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'.
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