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Thursday, December 25, 2008

Delhi's graduate beggars earn Rs 500 a day

Press Trust of India
Monday, December 22, 2008, (New Delhi)

At least four of Delhi's several thousand beggars are post-graduates while six of them hold graduate degrees, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

A survey on about 3,500 beggars, conducted by Department of Social Work, University of Delhi on the directions of Delhi government, has revealed that four beggars are degree holders, six have completed college courses and many of them earn around Rs 500 a day which is higher that what several "blue and white collar" workers make.

"Out of surveyed beggars, six were found to be graduates and 4 were post-graduates. As per report, twenty two beggars earn between Rs 200 to Rs 500 per day," Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Subbulakshmi Jagadeeshan said in a written reply.

"As per figures collected from different areas at different times, the average number of beggars in Delhi is 58,570," the Minister said. more

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

House that! Eight bills in 17 minutes

Anil Anand
Thursday, December 25, 2008 01:42 IST


NEW DELHI: The two houses of parliament were adjourned sine die on Tuesday after an eventful fortnight-long session that led to repeated clashes between the treasury and opposition benches on a variety of issues. Despite pandemonium, the two houses were able to discharge legislative business of significance.
Certain significant bills were passed during the session that included important legislations to set up a national investigative agency to probe terror-related cases and unlawful activities (amendment) bill to give legal backing to the agency.

A record of sorts was created on the final day of the session with the introduction of eight bills in just 17 minutes in Lok Sabha. Most of these bills were passed in the din created by the NDA and the Left grouping MPs. While the BJP-led NDA was agitating over the statement issued by minority affairs minister AR Antulay, the Left MPs were agitated on the manner in which the government tried to push through the bills.

Sensing further trouble on the Antulay issue, the government saw to it that important legislative business was completed before the House was adjourned sine die. It has also become imperative for the government to complete the legislative business, as the next session, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, will be brief with the sole agenda of passing a vote-on-account. more

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Lok Sabha unanimously passes anti-terror bills


The Lok Sabha passed unanimously the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Bill and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill during the night session on Wednesday, December 17, 2008.

The bill to amend the UAPA has stringent provisions, including a detention period of 180 days, instead of the present 90 days, and denial of bail altogether to a foreigner accused of acts of terrorism in India.

The amendments also provide for freezing, seizing and attaching funds and other financial assets or economic resources held by individuals or entities engaged in or suspected to be engaged in terrorism.

The NIA is proposed to be set up to probe terrorist attacks, trade in counterfeit currency and other crimes with ramifications across the country.

.............

Upping the ante further, Sibal asked Advani to apologise to the nation for the 1999 Kandahar hijacking, when the NDA government released three terrorists, and for the 2001 parliament attack by terrorists.

"I want to remind the house about the plane that was taken from Amritsar (Punjab) to Kandahar (Afghanistan)," he said.

Militants had hijacked an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar and taken all passengers hostage. Acceding to the militants' demand, then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh escorted three terrorists, released from Indian jails, to the Afghanistan town in exchange for passengers aoard the hijacked plane.

Sibal added: "Maulana Masood Azhar after his release formed Jaish-e-Mohammed, which attacked parliament. So parliament was attacked because you (Advani) released him," he said referring to the terrorist attack on the parliament complex Dec 13, 2001.

"You (Advani) should apologise to the house as you were the home minister," Sibal added in a reference to the attack on parliament that India blamed on Pakistan.  more

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Puri Seer lashes out at PM-Sonia, supports Orissa Bandh

By Anurjay Dhal
Last updated: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:04:50 GMT




Bhubaneswar ( Orissa): Shankaracharya of Puri Gobardhan Pitha, Jagadaguru Swami Nischalananda Saraswati was on Wednesday apprehended that some International forces have been working overtime to eliminate Hindus and destroy their age-old culture to register their dominancy in the country.

Gobardhan Peetha is one of the four important mutts of Hindu faith in the country founded by Adi Sankaracharya.

Speaking at a press conference here, that the Hindu Seer, who got a threat letter from the outlawed CPI (Maoists), however indirectly attacking on Church said, "I am not perturbed by the threat call issued by an outfit. I see some others behind the nexus than the CPI (Maoists)."

The outfit in a threat letter, that sent to the Gobardhan Pitha in Puri, has alleged that the Hindu Seer has been spreading communal feelings and dividing society on religious lines.

The Seer charged that Congress led UPA Government at Centre is being patronizing anti-Hindu elements in the country. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi have been making all out effort to appease the minorities, he lambasted.
read ita all here:http://www.odishatoday.com/orissa/Puri_Seer_receives_threat_call_131208-8754120213569854.html

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Arundhati Roy rubbishes POTA-like law

Interview by Rupashree Nanda / CNN-IBN
Published on Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 12:34 in Nation section

New Delhi: Booker Prize winning author and activist Arundhati Roy has expressed a strong disapproval for the call for POTA and says following the American model on homeland security isn't a real option.

In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN, she says the country needs to introspect and not look at the terror attacks in isolation.

Making sense of the attacks?

It’s easy to go along the path and say that there is no reason, it’s complete insanity but I just want to say that if that’s the path we are going to take, we will have to ask ourselves if it is at all possible with any amount of intelligence, and any, any amount of security. If we want to follow the American model, their Homeland Security is twice our GDP. I don't think we have that option.

We have to think about the Pakistan-America relationship. Pakistan is stuck in a war with Afghanistan, it is a war that we are stuck in, it is a part of that war and we are getting a blow back. We have half a million troops just for Kashmir. How many do you need for the whole of India?

On the call for need for stronger laws

The call for POTA seems odd to me. You are up against men who are prepared to die, they are not worried about bailable and non-bailable warrents. What did TADA achieve? Has it been efficient? It was used against trade union leaders. POTA and TADA are being used to criminalise the democratic space. more

Parivar to go ahead with Orissa bandh on Dec 25

Debabrata Mohanty
Posted: Dec 17, 2008 at 0022 hrs IST

Bhubaneswar: Unperturbed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s reiteration that he would not allow Orissa bandh by the Sangh Parivar on December 25, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Sradhanjali Samiti on Tuesday said it would go ahead with its earlier announcement as the state Government had failed to nab the killers and conspirators behind the killing of Saraswati.

On Monday, Naveen told the Orissa Assembly that the state Government would not permit the statewide shutdown on Christmas called by the Sangh Parivar. “No shutdown will be permitted on December 25. The Government will come down heavily on those who try to create any trouble,” the Chief Minister said. The police have already arrested seven persons, including four on Sunday, in connection with the killing of Saraswati.


The Samiti came down heavily on Naveen for his “pro-Church attitude” and warned him with dire consequences as the anger of tribal Kandhs was rising. “We had set a deadline of December 15. The state Government has failed to nab the killers and conspirators. So, we have decided to go ahead with the bandh call,” Samiti president Ratnakar Chaini told reporters.
“The bandh would be observed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. From 5.30 to 5.40 in the morning, people across Orissa would ring bells to wake up the state Government, which is in deep slumber.”

Chaini alleged that the state Government had so far arrested more than 800 Hindus in connection with the communal violence while it could nab only seven persons in connection with the murder case.

Meanwhile, a BJP legislator has alleged that one of the 10 accused arrested for the alleged rape of a nun in Kandhamal was blind. read it all

Monday, December 15, 2008

Cash-for-votes scam: three MPs give dissenting notes

NEW DELHI: The Kishore Chandra Deo parliamentary committee, probing the “cash for votes” scam, carries three dissenting notes from V.K. Malhotra (BJP), Mohammad Salim (CPI-M) and Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party).

Mr. Malhotra disagreed with and distanced himself from the observations and conclusions of the report. He noted that Hashmat Ali, the driver who took the three BJP MPs – Faggan Singh Kulaste, Mahavir Bhagora and Ashok Argal – to Mr. Amar Singh’s residence had failed to appear before the committee; a mysterious man in a yellow shirt frequenting Mr. Amar Singh’s residence who carried the bags containing cash into Mr. Argal’s residence had not been identified; and Mr. Amar Singh was exonerated even before further investigations, which could establish that the money had indeed come from him.

Mr. Salim’s main objection was that the committee had restricted the scope of further investigation by excluding “some important names.” It should have recommended that the entire matter be further probed. Further, he felt that the Speaker could ask the Rajya Sabha Chairman to look into the alleged roles of Mr. Amar Singh and Ahmad Patel, a point also made by Mr. Malhotra.

As for Mr. Yadav, he pointed out that Mr. Kulaste had clearly stated “only Arunji could disclose the source of the money,” and this shows there is no confusion at all, not an iota of doubt, about the source of funds. He also pointed out that the BJP MPs had first said a particular car with a certain number-plate was involved in the operation and four days later had changed their version to signal a different car with a different number-plate. This, he said, was done with malafide intention.

The name of CPI leader A.B. Bardhan, who wrote to the committee saying “his MPs are being bought and sold at Rs.25 crore a piece,” came in for comment.

Twelve Nobel Laureates to participate in a science conclave at Allahabad

A nobel confluence at Allahabad
15 Dec 2008, 1117 hrs IST, TNN

Twelve Nobel Laureates from across the world will participate in a week-long science conclave organised by the ministry of human resource

development (MHRD) and the department of science and technology (DST) at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIIT-A).

According to M D Tiwari, founding director, IIIT-A, "For the first time in Indian and Asian history, 12 Nobel Laureates, leaders, policymakers, research scholars and students including the first batch of DST's 'Inspire' programme, will participate in the conclave to discuss emerging trends in scientific research and technological innovations in the world of science. This is a great opportunity for the Indian scientific community, particularly young minds, to interact with global veterans and stalwarts in the respective scientific disciplines."

Anthony James Liggett, Robert Coleman Richardson, Hersko Ferenc, Martin Lewis Perl, Jerome Isaac Friedman, Harod 'Harry' Walter Kroto, Douglas D Osheroff, Claude Cohen Tannoudji, Rajendra K Pachauri are some of the Nobel Laureates that will participate in the event. more

Four more held for killing Orissa VHP leader

15 Dec 2008, 0053 hrs IST, Sandeep Mishra, TNN
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
BHUBANESWAR: Four more people were arrested on Sunday in connection with the August 23 murder of senior VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati,

taking the total arrests in the sensational case that had triggered widespread communal violence in Orissa's Kandhmal district to seven.

Interestingly, the police success came just a day before saffron brigades' ultimatum to the state government to arrest the killers of the VHP leader, failing which they would organize an Orissa bandh on December 25.

"We have arrested four of the accused and are on the look out for others,'' IG (crime branch) Arun Ray told TOI. Police sources said the four were arrested during raids by Special Operations Group personnel in Kotgarh area of Kandhmal district.

"We're looking for seven accused. We arrested four Christians, believed to be Maoist supporters, for killing Saraswati and four of his followers at an ashram in Jalespeta on August 23, from a place bordering Rayagada district. Search operations are on to nab the other three,'' the sources said. more

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Brazil selling 100 missiles to Pakistan

Brazil’s defense minister says his nation is selling 100 aircraft-borne missiles to Pakistan.

Brazilian officials approved the euro85 million ($107 million) sale of the missiles, which can be installed on jets and used to take out radar installations.

Brazilian news media say Brazil’s air force negotiated the sale with Pakistan’s government. The deal needed the approval of Brazil’s trade ministry, which signed off on the deal on Tuesday.   


World

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

V.P. Singh remembered by Kanchan Ialaiah



Death of a stateman: Indian Lincoln ignored
 
- Kanchan Ialaiah -
 
If someone, who stood by the oppressed, is ignored, even in death, the oppressed will treat that as their own humiliation.

On November 27, I was back home at around 3 pm. Prof Bhagya Naik, who once was a student leader in the Mandal movement, called me and said, "There is  bad news amidst worse news of terrorism. VP Singh has died and an occasional scroll (news ticker) on NDTV is informing us of that."

All TVs were hooked on to the Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House. I tried to catch up with the news of the death of India's former Prime Minister. I went on looking for at least flash news, on any one of the English channels, which are considered to be "national channels". No ticker could be seen. After quite a long time one channel put out the news, "VP Singh dead". No details. No channel was showing his dead body, no discussion was being organised around his role as Prime Minister.

The next day I looked up several news papers. In almost all the publications, a small news item in a corner  of the front page with a regular photo (not of his dead body) was published.

The electronic media has treated his death as inconsequential, at a time when they were protecting the nation, while broadcasting about what was happening minute to minute around the Taj and Oberoi. In fact, the police and military officials were saying that the round the clock TV cameras around those hotels had obstructed the operation of flushing out the terrorists. On those three days TV channels were competing to get top spot to make more advertising revenue. No one would pay to view that 'Mandal ghost's' dead body. The upper caste media had taken its revenge against a man who initiated a mini civil war in order to establish an  egalitarian India.
VP Singh was the one who deployed a serious discourse of social justice and and worked out a method to make India caste free from the position of Prime Minister. In one sense he was comparable to Abraham Lincoln who initiated a major civil war to abolish slavery in America, in late nineteenth century. He was a white man who stood for the rights of the black people. VP Singh initiated a similar battle of social justice in a country of castes and brazen inequality in 20th century India while holding the position of Prime Minister.

He was a Kshatriya who stood by the lower castes who had been suffering inequality for centuries. Abraham Lincoln was killed by the whites. The upper caste anti-reservationists saw to it that VP Singh lost his power within just eleven months. His political life with any meaningful visibility had been murdered since then. Abraham Lincoln became a hero of the blacks and became a villain among racist whites.

Similarly VP Singh became a hero among Dalit-Bahujans (particularly OBCs) and a villain among the upper castes who claimed themselves to be anti-quota. These anti-reservation upper caste  forces claimed that they wanted to save the nation from terrorists. But the forces that are working in the media  must remember that a nation that promotes equality alone can checkmate terrorism that was working in full force on the day when VP Singh died.

The media and the UPA leaders, by treating him like dirt, even in his death, forgot a basic fact of human life. If someone, who stood by the oppressed, is ignored and humiliated, even in death, the oppressed will treat that as their own humiliation. If this is the attitude of the elite towards a man who sacrificed his Chief Ministership (Uttar Pradesh) on moral grounds, his Defence Ministerial position on the grounds of opposing corruption (Bofors case) and became Prime Minister of the nation on his own political movement's strength (transforming Jan Morcha into Janatha Dal) people know how to read the signs. Therefore such media cannot protect the nation from even the terrorists, as the oppressed majority do not believe in it at all.

VP Singh was a philosopher in his own right, a poet and painter. The media behaved as if he was nobody to this nation. He implemented the Mandal Commission Report, to which suicide attempts by upper caste youth were made. This was subsequently followed with a Kamadal Yatra of Advani, who then became a hero of the upper castes.
If Advani had died amidst the trauma of the Bombay terror attacks, would they have ignored his death as they did in the case of VP Singh? Certainly not, because there is big business in talking about him. Most of the people in the press claim  to be secular but when it comes to business and caste communalism, they give it major coverage as it means big money. The media plays a major role in every thing, including arresting terrorism. But it must remember that if people come to disbelieve what they churn out, then even the terrorists would have be placed in safe havens in our civil society.

More than any other prime minister, VP Singh made Indian democracy transformative. But for his intervention from the position of Prime Minister even the survival of politicians like Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad, Kanshiram, Ram Vilas Paswan and Mayawati would have been difficult. Ironically, these leaders from backward communities also did not bother about him. But he was an icon who had a dream for social equality. Ever since he implemented 27 per cent reservation forCentral government jobs he never compromised on the philosophy of social justice and equality.

The media must have ignored him today but a man of his calibre, will be resurrected soon.  courtesy

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Mumbai terrorist came from Pakistan, local villagers confirm


An Observer investigation has established that the lone surviving gunman caught by Indian police during last week's terrorist attacks on Mumbai came from a village in the Okara district of the Pakistani Punjab.

Ajmal Amir Kasab, interrogated in custody after last month's attacks, which killed 163 people, reportedly told Indian security officials that he came from a place called Faridkot in the Punjab province. His father was named as Mohammed Amir, married to a woman named Noor. During the past week, Pakistani sources have cast doubt on the authenticity of the leaked information, which has had a predictably explosive impact on relations between the two countries.

The Observer has obtained electoral lists for Faridkot showing 478 registered voters, including a Mohammed Amir, married to Noor Elahi. Amir's and Noor's national identity card numbers have also been obtained. At the address identified in the list, a man identifying himself as Sultan said he was the father-in-law of Mohammed Amir.

A villager, who cannot be named for his own protection, said the village was an active recruiting ground for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. 'We know that boy [caught in Mumbai] is from Faridkot,' he said. 'We knew from the first night [of the attack]. They brainwash our youth about jihad, there are people who do it in this village. It is so wrong,' he added.

According to the villager and other locals, Ajmal has not lived in Faridkot for about four years but would return to see his family once a year and frequently talked of freeing Kashmir from Indian rule.  more

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Bandh hits normal life in south Orissa


December 6, 2008 PTI

Normal life was paralysed in southern Orissa on the first day of the two-day shutdown called by Maoists to protest the killing of a man by security forces in Gajapati district in November.

Security was tightened and patrolling intensified in Gajapati, Kandhamal and Rayagada districts of the state, where the bandh disrupted vehicular movement and forced the shops to down shutter. Markets also remained closed while offices and educational institutions recorded thin attendance.

Additional police personnel were deployed in sensitive areas and at the entry points where vehicles were checked, official sources said.

Life virtually came to a grinding halt at Mohana and Adaba areas of Gajapati district as well as Bisamakataka and Salada areas of Rayagada where roads wore a deserted look, the sources said.

In Kandhamal, areas like Daringibadi, Raikia, Kotagada, Tumudibandh and Brahmanigaon were hit by the bandh.  more

Maoists abduct four policemen in Orissa


Bhubaneswar (IANS): Maoist rebels abducted four personnel of the Orissa State Armed Police (OSAP) from the State's Malkangiri district, police said on Saturday.

The policemen were kidnapped at gunpoint on Friday when they were travelling in a jeep along with a few villagers near the Chitrakonda reservoir in Malkangiri, about 700 km from Bhubaneswar. The personnel were deployed for anti-Maoist operations in the district.

"A group of rebels stopped them (the policemen) near Chitrakonda reservoir and asked them to get down from the vehicle," District Superintendent of Police Satyabrata Bhoi told IANS over telephone.

"The driver of the vehicle told us that the rebels took the jawans (personnel) away, but left the others (the driver and villagers) behind," he said.

Search operations are underway in the region, Bhoi added. courtesy

Friday, December 5, 2008

Mumbai attack: A Diversionary Attack -BBC Columnist Ahmed Rashid from Lahore

Are Mumbai attacks a chance for peace?

Suspected attackers in Mumbai
The attacks could have been carried out as a diversionary tactic

Guest columnist Ahmed Rashid in Lahore argues that rising tension between India and Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks might provide the two countries with an opportunity to extract a more lasting peace.

If Lashkar-e-Toiba is indeed responsible for the attacks - as Indian authorities claim and Pakistan denies - it will be the second time that the group has single-handedly put the two countries on a war footing. In 2002 each mobilised one million men for nearly a year after Lashkar attacked the Indian parliament.

The attacks have led to rising public anger in India against Pakistan and right wing Pakistani jingoism against India, in which some have even called on the moderate President Asif Ali Zardari to go to war.

.................

Al-Qaeda is looking for some relief and a diversion.

What better way to do so than by provoking the two old enemies - India and Pakistan - with a terrorist attack that diverts attention away from the tribal areas?

Such a move would force Pakistani troops back to the Indian border while simultaneously pre-occupying US and Nato countries in hectic diplomacy to prevent the region exploding.

A diversion such as this would preserve extremist sanctuaries along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and would provide militants with a much needed respite - especially considering that in the next few months President-elect Barak Obama is due to send an additional 20,000 US troops to Afghanistan, backed by more Nato troops.  More

Terrorist’s name lost in transliteration: Kasai became kasav

Terrorist’s name lost in transliteration

Praveen Swami

Unable to communicate in Punjabi, police misspelt Lashkar operative’s caste

MUMBAI: More than a week after the arrest of a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, taken alive during last week’s terror strike on Mumbai, the world’s media still cannot agree on his name.

Muhammad Amin Kasab, Azam Amir Kasav and Azam Amir Kasab are just some of the names that have figured on print and television reports, much to the delight of Pakistani critics, who argue that the terrorist is a fiction invented by India.

His name is in fact Mohammad Ajmal Amir, son of Mohammad Amir Iman, a resident of the village of Faridkot in the tehsil of Dipalpur in [Pakistan] Punjab’s Okara district.

The confusion over Iman’s surname, investigators told The Hindu, stemmed from the fact that the Mumbai Police officers who first questioned him were Marathi speakers, unable to communicate with the south Punjab resident.

While recording Iman’s particulars — his name, address, family details and, in line with standard Indian practice, caste — the officers spoke to the arrested terrorist in Mumbai’s unique Hindi patois.

Iman, mumbling in pain owing to the injuries he had sustained, correctly answered the question about his caste, replying that he hailed from the Kasai (butcher) community. The Marathi-speaking Mumbai Police officers recorded this as Kasav or Kasab, a name unknown in Pakistan or, for that matter, in Maharashtra.

One junior policeman involved in Iman’s early questioning described the process as a little comical. He said: “Here we were talking to the most important suspect we had ever questioned, but we couldn’t understand half of what he was saying and he couldn’t understand us!”  more

Saturday, November 29, 2008

TERRORISM: saffron variety


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TERRORISM

Of saffron variety

ANUPAMA KATAKAM

The Malegaon blast probe points to the existence of Hindu extremist outfits in Maharashtra.

PTI 

• November 2003: A bomb explodes at the Mohammadiya Masjid in Parbhani, Maharashtra. Several injured.

• August 2004: Bomb blast at the Quadriya Masjid in Jalna, Maharashtra. Several injured.

• August 2004: Bomb blast at Merag-ul-Uloom Madrassa in Purna, Maharashtra. Several injured.

• April 2006: Two Bajrang Dal activists die while making a pipe bomb in Nanded, Maharashtra. Investigations reveal that the house belongs to a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) worker.

• January 2008: Bombs explode at Gadkari Auditorium, Thane, Maharashtra. Perpetrators turn out to be members of the Sanatan Sanstha, which is linked to the Hindu Jan Jagran Samiti, a well-known extremist organisation in Maharashtra.

• September 2008: A bomb explodes at Bhikhu Chowk in the largely Muslim-populated town of Malegaon in Maharashtra. Five people die and 89 suffer injuries.  more

Mumbai Terror: Intelligence warnings could not be made useful

NYT Photo Journal: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/11/28/world/20081128-Mumbai/index.html

NYT Photos 2


Pointed intelligence warnings preceded attacks

Praveen Swami

Weaknesses in police infrastructure facilitated the terror strike, government sources say

— Photo: PTI/TIMES NOW 
 
The body of Amarsinh Solanki, captain of the fishing boat ‘Kuber.’

MUMBAI: India’s intelligence services had delivered at least three precise warnings that a major terrorist attack on Mumbai was imminent, highly-placed government sources have told The Hindu.

However, weaknesses in police manpower and training allowed the attacks to proceed, the sources said.

On November 18, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) intercepted a satellite phone conversation, in which a so-far unidentified caller notified his handlers that he was heading for Mumbai along with a certain cargo.

RAW analysts, however, rapidly determined that the apparently innocuous call was made to a Lahore phone number known to be used by the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s main military commander for operations targeting India, who is known only by the code-names ‘Muzammil’ and ‘Abu Hurrera.’

Mumbai Police investigators have determined that the call was made from a satellite phone that was eventually found abandoned on the Porbandar-based fishing boat Kuber, hijacked by the terrorists mid-ocean, most likely on November 19. The satellite phone also contains records of several other calls to Lashkar handlers in Pakistan.  more

Mumbai Terror


e-mail came from Pakistan

Praveen Swami

MUMBAI: Forensic experts have determined that an e-mail claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s terror attacks issued by an until-now unknown terror group was first generated on a computer located in Pakistan. Issued by a group calling itself the ‘Deccan Mujahideen,’ the e-mail was sent out to TV newsrooms, minutes after the attacks in Mumbai.

Based on studies of the internet protocol addresses used to send the mail, computer specialists at India’s RAW found that the Russia-based e-mail address used to send the document was opened early on Wednesday. This e-mail account was opened by a computer user based in Pakistan.

Government sources said RAW experts have determined, using specialised analytical software, that the document was generated using a voice-recognition software which allowed dictated text to be typed in the Devnagari font.

Modelled on a series of English-language manifesto issued by the Indian Mujahideen after the terror group bombed New Delhi in September, the similarities in content and style between the two documents raised the possibility that their authors could be linked. source

Mumbai terror

Why did NSG take 9 hrs to get there?
30 Nov 2008, 0508 hrs IST, TNN
 Print  Email  Discuss Share Save CommentText:
NEW DELHI: The terrorists strike Mumbai at 9.30pm. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is in Kerala. He is briefed about the attack on the city’s 
prime locations. By the time Deshmukh grasps the enormity of the situation, 90 minutes have gone by. 

He rings Union home minister Shivraj Patil at 11pm and asks for NSG commandos. "How many men?" Patil asks. "200," says the CM. Patil calls NSG chief J K Dutt and tells him to send 200 battle-ready commandos to Mumbai. 

Most of the NSG men have to be roused from sleep. They don their uniforms, strap on safety gear, collect ammo and firearms. It is discovered that the only plane that can take 200 men, the IL 76, is not in Delhi but Chandigarh. Precious minutes are ticking by. 

The IL 76 pilot is woken, the plane refuelled. It reaches Delhi at 2am. By the time the commandos get in and the plane takes off, four-and-a-half hours have elapsed. Experts say that unless a response is mounted within 30 minutes of an attack, the enemy can assume key defensive positions. 

It takes the aircraft almost three hours to land at Mumbai airport. Unlike the Boeing and Airbus, IL 76 is a slow plane. By the time the NSG commandos board the waiting buses it is 5.25am.  more

  source

Friday, November 28, 2008

Mumbai Terrorist attacks: Time line

Police declare Mumbai siege over



The attacks in Mumbai began during the evening of 26 November. Reports say the militants arrived on dinghies, possibly launched from an outlying vessel. Here is a list of subsequent events with approximate timings.

WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER

2120 local time (1550 GMT): Gunfire starts at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station when at least two gunmen storm the crowded terminal, firing indiscriminately. Many of the deaths and injuries occurred in this attack.

Operations at Nariman House on 28 November
Troops raided Nariman House early on Friday

2120-2200: Gunmen raid the Cama and Albless Hospital, shooting indiscriminately. Two attackers later killed and two captured.

2120-2200: Gunmen seize control of the Nariman House business and residential complex. Police surround the complex, which houses the Jewish Chabad Lubavitch outreach centre.

2120-2200: Gunmen storm the Cafe Leopold and open fire on diners, causing numerous causalities.

2120-0100: Gunmen storm the Oberoi-Trident hotel, where about 380 people are staying.

2120-0100: At least seven gunmen enter the lobby of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where about 450 people are staying, and begin firing. Large fire reported.

2250: Gunfire reported at Times of India offices.  more

Siege of Mumbai

Armed Teams Sowed Chaos With Precision
Published: November 28, 2008

MUMBAI, India — As Prasan Dhanur prepared his 13-foot boat on Wednesday evening for a hard night of fishing, he saw something strange.

A black inflatable lifeboat equipped with a brand new Yamaha outboard motor threaded its way among the small, wooden fishing boats at anchor and pulled up to the slum’s concrete pier.

Ten men, all apparently in their early 20s, jumped out. They stripped off orange windbreakers to reveal T-shirts and blue jeans. Then they began hoisting large, heavy backpacks out of the boat and onto their shoulders, each taking care to claim the pack assigned to him.

Mr. Dhanur flipped his boat light toward the men, and Kashinath Patil, a 72-year-old harbor official on duty nearby, asked the men what they were doing.

“I said: ‘Where are you going? What’s in your bags?’ “ Mr. Patil recalled. “They said: ‘We don’t want any attention. Don’t bother us.’ “

Thus began a crucial phase of one of the deadliest terrorist assaults in Indian history, one that seemed from the start to be coordinated meticulously to cause maximum fear and chaos.

The details are still fragmentary; Indian officials are saying little publicly. But from interviews with witnesses and survivors, it seems clear that the men on the boat were joining a larger terrorist force, which included some attackers who, unconfirmed local news reports say, had embedded themselves in Mumbai days before the attacks. Their synchronized assaults suggested a high level of training and preparation.

Mr. Dhanur and Mr. Patil said in interviews that they did not see the guns hidden in the backpacks, and did not call the police as they watched the 10 men walk into town on Wednesday, leaving their boat and windbreakers at the dock. Not long afterward, fanning out across South Mumbai, as other attackers spread out after landing in other boats, the men began unleashing deadly assaults everywhere they went.  more

China official daily says don't rule out Hindu radicals in the Mumbai terror strikes

China official daily says don't rule out Hindu radicals

Sat, Nov 29 04:06 AM
The Chinese Communist party's mouthpiece - the People's Daily - has carried a news article, indicating involvement of Hindu radicals in the Mumbai terror attacks. The article has based its argument on a "red thread" worn by the attackers on their wrists.
The article - written in Chinese - contributed by its India-based correspondent Ren Yan, noted that although the Deccan Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the attack, "it can be seen from the red thread worn by the attackers around their wrists that they could be Hindus".
Unnamed analysts are quoted as saying: "Radical elements from Hinduism could also carry out this attack, because they have long opposed the US's hegemonistic policies".
It also said that "India's growing proximity to the US has invoked their strong oppositions. Some within the Hindu community are unhappy with domestic and foreign policies of the Congress-led Government and may have engineered this attack in order to influence the outcome of the approaching general elections."  more