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.
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