prior to her departure, she had been living in Kolkata since 1994 after being exiled from Bangladesh over her book, which was dubbed anti-Islam by the fundamentalists.
"The condition of getting permission to reside in India is yet a direction for not to reside in India."
She said she will "go back" to India in January. "As the door of Bangladesh is closed for me, my home, I still consider, is in India, in the West Bengal city of Kolkata. If I am not allowed to return there, then it is back to nomadic existence again, without a land, without a home," the author said.
Expressing her angst over being shunted out again and again, she said "India, which prides itself of being the world's largest democracy, an allegedly secular state, could not give shelter to me."
"They (India) could not give shelter to a person whose entire life has been spent in the cause of secular humanism, a person without land or home, who regarded India as her land and Kolkata as her home...," Taslima said.
"I was shocked to see that not a single political party, organisation or institution protested against the way I was treated (in India). Not many individuals, who are regarded as the standard bearer of secularism, have spoken for me," said the Bengali writer of much talked-about books like 'Amar Meyebela' (My Girlhood), 'Utal Hawa' (Wild Wind) and 'Dwikhondito' (Split-up in Two).
Asked whether she still preferred to live in Kolkata, the place from where she was forcibly ousted on November 22 last year, the two-time "Ananda Award" winner said, "Yes, I still prefer Kolkata. I hope I would be allowed to live in Kolkata. I also request Pranab Babu (External Affairs Minister) and Buddha Babu (West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya) to allow me to live in the city," she said.
The author also said that she had no hard feelings against the West Bengal Chief Minister despite that fact that he banned her book 'Dwikhondito'.
"I still respect Buddha Babu even though he has banned my book which encouraged the fundamentalists to issue fatwa against me and start campaign ultimately resulting in my ouster from the city of joy," said the recipient of Simone de Beauvoir Feminist Award, 2008.
Taslima said she is writing her sixth autobiographical book. "I am writing the sixth part of my autobiography while giving lectures on important issues like human rights and freedom of expression," she said.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
China 'regrets' Indian minister's remark over Arunachal Pradesh
China said here Tuesday that it deeply regretted India's Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee's remarks calling Arunachal Pradesh a part of India's territory.
'We deeply regret the Indian side's remarks, that take no regard of the historical facts. China and India have never officially settled demarcation of borders, and China's stance on the eastern section of China-India borders is consistent and clear-cut,' said foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a regular press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Qin said the current Chinese government, as well as previous ones, has never recognized the illegal 'McMahon Line' (demarcating the border between India and China by the British), and the Indian side is very clear about that.
Qin was commenting on remarks made Sunday by Mukherjee, in which he said that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of Indian territory and India will suggest to China that the border be opened for trade.
As for the boundary issue between China and India, the spokesman said China is willing to find a solution, which is fair, reasonable and acceptable to the two sides, through peaceful and friendly negotiation in the spirit of mutual understanding and adjustment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
