Meditate

The President Obama 'nd the First Lady reading to kids at school

2009-02-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

Sakshat Laptop for USD 20

2009-02-03T07:54:00.000-08:00

According to the Financial Times, India is planning to produce a laptop for about USD20. The "Sakshat" laptop is intended to boost distance learning to help India fulfil its overwhelming educational needs. It forms part of a broader plan to improve e-learning at more than 18,000 colleges and 400 universities. However, some analysts are sceptical that a USD20 laptop would be commercially sustainable and the project has yet to attract a commercial partner.

No US Mediation in Kashmir Issue

2009-01-28T18:04:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration has made it clear that it is not in the mandate of U S Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke to deal with the Kashmir issue, thus allaying India's fears of a third party intervention in its ongoing tension with Pakistan.
''His (Holbrooke's) mandate is to go out and try to help bring stability to Afghanistan, working closely with Pakistan to try to deal with the situation in the FATA region,'' acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood said on Tuesday.

The spokesman said, ''With regard to Kashmir, I think our policy is well-known. I think India has some very clear views as to what it wants to do vis-àvis, dealing with the Kashmir issue, as well as the Pakistanis. But with regard to Ambassador Holbrooke's mission, as I said, is to deal strictly with the Pakistan-Afghanistan situation,'' Wood said.

When asked whether Holbrooke would play any role ''if there are heightened tensions again over, the Mumbai incident,'' the spokesman said, ''I don't want to speculate in terms of what he may or may not do, but his brief is focused solely on Afghanistan.'' This statement made it clear that the new US administration has no intention to mediate in the Kashmir issue, virtually accepting India's longstanding position to settle the issue bilaterally with Islamabad without any third party intervention.

Certain utterances of President Barack Obama during an election campaign led to the impression that his administration might try to mediate between New Delhi and Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.

2009-01-28T07:01:00.000-08:00

FOR GALLANTRY - Ashok Chakra for Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar & Omble Mumbai:

2009-01-25T23:09:00.001-08:00

PREZ TO CONFER MEDALS President Pratibha Patil will present the medals to the next of kin of these of- ficers and personnel during the Republic Day parade

The country's highest peacetime gallantry medal, the Ashok Chakra, would be conferred on nine security personnel including Anti Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, Assistant Sub-Inspector Tukaram Omble and three others who were killed in 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
National Security Guards (NSG) commando, Gajender Singh who was also killed fighting the terrorists would receive the prestigious award, conferred for the most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Kirti Chakra, an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle has been conferred on Senior Police Inspector (Railways) Shashank Shinde who was killed by the bullets of the lone Pakistani terrorist captured, Mohammed Ajmal Amir alas Kasab.

Apart from Shinde, Police Constable (Security Branch) Ambadas Ramchandra Pawar and Mukesh Bhikaji Jadhav, Home Guard, would also receive the Kriti Chakra posthumously. Pawar and Yadav were both killed in the attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).

THE NATION SALUTES THEM - 133 personalities conferred Padma awards

2009-01-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

The country's high est civilian award -- Bharat Ratna -- has been conferred on noted 86-year-old vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar, noted environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna, first Olympic Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, cricket captain M S Dhoni and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are among 133 personailties honoured with Padma awards this year. PADMA VIBHUSHAN Kakodkar, who was actively involved in bringing the IndoUS civil nuclear deal to fruition and 82-year-old Bahuguna, popular for his Chipko movement to save trees, were among the 10 distinguished persons to get Padma Vibhushan, the nation's second highest civilian award. The other recipients included ISRO Chief G Madhavan Nair, the man behind the historic unmanned Moon mission 'Chandrayaan', Sister Nirmala of Kolkata-based Missionaries of Charities and First Chancellor of Sweden-based World Maritime University Chandrika Prasad Srivastava. Historian D P Chattopadhyaya, Jasbir Singh Bajaj (Punjab) and Purushotam Lal (UP, both medicine), former Governor and noted civil servant Govind Narain and industrialist A S Ganguly(Maharashtra) were the other Padma Vibhushan awardees. PADMA BHUSHAN Shooter Abhinav Bindra, Information Technology and National Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda, economist Isher Judge Ahulwalia and Editor-in-Chief of Indian Express Shekhar Gupta were among the 30 eminent personalities awarded Padma Bhushan. PADMA SHRI Among the 93 persons chosen for Padma Shri were Team India captain M S Dhoni, spinner Harbhajan Singh, singer Udit Narayan Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, world billiards champion Pankaj Advani, R K Krishna Kumar of the Taj Group of Hotels and veteran broadcaster Ameen Sayani . PTI

MUMBAI ATTACK - Pak serious about India's dossier

2009-01-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

Pakistan is taking India's dossier on the Mumbai terror attacks "extremely seriously" and will "have to act fast" to complete its probe, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.
"The dossier passed on to the government of Pakistan, we are taking it extremely seriously, and we have already started (an) investigation and the results will come soon," he told the 'Financial Times' daily in an interview.

Gilani also hinted that Pakistan could consider the option of extraditing terror suspects to India if relations between the two countries were normalised.

Replying to a question on whether he would ever agree to extradition of terror suspects to India, he said: "So far there is no such thing. But that depends on our normalisation of relations."

Asked how quickly the Pakistani investigation into the Mumbai attacks will proceed, Gilani replied, "I don't want to step into the domain of the Interior Ministry but at the same time we have to act fast."

The Premier said he had also spoken to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh about extending full cooperation for further intelligence sharing. "And even for getting to the culprits, we'll be needing their assistance," he said.

If any culprits are detected during the Pakistani investigation, the government will "proceed according to the law and we will ensure...that justice will be done", he said.

The Indo-Pak ties nose-dived in the wake of the Mumbai attacks that killed over 180 people. India blamed Pakistan- based elements for masterminding and coordinating the attacks.

After weeks of denial, Pakistan recently acknowledged that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested in India during the attacks, is a Pakistani national.

Asked if it was his understanding that the attacks were launched from Pakistan, Gilani said: "No, this is not the issue because the Government of India doesn't blame the government (of Pakistan), they don't even blame the organisations, institutions.

"They were only pointing out to the individuals, those people, are from every part of the world." Gilani described the New Year's greetings and peace message he had recently received from Prime Minister Singh as "a good sign".

Noting that Uzbek, Chechen, Arab and Afghan terrorists are operating in Pakistan, Gilani contended that such persons should be countered but an attack could not be launched on their country of origin.

Tales of crisis, courage and comedy

2009-01-24T06:13:00.000-08:00

‘Sainik Samachar’ celebrates its centenary with a vivid collection of news and images from a century of military history

Few times in the recent past have the Indian Armed Forces been held in as high regard as they are right now. The special force operations during the Mumbai terror strike, the anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and the brouhaha over pay increases have kept the men in uniform continuously in the public consciousness. One cannot ask for a better time, therefore, to launch Soldiering On, a well-produced coffee table book to commemorate 100 years of Sainik Samachar, the Armed Forces’ news journal.

The book carefully and painstakingly chronicles the evolution of the Sainik Samachar from its launch in 1909 as the Fauji Akhbar—through various wars, a partition and a change in India’s status from domain to republic to, finally, its current avatar: A fortnightly published in 14 languages and read by thousands of soldiers and ex-servicemen.
Although positioned as a history of the Sainik Samachar, Soldiering On cannot help but become a visual history of the Indian soldier. This means that the book is illustrated with superb pictures infrequently seen outside military circles. The Armed Forces, in the sense of a national unified entity, may only be a few decades old. But as Soldiering On testifies, they have seen their fair share of trials and tribulations. The images in the book, even the ones blurred by age and poor preservation, do justice to these tales.
Two things stand out about the book. One is its balanced view of protagonists: The soldier, the politician and the passage of time are given adequate importance. So, for every few pictures of an Indian unit marching through pouring rain in World War I France, there is one of Indira Gandhi speeding up a ramp into a warship, officers trailing behind, and yet another of milling crowds around the Parliament building in New Delhi on 15 August 1947.
Second, the compilers of the book throw open the archives of the Sainik Samachar to readers and let them draw their own historical conclusions. This, from the Armed Forces, no less, shows a candour rare in popular Indian historiography. Without resorting to petty revisionism to show the evils of colonialism and the “British yoke”, Soldiering On sets the tone for its stance early on in its preface: “We leave it to our discerning readers to form their own opinion.”
Images of Jallianwala Bagh and old Sainik Samachar excerpts denouncing Mahatma Gandhi are left without interpretations or embellishments.
History buffs will enjoy how the book depicts the transient nature of our relationships with neighbours. A poignant picture shows Indian armymen bidding farewell to Pakistani counterparts shortly before the partition of both countries. Later ones show both war and friendship attempts between the countries. One of the final few images is that of armed black-helmeted commandos at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel.
All this might leave you thinking the book is all grim reportage and gritty soldier profiles. But the Sainik Samachar also carried delightful features by popular writers—Khushwant Singh, Ruskin Bond and Mulk Raj Anand (on Indian classical dancing)—and extremely funny cartoons. If the samples in Soldiering Onare anything to go by, the archives of Sainik Samachar should easily have enough material for a compilation of excellent humour in uniform.
Soldiering Onis a classic coffee-table book: Excellent eye candy for a quick flip-through, and plenty of insightful reading when you kick up your heels.

BARACK OBAMA KEEPS HIS DATE WITH DESTINY Sworn in as 44th President, first black to lead US

2009-01-20T18:03:00.001-08:00

In a defin ing moment in US history, Barack Hussein Obama was Tuesday sworn in as the country's 44th and the first black President at a 150 million dollar extravaganza watched by some two million people with a blunt message to terrorists all over the world - "we will defeat you.'' Obama began his inauguration speech with: "My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors…'' Climaxing the unlikeliest of journeys to the White House, the 47-year-old African-American who has raised unprecedented expectations worldwide was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr on a chilly morning at 12:06 PM (22.36 IST ), 12 minutes behind schedule, on the steps of the West Front of the Capitol Hill where the US Congress sits.
"...For those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us and we will defeat you,'' Obama told citizens of his country hungry for change after George W Bush's divisive wars in two distant lands and the economic troubles that shook the country and the rest of the world.

The huge crowd from across America and many from outside lapped up every idea that the charismatic Democrat propounded in his tryst with history during his 20-minute address after he took oath.

In an apparent reference to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama said, "our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred''. Conscious of the anti-American sentiments in some parts of the world, he reached out to the Muslim world saying the US seeks a new way forward based on 'mutual interest and mutual respect'. The country's fourth youngest president referred to the mix of nationalities living in the US saying, ''We know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non believers.'' Having come to power with a message of hope and promise of change, Obama said the nation is in the 'midst of a crisis' and urged people to usher in an 'era of responsibility'. ''Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America-they will be met,'' Obama said. Shattering racial barriers as the first Afro-American head of America, Obama, the son of a black Kenyan and white mother from Kansas, took his oath placing hands on the same Bible used at the 1861 inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, whose Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery.

Obama assumed office nearly 11 weeks after winning the November 4 Presidential elections defeating the Republican candidate John McCain. Significantly before Obama, a president had never been sworn in by a chief justice he voted against. Indian ambassador to the US Ronen Sen was among those present at the costliest inaugurals estimated to have cost 170 million dollars.

Obama told the world community that, ''America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.'' George W Bush, who attended the swearing-in ceremony with his wife Laura, was thanked by his successor for his service to the nation as well as the generosity and cooperation he had shown throughout his transition. Inheriting the economic troubles, the worst since the depression in the 1930s, Obama called for bold and swift action to revive the economy.

Bush, who leaves Washington as one of the nation's most unpopular and divisive presidents after a eight-year rule, watched the first change of guard since 2001 along with his wife Laura. Former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H Bush and Bill Clinton were also present. The incoming First Lady Michelle Obama carried to the platform the Bible on which the country's fourth youngest president placed his left hand, and repeated the 35-word oath of office with right hand raised promising to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States', adding 'so help me God' at the end. Obama decided to use his full name-Barack Hussein Obama--for the swearing-in. TRYST WITH HISTORY MUSLIM CONNECT "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect,'' Obama said in his inaugural speech MANDELA HAILS OBAMA Anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela compared Barack's inauguration as US president to SA's historic transition to democracy I am thankful, grateful, and joyful and will now take pride in being known as Citizen Bush, said the outgoing president BUSH GREETS OBAMA Outgoing US President George W Bush and wife Laura greeted his successor Barack Obama and wife Michelle at the White House

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MUSH TALKS TOUGH - 'Punish Mumbai attackers'

2009-01-18T04:26:00.000-08:00

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that anyone involved in November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai must be punished, but warned that "hysteria" in India over the deadly siege threatens stability on the Indian subcontinent.
"If there is proof, there must be action," Musharraf said during a speaking event at Stanford University on Friday. But he added, "Let us not get hyper about it and whip up hysteria in the country so that the process of peace gets totally disrupted." Musharraf offered his thoughts on combating terrorism, the roots of Islamic extremism, the state of Indian-Pakistani relations and other issues at Stanford University, where he gave a speech and answered questions from students.

The former military ruler is on his first speaking tour in the United States since he resigned as Pakistan's president in August to avoid impeachment. Musharraf said while it was important to bring extremist groups under control, it was even more important to resolve the Kashmir problem, an issue he says has inflamed tensions between the two neighbors and given rise to militant groups.

Musharraf said that poverty, illiteracy and political alienation - as well as political disputes over Palestine, Kashmir and other territories - were among the root causes of terrorism, and those issues had to be addressed in order to rid the world of terrorists.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Army Chief General Ashfaque Kayansaid Pakistan wanted to defuse tensions with India following the Mumbai attacks but without any compromise or under pressure. Agencies

2009-01-17T22:32:00.000-08:00

JONBEEL FAIR - Royal allowance for Kings of Assam

2009-01-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

At last the nineteen traditional customary kings under the ancient Kingdom of Gobha have got something to cheer for.
The government of Assam on Saturday announced 'annual royal allowance' for the nineteen customary kings of various communities. Assam education minister Goutam Bora on Saturday distributed the bank cheques among the customary kings at the Jonbeel Mela (fair).

There are nineteen customary community kings under the Gobha Kingdom, which includes parts of three districts of present Assam - Morigaon, Nagaon and Kamrup. Jonbeel (a wetland) Mela was first organised by the Ahom kings several centuries back to discuss the prevailing political situation.

The Assam education minister said that this is for the first time that the government has announced the royal allowance and added that the kings would receive monetary allowance of something between Rs 3000 and Rs 10,000 depending on the population count under them.

Expressing his happiness over the development, King of Gobha Deep Singh said, "It is a welcome move by the government of Assam. We have been demanding this for a long time as the economic condition of all these customary kings is going down. If we do not receive any assistance from the government, it would be difficult to maintain even the tradition of hosting the annual Jonbeel Mela, which has become an important tourist destination."

Echoing similar sentiments Ahom King Susenfa Pratap Singha said that the amount would help the kings in many ways. " The Mela was initiated by our predecessors to maintain cordial relations among all communities," he said while adding that the government assistance would help the kings to fulfil the predecessors' dreams.

Economic crisis result of greed: Dalai Lama

2009-01-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

I am not an economist, but it is difficult for a common man to understand how market forces can be beyond human control, because markets are the creation of human beings themselves," Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said at a press conference. In his view, the economic crisis was the result of unlimited greed, a lack of transparency and lies. The Dalai Lama opined that spirituality has the power to teach containment, truthfulness, honesty and morality.
Stressing that media has a very important role to play in the given situation, he said, "We write as if there is no future but it is also important to show that 'yes', there is a future". Media must play a more positive role in making and shaping the world.

MUMBAI ATTACK - PM tells Pakistan to come clean

2009-01-17T18:57:00.000-08:00

Mounting pressure on Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked the neighbouring country to come out with a "full and complete disclosure" of all the facts surrounding the November 26-29 ghastly Mumbai terror attack - and made it clear that it should supplement its words with action.
"I urge the Pakistani authorities to come out with a full and complete disclosure of all the facts surrounding the case, without attempts at denial, diversion or obfuscation," Dr Singh said, addressing corporate leaders at a function at the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, which too was one of the targets of the Lashkar-e-Toiba-sponsored attack.

The 60-hour-long attack carried out by a group of 10 fidayeens had left more than 170 dead and over 300 injured.

He said Pakistan should act against the LeT and other ter rorist groups and their sponsors - in its own interest. "It should ensure that nothing like Mumbai, or the attack on our embassy in Kabul ever happens again," he said in a blunt message. He said that apart from hundreds of innocent Indians, civilians from 21 countries were either killed or injured in the attacks.

Dr Singh said that India has shared the evidence that it gathered so far on the incidents with Pakistan and others.

"Pakistan has admitted that the arrested terrorist is their national. We expect Pakistan to take all the consequent next steps against all those who have planned, organised and executed these horrific crimes," he said.

In its first formal response to India with regard to the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan had on Friday said it had initiated a "series" of actions in connection with the probe into the terror strikes and claimed to have shut down five training camps . Prime Minister Man mohan Singh on Saturday said India's woes due to the global meltdown will continue in the next fiscal, and predicted a lower growth of 6.5-7 per cent this year.

"I must emphasise that our problems will not be over in the current year," the Prime Minister said at The Economic Times Awards function at the sea-facing Trident Hotel. The function was attended by the who's who of corporate world.

"The difficult period will continue into 2009-10. The government will plan on continuing its efforts for a supporting environment next year also. Both the monetary and fiscal policies will have to be tailored to that objective." He said in no uncertain terms that growth in the current year will be lower than last year, as the country's gross domestic product had expanded just 7.7 per cent in the first half of 2008-09, against 9.1 per cent the previous year.

"The latest estimates for the final outcome in 2008-09 vary between 6.5 and 7 per cent. The exact figure is not critical. The important point is that although growth is lower, it is still much higher than most other countries." "Furthermore our agricultural sector is doing well. The brunt of the recession is being felt in the areas that had seen rapid growth earlier. This imposes pain but hopefully these sectors are more able to cope with temporary difficul ties." The Prime Minister said the Indian economy was fortunate that the inflation rate had eased considerably to around 5 per cent and was expected to decline further, giving ample flexibility for monetary policy.

"But on the fiscal side, our space is limited. The fiscal deficit in the current fiscal year will be much higher than originally planned. This is not something to be tolerated indefinitely."

The Prime Minister said business leaders in the corporate sector would have to cope with difficult and changing market circumstances, while responding to the challenges that lie ahead. "Crises are also opportunities to reposition oneself, overcome weaknesses and be ready to resume growth as the world turns upward."

According to Manmohan Singh, the governments of the industrialised world were well aware of the gravity of the crisis and were taking a series of unprecedented and proactive steps to counter the recession.

He said his government, too, has taken a number of measures to counter the global downturn, while asking the corporate sector to realise that the domestic policy action cannot completely negate the effect of a global downturn. "There will be a full recovery to our normal economic potential, but this will take place when global econo my reaches normalcy."

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2009-01-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

Pakistan Government has taken stiff action against all LET operatives

2009-01-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

JuD publications banned, 6 websites closed

Pakistan said on Thursday that its security forces had closed have training camps run by Lashkar-e-Toiba, the group blamed for the Mumbai attack, and arrested 124 of its leaders and those of a related charity, and added that Azhar Masood, chief of banned terror out?t Jaish-e-Mohammed, was not in the country.
Prime Minister’s adviser on interior affairs Rehman Malik told a press conference that the government launched a probe into the Mumbai attacks soon after the incident and as part ‘of our efforts we banned Jamaatud-Daawa (JuD) publications and shut down six websites and arrested 124 people for their involvement in militancy’.

Malik said that the law enforcing agencies throughout the country had arrested 124 people belonging to JuD including its chief Ha?z Saeed, Colonel (retired) Nazir Ahmed, Amir Hamza, the editor of Ghazwa, Mufti Abdul Rehman and Zakiur-Rehman Lakhvi.

He said that their publications - monthly Al-Dawa, Zarb-e-Taiba, weekly Ghazwa, Nane-Mujahid and Al-Rabita magazine - have also been banned.

The government has also closed down all websites of JuD including their main website www.jamatdawah.org that used to carry messages by the organisation’s leadership.

Malik said that 22 offices, two libraries, 87 schools, seven ma drasas and ?ve camps suspected to be used for training have been dismantled in Punjab. He said that Pakistan was taking action on information provided by India but ‘we should not be in a hurry’.

‘’Masood Azhar is not in Pakistan and we are also trying to locate him,’’ Malik said. He said that his government was committed to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. He said that both Pakistan and India are nuclear states and need to act ‘with responsibility’.

The adviser with minister rank, who is considered a close con?dante of President Asif Ali Zardari, said that the government understands that the Indian government is under tremendous public pressure. Malik said Pakistan had assured India at every level of its ‘unconditional support to India in the Mumbai probe’. Agencies

'Slumdog Millionaire'

2009-01-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

Music Maestro Allah Rakha Rahman, known as the Mozart of Chennai, becomes the first Indian to win a Golden Globe for providing the Best Original Music in a film He scored the music for British director Danny Boyle's movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Rahman dedicated the award to his musicians and the 'billion people of India' The movie also won the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Motion Picture Drama awards. The cast includes Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Dev Patel and Freida Pinto M usic maestro A R Rahman, who became the first Indian to win the prestigious Golden Globe Award, dedicated it to the 'billion people of India', as British director Danny Boyle's Mumbaibased saga 'Slumdog Millionaire,' bagged four prizes at the ceremony on Monday.

Rahman made history by becoming the first Indian to win the Golden Globe for the Best Original Music Score for 'Slumdog Millionaire', which also won the best film and two other awards.

Directed by British filmmaker Danny Boyle, the rags-to-riches story of a Mumbai slumdweller swept awards in all the four categories it was nominated for, brightening its prospects at the Oscars next month. The film won the Best Director award for Boyle, the Best Music Score for Rahman, Best Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy and also the Best Motion Picture Drama prize. Rahman (43), who won the prestigious award for his music score 'Jai Ho' in the film, thanked the director and fellow musicians in Mumbai and Chennai, besides the 'billion people from India'. ''Unbelievable..! I thought, I would not win, so anyway thanks to the almighty God for bringing me here... Danny Boyle, Fox pictures, all my musicians in Chennai, Mumbai,.. and the billion people from India,'' the Chennai-based musician said while accepting the award at a star-studded ceremony in Beverly Hills in California.

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, who was at the ceremony to represent India, introduced the film to the foreign audience with 'Slumdog' actress Frieda Pinto. Boyle's film depicts the heart-warming story of an orphan Jamaal, who goes on to win the Indian version of popular game show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' to get his love back. It also stars Bollywood actors Irrfan Khan and Anil Kapoor, who played the host of the game show in the film.

The ceremony also saw Australian actor Heath Ledger being honoured posthumously for his portrayal of the villainous Joker in Batman sequel 'The Dark Knight'. Ledger became the second actor to win the award posthumous after Peter Finch, who had won the Best Actor award for his film 'Network' in 1976.

British actress Kate Winslet romped home with both the best actress and the best supporting actress awards for her performances in 'Revolutionary Road' and 'The Reader' respectively. She pipped aside the likes of Meryl Streep - 'Doubt', Anne Hathaway 'Rachael Getting Married,' Angelina Jolie - 'The Changeling' and Kristin Scott -Thomas in best actress category.

Actor Colin Farrell won the Best Actor award for his performance in the film 'In Bruges'.

The award for Best Animated Film went to 'Wall-E' and Israeli film 'Waltz With Bashir' was adjudged the Best Foreign film. Director Steven Spielberg was presented with the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement. Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt's drama 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', 'Frost/Nixon' and 'Doubt' failed to get any awards despite being nominated in five categories. The event saw the A-listers of Hollywood - Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Robert Downey Jr, Sally Hawkins, Tom Cruise, and Steven Spielberg among others. PTI

Pakistani spy chief says no war with India

2009-01-07T04:31:00.000-08:00

“We may be crazy in Pakistan, but not completely out of our minds. We know full well that terror is our enemy, not India, ” ISI chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha told the German magazine, Der Spiegel
Reuters

Islamabad: The chief of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, has said there will not be a war with India over November’s militant attacks on Mumbai, Der Spiegel reported. Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha told the German magazine in an interview terrorism, not India, was Pakistan’s enemy, and he said he took orders from the civilian president.
“There will not be a war,” Pasha said. “We are distancing ourselves from conflict with India, both now and in general.”
India blames Pakistan militants for the attack on Mumbai by 10 gunmen who killed 179 people. It has revived tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours who have fought three wars since 1947.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stepped up a war of words on Tuesday, saying for the first time the assault “must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan”.
Pakistan has denied any involvement by state agencies and rejected Singh’s accusation, saying India was ratcheting up tension and risked destroying all prospects of a serious and objective investigation.
Pasha said that soon after the Mumbai attack, Pakistan had anticipated an India military response.
“At first we thought there would be a military reaction. The Indians, after the attacks, were deeply offended and furious, but they are also clever,” he said.
“We may be crazy in Pakistan, but not completely out of our minds. We know full well that terror is our enemy, not India.”
The Pakistani government had initially offered to send Pasha to India to help with the investigation but withdrew the offer, apparently after objections from the top brass.
Pasha told Der Spiegel he had been willing to go to India.
“Many people here are simply not ready,” he said in the interview, published on Spiegel Onlne.
India sent evidence on Monday to Pakistan that it said linked Pakistani militants to the attacks, including data from satellite phones and what it describes as the confession of a surviving attacker
Pakistan said it had got a dossier and was examining it.
Pasha, a former chief of military operations, was appointed director-general of the military’s main security agency in September, two months after the government that came to power after February elections tried to bring it under the ambit of the Interior Ministry.
The government dropped the attempt in the face of objections from the military.
But Pasha said he and the military fully supported the government, led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, replaced former army chief Pervez Musharraf as president in September.
“It is completely clear to the army chief and I that this government must succeed. Otherwise we will have a lot of problems in this country,” Pasha said.
“The result would be problems in the west and east, political destabilisation and trouble with America . Anyone who does not support this democratic government today simply does not understand the current situation.”
The dissolution of an ISI section responsible for spying on Pakistani politicians in November was seen as a military concession to the civilian government, Der Spiegel said.
“I report regularly to the president and take orders from him,” Pasha said.
Pasha said ISI officers were allowed to hold different opinions: “But no one can dare to disobey a command or even do something that was not ordered.”
Pasha also dismissed speculation of a secret agreement allowing the US to attack militants in Pakistan with missile-firing drone aircraft.
“But to be honest, what can we do against the drone attacks? Should we fight the Americans or attack an Afghan post, because that’s where the drones are coming from? Can we win this? Does it benefit Pakistan?”

Middle East & Africa Current Situation in Gaza is Appalling

2009-01-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

WFP

A Palestinian family who fled from their house rest in a United Nations aid center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip January 3, 2009. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

The current situation in Gaza is appalling and many basic food items are no longer available on the market," said Christine van Nieuwenhuyse, Representative of The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"Palestinian families living in Gaza are facing a variety of shortages of essential items and services," she added in a press release on Jan.3,2009.

WFP has said it urgently requires US$ 9 million to meet foreseen additional food needs caused by the upsurge in fighting.

The uninterrupted Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Strip have so far killed 442 Palestinians and injured over 2200.

WFP said is responding to growing humanitarian needs in Gaza by distributing bread to families in areas that have been badly hit by the recent upsurge in conflict.

As an emergency response to alleviate the suffering of families living close to areas affected by conflict, on Thursday WFP started an emergency distribution of bread in Beit Hanoun for 3,000 poor families - some 15,000 people who have not previously received WFP food assistance. This area in northern Gaza is one of the poorest and most heavily affected by the recent conflict.

Since the intermittent opening of the crossing points in November 2008, Palestinian families in Gaza have experienced a drastic deterioration in living conditions, with reduced quantities of food available on the market, shortages of cooking gas and fuel, and frequent power cuts.

The recent attacks in the Gaza Strip have prevented WFP and its partners from operating at full capacity and have delayed the normal distribution of food to 265,000 non-refugees and vulnerable individuals.

The difficulty of guaranteeing humanitarian access into Gaza over the last two months have reduced the availability of WFP food stocks, which would have helped address the new needs. WFP has 3,300 tons of food in warehouses which will be drawn down as food distributions resume, security permitting, over the next month. More food convoys are planned to replenish stocks for current and new food needs.

The scarcity of wheat has meant that the majority of mills and bakeries have stopped working in Gaza, and there is an acute shortage of bread, the staple food for Palestinian people.

"We are responding to the immediate food emergency needs as much as we can, but the destruction of local infrastructure, and the shortages of basic utilities such as fuel and gas mean that more people will fall into poverty, and have no other option than to be assisted by the international community," Nieuwenhuyse said. (Emirates News Agency, WAM)

Gaza school strike forces Barack Obama to break his silence

2009-01-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

The death of forty-two people in an Israeli attack at a UN-run school in Gaza today finally forced Barack Obama to break his silence over the conflict.

"The loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel is a source of deep concern for me," the US President-elect said.

But he would not be drawn further, promising to abide by his principle that only George W. Bush would speak for American foreign policy while he was still president. Mr Obama added that would have plenty more to say after his January 20 inauguration.

Gordon Brown said the recent fighting marked the "the darkest moment yet for the Middle East".
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* ‘We’re wading in death, blood and amputees'

The attack, which appeared to come from an air strike from two Israeli F16s, happened at the al-Fakhora school in Jabaliya refugee camp, causing carnage inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. Initial reports had said the devastation was caused by a tank shell exploding.

Bodies lay scattered on the ground in pools of blood amid shredded clothing and shoes after the attack, in which several dozen people were also wounded.

As the death toll in the conflict rose, the United States administration appeared to be split on its stance towards the conflict. The US State department today made its first call for an end to the violence but a spokeswoman for the White House said she was confident Israel was taking care to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.

"We would like an immediate ceasefire, absolutely,” said Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman. “An immediate ceasefire that is durable, sustainable and not time-limited."

Israel has continued to defy international calls for a ceasefire and earlier moved its troops deeper into southern Gaza to intensify its ground offensive.

But Dana Perino, spokeswoman for the White House, said: “I saw the reports about the school. I don’t have any information about that. I think that we should not jump to conclusions and we should wait to find out what the evidence says.

“What we do know is that Hamas often hides amongst innocents and uses innocent people, including children, as human shields."

Those who died in the attack today were people sheltering in the school and local residents, medical officials at two local hospitals said. “I saw a lot of women and children wheeled in,” said Fares Ghanem, an official at Kamal Radwan Hospital. “A lot of the wounded were missing limbs and a lot of the dead were in pieces.”

The number of children killed in Gaza has now reached 100, according to Save the Children. The figure does not include those killed today.

Ken Caldwell, the charity's Director of International Operations, said: “Young children are suffering the worst of this crisis. They are under immense stress, often unable to sleep, some in such a state of shock that they are unable to cry.

“The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening hour by hour. Thousands of young lives are now in acute danger. Every world leader must urgently push again for a ceasefire and immediate humanitarian access, otherwise children will continue to die."
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* Anti-Semitic attacks rise in Europe

* Sealing Egypt border 'key to Gaza ceasefire'

* ‘We’re wading in death, blood and amputees'

Schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) have opened their doors to provide shelters for thousands of Palestinians who have fled their homes. At least 17 schools are sheltering more than 5,000 people. Nine of the schools in the Jabaliya refugee camp are in the front line of fighting.

Three people were also killed at another UN-run school in the southern city of Khan Younis when Israeli tank fire showered the building where they were sheltering from the conflict. More than 600 Palestinians have lost their lives during the battle between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, which is now in its 11th day. A quarter of those are civilians, according to the UN. Three people also died in an air strike on a school in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, medics said.

Max Gaylard, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for the Palestinian territories, said that Israel had the GPS co-ordinates of all UN buildings in Gaza – including its schools. “Neither homes nor UN shelters are safe” for civilians, he said in a statement that reaffirmed UN ceasefire calls.

“These tragic incidents need to be investigated, and if international humanitarian law has been contravened, those responsible must be held accountable."

John Ging, the top UN official in Gaza, said: "There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorised and traumatised."

Speaking from the largest hospital in the region, he said: "I am appealing to political leaders here and in the region and the world to get their act together and stop this. "They are responsible for these deaths."

Twenty-four Hamas rockets were fired into Israel today; one wounding an Israeli infant.

Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours. One died in an attack by Hamas militants in the north of Gaza city this morning. Four soldiers were killed and 30 wounded in two separate “friendly fire” incidents overnight. Three of them were killed when the building in which they were taking cover was hit by one of their own tanks. The fourth soldier was also killed by an errant tank shell. Israel has lost six soldiers since the start of ground incursions into Gaza on Saturday.

The Israelis today moved troops into Khan Younis in southern Gaza widening the ground assault that it began four days ago after a week of air strikes failed to stamp out cross-border rocket fire.

President Sarkozy of France has travelled to Syria and Lebanon to seek a deal for a cessation of violence amid international efforts to broker a ceasefire.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, said that a ceasefire could be put in place only if Hamas were prevented from rearming and ended rocket attacks into Israel. "I have dedicated the past two years to reach a peace agreement with Syria and the Palestinians. I am not a man of war; I am a man of compromise. I am a man of peace, whose conditions of compromise may be painful, but will bring peace to the people of Israel," he said.
Related Links

* Anti-Semitic attacks rise in Europe

* Sealing Egypt border 'key to Gaza ceasefire'

* ‘We’re wading in death, blood and amputees'

Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy for the Quartet of the EU, the United States, the UN and Russia, said that a ceasefire was achievable if the supply of arms to Hamas was blocked through the border between Egypt and Gaza.

Gordon Brown said he was hopeful of a ceasefire in the region and that the international community had to work hard to achieve a sustainable and immediate solution to the fighting. "This is a humanitarian crisis," he said. "This is the darkest moment yet for the Middle East and it affects the rest of the world." The Prime Minister said he was in talks with world leaders and supported the reinstatement of European Union monitors on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Israeli forces said that they had struck the home of one of the founders of the Hamas rocket division this morning. They said Iman Siam was in his house at the time of the air strike in Jabalya, in northern Gaza.

The British Government has announced that it will send £4 million for humanitarian aid to the region, the first tranche of the £6.8 million it recently agreed to send to Gaza to help to meet basic needs such as food, water and fuel.

DIPLOMATIC OFFENSIVE - India gives 26/11 evidence to Pak

2009-01-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

Special briefing held for envoys of over a dozen countries
Stepping up its diplomatic offensive, India today handed over to Pakistan evidence linking that country to the Mumbai attacks and prepared to share the proof with the world community with an expectation that Islamabad would cooperate in punishing the culprits.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held a special briefing for the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of over a dozen countries, including the US, UK, Israel, France, Japan, Germany, Turkey and Canada here to apprise them about the details of investigation into the Mumbai attacks.

Describing the Mumbai attacks as an "unpardonable crime", India asked Pakistan to promptly follow up on the evidence by holding further probe there and share the results with New Delhi so that the guilty are brought to justice. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he had also written to his counterparts around the globe, giving details of the Mumbai attacks, and hoped that the "world will unite" in ensuring an end to cross-border terrorism faced by India. "We have today handed over to Pakistan evidence of the links with elements in Pakistan of the terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008," Mukherjee told reporters here. His statement came soon after Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik to hand over the dossier, which includes confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist held during the Mumbai attacks, and other material. "What happened in Mumbai was an unpardonable crime," Mukherjee said and asked Pakistan to implement the bilateral commitments it has made at the highest levels to India and "practice its international obligations". The External Affairs Ministry said "this material is linked to elements in Pakistan" and "it is our expectation that the government of Pakistan will promptly undertake further investigations in Pakistan and share the results with us so as to bring the perpetrators to justice."

The evidence includes confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist held during Mumbai terror strikes, records of GPS and satellite phones used by the attackers and transcript of conversations between the attackers and their handlers in Pakistan. Pak examining evidence Islamabad: Hours after India handed over evidence linking elements in Pakistan to the Mumbai terror strikes, Islamabad on Monday assured the US that it was examining the "information" and would frame a formal response soon. PTI

109-YEAR-OLD EX-C0P REVEALS SECRET OF LONGEVITY

2009-01-05T00:25:00.000-08:00

The secret of longevity sounds simple. "To gain sound health, eat less than your full appetite and do not worry over petty issues," 109-year-old Bhiku Khandu Narute said here on Sunday.

Narute, who turned 109 on January 1, was felicitated by Federation of Senior Citizens Organisation Maharashtra (FESCOM), Pune zone, here on Sunday. Commissioner of Police Dr Satyapal Singh felicitated Narute calling him his 'ex-veteran colleague'. Narute had worked with the city police till his retirement in June 1968. Narute is hailed as the oldest surviving ex-policeman in the city.

"I don't have diseases that people commonly have, like diabetes and blood pressure. I can still hear, see and talk well," Narute told Sakaal Times after the felicitation function.

The grand old man said his crossing the century-mark was a bit unique, but he did not consider it as anything special.

Narute, who hails from Phaltan taluka in Satara district, retired as an assistant sub-in spector from the city police. He is presently living with his family in Gokhale Nagar. He married in 1937 and had three daughters and a son. His son, however, passed away after a brief illness.

Three generations of Narute's family are serving with the police.

"One of my three daughters is in the police force. My sonin-law is also a cop and recently my grandson joined the police force. It is a proud feeling for me to serve the nation," said Narute.

Recalling his special memories, he said, "I was on security duty of Mahatma Gandhi, when he was kept at Aga Khan Palace during the movement for freedom."

He also recalled the nabbing of dacoit Kondhya Navale in the hilly area of Junnar taluka in Pune district, which he said, occurred five to six decades ago.

Except for the wrinkles on his face, he does not show any major sign of ageing in his overall appearance.

Narute came by himself to attend the function. His wife, in her 90s, was slated to attend the function, but could not come.

FESCOM Pune zone president N V Kodolikar, secretary Arvind Kulkarni, president of Virangula Kendra Ramanbhai Shah were present on the occasion.

Narute, responding to the felicitation, made a brief speech. Referring to the recent terror attack in Mumbai, he said, "A handful of foreigners come to our land and do the damage they want. It is our duty as citizens to remain alert and avoid such tragedies in the future." Seeing the fervour and dutifulness of this veteran ex-policeman, Commissioner of Police Dr Satyapal Singh saluted Narute. Dr Singh later affectionately shook hands with him.

FBI hands over Mumbai evidence over to Pak: Report, Qureshi rejects India's demand.

2009-01-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

London/Islamabad, Jan 4 (PTI) The FBI has reportedly given to Pakistan evidence amassed on involvement of elements based in that country in the Mumbai carnage even as Islamabad today rejected India's fresh demand to turn over terror suspects linked to the strikes.

The evidence included the Laskhar-e-Toiba handlers' warning to the attackers about the arrival of Indian commandos while watching the mayhem live on TV and a "Aag lagao" (Light the fire) order, the British newspaper 'Sunday Times' reported. The report said Pakistan has rejected the alleged FBI evidence Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi ruled out handing over the suspects insisting that there was no extradition treaty between the two neighbouring countries.

There can be no comparison between Pakistan's extradition of terror suspects to the US and India's demand for the handing over of persons linked to the Mumbai attacks, Qureshi told reporters in his home-town in Multan, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanded that Pakistan hand over terror suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks.

"We have a treaty with the US, we do not have an extradition treaty with India. Please do not compare, every situation is not identical," Qureshi said on the eve of arrival of a top US diplomat Richard Boucher visiting Islamabad to push Pakistan to act against the Mumbai attack perpetrators.

Another media report in a Pak daily quoting a senior unnamed Pakistani official said Pakistan may allow Indian investigators to "grill" the suspects after being provided with "sufficient evidence" of their involvement but will not hand them over to New Delhi. PTI

Mika

2009-01-04T17:35:00.000-08:00

Mika - Grace Kelly (live)

Love Today - Mika - Live

Mika - Lollipop

Michael Holbrook Penniman [1][2][3](born 18 August 1983), known as Mika (pronounced /ˈmiːkə/), is a London-based, Grammy-nominated and BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter, who has a recording contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music. He rose to fame around the end of 2006 and the start of 2007.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Early Life
* 2 Musical career
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Discography
* 5 Video Releases
o 5.1 2007
o 5.2 2008
* 6 Awards
o 6.1 2007
o 6.2 2008
* 7 References
* 8 External links

[edit] Early Life

Mika was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the third of five children born to a Lebanese mother and an American father. When he was a year old his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris. After listening to Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box," he wrote his first song, which he describes as an "awful" piano instrumental called "Angry". The family moved to London when he was nine years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying. He also had problems with dyslexia. He experienced a break-down at age 11, and was home-schooled by his mother for six to eight months.[3]. He then attended St Philips School in Kensington. Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records.[4] He has also slightly altered his given name, Mica, changing the "c" to a "k," because he was frustrated by how often people would mispronounce it.[5]

[edit] Musical career
Mika playing keyboard at V Festival 2007

Mika was trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional. His public performances and jobs have varied from classical performances in the Royal Opera House to writing in-flight music for British Airways and creating an Orbit chewing gum jingle. His debut radio appearance was on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006, Later with Jools Holland and on The Friday Night Project on 19 January 2007.[citation needed] While he is rumoured to have a vocal range of five octaves,[4] he claims that it is actually closer to three and a half octaves. [6]

In January 2007, Mika was at the top of the BBC News website's Sound of 2007 poll.[7]
Mika live in concert

His first single was a limited 7"/download release called "Relax, Take It Easy" (2006). It was play listed by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, and was also made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. The Dodgy Holiday EP is also available for download. His song "Billy Brown" was available for free download for a week from the iTunes Store.

Universal Music released his single "Grace Kelly" by digital download on 8 January 2007, and it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 2007. The CD, 12", and limited-edition 7" versions were released on 29 January 2007. The release features remixes by Tom Neville, Bimbo Jones, Linus Loves, and Pull Tiger Tail.

Produced and mixed by Greg Wells in Los Angeles, with three songs co-produced by Jodi Marr and John Merchant, who produced the orginal songs which garnered him his deal with Universal. Mika's début album Life in Cartoon Motion was released on 5 February 2007, and has brought comparison with artists such as Freddie Mercury,[8][9] Scissor Sisters,[10] Elton John,[11] Prince,[12] Robbie Williams[13] and David Bowie.[13]

He was the musical act for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 26 March 2007[14] and 14 February 2008 and for Jimmy Kimmel Live on 27 March 2007.[15] He also performed live on So You Think You Can Dance on 26 July 2007.

Mika toured the United States and Canada in June 2007, with support from Sara Bareilles and Natalia Lesz.

In 2007, Mika won three awards, the most of any artist, at the World Music Awards, the annual ceremony, held since 1989, at which awards are given for the highest selling recording artists internationally. He is the first artist to have won three World Music Awards in just one year.

In September 2007, Mika began his Dodgy Holiday Tour, playing at venues across Europe. On November 17, 2007, Mika started the UK leg of his tour with support from Palladium. The North American leg of his tour began in January 2008 with support from The Midway State and continued through February with a stop in Los Angeles for the 50th Grammy Awards.

His debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, has a coming of age theme and deals with his transition from childhood to the present, though he has stated that not all of the songs are autobiographical. His songs often deal with difficult topics. For instance, in "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" the theme of larger women suffering from discrimination is explored. Mika has said that the fact that his mother was a big woman, and that he had seen the prejudices against her, helped him to write the song.[citation needed] In another example of dealing with more difficult subject matter, in the song "Billy Brown", Mika writes about a married man who has a homosexual affair.

On 20 February 2008, Mika opened the 2008 BRIT Awards with a live performance of "Love Today," "Grace Kelly," and a duet, "Standing in the Way of Control," with Beth Ditto. He was later awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough Artist.

[edit] Personal life
Mika at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival

Mika comes from a family of three girls and two boys. He has one younger brother and one younger sister along with two older sisters. His sister Yasmine, who works as an artist under the nom de plume Dawack, painted the cartoon art for his album "Life in Cartoon Motion." Because of his flamboyant stage persona, there have been rumours that Mika might be gay. In response to media speculation on this theme he has been quoted as saying "I never talk about anything to do with my sexuality. I just don't think I need to. People ask me all the time. But I just don't see the point." He added that "in order to survive I've kind of shut up different parts of my life, and that's one of them, especially this early in my career."[16]

He denied allegations that he is steering clear of sexual taboos in order to appeal to the US market, pointing to the song "Billy Brown", which is about a man who has a homosexual affair. He is quoted as saying, "If I was worried about sexual taboos I certainly wouldn't have made the record I made. It has nothing to do with that. It has more to do with self-respect."[17] In an interview in the US gay magazine Out he stated that there "is a way of discussing sexuality without using labels."[18]

[edit] Discography

Main article: Mika discography

Life in Cartoon Motion

[edit] Video Releases

Main article: Mika discography

[edit] 2007

* Live in Cartoon Motion

[edit] 2008

* Live Parc Des Princes Paris

[edit] Awards

[edit] 2007

* World Music Awards
o Best-Selling New Artist -- Won
o Best-Selling Male Pop/Rock Artist -- Won
o Best-Selling British Artist -- Won

* MTV Europe Music Awards 2007
o Best Solo Artist -- Nominated
o Best Track - "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated

* Q Awards
o Best Breakthrough Artist -- Nominated
o Best Hair on an Artist -- Won

* Vodafone Live Awards
o Best Male Artist -- Won

* UK Festival Awards
o Best Festival Pop Act -- Nominated

* BT Digital Music Awards
o Best Pop Act -- Nominated

* Premios Principales
o Best International Non-Spanish Language Artist -- Nominated
o Best International Non-Spanish Language Song - "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated

* The Record of the Year (UK) 2007
o "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated

* Virgin Media Awards
o Best Track -- "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated
o Best British Act -- Nominated
o Best Male Artist -- Nominated

[edit] 2008

* The 50th Grammy Awards
o Best Dance Recording - "Love Today" -- Nominated

* 2008 BRIT Awards
o British Male Solo Artist -- Nominated
o British Album - "Life in Cartoon Motion" -- Nominated
o British Single - "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated
o British Breakthrough Act -- Won

* NRJ Music Awards
o International Revelation of the Year -- Won
o International Song of the Year - "Relax, Take It Easy" -- Nominated
o International Album of the Year -- Nominated
o Music Video of the Year - "Relax, Take It Easy" -- Nominated

* Swiss Music Awards
o Best International Newcomer -- Nominated

* ECHO Awards
o Best International Male Artist -- Nominated
o Best International Newcomer -- Won

* Capital Awards
o Best British Male Artist -- Won
o Best British Album - "Life in Cartoon Motion" -- Won

* Amadeus Awards (Austrian Music Awards)
o Best International Single - "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated

* MTV Video Music Awards Japan
o Best New Artist Video - "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated

* MTV Australia Video Music Awards
o Video of the Year - "Happy Ending" -- Nominated

* TRL Awards (Italy)
o Man of the Year -- Nominated

* Ivor Novello Awards
o Best Selling British Song - "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated
o Songwriter of the Year -- Won

* Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards
o Best Male Singer -- Nominated

* MTV Asia Awards
o Favorite Breakthrough Artist -- Nominated

* TMF Awards
o Best International Pop -- Won
o Best International Male Artist -- Nominated

[edit] References

1. ^ Pareles, Jon (2007-03-31). "A rising British pop star revives a Mercurial style", The New York Times. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
2. ^ "Artist of the day: Mika", Spin (2007-03-27). Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
3. ^ a b Mccaffrey, Julie; and Adam Luck (2007-01-29). "Mika, Teenage prodigy of the Royal Opera", The Daily Mirror. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
4. ^ a b Paphides, Pete (2007-01-05). "Triumph of a tortured soul", The Times. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
5. ^ http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/09/19/mika-aka-mica-penniman-facing-a-lawsuit-over-name/
6. ^ "Live interview with Mika". Rove. Channel Ten, Australia. 2007-03-06.
7. ^ Youngs, Ian (2007-01-04). "Singer Mika tops BBC talent", BBC News. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
8. ^ "Mika uses Freddie's piano?", Metro (2007-01-24). Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
9. ^ Jones, Emma (2007-01-05). "Sound of 2007: Mika", BBC News. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
10. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (2006-12-07). "Mika", The Guardian. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
11. ^ Bray, Elisa (2007-03-01). "V is for victory - and for virtuoso", The Independent. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
12. ^ Phares, Heather (N/A). "Mika", AllMusic. Retrieved on 12 May 2008.
13. ^ a b "Introducing the sound of 2007: Mika", The Belfast Telegraph (2007-01-23). Retrieved on 20 March 2007.
14. ^ "Episode 16.142". The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. NBC. 2007-03-26. No. 142, season 16.
15. ^ "Episode 5.111". Jimmy Kimmel Live. ABC. 2007-03-27. No. 111, season 5.
16. ^ Grew, Tony (2007-01-24). "Brit pop star won't say which way he swings", Pink News. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.
17. ^ Adams, Cameron (2007-03-15). "Cartoon hero", Herald Sun. Retrieved on 6 April 2007.
18. ^ Krochmal, Shana Naomi (2008-01-28). "Mika's Second Verse (Same As The First?)", Out (magazine). Retrieved on 15 February 2008.

[edit] External links
Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mika

* Mika's official website
* Mika at MySpace
* Mika Music Videos
* Pop’s New Queen July 2007 Out magazine story on Mika
* Audio interview recorded on March 2007 in Toronto, Canada
* Upcoming Tour Dates
* Soundfires.com Review of Grace Kelly
* Mika discography at MusicBrainz

[hide]
v • d • e
Mika
Albums
Life in Cartoon Motion
Singles
"Relax, Take It Easy" • "Grace Kelly" • "Lollipop" (airplay release) • "Love Today" • "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" • "Happy Ending" • "Relax, Take It Easy" (re-release) / "Lollipop"
DVDs
Live in Cartoon Motion • Live Parc Des Princes Paris
Other articles
Mika discography

ON AFGHANISTAN - Pentagon gives bleak view on Afghanistan

2009-01-04T07:03:00.000-08:00

BY YOCHI J . D REAZEN ·························
WASHINGTON
Top Pentagon officials gave Congress pessimistic assessments of the war in Afghanistan, with the nation’s highest-ranking military officer warning that the U.S. is “running out of time” to stabilize the country.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified one day after President George W. Bush announced a plan to gradually withdraw some 8,000 U.S.

troops from Iraq while sending an additional 4,500 troops to Afghanistan. The Pentagon believes the Iraq war has begun winding down while the Afghanistan conflict is intensifying.

Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday, Mr. Gates said the U.S. had entered the “endgame” in Iraq. “We are reducing our commitments in Iraq and we are increasing our commitments in Afghanistan,” he told the lawmakers.

The administration’s handling of the two wars has reemerged as a key issue in the presidential campaign. Democratic candidate Barack Obama, who has long called for deploying at least 10,000 more troops to Afghanistan, criticized Mr. Bush’s redeployment plan as inadequate. Republican rival John McCain said Senator Obama’s call for large-scale troop withdrawals from Iraq would endanger recent gains there.

Wednesday, Mr. Gates called for a cautious withdrawal from Iraq, noting that commanders didn’t yet believe the country’s security improvements were “necessarily enduring.” He also said some U.S. forces likely would remain in Iraq for “many years to come.” The testimony came during a bloody period in Afghanistan. Seven years into the war, the resurgent Taliban have launched a wave of attacks on U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces. Suicide bombings, once a rarity in Afghanistan, are now a common occurrence, and more U.S.

troops are being killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq.

“I’m not convinced we’re winning in Afghanistan,” Adm.

Mullen said, adding that he was “convinced we can.” Mr. Gates and Adm. Mullen detailed an array of worrisome dynamics in Afghanistan, from persistent shortages of Western military personnel to what they described as the corruption and ineffectiveness of the fragile Afghan government.

The two leaders also blamed much of Afghanistan’s instability on neighboring Pakistan, with Adm. Mullen asserting that insurgents were crossing into Afghanistan from “safe havens” in Pakistan’s lawless border regions.

Adm. Mullen told lawmakers that he was planning to develop a new strategy for the war that would focus on the situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. “These two nations are inextricably linked in a common insurgency that crosses the border between them,” he said.

The two men faced skeptical questioning from Democratic lawmakers, who accused the Bush administration of shortchanging Afghanistan by lavishing American military and financial resources on Iraq. There are 146,000 U.S.

troops in Iraq and 34,000 in Afghanistan.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (Democrat, Missouri) said top U.S. commanders in Iraq were given “every resource needed” while senior American officials in Afghanistan had “to plead publicly” for additional troops.

“No one has been able to explain to me why Iraq is our first priority based on national-security interests,” Rep. Skelton said. “How can it be when those most likely to attack us are in Afghanistan?” Gen. David McKiernan, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has repeatedly called for three additional combat brigades, or about 10,500 to 12,000 more troops.

Adm. Mullen acknowledged that the 4,500 troops slated to deploy to Afghanistan in coming months wouldn’t “adequately meet” Gen. McKiernan’s request but described them as a “good start.” —wsj@livemint.com
EMAIL

Michael Flatley rare performance Royal Variety Show

2009-01-04T03:19:00.000-08:00

Israeli tanks roll into Gaza to crush Hamas

2009-01-03T21:28:00.000-08:00

From Times Online
January 3, 2009

COLUMNS of Israeli tanks and ground forces roared across the border into northern Gaza under cover of darkness in the first step of a full-scale land invasion last night.

Their mission was to destroy rocket launch facilities and capture or kill the Hamas leadership, the militant Islamists who gained control of the territory 18 months ago.

The incursion, on day eight of the war in Gaza, followed hours of artillery barrages aimed at clearing the way for the 10,000 Israeli troops who had massed on the border.

In a three-pronged attack three brigades entered Gaza. Tracer fire could be seen and Israeli television reported fierce clashes. Residents in Gaza City reported heavy bombing.

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1951: Homeless in Gaza - plight of Arab refugees in Palestine
1956: Gaza escape route choked with Arab refugees
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‘This operation won’t be easy and it won’t be short’
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Gaza conflict
The troops, supported by helicopter gunships, advanced on the heavily armed refugee camp at Jabaliya, a Hamas stronghold.

In early clashes Palestinian sources claimed that several Israelis had been killed along with a Palestinian child. The Israelis claimed “dozens” of Hamas fighters had died.

Israel announced a call-up of tens of thousands more reservists. Tzipi Livni, foreign minister and candidate for prime minister, threatened further escalation if Hamas hit back.

“The moment they fire we will respond with great force,” she said. “It could be that several operations will be needed.”

Ehud Barak, the defence minister, said: “We are not war hungry but we shall not allow a situation in which our villages, towns and civilians are constantly targeted by Hamas.

“We restrained ourselves for a long time but now is the time to do what needs to be done.” The operation, he said, “won’t be easy and it won’t be short”. In a veiled warning to Hezbollah, the Islamist militia in Lebanon, he said: “We hope the northern front will remain calm, but we are prepared for any possibility.”

Israeli military officials said their mission was to eliminate the Hamas rocket launch units.

“The objective at this stage is to destroy the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas in . . . order to greatly reduce the quantity of rockets fired at Israel,” said Major Avital Leibovich.

Inside Gaza, Israeli special forces of the Shaldag (kingfisher) and Duvdevan (cherry) units were tracking down leading figures in the military leadership of Hamas. Israeli military planners would like to “behead” the organisation without becoming entangled in a prolonged occupation.

Leaflets dropped earlier in the day over Gaza City and the border areas urged Palestinians to flee their homes. “For your own safety, you are required to leave the area immediately,” stated the warning from the Israel Defence Forces.

An Israeli airstrike yesterday killed Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, a senior Hamas military commander.

Later, in one of at least 30 airstrikes on Gaza, 13 Palestinians, including children, died when an Israeli jet bombed a mosque in Beit Lahiya. Hamas yesterday launched more than two dozen rockets.

Israel launched its ground offensive because despite more than 750 air attacks last week, it had failed to stop the rockets. Inside Gaza there were desperate scenes with no bomb shelters and few places to flee. Food, water and medical supplies were all running short for the strip’s 1.5m residents.

David Miliband, the foreign secretary, issued a statement saying: “Unfolding events show the urgent need for the immediate ceasefire that we have called for . . . We are determined to work as quickly as possible for a durable ceasefire which must include an end to the smuggling of arms into Gaza and the opening of the Gaza crossings.”

Thousands of protesters converged on Whitehall yesterday and other protests were held throughout the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

The United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, called for an immediate end to Israel’s ground operations. The UN security council was due to meet early today to consider the situation while Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is due to visit Tel Aviv early this week with a ceasefire proposal.

During the Israeli army’s Operation Cast Lead, over 460 Palestinians have been killed. More than 2,100 have also been wounded. Hamas has launched more than 400 rockets, killing four Israelis.

Israeli tanks expected in Gaza Strip as foreigners are allowed to flee

2009-01-03T01:55:00.000-08:00

From The Times
January 3, 2009

Hundreds of Israeli troops and tanks could enter the Gaza Strip this morning
IMAGE :1 of 3
James Hider on the Gaza border and Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem
Israel is poised for a big ground offensive in the Gaza Strip after allowing hundreds of foreigners to leave the devastated territory.

The Times understands that Israeli troops and tanks will imminently be operating inside the area as part of large-scale operation to prevent Hamas from firing rockets into southern Israel.

One of the main thrusts of the attack could be the so-called Philadelphi Road that runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt, under which Hamas has smuggled arms, missiles and men through a network of tunnels. Israel controlled the border until its army withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

A week of airstrikes has killed at least 430 Palestinians and left scores of buildings as rubble, despite diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire. Hamas rocket attacks have killed four Israelis since the fighting began.

TIMES ARCHIVE
1951: Homeless in Gaza - plight of Arab refugees in Palestine
1956: Gaza escape route choked with Arab refugees
RELATED LINKS
Russian wives must leave men behind in Gaza
Protests against Gaza attack sweep across the world
Hamas rockets threaten Israel’s nuclear plant
MULTIMEDIA
Gaza conflict
Despite the looming onslaught, the rocket squads fired yet more projectiles into southern Israel yesterday. Hamas vowed that its barrage, which has lasted for years and which finally provoked the Israeli campaign, would not stop. “I call on the resistance to continue pounding Jewish settlements and cities,” said Sheikh Abdelrahman al-Jamal at the funeral of Nizar Rayyan, a Hamas political leader killed, together with his four wives and 11 children, in an Israeli airstrike on his home. “We will remain on the path of jihad until the end of days.”

The funeral was held outdoors because an earlier air raid had smashed the mosque where the service had been due to take place. Israel said that the building had been used to stockpile weapons.

Among the mounting Palestinian death toll yesterday were three young brothers, aged 7 to 10, who were killed in one of the 30 or so strikes carried out by Israeli warplanes. All along the border, Israeli tanks and troops have turned fields into muddy, makeshift camps from which to launch their offensive. The Government has already mobilised more than 6,000 reserve troops and has given the green light to call up almost 3,000 more. Artillery barrages were also fired into the strip, while aircraft bombed the open ground that the hundreds of troops will need to cross, and where Hamas has placed mines and dug tunnels to outflank the invaders.

Support for Operation Cast Lead remains high in Israel, with polls showing that almost 85 per cent of the public back the campaign.

Hamas has an estimated 15,000 fighters who have used the 18 months that they have controlled the Gaza Strip to hone their skills in anticipation of open combat with Israel.

The onslaught has provoked large antiIsraeli demonstrations around the world, with protests yesterday in India, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia. But Hamas’s calls for a “day of wrath” in the Palestinian territories produced only a lukewarm response in the face of clampdowns by Israeli security forces. Several thousand protesters marched through the West Bank city of Ramallah and youths in east Jerusalem threw stones at Israeli security forces and 50 women demonstrated outside the Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque. The protesters directed their anger at their own Palestinian leaders, and heads of Arab countries whom they felt had not done enough to stop Israel’s incursion. “[President] Abbas is with the Jews, not with the Arabs. If he really was supporting and working in favour of our Arab brothers in Gaza, this would not have happened,” Um-Mahr, a 66-year-old resident of east Jerusalem said. Akram Jwaeibis, 58, said that Arab leaders were afraid to do more than voice criticism of the Israeli Government. “That is why we are waiting for [the Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah. Or [the Hamas leader Ismail] Haniya to do something more.”

Diplomatic efforts to contain the crisis were growing after Israel’s surprise offensive. “We are working towards a ceasefire that would not allow a reestablishment of the status quo ante where Hamas can continue to launch rockets,” Condoleezza Rice, the outgoing US Secretary of State, said.

A high-level European delegation is due in the region this weekend, as are President Sarkozy of France and Tony Blair, the international community’s envoy to the Middle East.

2009, Year of Ox

2009-01-01T02:57:00.001-08:00

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

The New Year has finally set in, with much anticipation that it will be a year filled with blessings.

The year 2009 is the Year of the Ox, according to Chinese astrology. The ox is the second animal in the zodiac and often associated with honesty, faithfulness, strength and gentleness.

But it also sometimes represents stupidity and stubbornness. The animal was an indispensable asset for Korean agriculture, as it was used to plow the soil here day after day. As such, ox people are believed to labor through their daily responsibilities either at work or at home without complaint.

The basic character of oxen is success through hard work and sustained effort, finding no benefit in concocting get-rich-quick schemes.

Ox as Time, Space and Zodiac Sign

According to the National Folk Museum of Korea, the Chinese zodiac marks time and space based on the movement of heavenly bodies and seasonal change. The lunar calendar is structured over a 60-year cycle that consists of two separate interacting cycles ― the ten ``heavenly stems'' and the 12 zodiac animal signs.

The ox is the second animal in the zodiac and the five ox years within the 60-year cycle are called ``eulchuk,'' ``jeongchuk,'' ``gichuk,'' ``sinchuk,'' and ``gyechuk'' in that order. The ox year comes every 12 years.

The ox also symbolizes north-northeast, as seen by the markings on star maps and sundials. This unique concept of time and space was used extensively for fortune telling and is frequently expressed in charms, divination books, gravestones and guardian god figures.

Close Companion

As Korea has traditionally been an agricultural society, oxen meant much more to farming families than just livestock.

The ox was indispensable for its role in plowing fields and as a means of transportation for its owner. It was also considered a ``walking safe'' that could be sold when its owner was in urgent need a large sum of money, the museum said.

The importance of the ox in Korean agricultural communities is reflected well in traditional ancestral rituals. Ox horns, skins and fat were widely used in daily life, not to mention the meat that was regarded as a premium food ingredient.

There is an old Korean expression that ``there is nothing to waste from an ox except for the yawns.''

Traits and SymbolismM

The ox is often described as dependable, patient, hardworking, strong and gentle. These positive attributes became symbolism reflected in religion, philosophy, literature and many other aspects of daily life.

The folktale of an ox saving its owner from a tiger is regarded as an example of the Confucian ideal of loyalty. The image of a shepherd boy riding its back is straight out of a Taoist handbook.

In Buddhism, the ox symbolizes the essential goodness of human nature. The shape of a lying ox or the shape of its stomach was a feng shui technique to determine ideal housing sites, according to the museum.

Honesty and integrity are often the themes in proverbs about oxen, and such symbolism is evident in everyday items.

Oxen in Folk Customs

The importance of draft animals is reflected in shamanistic rites of ancient times.

The ``sonoreum gut,'' or ox worship rite, is a shamanistic ceremony performed for good harvests, good luck and prosperity for the family and local community. It is performed around the first full moon of the new year of the lunar calendar.

Through singing and dancing, the shaman dramatically attempts to tame cattle to make plows, showing the ritual's nature as an agricultural rite.

The most distinctive part of the performance comes at the end, when the shaman hops on a swing made of two blades and swings forward to exorcise evil spirits. Although there are different types of ``sonoreum gut'' around the Korean Peninsula, the double-blade swing appears only in Pyeongsan, Hwanghae Province, now part of North Korea.

Exhibitions Featuring the Year of the Ox

The National Folk Museum of Korea is presenting an exhibition focusing on the images and symbolism of the ox in Korean traditional culture and its roles in everyday life over the course of time.

The items, on display until March 2, reveal how closely images of the ox are connected with various aspects of daily life.

The exhibition displays an ox-horn inlaid box, spool, cloth holder, paintings of farming scenes, glasses made of ox horns, cardiac stimulant made from bezoars and paintings of birds and flowers.

The Jeonju Historical Museum is also holding an exhibition featuring ox-related items through Feb. 22.

Consisting of 12 parts, the exhibition displays ``dangsajudo,'' a fortune-telling book from the late Joseon period, a feng shui book, a replica of ``Jeongjo Sillok'' including a letter forbidding the butchery of cattle, folk paintings, fans with spokes made of double slips of bamboo decorated with pictures of cows, plows and yokes.

The museum said that it also has panels introducing interesting stories from and characters born in the Year of the Ox.

The Debec Plaza Gallery in Daegu is presenting ``The Friendly Cow 2009'' through Jan. 7. The exhibition displays about 50 artworks with cow themes by 16 artists, varying from oil paintings, engraving prints, folk paintings, sculptures and ceramics.

Featured artists include the late Park Su-geun, Yang Dak-seok, Kim Ki-chang and Hwang Yu-yeop.

Famous Ox People

Celebrities who were born in the Year of the Ox are set to take a great leap this year.

Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Yun-jin, Jung Woo-sung, and Lee Jung-jae were born in 1973, the year of the ox.

Highly-acclaimed actress Jeon, who has won many accolades including the best actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in ``Secret Sunshine'' in 2007, will give birth to a baby this month while taking a rest after filming ``My Dear Enemy.''

Kim, who recently received rave reviews for her work in the Korean film ``Seven Days,'' will begin shooting ``Lost: Season 5'' from this year. Kim is well known in the U.S. for her role as Kwon Sun-hwa on the ABC television series.

Jung has become a businessman after launching his cosmetic line targeting the 20-30 demographic in association with Lee Jung-jae. He also achieved great success with the Korean blockbuster movie ``The Good, The Bad, The Weird'' last year.

Lee has extended his career range from gentle and soft to his profligate character in the film ``1724 Hero.'' He's also involved in the fashion business with Jung

NSG hubs in four cities soon Nodal intelligence centre to share inputs with others

2008-12-31T19:49:00.000-08:00

NSG hubs in four cities soon Nodal intelligence centre to share inputs with others

The Centre today gave legal backing to a nodal intelligence centre to share inputs with all other intelligence agencies, including that of the states, even as it unveiled a number of other steps to beef up internal security systems in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks.
It also announced the coming into force from tomorrow of the National Investigating Agency (NIA), a federal organisation to probe terror acts across the country, and deterrent anti-terror amendments made to law.

Steps would also be initiated soon to set up NSG hubs in four cities, a coastal command and 20 counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism schools. A decision has also been taken to procure 20,000 bullet-proof jackets for central para-military forces on an urgent basis. Addressing a press conference to present a report on the functioning of his Ministry one month after taking over the portfolio, Home Minister P Chidambaram said beginning today the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) has become operational on a 24x7 basis.

The MAC, established in the Intelligence Bureau, as the nodal centre on all intelligence relating to terrorism, has not be able to fully achieve its objectives. "Hence, it was decided that a legal colour should be given to the order establishing MAC", he said. Accordingly, an executive order was issued today under which the MAC has been obliged to share intelligence with all other intelligence agencies, including agencies of the state governments and the Union Territories.

Likewise, all other agencies have been obliged to share intelligence with MAC, Chidambaram said adding tomorrow he would chair a meeting in MAC. "With the order spelling out the functions, powers and duties of MAC, I expect that there will be a distinct improvement in the gathering and sharing of intelligence relating to terrorism, terrorist threats and terrorist offences," he said. Subsidiaries of MAC (SMAC) have been established in many state capital and in due course an SMAC will be established in every state capital, the Minister said. He said in the new set up it will be a mutually beneficial arrangement under which all intelligence agencies share intelligence on a real-time basis and are able to make joint preliminary assessment of intelligence.

The Home Minister said Presidential assent was received today for the NIA Bill and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill which were passed by Parliament in the just concluded winter session. PTI

Thanks to the Snow, Maybe

2008-12-31T19:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Snow, Maybe

By Lim Young-ae

Although winter is my least favorite season, whenever it snows, my heart still pounds like that of a teenage girl. It is a blessing for us to have snow during this desolate season.

Most people might have special memories about snow, myself included.

After meeting a young man, my early 20s were filled with periods of anxiety and pain. Cherishing somebody whose mind was somewhere else was like embracing a thorny rose in one's bosom, especially for a young woman who had strong self-esteem in those days.

Even though hurt by the thorns from time to time, somehow I could not throw the rose away from my heart as its fragrance was too fascinating to forget. I could neither love nor hate him. He was too remote to love but at the same too compelling to give up. I would rather suffer than just ignore him.

One winter day I managed to call him out for a date. Even if the sky was dark gray that morning, my mind was sky blue all day long.

We went to the recently opened coffee shop ``Ye Jeon" in Wolmido, Incheon. It was pretty popular owing to its nice atmosphere and beautiful view of the sea. We were lucky to get seats near the window facing it. The interior was great due to the exotic pictures on the walls, classic furniture, fireplaces, pink roses and candles at each table. In my eyes, however, the most impressive piece was the ivory grand piano at the center of the hall. It was natural for me to keep watching as I'd been taking jazz piano lessons.

All of a sudden, somebody exclaimed, ``Wow! It's snowing," and everyone looked out the window. We were both captivated by the magnificent scenery. It was snowing heavily, filling the space between the sea and the sky at dusk.

At that moment, the boundaries of every contrast started to break down; sea and sky, day and night, fantasy and reality, love and hatred, and even the boundary between others and self.

After a long silence, still fixing his eyes on the sea, he asked, ``Do you happen to play the piano?" I just smiled at him and instead of saying ``Yes," I moved to the piano at the center of the hall.

The tune I played was Tombe la Neige by Belgian singer Salvatore Adamo. I had just practiced it a great deal to learn the rumba rhythm. Furthermore, I had every reason to be encouraged to see his unusually happy face. It was as if I played from my heart rather than my fingers. The other couples in the cafe seemed to be spellbound during the tune and gave me a big hand afterward. They all asked for an encore. I was released from their attention after playing two more selections.

When I returned to my seat, he gave me a napkin on which something was written. It was none other than an impromptu poem entitled ``A piano and a woman." He was, at least in my eyes at that moment, a prince on a white horse!

He seemed to be a bit amazed by my performance. I was fascinated once again by his sensitivity hidden behind the cold reason. I felt that he was looking at me with a deep love, unlike before. We were selected as ``Today's Couple" and didn't have to pay for the coffee.

That evening, looking at the snowy seaside, he proposed to me, asking, ``Could you please play the piano only for me for the rest of your life?" It was the very moment that I had been anxiously looking forward to for several years and most dramatic. He had seared my heart by giving me a long, painful time with his cold attitude toward me.

I couldn't dare to say the short word '``yes" verbally. The only thing I could do was just nod my head like a little elementary schoolgirl with tears in my eyes.

In retrospect, my life has been somewhat harsh and mean on many occasions. However, once in a blue moon, we come across a day on which everything around us is unbelievably friendly and cooperative, like the gorgeous ``Ye Jeon," its ivory grand piano, the ivory coat I was wearing that day, the ivory sea, sky and snow, Adamo`s snow song, the hypnotized couples in a group (maybe thanks to the snow), the poem written on the napkin...

All of those things might have been preparing and waiting for me to receive a long-awaited proposal. (I tried to believe so).

Come to think of it, that evening was as if we were in Chagall's ``I and the Village" ― in the snow in which everything looked so unrealistic, such as a flying couple in the sky.

We, though, could not float in the sky as soon as we got out of Chagall's village (Wolmido). Like Cinderella who has just heard the bell at midnight, right after stepping on the ground, we had to sigh deeply to find a pumpkin, which used to be a golden coach for us.

After getting married, I couldn't keep our promise. Life was too challenging for me to play the piano for him all the time. Even though we had to move several times, somehow I could not throw away the bulky white elephant since I believed that my old piano was like Cinderella's glass shoe, which would take us to the beautiful village again.

Last year, I started to learn how to play the violin. Instead of playing ``Tombe la Neige," as on that dreamy winter evening, I have been practicing a Norwegian piece: ``For my precious love" (Jeg ser deg sote lam).

Now that we've gone through many ups and downs, I don't need a fairy tale any more. As long as I can play music for my now ``not very young" prince, our humble apartment can be our ``Chagall's village."

The writer is an essayist and freelance English and Korean Teacher. She can be reached at Thanks to the Snow, Maybe

By Lim Young-ae

Although winter is my least favorite season, whenever it snows, my heart still pounds like that of a teenage girl. It is a blessing for us to have snow during this desolate season.

Most people might have special memories about snow, myself included.

After meeting a young man, my early 20s were filled with periods of anxiety and pain. Cherishing somebody whose mind was somewhere else was like embracing a thorny rose in one's bosom, especially for a young woman who had strong self-esteem in those days.

Even though hurt by the thorns from time to time, somehow I could not throw the rose away from my heart as its fragrance was too fascinating to forget. I could neither love nor hate him. He was too remote to love but at the same too compelling to give up. I would rather suffer than just ignore him.

One winter day I managed to call him out for a date. Even if the sky was dark gray that morning, my mind was sky blue all day long.

We went to the recently opened coffee shop ``Ye Jeon" in Wolmido, Incheon. It was pretty popular owing to its nice atmosphere and beautiful view of the sea. We were lucky to get seats near the window facing it. The interior was great due to the exotic pictures on the walls, classic furniture, fireplaces, pink roses and candles at each table. In my eyes, however, the most impressive piece was the ivory grand piano at the center of the hall. It was natural for me to keep watching as I'd been taking jazz piano lessons.

All of a sudden, somebody exclaimed, ``Wow! It's snowing," and everyone looked out the window. We were both captivated by the magnificent scenery. It was snowing heavily, filling the space between the sea and the sky at dusk.

At that moment, the boundaries of every contrast started to break down; sea and sky, day and night, fantasy and reality, love and hatred, and even the boundary between others and self.

After a long silence, still fixing his eyes on the sea, he asked, ``Do you happen to play the piano?" I just smiled at him and instead of saying ``Yes," I moved to the piano at the center of the hall.

The tune I played was Tombe la Neige by Belgian singer Salvatore Adamo. I had just practiced it a great deal to learn the rumba rhythm. Furthermore, I had every reason to be encouraged to see his unusually happy face. It was as if I played from my heart rather than my fingers. The other couples in the cafe seemed to be spellbound during the tune and gave me a big hand afterward. They all asked for an encore. I was released from their attention after playing two more selections.

When I returned to my seat, he gave me a napkin on which something was written. It was none other than an impromptu poem entitled ``A piano and a woman." He was, at least in my eyes at that moment, a prince on a white horse!

He seemed to be a bit amazed by my performance. I was fascinated once again by his sensitivity hidden behind the cold reason. I felt that he was looking at me with a deep love, unlike before. We were selected as ``Today's Couple" and didn't have to pay for the coffee.

That evening, looking at the snowy seaside, he proposed to me, asking, ``Could you please play the piano only for me for the rest of your life?" It was the very moment that I had been anxiously looking forward to for several years and most dramatic. He had seared my heart by giving me a long, painful time with his cold attitude toward me.

I couldn't dare to say the short word '``yes" verbally. The only thing I could do was just nod my head like a little elementary schoolgirl with tears in my eyes.

In retrospect, my life has been somewhat harsh and mean on many occasions. However, once in a blue moon, we come across a day on which everything around us is unbelievably friendly and cooperative, like the gorgeous ``Ye Jeon," its ivory grand piano, the ivory coat I was wearing that day, the ivory sea, sky and snow, Adamo`s snow song, the hypnotized couples in a group (maybe thanks to the snow), the poem written on the napkin...

All of those things might have been preparing and waiting for me to receive a long-awaited proposal. (I tried to believe so).

Come to think of it, that evening was as if we were in Chagall's ``I and the Village" ― in the snow in which everything looked so unrealistic, such as a flying couple in the sky.

We, though, could not float in the sky as soon as we got out of Chagall's village (Wolmido). Like Cinderella who has just heard the bell at midnight, right after stepping on the ground, we had to sigh deeply to find a pumpkin, which used to be a golden coach for us.

After getting married, I couldn't keep our promise. Life was too challenging for me to play the piano for him all the time. Even though we had to move several times, somehow I could not throw away the bulky white elephant since I believed that my old piano was like Cinderella's glass shoe, which would take us to the beautiful village again.

Last year, I started to learn how to play the violin. Instead of playing ``Tombe la Neige," as on that dreamy winter evening, I have been practicing a Norwegian piece: ``For my precious love" (Jeg ser deg sote lam).

Now that we've gone through many ups and downs, I don't need a fairy tale any more. As long as I can play music for my now ``not very young" prince, our humble apartment can be our ``Chagall's village."

The writer is an essayist and freelance English and Korean Teacher.

2008-12-31T19:04:00.000-08:00

2008-12-31T19:02:00.000-08:00

Korean Air Sponsors Service at Louvre, British, Hermitage Museums

By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Korean Air is sponsoring Korean-speaking guides at three world-renowned museums ― the Louvre Museum in Paris, the British Museum in London and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Following the guide service at the Russian museum, Korean has become the first Asian language to be adopted at the three museums.

The national flag carrier and the Hermitage museum held an event on Nov. 28 to commemorate Korean Air's sponsorship of the museum's audio guide. Korean visitors to the museum will be able to enjoy about 300 art pieces with commentaries in their mother tongue starting next March.

The museum is currently providing the guide service in six languages ― Russian, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish ― and Korean will be the first Asian language there. About 2.6 million people visit the Russian museum yearly.

``It is part of our effort to spread Korean culture and support cultural projects around the world,'' a Korean Air official said.

It is not the first time for Korean Air to sponsor Korean language guides at museums. On Nov. 26, the airline and the British Museum held a signing ceremony for sponsorship at the museum.

The two sides agreed that Korean Air will be the exclusive sponsor in upgrading the museum's multimedia guide units into PDA-type ones and making the contents. The new audio and video guide will include explanations of 200 pieces in 10 languages, including Korean.

The audio guide currently used at the British Museum offers commentary on 50 items in nine languages. The new service will be available starting at the end of next year.

The museum, founded in 1753, houses about seven million pieces of cultural heritage collected worldwide, such as sculptures from the Parthenon and the Rosetta Stone. More than six million travelers visit the museum every year.

Earlier in February, the airline started offering a Korean guide service at the Louvre by sponsoring the multimedia guide equipment. Korean was the seventh language adopted at the museum, where more than 8.3 million people visit annually.

``Korean Air will expand the Korean-language guide service to more museums to contribute to a global society,'' the official said.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr

World bids a relieved adieu to a rocky year

2008-12-31T18:49:00.000-08:00

By KRISTEN GELINEAU – 10 hours ago
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Fireworks exploded in a kaleidoscopic shower of light over Sydney's shimmering harbor Wednesday, as the world's first major city to ring in 2009 celebrated the end of a decidedly rocky year with cheers, beers and a sense of relief.
Spectator Randolph King, 63, of York, England, whose retirement fund was gutted in the global financial crisis, summed up the feeling of many across the world as 2008 came to a close: "I'm looking forward to 2009," he said. "Because it can't get much worse."
Facing the end of a year that saw global markets come crashing down — taking the world's morale with them — partygoers everywhere struggled to forget their troubles on what is typically a joyous night.
In the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo spoke of hope for better days to come, while in Hong Kong, some admitted they were too depressed over their monetary woes to join in the revelry. And in Malaysia, the government — mindful of the shaky economy — opted against sponsoring any celebration at all.
In Sydney, the midnight pyrotechnic extravaganza, which organizers hoped would give revelers a brief respite from the global gloom, drew a cheering crowd of more than a million people. Fireworks zigged and zagged against the backdrop of Sydney's famed Harbor Bridge and simulated rain, thunder and lightning built toward a booming "creation storm," in keeping with the evening's theme of new beginnings.
"It is about reflecting and looking at what's happened in the past and moving forward," the celebration's creative director, Rhoda Roberts, said of the night's "creation" theme, chosen in part to reflect the struggles of 2008. "It's a time for the community to gather, to reflect, and also to move on and to simply have a little bit of joy and celebration in their lives."
But in Hong Kong, where thousands were expected at popular Victoria Harbor for a midnight fireworks display, those who had investments linked to collapsed U.S. bank Lehman Brothers said there was little joy to be found.
"I don't think there's any reason for me to celebrate after knowing that my investment is worth nothing now," said electrical repairman Chan Hon-ming, who had purchased a $30,000 Lehman-backed investment.
In India, many were happy to see the end of 2008, during which the country was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks in several cities culminating in a three-day siege in Mumbai in which gunmen killed 164 people.
"The year 2008 can best be described as a year of crime, terrorist activities, bloodshed and accidents," said Tavishi Srivastava, 51, an office worker in the northern city of Lucknow. "I sincerely hope that 2009 will be a year of peace and progress."
The year was also tough on India's economy. Rising inflation and the global meltdown slowed the growth needed to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, while stock exchanges plummeted, hitting the rich and middle class.
At midnight in Japan, temples rang their bells 108 times — representing the 108 evils being struck out — as worshippers threw coins as offererings and prayed. In Tokyo, dozens of volunteers stirred huge pots of New Year's rice-cake soup, pitched tents and doled out blankets and clothing to the needy.
The "New Year's Village for Temporary Workers" was set up for the first time this year to provide free meals and shelter in a park. About 100 people signed up to spend New Year's Eve at the village, which held a countdown ceremony and was slated to stay open through Jan. 5.
Japan has long boasted a system of lifetime employment at major companies, but that has unraveled this year amid the financial crisis.
"There's no work," muttered Mitsuo Kobayashi, 61, picking up a wool scarf, a coat and pants at the village, and stuffing them in his paper bag. "Who knows what next year will bring?"
In Thailand, after a year of near-daily protests — and six months in which demonstrations all but paralyzed the government — the country was finally calm on the last day of 2008 as loyalists of ousted ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took off for a five-day national holiday. Many of the protesters come from Thailand's rural northeast and have few opportunities to get home except for longer holidays like New Year's.
Celebrations were muted in China, where fireworks and feasting are reserved mainly for the Lunar New Year, which in 2009 begins on Jan. 26.
In Beijing, President Hu Jintao summed up the year's challenges and successes ranging from the devastating Sichuan earthquake — that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing — to the Beijing Olympics, calling 2008 extraordinary and unusual.
In the Philippines, President Arroyo looked toward the future.
"I pray for greater peace and stability," Arroyo said. "I hope that we can all work together as a global community to weather these storms."
Associated Press writers Denis Gray in Bangkok, Thailand, Dikky Sinn in Hong Kong, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow, India, and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this story.
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Futurists Talk About How to Live in 2009

2008-12-31T18:25:00.000-08:00

12-31-2008 19:49

By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter

New Year has arrived and it's time for resolutions that, for many, will last a few weeks at best.

The year is beginning dismally on account of the previous year's events. Ripple effects of bailouts for U.S. mortgage companies have begun to shake the global finance world. Terrorists couldn't be more active, and regional conflicts aren't about to cease.

The Korea Times asked three futurists for their forecasts for the New Year and to advise readers on how to live and what to expect in 2009.

Jerome C. Glenn is a futurist with over 35 years of experience. Currently, he presides over the Millennium Projects, a global future research think tank functioning under the World Federation of United Nations Associations, an independent NGO.

The project, started in 1996, has produced the annual State of the Future report for the past 12 years along with the Futures Research Methodology series. It has a Korean partner that invites Glenn to travel to Korea periodically.

Hazel Henderson is an independent futurist. In one of her recent papers given at the United Nations Environment Program's launch of the Green Economy Initiative, she called for re-designing finance systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the green economy.

Jose Cordeiro is with the Venezuelan Millennium Project of the World Federation of United Nations Associations and is currently working on a research project in Japan. He forecast that South and North Korea will be unified by 2020.

Money Management

The successful management of wages and assets can't take a backseat to other plans in times of economic crisis. This year in particular, as experts project that the economy will actually mark zero or minus growth and a decrease in wages, many will no doubt keep a close look on filling their wallets and bank accounts.

The three futurists agreed that the economic slowdown will continue into the New Year. The global financial downturn will impact the life of everyone on Earth. Each futurist had his or her own money management strategy and shared it with us.

Glenn left the stock market soon after the global financial market's first stroke last year and began to purchase gold. In an interview with a Korean radio station, he said the stock market has lost its legitimacy. ``I moved into gold last year since there were so many negative economic indicators, I could not see how the stock market could improve during 2008,'' he said.

In the New Year, he said he would restart to invest in the stock market with prudent judgments on what to buy.

He began by recommending companies that are very low in value now due to the overall economic situation, but good businesses that are necessary even during difficult times, such as those related to food and health.

Secondly, he recommended economic stimulus-type infrastructure companies, such as large construction firms that build roads, bridges, tunnels and railways.

He said he would still continue to invest in gold as it would at least hold its value and make a good long-term investment.

Cordeiro said he would keep his money in the stock market in the New Year.

``Even during the current global financial crisis, there are some countries and industries that will continue to grow. Personally, I am very optimistic about large Asian countries like China and India,'' he said.

He also recommends investing in the biotechnology and alternative energy industries. ``I myself invest in some funds with Asian companies and some funds with biotech and energy companies, and this helps me to diversify my risk and leverage assets.''

Henderson, a strong advocate for the environment and green economy, recommended ``green'' sectors for potential growth, and told The Korea Times that she herself is a big investor in the sector.

Where to Travel/ Not to Travel

Beset by attacks of various types and magnitude, the Middle East in 2008 has kept its stigma as one of the most dangerous parts of the world. For Koreans, the region is remembered for a kidnapping incident in 2007 that cost two lives. Africa was also marred by mega-size tribal conflicts and human rights failures last year.

Are they still be the most insecure parts of the world and should travelers think twice before traveling to the regions? The futurists were cautious on the issue given its sensitive nature, refusing to give definite answers.

But Cordeiro said, ``The Middle East and Africa are not very safe, and political and religious conditions are relatively difficult in those parts of the world.'' Interestingly, however, he said the United States will be much safer for travel than the United Kingdom, ``where there have been many more terrorist attacks for a longer time since the days of the Irish Revolutionary Army."

Trips to the United States would actually be much safer and more fun, the futurists project, dismissing rising speculation that President-elect Barack Obama would make American more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Cordeiro said Obama would rather have a positive impact on the tourist industry in America. Glenn actually suggested attending the presidential inaugural ceremony later this month for a memorable vacation.

Emerging Powers

China and India are the two fastest emerging powers, according to the futurists.

``There's no doubt that China and India will be major regional and global powers,'' Cordeiro predicted.

However, the withering global financial situation will certainly interfere with their economic development. Furthermore, they have their own problems to solve, Glenn said, giving water, energy and the gap between the rich and poor as examples.

``Especially for China, its water situation is terrible and likely to get worse ― water tables are falling, rivers run dry for parts of each year, and water pollution is very bad in many parts of China. It is limiting not only economic production but is increasing health problems,'' Glenn pointed out.

Besides China and India, the European Union, Brazil and Russia were projected to play bigger roles in regional and global affairs.

Outlook for Korea

Overall, the New Year will be a more challenging one for Korea as it has come under the effects of the global financial crisis and its relationship with North Korea lacks improvement, the futurists said.

While praising Korea's commitment to education and economic flexibility, Glenn called for it to focus on developing individuals' creativity and self-confidence in 2009.

``Korea should make increasing intelligence as an educational goal to get ready for the knowledge economy and re-unification with the North. Why? Because many in the North lack and continue to lack sufficient iron and protein in their diets which reduce development of the brain; hence, the South should develop ways to improve brain functioning and intelligence after such large scale malnourishment in the North,'' he said.

Cordeiro laid out some hopes. ``Hopefully, President Lee Myung-bak will manage to swim in the turbulent waters.'' Looking a little further, he added, ``The Korean Peninsula will be unified by 2020.''

Henderson lauded Korea for its understanding of sustainable energy and shifting from fossil fuel to solar energy.

Top Words in 2009

``Green'' vocabulary will prevail in the New Year as was the case in previous years, the futurists projected, reflecting on the magnitude and urgency of the environmental challenge the Earth now faces.

Renewable forms of energy such as solar, clean technology, the green economy and biofuel were mentioned.

A few other notable predictions included developments in cloning, space travel, artificial intelligence, bartering, ecological assets, waste treatment, natural capital and wisdom.

Hope and Self-Improvement

No matter how depressing the world looks now, it's worth keeping your hopes up, as it's full of opportunities, the futurists said.

It's important to remain optimistic and open-minded so as to make the best of every opportunity. ``There are also incredible problems and threats, no doubt about that, but we need to face those challenges and keep advancing toward a better future,'' Cordeiro said.

On top of optimism, investment on self-improvement would be perfect, Glenn said. ``What would improve your own economic value? A special training course? Create or improve a web site that advertises your capabilities, products or services,'' he said.

He even suggested hiring a public relations agent. He also said physically fitness was a good investment, as is learning that yields rewards years in the future.

skim@koreatimes.co.kr

India accuses Pak of creating a war hysteria to divert attention New Delhi

2008-12-31T00:58:00.000-08:00

Demands dismantling of terror camps Hand over fugitives
: India today accused Pakistan of creating war “hysteria” in a bid to divert attention from the Mumbai terror attacks and demanded that it should dismantle terrorist camps estimated to number over 30 along with handing over fugitives of Indian law.

Rejecting Islambad’s contention that India had mobilised its army and air force, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here that there was no question of such mobilisation. Only normal winter exercises conducted every year had taken place.

Telling Pakistan that “there is no need of creating an atmosphere or some sort of hysteria”, the minister said that there was no tension as was borne by the fact that India was releasing some 67 Pakistanis detained for visa violations.

Moreover, like in the past, India and Pakistan will be exchanging information on nuclear con?dence building measures on the New Year’s day, he told PTI here.

Mukherjee was clear about what India wants from Pakistan--dismantling of terrorist camps, taking action against those involved in terror attacks and handing over of fugitives of Indian laws like the chief of the banned Jaish e Mohammed (JeM) Masood Azhar. Disagreeing with suggestions that India should recall its High Commissioner from Pakistan and put economic squeeze on Pakistan, he said while it cannot be “business as usual” with Islamabad, “I do feel still we should continue to put pressure diplomatically through international community to achieve our objectives.” DGMOs speak again Meanwhile, with noises over deescalation of tension between India and Pakistan emanating from both sides of the border, the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries today spoke to each other over the hotline, continuing the practice of a call every Tuesday.

The two DGMOs, during the less than half-hour talks, reiterated their positions vis-a-vis reports of troops build-up on either side of the border, dismissing them as speculation, Army sources said here.

Nouvelle année Nyat jar Happy New Year Neu Jhar.새해 복 많이 받으세요..

2008-12-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

Foggy Morning's in the North....LOL....

2008-12-29T19:22:00.000-08:00

POST 26/11 - Indo-Pak war fever cools

2008-12-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

Military level contacts reduced tensions
The Pakistani es tablishment now believes that the "time of war" with India is over and the recent telephonic contacts at the highest military level have led to reduction in tensions generated in the wake of troop build up following the Mumbai terror attacks. "The time of war has gone and even India cannot dare mount surgical strikes primarily because of the uncertain response," an unnamed top official told The News daily after the Directors General of Military Operations of the two countries spoke on their hotline over the weekend.

The contacts between the DGMOs had not been suspended after last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai and that the two officials remained in touch, officials said. The DGMOs discussed the situation along the Line of Control and the international border and other issues, Dawn News channel reported.

It quoted sources as saying that the conversation was part of "routine contacts" between the two top military officials. Inter-Services Public Relations chief Maj Gen Athar Abbas too confirmed the talks between the DGMOs. The DGMOs usually make contact on Tuesday on a routine basis but they spoke to each other over the weekend in an "extraordinary move", The News said.

"That was only possible with the consent of top military leaders of both the countries. Apparently, this helped lower the tension," a source told the newspaper. It also quoted unnamed defence analysts as saying that war "never breaks out when forces on both sides of the border are prepared".

Pakistan last week redeployed close to 20,000 troops from the Afghan border to the eastern frontier with India after scaling down operations against the local Taliban in the tribal belt. Pakistan's army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Tuesday emphasised the need to "de-escalate and avoid conflict" with India in the wake of the Mumbai attacks as China launched a diplomatic initiative to ease the Indo-Pak tensions by dispatching a top diplomat here.

Kayani's comments, believed to be his first on the situation, came during his talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei, who is here to help defuse the Indo-Pak tensions. Gilani doesn't want war Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani too on Monday voiced his opposition to war and vowed not to allow his country's soil to be used for terrorism. "We have never wanted war with anybody... We also want our soil should not be used for terrorism.

If our soil is used, NATO forces (based in Afghanistan) will get a chance to react," Gi lani said.

Going small: Netbooks aim for new PC sales

2008-12-29T00:04:00.000-08:00

Published on Dec 29 2008

Netbook sales are expected to pass 35 million units by 2012, when the segment will account for nearly one-third of total laptop sales
C all it going small to get big, but a weak economy and expected declines in personal computer sales have nearly all the major PC makers looking at low-cost, streamlined laptops – commonly known as netbooks – as a way to revive the market in the coming years.

The netbook takes the concept of the notebook PC to an even smaller level. A netbook typically has a screen that is less than 10 inches wide diagonally, carries no optical drive, and runs on Intel Corp's Atom processor. Most employ either Microsoft Corp's Windows XP operating system or a version of open-source Linux-based software. Most weigh around 3 pounds or less.

For the consumer, though, the real allure likely comes from the price tag, as many start as low as $349. And PC makers are well aware that the low prices could open up a new market among buyers who may have been holding back from purchasing a computer in the current economic climate.

"We're trying to reconceive the (PC) category," said John New, a global product marketing manager with Dell Inc. "We think that with the new price points and form factors, there is a great appeal to the netbook, especially when parents are looking at purchasing a PC for their children."

Dell launched its first netbook, the 9-inch Inspiron Mini, on September 4, and New said that part of the reason the company has gotten into the market is because making the devices is now economically feasible.

"With notebooks, the prices had gotten lower, but those products aren't designed to compete at those price points," New said. "But netbooks are. They are designed to reach certain price levels from their initial conception."

Aside from Apple Inc., all of the major PC companies have now entered the netbook market. The launch of Asus' Eee PC late last year was largely seen as the catalyst for the sector. According to NPD Group's Display Search, fewer than 1 million netbooks were sold worldwide in 2007, but that figure is expected to rise to more than 14 million by the end of this year. Those numbers are similar to other predictions. IT hardware analyst Toni Sacconaghi of Sanford Bernstein predicts that netbook sales will pass 35 million units by 2012, when the segment will account for nearly one-third of total laptop sales.

"Netbooks represent a new category in the PC market, with their promoters betting that many users will trade off some computing power for a small form factor and very low price," Sacconaghi said. Bob O'Donnell, vice president of clients and displays at IDC, estimates 11.6 million netbooks will be sold worldwide this year, rising to 21.5 million in 2009 and reaching 42 million in 2012. John Jacobs, director of notebook-market research for NPD's Display Search, said the market for netbooks is poised for dramatic growth in the near term due to the low prices for the machines, capabilities that make them perform more like traditional notebook PCs, and the opportunities in new geographic regions where desktop PCs are rare.

The portability of the devices make them well-suited for basic word-processing and work programs, and their ability to connect wirelessly to the Internet is seen as a major selling point.

However, for the consumer, the final determiner of what to buy could come down to the price tag. Prices on netbooks start from as low as $280 for an Asus Eee PC 900A model with a 4-gigabyte solid state hard drive and can increase depending upon changes made to the devices' memory and hard drives.

Pak to deploy more troops on border

2008-12-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Published on Dec 29 2008,Page 1

Islamabad:

Notwithstanding its top leaders' assertions that they do not want a war, Pakistan continues to withdraw troops engaged in anti-Taliban operations from its troubled northwestern tribal belt for possible redeployment on the Indian border amidst heightened tensions in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

Hundreds of soldiers were pulled out along with heavy weapons from Bajaur, Mohmand, South and North Waziristan tribal regions since Friday, senior military officials told The News daily.

Sources in Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, too said a large number of troops had left the area. Mohammad Rahman, a resident of Miranshah, said he had seen a convoy of 200 trucks, cannon and tanks leaving the region.

Hundreds of troops were also withdrawn from Razmak in North Waziristan, an area close to the main stronghold of Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.

An official of the Inter-Services Public Relations confirmed that a "limited num ber of troops had been pulled out"

Hangul words

2008-12-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

How to type in Korean

2008-12-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

Year of The COW

2008-12-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

The animal sign Cow in Chinese Horoscope is a female. We prefer to say 2009 is a Brown Cow Year than Brown Ox or Buffalo Year. Brown is equivalent to Earth in Chinese Astrology Five Element theory. The major element in Cow is Earth. It's very clear that Earth comes very strong in 2009.

Earth is the ground under our feet. The ground is very steady. It's required lots of energy to make it move. This implies the difficulty to make a chance in 2009. Earth is the land. Land is related to Real Estate property. The major focus in 2009 will be the land related issues. Hopefully, the Real Estate market will be gradually stable. Certainly, it's necessary that people put extra efforts and time to work on the problems.

Since 2009 Year of Cow contains strong Earth, people should have a very good luck, if their Chinese Astrology Lucky Element is Earth. The good luck should come to them in the months of Earth. But which months are the month of Earth?

In the theory of Chinese Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire Earth),

* The strongest season for Wood is Spring: Wood is related to tree and tree grow fastest in Spring
* The strongest season for Fire is Summer: Fire is related to heat. Summer is the hottest season in the year
* The strongest season for Metal is Fall: Metal is related to solid. All living things absorb energy inside body in the Fall. (such as Flower turn into seed)
* The strongest season for Water is Winter: Water is related to cold. Winter is the coldest season in the year

The Earth season is the days between four seasons. Chinese astrology says the Earth is charge of the 18 days before each season. The Earth Cycle will repeat about every two and a half month. The total Earth days in a year is 72. When is the strongest period of Earth in 2009? Because Fire is the mother element of Earth, therefore, we can say that the strongest period of Earth is the 18-day before the season of Fall.

If your lucky element is Earth and you are expecting something nice to happen, then the first target date will be in the second half of April. If it doesn't happen, then you have to wait for the date in the end of July, October, then January 2010. If the Earth is your unlucky element, then you need to prepare the emergency plan and even pay attention on daily activities during seasons changing. The good news for unlucky Earth people is that they always have at least two month break before the next unlucky cycle comes.

Because Earth is the mother element of Metal. Earth can make Metal stronger. If your Lucky Element is Metal, then 2009 is a good year to you. The lucky season is the Fall - August, September and October.

If the following Five Element Astrology is too complicate for you, then please try 2009 Chinese Horoscopes using 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs by birth Year.

Your Lucky Element

2009 Chinese Astrology - Year of Ox 2009 is Year of Brown Cow and it will come very soon. Many people must eager to know they have better luck in the coming year than 2008. Here, we want to use Chinese Astrology Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth) theory to explain people fortune in 2009 and foresee what will be happening to them in year of Cow.

The first step to know you fortune is know what Type of Element you are and what your Lucky Element is. You can find that information from Chinese Astrology Lucky Element page. The following is a sample of Chinese Astrology Birth Chart from the Lucky Element page.

The Birth Chart of June 15, 2008
Upper Row of Day Column (Day Master) represents the Person

Fire represents the person. This Birth Chart shows Fire-Type Person

A person who was born on June 15, 2008 is a Fire-Type person. The birth chart has too less Metal and needs more Metal to balance the Five Elements. Therefore, the Lucky Element is Metal.

The following table shows people's luck in 2009 based on their Luck Element.
Lucky Element How good is the luck in 2009?
Metal Vary good luck. Earth is the mother element of Metal. Earth supports Metal.
Water Bad luck. Earth (Soil) can make Water disappear.
Wood Poor luck. Usually, Earth is afraid of Wood. But Wood needs to fight very hard to win over Strong Earth.
Fire Fair luck. Strong Earth could weaken the Fire.
Earth Very good luck. Even better luck, if the birth chart has Male Wood or Rat.

The following table tells people's what event might happen in 2009 based on their Day Master Element Type.
Day Master Type How will be happening in 2009?
Metal Many protection from people around you. If Earth is the Lucky Element, then someone will help you to release the pressure at school, job or home. If Earth is the unlucky element, people around you brings you trouble and you get the bad reputation.
Water Pressure from job, school, parents, boss, enemy. If Earth is the Lucky Element, there is a career/position opportunity. If Earth is the unlucky element, then watch for job responsibility, health, lawsuit or accident.
Wood Pressure from money. If Earth is the Lucky Element, then your wealth will increase. If Earth is the unlucky element, then Earth brings you debt.
Fire Trend to talk to people what in your mind. If Earth is the Lucky Element, then you will win the reputation. If Earth is the unlucky element, many people don't like the way you are.
Earth The social activities will increase. If Earth is the Lucky Element, friends bring the money opportunity. If Earth is the unlucky element, then friends help you spending money.

The Monthly Cycles of Chinese Astrology 2009 Female Earth Female SoilBrown Cow Year
Calendar Month Astrology Month Wood Fire Earth Metal Water

Note
February
02/04-03/04 Male FireMale Fire
Fire Tiger 16 37 7 0 0 Tiger contains Wood and Fire. This is a good month for people with Lucky Element Fire and Earth. Lucky Element Wood people is fine too.
March
03/05-04/03 Female FireFemale Fire
Fire Rabbit 30 30 0 0 0 Rabbit is Wood, which helps Fire to burn. This is good for people with Fire, Earth or Wood Lucky Element.
April
04/04-05/04 Male SoilMale Soil
Earth Dragon 9 0 48 0 3 Dragon is Earth. This is a strong Earth month. This is very lucky month for Lucky Element Earth people. Lucky Element Metal people is good too.
May
05/05-06/04 Female SoilFemale Soil
Earth Snake 0 16 37 7 0 Snake contains Fire and Earth. This is a month for Lucky Element Fire and Earth people.
June
06/05-07/06 Male Metal
Metal Horse 0 20 10 30 0 Horse contains Fire and Earth. Metal is under Fire. But the Metal is protected by Earth in the Year 2009. The luck is just fine for Lucky Element Fire, Earth and Metal people.
July
07/07-08/06 Female MetalFemale Metal
Metal Sheep 3 9 18 30 0 Sheep contains Earth. Metal is supported by Earth. This is a good month for Metal Lucky Element people. Sheep and Cow have Fighting Relationship. When they are fighting, the Earth become much stronger. Earth Lucky Element people will be very lucky in this month.
August
08/07-09/06 Male WaterFemale Water
Water Monkey 0 0 7 16 37 Monkey is Metal. Earth is the mother element of Metal. Water is afraid of Earth in Year 2009. But Metal can protect Water. This is a good month for Water and Metal Lucky Element people.
September
09/07-10/07 Female WaterFemale SoilFemale Water
Water Chicken 0 0 0 30 30 Chicken is Metal. Water is afraid of Earth in Year 2009. But Metal can protect Water. This is a good month for Water and Metal Lucky Element people.
October
10/08-11/06 Male WoodMale Wood
Wooden Dog 30 3 18 9 0 Dog is Earth. Male Wood and Female Earth in Year 2009 have attraction relationship into Earth. This is a very good month for people with Lucky Element Earth. Earth is a supporting element of Metal. Metal Lucky Element people will be fine too.
November
11/07-12/06 Female WoodFemale Wood
Wooden Pig 40 0 0 0 20 Pig is Water. Wood is under Pig Water. This is a strong Wood month. Wood and Earth in 2009 will fight. Water and Earth are opposite elements. This is not a peaceful month for people with Lucky Element Earth, Wood or Water people.
December
12/07-01/04 Male FireMale Fire
Fire Rat 0 30 0 0 30 Rat is Water. Water and Earth don't each other. But Rat and Cow in 2009 have attraction relationship in Earth. This is good for Lucky Element Earth people.

You can see Lucky Element Earth and Metal people have more lucky months. Lucky Element Water people have least luck in 2009. If you think you don't have good fortune in 2009, then you don't have to feel sad. The reason is that you are not alone - only about 20% of people have good luck in year of Brown Cow. The above predictions doesn't consider the Fighting/Attraction Relationships among Elements (Stems) and Animals (Branches) between the Birth Chart and Female Earth Brown Cow. Some Stem Relationships and Branch Relationships might turn the prediction result around.

Suggestions

We recommend that you find out your Lucky Element and follow the Five Element Guide to improve your luck. If you are serious about your coming luck, then you can try our Free Daily Chinese Horoscope. Also, you can check any new Chinese astrology tool in http://www.myspace.com/mastertsai. If you think the Five Element Astrology is too complicate to you, then try the following 2009 Chinese Zodiac prediction.

2009 Chinese Horoscope - Year of Ox
2009 Chinese Horoscopes By 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs

Yearly Zodiac Sign

Yearly Cycle contains Stem and Branch. Stem is one of Five Elements. Branch is an animal zodiac sign. The zodiac sign contains one or more Five Elements. Based on the major element in the animal sign, we can place Rat and Pig in the Water group; Tiger and Rabbit in the Wood group; Snake and Horse in the Fire group; Monkey and Chicken in the Metal group; Cow, Sheep. Dragon and Dog in the Earth group. So we can treat Yearly zodiac sign as two different, separate, independent elements, which are connected to things or persons. Both of elements might be against or with us. Or one element helps us and another doesn't.

For example, 2001 was the Metal Snake year. Snake is in the Fire group. Therefore Metal and Fire came together into our life in 2001. Metal and Fire have Fighting Relationship. Something like that we go to pass the war zone of two fighting persons or two persons fight each other outside our house. That means most people's life will be impacted by the outside world, which fill with argument and conflict. On September 11, 2001, around 3,000 are killed in World Trade Center in New York City and Pentagon.

2002 was Water Horse Year and Horse is Fire. Fire and Water are opposite elements. On March 1, 2002, U.S. allied invaded Afghanistan. 2003 was Water Sheep Year and Sheep is Earth. Earth and Water have Fighting Relationship. On March 20, 2003, U.S. allied invaded Iraq. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are continuing in 2009. 2004 was Wooden Monkey Year and Monkey is Metal. Metal and Wood are rival opponents. Tsunami disasters hit Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004. 2005 is Wooden Chicken Year. Chicken is Metal. Metal and Wood have the fighting relationship. The 2005 Pakistan earthquake killed about 80,000 people...
Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Name Metal
Snake
(Fire) Water
Horse
(Fire) Water
Sheep
(Earth) Wooden
Monkey
(Metal) Wooden
Chicken
(Metal) Fire
Dog
(Earth) Fire
Pig
(Water) Earth
Rat
(Water) Earth
Cow
(Earth) Metal
Tiger
(Wood) Metal
Rabbit
(Wood) Water
Dragon
(Earth) Water
Snake
(Fire)
Zodiac Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood Male Wood
Female Soil
Fighting Metal vs. Fire Water vs. Fire Water vs. Earth Wood vs. Metal Wood vs. Metal Fire vs. Water Earth vs. Water Metal vs. Wood Metal vs. Wood Water vs. Earth Water vs. Fire

Many wars, earthquakes, airplane accidents and natural disasters happened in many countries from 2001 to 2008. We expect they will continue to happen. As long as the conflicts surrounding in our living environment, we don't get a fully peaceful life.

Is there any way to make those conflicts disappear? The answer is depending on each individual's Birth Chart and the current Major Cycle having any Stem Attraction Relationship and Branch Attraction Relationship with Yearly Cycle. For example, 2008 is Earth Rat Year. Rat is Water. If there is a Cow in the Birth Chart or Major Cycle, then Rat and Cow have Attraction Relationship turning into Earth. It sounds that Cow meets Rat to make Water disappear. Actually, Water still comes first. It implies that an enemy comes to trouble you, but someone appears to negotiate and walk away with the enemy. You have a happy ending. But you have to pay for the effort. The Attraction Relationship doesn't always bring the good ending. If you are a single male and Water Rat represents a female to you, then that implies a female appearing into your life, but she walks away with your boy friend.

2006 and 2009 are the only two years without Five element fighting relationship inside yearly zodiac signs from 2001 to 2013. 2006 is a Fire Dog Year. Dog is Earth. Fire is a mother element of Earth. Real Estate market price peak was in 2006. We hope there is a good new coming in 2009.

WORDY DUELS - Pak told to end war hysteria Berhampore/New Delhi:

2008-12-27T21:39:00.000-08:00

[Click To Enlarge]

Issue is not war but terror: Pranab
India, on Saturday, asked Pakistan not to deflect attention from the real issue of terrorism by whipping up a war hysteria but tackle "face-to- face" the problem of terrorism emanating from its soil.

"I appeal to Pakistan and Pakistani leaders, do not unnecessarily try to create tension. Do not try to deflect (attention from) the issue. A problem has to be tackled face to face. Evading a problem will not help to get rid of it," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Berhampore.

Terming as "unfortunate" the attempts in Pakistan to create a "war hysteria", Mukherjee said the real issue is "not war" or the defence of Pakistan but the terrorist attack on Mumbai.

"It is unfortunate that an atmosphere has been created in Pakistan, some sort of war hysteria," he said. "The issue is how to prevent terrorism. The issue is how to direct the international community to face the terrorist challenge and eliminate terrorism from the face of the world," Mukherjee said.

The "unprecedented scale, magnitude, ferocity and audacity" with which the Mumbai attacks were carried out "clearly demonstrated that it was not only preplanned but also well planned", he said.

In Delhi, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said "it is time for Pakistan to act" against the two organisations -- Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa. "Enough evidence is there. The two organisations have been identified and proscribed by the UN Security Council," Sharma said.

Sharma dubbed as a "disinformation campaign" the claims in the Pakistani media about the arrests of four purported Indian nationals in connection with the recent blasts in Lahore.

"There has been a disinformation campaign by Pakistan inventing incidents which never occurred, making claims of Indians being involved in some violent incidents, which were never there," he told reporters today. Sharma said even the police in Lahore were totally unaware about the arrest of Indian nationals in connection with the blasts in the city. The minister said that considering the situation in Pakistan, India has advised its citizens that this is not an appropriate time to visit Pakistan "because they would be unsafe."

Kajok

2008-12-27T18:55:00.001-08:00

Life is moving on with the bullet holes in the front Glass pane as a reminder....what happened here a month back in Colaba Causeway - BOM

2008-12-27T18:49:00.000-08:00

Life at the Leopold Cafe...BOM today on the 27/12/2008

POST- MUMBAI ATTACK - US to offer anti-terror package Washington:

2008-12-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

Objective is to deter such horrific attacks
The US, which witnessed the deadly 9/11 attacks seven years ago, is working through a package for India on dealing with the situation arising out of the "horrific" Mumbai strikes by way of information sharing, collaboration and cooperation, a top Pentagon official said.

"We are working through the initial parts of a package... we would offer to India to help them understand some of the lessons ... that we very painfully learnt in the wake of our 11 September attacks, in information sharing, collaboration and cooperation," Admiral Timothy Keating, Commander of the US Pacific Command, told reporters here on Friday. "And I expressed our willingness to provide that to India in my conversations with Indian leaders shortly," he said.

Praising India for its "measured response" in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, Keating said that various agen cies of the US government were working closely to keep a tab of developments in the region. He said Washington was satisfied that India and Pakistan have successfully avoided the danger of a military confrontation.

"I think the most important thing is the very ...horrific nature of the attacks, the very calm measured response demonstrated by India thus far and our hopes that all throughout our region in particular and all throughout the world, folks will understand that the struggle against violent extremes -- violent extremists continues to this day."

"Mumbai is just the latest place where the ... innocent victims number in the hundreds. And it remains our foremost objective in the Asia-Pacific Region to deter and prevent those kinds of attacks," Keating said. His remarks came in response to a question on his assessment of relations between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.

Force One to be trained in Pune - Mumbai:

2008-12-18T17:52:00.000-08:00

The special crack commando team Force One which would be raised by the Maharashtra Government on the lines of the National Security Guard (NSG), is likely to be trained in Pune, highlyplaced Intelligence department sources said.

They are likely to be trained at the Special Security Training School near Hadapsar in Pune district, the sources told 'Sakaal Times', adding that the basic training infrastructure for such specialized course is already available there.

As regards the current Special Security Training Institute, the official said that currently it teaches modules like VVIP security and anti-Naxalite operations.

As a matter of fact, the new intelligence training institute will also be set up here.

Help for NSG training team at Manesar at Gurgaon in Haryana and former Indian Army infantry and special forces officers would also be taken to devise the training programme. The commandos of the Indian Army are trained at the Junior Leaders's Wing at Belgaum – and the trainers there would be consulted.

Several officers and men, in the initial stages, would be sent to the NSG facility for training and subsequently the training modules would be adopted in Pune. The new team will be trained in handling different kinds of weapons like MP-5 sub machine guns, sniper rifles and light machine guns.

Sara Bareilles

2008-12-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

Sara Bareilles "Between the lines"

"City" by Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles in San Francisco - Gravity

How to play Love Song by Sara Bareilles on Piano / Keyboard

Sara Bareilles - Genie in a Bottle / Gravity (Live)

VIJAY DIWAS CELEBRATIONS - No plans to attack Pak: Antony

2008-12-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

Cautions that things will not be 'normal' unless Pak takes stern action against terrorists
India on Tuesday said it is not planning any military action against Pakistan but stressed that the neighboring country will have to take action against terrorists there for the relations to improve.

"We are not planning any military action... but at the same time unless Pakistan takes actions against those terrorists who are operating from their soil against India and also against all those who are behind the Mumbai terrorist attack, things will not be normal," defence minister A K Antony said.

He was talking to reporters on the occasion of 'Vijay Diwas' marking the 37th anniversary of India's military victory on Tuesday over Pakistan in the Bangladesh liberation war.

On the issue of troop deployment along the Indo-Pak border, Antony said the situation there was "normal" and armed forces were "always ready".

"Everything is normal because our forces are always ready," the minister said.

The minister denied that India was planning to call off the more than five-year-old ceasefire along the Line of Control.

"Nothing like that," he stated when asked if India had any plans to call off the ceasefire with Pakistan.

Refusing to divulge India's course of action in the present scenario, Antony demanded sincere action by Pakistan against the terrorists. "I cannot say what course of action we will take but unless Pakistan shows sincerity in whatever they are saying through their actions, one thing is very sure that there is no question of things being as usual," he said.

The chiefs of Navy, Army and Air Force -- Admiral Sureesh Mehta, General Deepak Kapoor and Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major -- also attended the Vijay Diwas function.

The Indo-Pak War of 1971 was a major military conflict between India and Pakistan. The war is closely associated with the Bangladesh Liberation War.

WORLD WAR-I HEROES CAN REST IN PEACE NOW

2008-12-16T17:45:00.000-08:00

All the 258 graves of Commonwealth soldiers who died fighting during World War I and were buried in the city have now been restored.

Work will now start on the remaining 476 graves across the state. The restoration work comes as part of the worldwide mission of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to honour soldiers of the Commonwealth who died in World War I. The CWGCKirkee War Cemetery has been given the responsibility to restore graves of these soldiers across Maharashtra.

"The (Khadki) Kirkee War Cemetery was created to receive World War II graves from the western and central parts of India where their permanent maintenance could not be assured. The cemetery contains 1,668 Commonwealth burials of WW-II. The Kirkee Memorial stands within the cemetery and commemorates more than 1,800 servicemen who died in India during the WW-I between 1914-1918, who are buried in civil and cantonment cemeteries in India and Pakistan where their graves can no longer be properly maintained.

"Now we have begun work on restoring the WW-I graves in Maharashtra," CWGC-Kirkee War Cemetery Manager M S Bahanwal told Sakaal Times.

From army records, 476 WWI graves across the state were identified. Pune had the maximum number of graves, 258 of them. Of these 144 were in St Sepulcher Cemetery on Solapur Road and 114 in the graveyard in High Explosives Factory, Khadki. The other graves are the 168 at Deolali Camp in Nashik, Ahmednagar 44, two in Purandar's Sambhaji Fort, Parbhani two, Alibaug one and Bombay Service Cemetery one. "Restoration work is complete in Pune. We will now start work in Nashik followed by other places starting with Ahmednagar. In St Sepulcher Cemetery, Assistant Garden Superintendent, PMC A D Ghorpade and Pune Christian Cemeteries Societies, Solapur Road extended full cooperation for the restoration of 144 WW-I graves without the removal of a single tree," he said. The CWGC-Kirkee Cemetery manager added that while the restoration work was on, efforts were made to save the trees by adjusting the graves. Thus 55 trees were saved from cutting.

Established by Royal Charter in 1917, the Commission pays tribute to the 17,00,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died fighting in the two world wars. It is a non-profit-making organisation that was founded by Sir Fabian Ware. The cost is shared by the partner governments - Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and United Kingdom. "Since its inception, the Commission has constructed 2,500 war cemeteries and plots, erecting headstones over graves and, in instances where the remains are missing, inscribing the names of the dead on permanent memorials. Over one million casualties are now commemorated at military and civil sites in some 150 countries," Bahanwal said.

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

2008-12-16T02:07:00.000-08:00

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sings The Heart is slow to learn

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sings The Heart is slow to learn

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in Interview with Sir Georg Solti in a break during the rehearsal for "Nobel Jubilee Concert" - for the 200th anniversay of Mozart's death. Stockholm, Sweden, 1991.

Karajan

2008-12-15T23:44:00.000-08:00

Strauss - Voices of Spring- Battle, Karajan

Mozart - Coronation Mass - Karajan 1985

Johann Strauss Sr. "Radetzky March", the last piece at the New Year's Concert Vienna 1987, with Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic AND THE AUDIENCE, lol.

Strauss - Radetzky March - Karajan

Kathleen Battle performs "The Lord's Prayer" for Pope Benedict XVI in front of the White House

Vienna Boys Choir : Gloria

NAVY AT SEA OVER WHAT TO DO WITH PIRATES

2008-12-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

W ith no instructions from the Indian government, navy ship INS Mysore is at sea over what to do with the 23 pirates and their dhow apprehended by it in the Gulf of Aden while repulsing an attack by the brigands on an Ethiopian merchant vessel.

"Since Saturday afternoon, the 12 Somali and 11 Yemeni pirates are kept in custody on board INS Mysore and they are being fed with the rations meant for sailors," Navy officials said here today. "We have not received any instructions yet from the Defence Ministry or the External Affairs Ministry on what needs to be done with the pirates," they said.

The piquant situation that INS Mysore finds itself has been compounded as the Rules of Engagement issued to the warship before it set sail to Gulf of Aden on anti-piracy patrol duties is unclear on the course of action if it did seize a pirate vessel and sea brigands, officials said.

However, officials claimed that frantic efforts were being made by both ministries to get a foreign port to accept the bandits for trial in their courts and they were optimistic of finding a solution by tomorrow. The only other option available to INS Mysore is to abandon its anti-piracy patrols and return to an Indian port to hand over the pirates to local authorities for trying them. But that appears to be unacceptable to the Navy authorities as their action against the sea bandits was just gaining momentum.

Officials said under the United Nations Convention on Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS), International Maritime Organisation resolutions and the Navy Act and Regulations, the warships were authorised to seize and apprehend the pirates. UNCLOS Articles 100, 105, 107 and 110 provided for warships to act against pirates in the high seas or any other place outside the jurisdiction of any nation state, including boarding, inspecting, seizing vessels and its equipment, and arrest the bandits.

"Article 105 specifically provided for the courts of the country, which carried out the seizure, to decide upon the penalties to be imposed and also determine the action to be taken with regard to the pirates ships and their property," of ficials said.

It's official: Barack Obama elected 44th president

2008-12-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

1 hour ago

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — As 13 electors cast ballots Monday for the nation's first black president in the Confederacy's old Capitol, Henry Marsh emotionally recalled the smartest man he ever knew — a waiter, who couldn't get a better job because of his race.

"He waited tables for 30 years, six days a week, 12 hours a day, from 12 noon to 12 midnight, and he supported his family," Marsh, 75, a civil rights lawyer and state senator, said of his father as he fought back tears. "He suffered a lot. He went through a lot."

In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the 538 electors performed a constitutional process to legally elect Democrat Barack Obama the 44th president.

More than 131 million voters cast ballots — the most ever in a presidential election. But Obama's election is not complete until Congress tallies the outcome of Monday's Electoral College vote at a joint session scheduled for Jan. 6.

Monday's voting was largely ceremonial, the results preordained by Obama's Nov. 4 victory over Republican Sen. John McCain. Obama was to win 365 electoral votes, to 173 for McCain. With only Hawaii still to vote, all the electors had cast ballots in accordance with the popular votes in their states.

In many states, the formal, staid proceeding was touched with poignance, particularly among people old enough to recall a time when voting alone posed the risk of violence for black Americans.

The contrast at Virginia's Capitol, where the Confederate Congress met, was particularly striking.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine noted in his speech that the 200-year-old Capitol was where lawmakers just 50 years ago orchestrated the state's formal defiance of federal school desegregation orders. But he also noted that it is where L. Douglas Wilder took his oath as the nation's first elected black governor in 1990.

"This temple of Democracy shines very brightly today," Kaine told a standing-room-only crowd attending what had always been a sparsely attended afterthought.

In Florida, state Sen. Frederica Wilson, 66, never thought she would see a black man elected president.

"White water fountains, colored water fountains. You couldn't sit at the lunch counter, go to the bank or get a hamburger," Wilson said after signing a document certifying that Obama got all 27 of her state's electors.

"The pain will always be there, but I think there's a realization that people have evolved," she said.

In North Carolina, 61-year-old Janice Cole said Monday's event was a joyous marker for black people to put old Dixie's trouble past behind them.

"Sen. Obama reminds us that only in America could this story be possible," Cole said.

As pro football legend, Franco Harris signs his autograph countless thousands of times. But the signature he made as one of 21 Pennsylvania electors for Obama was the one the Pittsburgh Steelers great running back won't ever forget.

"That was special," the Pro Football Hall of Famer said. "This was the most valuable thing I've ever signed my name to."

In Augusta, Maine, the moment was freighted with emotion for Jill Duson, the first black mayor of Portland and chairwoman of Maine's four electors.

"Every time I think of it, I get a little misty eyed," Duson said. "I am undone by the election of Barack Obama and what it says to me as a black American, and his victory in the whitest state."

Sedrick Rawlins, a retired 81-year-old dentist from Manchester, Conn., traveled to Selma, Ala., in 1965 to help the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., with the bloody march to Montgomery. The night Obama won the election, he said, he wept with joy. On Monday, he couldn't stop smiling.

"The election is one thing, but it's really official when they seal those ballots with wax and send them off," Rawlins said.

Colorado elector Wellington Webb, Denver's first and only black mayor, said the chance to cast an electoral vote for the first black president was the honor of a lifetime, one that would have made King proud.

"He would find the dream fulfilled," Webb said.

Sumi Jo

2008-12-14T02:55:00.000-08:00

Sumi Jo & Ah-Kyung Lee - Delibes - Lakme - Flower Duet

Sumi Jo - Bellini - I Puritani - Elvira's Mad Scene

Sumi Jo - J. Strauss - Blue Danube Waltz

Sumi Jo - Leonard Bernstein - Candide - Glitter and Be Gay

Sumi Jo speaks about the Queen of the Night

Sumi Jo - Lehar - Merry Widow - Vilja Song

Sumi Jo - My Heart Will Go On

Sumi Jo - Hervert - Naughty Marietta - Italian Street Song

Sumi Jo - Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann - Doll Song

Sumi Jo - Bellini - I Puritani - Elvira's Mad Scene

Sumi Jo - Luigi Arditi - Il Bacio - Nobel Peace Prize

Sumi Jo - J. Strauss - Blue Danube Waltz

Sumi Jo

2008-12-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

Sumi Jo - Verdi - Rigoletto - Gilda - Caro Nome
Wien - Austria

Sumi Jo & Hvorostovsky - Verdi - Rigoletto - Duet

Sumi Jo - Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann - Doll Song

Mozart - Sumi Jo - Der holle rache - Queen of night

Sumi Jo speaks about the Queen of the Night

Sumi Jo - Leonard Bernstein - Candide - Glitter and Be Gay

MAJOR SANDEEP DIED A LION'S DEATH

2008-12-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

A s K. Unnikrishnan and Mrs. Dhanalakshmi stood on the first step of the Hut of remembrance at the National Defence Academy (NDA) on a quiet Saturday morning, words of their son, martyr Major Sandeep almost came alive: "I would die like a lion and one day you would see my name at this place…."

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, member of the elite NSG commandos, lost his life fighting terrorists at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai on November 28. Sandeep was an NDA pass out of 94 th (July 1995-May 98) course. Sandeep`s parents visited NDA on Saturday to lay a wreath at `Hut of Remembrance` where Sandeep`s dream has come true. His name has been added to the existing list of 264 NDA pass outs who laid their lives for the nation.

As an NDA officer was going through the formalities of wreath-laying, K Unnikrishnan recalled his sons memories. He told the officer, "We visited NDA for at least ten times and every time Sandeep showed us this place. He used to say, 'I wont die a dog`s death. If it happens cremate me at the municipal crematorium. I will die like a lion and my name will be carved forever at this hut.' He lived to his words."

Later while speaking to the media at Oscar Squadron where Major Sandeep spent three years of his cadet life, K Unnikrishnan recalled his son as a `born soldier`. He said, "I wanted him to pursue engineering, but he was determined to join the NDA. He did it in the first attempt. NDA was his second home. Sandeep sacrificed his life answering the call for love and dedication for the nation to which he responded. If I were in his position I would have done the same thing and fought with the nation's enemies."

While K Unnikrishnan was speaking, his mother Dhanalakshmi could not hold back her tears and was unable to speak even a few words. `Mother has lost her friend`, was all Sandeep`s father could comment.

Sumi Jo

2008-12-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

Sumi Jo - Rossini - Barbiere di Siviglia - Una Voce Poco Fa

Sumi Jo, Cecilia Bartoli & Hervert von Karajan

Legend of Sumi Jo

Sumi Jo - Mozart

2008-12-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

Sumi Jo - Mozart - Die Zauberflote - Der Holle Rache Kocht

Sumi Jo - Mozart - Die Zauberflote - O Zittre Nicht, Mein

Sumi Jo - O zittrinicht mein lieber sohn

Connie in Korea

2008-12-13T18:37:00.000-08:00

Connie Talbot korea interview

Connie Talbot - You Raise Me Up - Live

Mirusia Louwerse, Sumi Jo nd other's rendition of Ave Maria

2008-12-13T18:25:00.000-08:00

Mirusia Louwerse - Ave Maria von Schubert

Another Beautiful Rendition of Ave Marie

Sumi Jo sings 'Ave Maria' by Caccini

Westminster Choir "O Come All Ye Faithful"

2008-12-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

Futon

2008-12-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

Tina Turner

2008-12-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

Tina Turner - The Best (Barcelona 1990)

Tina Turner - Whats Love Got To Do With It (Barcelona 1990)

What's love got to do with it Tina Turner (Grammy's 1985)

Tina Turner - I Dont Wanna Lose You (Barcelona 1990)

Purpose in life may cut risk of stroke

2008-12-13T05:25:00.000-08:00

BY KENJI TAMURA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Men who feel they have something to live for run a significantly lower risk of dying from a cerebral stroke, even if they are under mental stress, a 15-year study in Akita Prefecture has found.

The study, by an Akita University team as part of an education ministry project, covered 1,600 men and women in the town of Omori, now merged with Yokote city.

The results suggest that finding a purpose and joy in life may override the purported risk of suffering a stroke due to stress, the team said. It added that it did not know yet why there is such a difference.

The 1,600 residents of Omori underwent a health examination in 1988, when they were aged 40 to 74.

In addition to the checkups, participants were asked: "Do you have something to live for?" and "Do you think you have a lot of stress?"

The team followed the group until 2003. By then, 249 men and women had died.

Of the 355 men who had said they had something to live for or a lot to live for, 58 had died. Of those, four died of a cerebral stroke.

By comparison, of 477 men who had said they did not have much in particular to live for or who did not know, 114 had died. In this group, 19 died of a stroke.

The risks of death were calculated after excluding the effects of age, blood pressure problems, smoking and other factors.

The team found that men who said they had something to live for ran a 38 percent lower risk of dying than men who did not.

Moreover, the risk of dying of a stroke was as much as 72 percent lower for those with something to live for.

No such statistical difference was found for heart disease or cancer, according to the team.

About one in five men studied said they had a lot of stress, but the risk of fatal stroke was still lower for those who said they had something to live for.

The team found no significant differences among the women in the study.

Yutaka Motohashi, a professor of public health, led the study. He also runs a suicide-prevention project for the elderly that helps them find a purpose in life. He said that such efforts could also help improve the residents' collective health.

Motohashi said he hopes to conduct a similar survey in urban areas.(IHT/Asahi: December 12,2008)

2008-12-10T22:50:00.000-08:00

andrea bocelli-cant help falling in love

Sara Bareilles

2008-12-10T00:05:00.000-08:00

Sara Bareilles - Bottle It Up LIVE

Sara Bareilles DVD Trailer

2008-12-07T23:51:00.000-08:00

ANDRE RIEU - the light cavalry (cavalaria ligeira)

andre-rieu-konzert-schoenbrunn-gardeoffizier-01

André Rieu with "Scheherazade" in The Efteling

Tanzen möcht' ich Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

Musik The Musik that makes the world go round

2008-12-07T23:31:00.000-08:00

André Rieu - Trumpet Voluntary, entrance of Empress Sisi (Sydney 27th Nov 2008)

Andre Rieu Empress Sissi

André Rieu's World Stadium Tour: biggest stage ever to go on tour!

Andre Rieu

2008-12-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

Mozart Piano Concerto No.21 (2nd Mov. Andante)

Andre Rieu - Romatic Moments

Fareed Zakaria GPS

2008-12-05T17:34:00.000-08:00

2008-12-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

It’s a strange feeling walking into an airport, past check-in and through security - only to end up going nowhere except back home again an hour or so later.

But that’s exactly what I did last week at Heathrow. It was worth it though because I was there for a whistle-stop tour of the Airbus A380 superjumbo: an aircraft that is awe-inspiring on every level.

Take a look at pictures of the inside of the Airbus A380

This double-decked engineering marvel is immense. As it rolls around the corner of Terminal 3, the tailfin dwarfs even a 747 jumbo. In fact, the A380 is currently the largest civil aircraft in history and has a staggering maximum take-off capability of 560 tonnes.

Rather roomy
The cavernous interior has no less than three decks, two for passengers and one for baggage. That’s enough space, trivia fans, to hold 35 million ping-pong balls. The twin passenger decks make up an area which is the same as three tennis courts. And, get this, during take-off the wings flex upwards by over four metres.

When we arrive, the plane is almost eerily silent with hardly anyone about save for the odd chap in a high visibility jacket. Time is actually quite tight as the aircraft stays here for only an hour or so before it leaves Heathrow for the return journey to Singapore.

On boarding the plane, I’m led first to the cockpit. Needless to say, the flight deck is awesome although not exactly spacious for such a large aircraft. My visit to this section is cut short when the captain turns up, so we make room for him and head back to see what I’ve really come here for, the amazing passenger accommodation and in-flight gadgetry.

Spacious experience
The A380 is designed to accommodate 525 passengers in a three-class configuration but the Singapore Airlines version seats 471, meaning a rather more spacious experience for everyone.

Throughout the aircraft is a bespoke in-flight entertainment system called KrisWorld, which enables you to access movies, TV shows and hundreds of music albums on demand. While those in Business Class get a 15.4-inch LCD screen on which to access all this, even economy passengers get a 10.6-inch seat-back screen, as well as a wired remote packing a QWERTY keyboard.

You can use that to work with the Office-style software included in the system, and there’s even a USB slot so you can plug in a storage device. Each seat also has its own power supply.

Luxury travel
While all classes (including economy) enjoy sumptuous soft furnishings designed by Givenchy, it’s the Singapore Airlines Suites Class that provides the real icing on the cake. Setting foot into one of these suites reminds me of sitting in your own private railway carriage. Each comes with sliding doors and roller-blinds to keep out prying eyes. It’s a regular home from home.

The luxurious leather chair is fully adjustable via an electronic control panel, but each suite also has a standalone full-sized bed. There are oodles of other toys to play with in here, but it’s the in-flight entertainment system that proves most tantalising.

Each suite has a mighty 23-inch LCD screen plus a remote control with a bright screen above the main menu controls on one side and a QWERTY keyboard on the other.
You wouldn’t want to write a book using this keyboard, but those USB slots mean a full-size version can be plugged in instead.

Further options
Alongside that there are network connectors and video-in sockets meaning a laptop or DVD player can be hooked up too. I’m soon navigating my way around the system with ease, even finding time for a quick round of golf picked from the array of games on offer.

Passengers also get a pair of high-end, noise-cancelling Bose headphones in their own presentation case to ensure the audio standard matches the superb pictures on the LCD screen. I can’t help wondering how many of these go missing when passengers reach their destination. They’re rather better than the plastic headsets normally handed out in cattle class.

While I’m aboard, I also get to see the business end of this incredible system. My guide takes me upstairs and we squeeze through a small door and onto a platform deep inside the aircraft. Housed inside here are all the in-flight systems and servers along with sections of a wiring loom that looks long enough to reach the Moon and back. It’s an awe-inspiring sight.

Imposing
Before I know it, the crew are in place and it’s time for the passengers to start boarding. We edge past them and head down some flimsy steps to the apron for a quick look from the ground up. From the tarmac, the A380 seems even more imposing. Everything about this aircraft is big, including the 22-wheel landing gear. Changing just one tyre will cost an airline over £40,000.

The four massive Rolls-Royce engines are also eye-poppingly impressive. They boast 116-inch titanium fan blades produced in a laboratory to avoid the risk of imperfections and suck in over one and a quarter tons of air every second. That means it would take two seconds for one engine to inflate a hot air balloon, while heat generated in the engine can reach half the temperature of the surface of the sun.

Oddly enough though, the Airbus A380 is surprisingly quiet and, as it rolls down the runway bound for Singapore, it’s burning less fuel and producing lower emissions than anything else in the air. In short, it’s a truly amazing machine.

Pavrotti and Friends

2008-12-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

Jon Bon Jovi & Pavarotti - Let it Rain

Mariah and pavarotti "hero"

We are the World - Pavarotti and Friends

Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma Live in Paris 98

ValyBMW - Luciano Pavarotti Bryan Adams - O Sole Mio Live

The 3 Tenors - Holywood Tribute: My Way

Three Tenors "You'll Never Walk Alone"

MAKING SENSE OF THE MUMBAI ATTACKS

2008-12-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

In the Triangle of Terror

The murderous attack on the city of Mumbai by Islamists shocked the world. It was coolly planned and coldly executed, and the trail supposedly points across the border to Pakistan, India's archenemy. Are the two nuclear powers on the verge of a new conflict?

It was a bizarre incident. Perhaps security officials should have seen what happened in March 2007 in the waters off Mumbai, a city of 18 million people, as a warning. That was when the crew of an Indian coast guard vessel noticed a fishing cutter coming from the north.

When the officers stopped the boat, they found, in addition to the crew, eight young Pakistani men who had no business being in Indian territorial waters. The men were so intent on being allowed to continue to Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, that they offered the Indian officials a bribe.

The Indians took the money and allowed the eight Pakistanis to continue, but they were not truly corrupt. Instead, they quickly placed a small homing device on board the fishing boat and notified Indian intelligence.

A short time later, the Pakistanis were apprehended and questioned. The intelligence agents soon realized that they were dealing with Islamists from the Pakistani organization Lashkar-e Taiba. But they never learned what the men were doing in India.

Today, more than one-and-a-half years later, Indian intelligence agents are connecting the dots between that incident and last week's attacks in Mumbai. They believe that the Islamists may have been on a test run to figure out the best way to bring a certain number of men from Pakistan to Mumbai by sea.

FROM THE MAGAZINE
Find out how you can reprint this DER SPIEGEL article in your publication.
That trip was probably a dress rehearsal for the attack that began last Wednesday evening. It ended in more than 170 dead and almost 300 wounded, after Mumbai was attacked by at least 10 Islamists. They arrived in inflatable boats, wore athletic shoes, trendy cargo trousers and backpacks -- young men who looked like backpacking students.

With the ongoing fire from their Kalashnikovs, and with hand grenades and explosives, the attackers set off a panic in India's largest city and the rest of the country. To the horror of the rest of the world, they targeted Americans, Brits and Israelis. Some holed up in the enormous Taj Mahal Hotel in the eastern part of the city, others went on a murdering spree in the five-star Hotel Oberoi-Trident, a few hundred meters away in western Mumbai, while a third group killed commuters at a train station farther north. The streets between these sites were transformed into a triangle of terror.

This was no ordinary, al-Qaida-style bombing. It was a military commando action, precisely planned and carried out in cold blood, a nightmare that lasted more than 45 hours, until the police and military finally managed to end the massacre.

An Outpost of the West in the East

Mumbai represents the side of India it wants the world to see: modern, open, capitalist, global and affluent, the financial capital of a country seeking international recognition. For this reason, no other city in India has attracted as much of the destructive fury of Islamists as this halo on the Arabian Sea.

Mumbai is like an outpost of the West in the East, a city of stock markets and the Bollywood film industry, the financial center and dream factory for a country of one billion people, India's New York and Los Angeles rolled into one. For those who want no part of the West's focus on money, globalization and modernity, Mumbai is a Western den of iniquity. For those who yearn to be a part of it, Mumbai is a melting pot.

The city is a magnet for thousands arriving from rural areas, who end up in teeming slums, hoping to work their way up to the sunny side one day. Mumbai, with its 18 million people, could soon be the world's second-largest city after Tokyo. There is unbelievable wealth and devastating poverty, and even without religion, Mumbai offers plenty of material for conflict fueled by hate.

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The World from Berlin: 'India's Security Apparatus Has Failed' (12/01/2008)
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Terrorizing the Economy: For Mumbai, Financial Fallout Could Be Great (12/01/2008)
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Opinion: India Is Pointing in the Right Direction (11/29/2008)
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A Lack of Strategy: India's Terrorism Dilemma (11/28/2008)

The Islamist terrorists apparently hoped to strike two enemies at the same time. They wanted to strike a blow at modern India, to avenge their oppressed fellow Muslims and wrest part of the divided region of Kashmir from Indian control. But it was also an attack on the West, as evidenced by the terrorists' singling out of British and American citizens, by their targeting of the famous luxury hotels where foreigners stay and by their attack on a Jewish center. Up to 20 of the dead are foreigners, three of them apparently from Germany. The German Federal Office of Criminal Investigation has sent four officers to Mumbai.

In committing the murders, the terrorists added a global charge to a regional conflict. There are three powder kegs lined up next to each other in this region: ethnically diverse India, embattled Afghanistan and unstable Pakistan. These three countries contain enough explosive material to shake the entire world, especially because India and Pakistan, archenemies, have nuclear warheads and this attack could propel them toward new hostilities.

This melting together of conflicts is typical al-Qaida strategy from the Osama bin Laden school. It breaks down international borders. From Afghanistan to Iraq to Palestine to Indonesia, wherever the supposed true believers are battling the supposed infidels, everything flows together into one great conflict, the "clash of civilizations" that US political scientist Samuel Huntington foresaw at the end of the Cold War. According to Huntington, the main battle lines would soon no longer be drawn between the two major blocs and ideologies, but between cultures and religions, especially between the Western and the Islamic worlds.

'Gateway to India'

The most recent battle in this war began when the Islamists' black-and-yellow inflatable boats set out -- presumably from a mother ship out at sea, as Indian investigators believe. They also speculate that some of the terrorists arrived by land a few days earlier, but that the men on the ship brought the weapons.

On Thursday, an Indian coast guard helicopter discovered the Kuber, a fishing trawler, unmanned and adrift in the Indian Ocean, with the body of a man believed to be the captain on board, his hands tied and his throat slit. The terrorists may have hijacked the boat. Investigators are currently analyzing the data on the ship's navigation system and satellite telephone. It could reveal where exactly the terrorists came from.

Where the attacks took place.
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Where the attacks took place.
Skyscrapers point the way to downtown Mumbai, where the famous "Gateway to India" monument stands. It would also serve as the terrorists' gateway to Mumbai. The city is on an island, and its downtown area is surrounded by water on three sides -- the ideal setting for attackers arriving by sea.

Once on land, the Islamists stole several cars and a police van. They separated into at least five groups and set off on their mission. Possibly the first shots -- officials have not yet been able to reconstruct the course of events leading up to Saturday morning -- fell at about 9:30 p.m. at the Chhatrapati Shivaji train station.

In the Victorian terminal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, at least two terrorists pulled automatic weapons out of their bags and began shooting randomly and tossing hand grenades at commuters. "The men seemed calm and focused. They were not in a hurry at all. They did not seem to be afraid of anything," says an employee at a nearby café. One of the men would fire while the other one reloaded, according to the café employee. About 40 people were killed or wounded.

'Pure Horror'

At about the same time, their collaborators began shooting wildly in the lobby of the 105-year-old Taj Mahal, a hotel popular among the international elite, including politicians, millionaires and celebrities. A palace with more than 565 rooms, hand-woven silk carpets, alabaster ceilings and crystal chandeliers, the Taj Mahal has accommodated such famous guests as Prince Charles, Jackie Onassis, David Rockefeller, Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger.

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The World from Berlin: 'India's Security Apparatus Has Failed' (12/01/2008)
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Terrorizing the Economy: For Mumbai, Financial Fallout Could Be Great (12/01/2008)
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Opinion: India Is Pointing in the Right Direction (11/29/2008)
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A Lack of Strategy: India's Terrorism Dilemma (11/28/2008)

The Taj is a world-class hotel managed by an international staff, including a German deputy director. One night in a room in the hotel's main wing costs about $500 (€400), breakfast not included. The Taj is almost always filled with foreigners.

When the first shots fell, Erika Mann, a German Social Democratic politician and member of the European Parliament, was sitting in the hotel restaurant with some Indian acquaintances. She was in Mumbai to conduct negotiations on trade relations. "Odd, we thought, perhaps this is the gun salute for a wedding," she said a few days later. But what happened next, says Mann, was "pure horror."

The exact whereabouts of Ralph Burkei -- the treasurer of the Munich branch of Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) and vice president of TSV 1860, a Munich football club -- in those first few minutes are still unclear. Burkei, 51, a partner in C.A.M.P. TV, a media company that produces the program "Bayern Journal," was vacationing with his girlfriend at the Taj. He attempted to flee when the Islamists arrived, a move that would lead to his horrific death.

Andreas Liveras, 73, a British national with an estimated net worth of close to half a billion euros, remained relatively cool at the beginning. He earned a portion of his wealth with a frozen pastry business, but later in life he derived his income from chartering his two motorized yachts: The 90-meter (295-foot) Lauren and the 85-meter (279-foot) Alysia are available for rent beginning at €696,000 ($870,000), VAT not included.

When the shots began, Liveras took cover under a table in the restaurant. A short time later, he called the BBC to report on the fighting and bomb explosions around him. By then, complete mayhem had erupted on the streets of Mumbai. A taxi blew up under an overpass, and a few terrorists drove through the streets, shooting indiscriminately into the crowds. Some victims who had been brought to a hospital were shot at a second time by the terrorists in front of the hospital.

Five Islamists stormed a famous restaurant, the Café Leopold. According to the "Lonely Planet," the Leopold attracts tourists from around the world like moths to a flame. "All of a sudden there was shooting coming from automatic weapons, and the whole place exploded," says Diane Murphy, a British citizen. "It was extremely loud, and my husband and I were hit" -- she in the foot and he between the ribs. Within minutes, the interior walls were covered with bullet holes and people were lying in pools of blood. The terrorists also threw hand grenades in the restaurant. All that remained of one victim were his shoes.

A National Security Guard commando rappels from a helicopter near the Jewish center in Colaba district.
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REUTERS

A National Security Guard commando rappels from a helicopter near the Jewish center in Colaba district.
Soon the police arrived, followed by soldiers and later special forces -- heavily armed and dressed in black uniforms. By then the shooting was coming from all sides. The terrorists were firing so wastefully at anything that moved that some officials believe that they may have set up ammunition depots days before the attacks. By that time, another group of terrorists believed to consist of seven armed men had begun their attack on the Oberoi Trident, another luxury hotel that competes with the Taj. They singled out Britons, Americans and Israelis. Snipers went into position on surrounding rooftops. One hostage wrote "Save us" on a sheet and hung it from a window. Later on, a large fire erupted at the Oberoi, and fires soon broke out at the Taj Mahal, as well.

At roughly 9:45 p.m., a group of terrorists attacked a Jewish center in the Colaba tourist district. Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, and his wife Rivka, 28, ran the center as a so-called Chabad House, sponsored by the ultra-orthodox Lubavitch Society in New York. Chabad Houses serve as shelters, synagogues and meeting places for Jews in dozens of countries around the world.

The rabbi and his wife were already asleep when the Islamists arrived. Others in the house included the devout couple's two-year-old son Mosche, a nanny and three other Jews. The nanny and one of the Jews escaped and hid in a storage room. After 12 hours in the hiding place, she heard the Holtzberg's young son crying.

The nanny ventured out and saw Mosche standing next to his parents, who were lying motionless in pools of blood. She grabbed the little boy and ran out of the building.

Later on, a special unit used a helicopter to storm the Chabad House and shot two terrorists. By then, the hostages had all been killed, most of them with their hands tied.

In the period following the attack on the Chabad House, several news agencies and newspapers in Mumbai received an e-mail in which a group calling itself the "Deccan Mujaheddin" claimed responsibility for the attacks. No one had ever heard of the group.

'You Have Wronged Us'

That night, a terrorist holed up in the Hotel Oberoi gave a telephone interview to the Indian broadcaster India TV, in which he demanded the immediate release of all Islamists imprisoned in India. "You have wronged us and forced us to suffer atrocities," he said, explaining that this was why he and his brothers were now willing to die as martyrs. The man, who called himself Sahadullah, spoke Punjabi with a Pakistani accent.

The reporter asked whether the Deccan Mujaheddin had ties to al-Qaida. No, the terrorist replied, al-Qaida had cut off ties with his group. How many weapons do you have left?, the journalist asked. We still have a few presents left over for you, the man replied, followed by the sound of shots being fired in the background.

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The Deccan is a high plateau in southern India. But it was doubtful if a local, previously unknown terrorist organization could truly execute an operation of this magnitude without outside support. How much in the way of logistics does an attack of this nature require?

Not much, Indian security officials in Mumbai said on Thursday. Almost all of the targets were "soft targets," that is, places with little security and easy access for the assailants. The bombs, say Indian experts, were small and manageable, and the idea of arriving by sea, though clever, did not require the involvement of a large organization.

It was evident, said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the fighting, that the attacks were carried out by a "group based outside the country." Was it just an Indian reflex, to blame neighboring Pakistan? Or did the premier have more information than that? Singh said that he had proof to support his theory that the terrorists had come from abroad, although his government declined to say exactly what the evidence was.

Some signs seemed to point in a completely different direction -- inward. There is plenty of anger and hate to go around among India's Muslims, just as there are plenty of men within that group who idolize al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The decades-long good relationship between the Muslim minority and the Indian state was severely shaken in 2002, when a Hindu mob hunted down and killed about 2,000 Muslims in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Meanwhile, the international politicization of Islam has not gone unnoticed among Indian Muslims. In response to the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper in 2005, radical Muslims staged angry protests in India. And not every terrorist arrested by Indian security forces has completed his training in Pakistani or Afghan camps. There are also terrorist training camps in the forests of the southwest Indian province of Kerala and in central India.

One of the gunmen who paralyzed Mumbai.
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AP / Mumbai Mirror

One of the gunmen who paralyzed Mumbai.
And then there was a more recent warning from inside India. On Saturday, Sept. 13, five bombs exploded in New Delhi, killing 20 people. On the same day, various newspapers received an email signed by a terrorist group known as the "Indian Mujaheddin." Many now assume that this group is behind the attack on Mumbai, and that is may be a sort of umbrella organization for the Deccan Mujaheddin.

In November 2007, the Indian Mujaheddin claimed responsibility for its first attacks -- in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Since then, it has also claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in recent months, killing 130 people this year. For the Islamists, the Indian Mujaheddin is battling the government to exact revenge for the persecution of Muslims in India.

In its hate-filled September e-mail, the group announced attacks in Mumbai: "As deadly as the attacks facing residents of Mumbai will be, the only elements responsible for this are the members of the Mumbai counterterrorism unit." The special force is considered violent in its treatment of Islamists. In their e-mail, the terrorists wrote that the names of police officers responsible for the violence were on a death list, and that this time they were very serious.

Shortly after the first shots were fired in the Taj Mahal Hotel on Wednesday evening, hotel security personnel ran into the restaurant. "Quick, quick," they shouted, herding the guests into the kitchen. "Then we hid, as well as we could," says German member of parliament Erika Mann, "always moving from one spot to the next, constantly fleeing." Next to her she saw Indians, Japanese and Arabs running for their lives. "There was one woman who was screaming horribly," says the politician, "she had been forced to leave her two babies behind in the lobby."

Mann and others ran down a spiral staircase into underground hallways. "There were shots behind us," says Mann. But eventually she ran into soldiers who were apparently shooting at the attackers behind her, and after that she was safe.

Unlike Mann, Andreas Liveras, the frozen pastry multimillionaire, never made it to safety with the soldiers. He was found dead later on, with several bullets in his body.

Traumatic History

Instead of following the rest of the group out of the restaurant, Ralph Burkei, the man from Munich, tried to climb down the outside of the hotel. He fell and landed on an awning. He must have been in terrible pain, but he was still alive when he used his mobile phone to call a friend in Munich. "I've broken all of my bones," he said. "Unless someone helps me now, I won't make it."

Burkei called his friend several times that night. But help did not arrive at the awning soon enough to save his life.

The attack on Mumbai has finally turned the world's attention to a region that has always seethed with violence, one in which murders of politicians occur periodically and where terror is practically part of daily life.

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India is home to 150 million Muslims, more than in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia combined. Nevertheless, they are a minority of 13.4 percent in a country of more than one billion people, and many are still tormented by the traumatic memory of one of the biggest expulsions in world history.

When Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru led India to independence in 1947, the British colonial power ordered the division of the subcontinent into two nations, the Union of India and the much smaller Islamic Republic of Pakistan, from which East Pakistan seceded in 1971 to become an independent state, Bangladesh.

The announcement, on the day after independence, of the location of the new border marked the beginning of a conflict that expanded into the second ongoing international political crisis, next to the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, brought on by the disintegration of the British Empire: the struggle between warring brothers, Pakistan and India. It was this same struggle that led to the Mumbai massacre.

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Opinion: India Is Pointing in the Right Direction (11/29/2008)
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It began with an ethnic cleansing campaign of previously unknown proportions, in which 5.5 million Hindus and Sikhs were drive south and about six million Muslims north across the new border. Pogroms erupted in villages, neighbors attacked neighbors and almost a million people lost their lives at the hands of violent, fanatical religious warriors. Since its bloody beginnings Pakistan has been plagued by the fear of being swallowed up by its much larger neighbor.

A constantly bleeding wound in this conflict between neighbors is the crisis over one of the most beautiful parts of the world, the Himalayan region of Kashmir. At the time of independence Kashmir, a former princely state, was ruled by a Hindu maharaja, despite the fact that it was 80 percent Muslim. Pakistan, eager to annex Kashmir, sent in Muslim irregular troops. The beleaguered maharaja turned to New Delhi for help and surrendered his realm to the Union of India, which also sent soldiers.

Since early 1949, Kashmir has been split along a United Nations-brokered ceasefire line. India and Pakistan have already waged two bloody wars over Kashmir and threatened each other with nuclear annihilation. Former US President Bill Clinton called the paradisiacal region "the most dangerous place on earth."

The Pakistani military believed it had a good opportunity to weaken India when, in 1989, a rebellion broke out among Muslims in the Indian part of Kashmir. The Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI, invited young Kashmiris to cross the border for training, only to send them back as trained fighters. India brutally struck down the rebellion.

In response, the ISI changed course. From then on, the intelligence agency no longer used primarily Kashmiri nationalists, but Pakistani and Kashmiri Islamists, who invoked jihad against India and sought to "Islamize" Kashmir. After having given the al-Qaida terrorists their start by supporting the fundamentalist Taliban in Afghanistan, the Pakistanis paved the way for Islamist terrorists to head south.

Even al-Qaida leader Bin Laden had close ties to Kashmiri terrorism. In a new book, former CIA agent Bruce Riedel, now an advisor to US President-elect Barack Obama, describes how Bin Laden and the ISI cooperated in the establishment of the Pakistani Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has since expanded its attacks well beyond Kashmir to strike India directly.

Three months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, a suicide commando attacked the Indian parliament. The incident almost sparked a war between India and Pakistan, because the government in New Delhi saw the handwriting of Pakistani intelligence in the attack. It was only through pressure from Washington that a new war was prevented.

It is precisely those terrorists who apparently almost triggered a nuclear war at the time who the Indians now believe are behind the attacks on Mumbai.

The Pakistan Connection

If it turns out that the terrorists did in fact come from Pakistan, the world will face a new round in the dangerous dispute between the two archenemies. The conflict harbors the risks of a war between the two nuclear powers, which explains why Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has been so eager to show a willingness to cooperate. He is sending his foreign minister to meet with Singh and his intelligence chief and his staff to India to assist in the investigation.

Even before the hours of horror in Mumbai had ended, Indian authorities apparently found evidence of a connection between the attackers and the Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba.

As the Indian special forces units advanced through the hotels, room by room, they witnessed grisly scenes, liberated the Islamists' hostages and shot one attacker after another. One terrorist at the Taj Mahal managed to hold out until the end.

"There were bodies lying all over the place, and there was blood everywhere," says one officer, describing the scenes when the Indian authorities stormed the hotel. They counted 50 dead in the lobby alone, and more bodies in a room on the third floor. They also discovered the Islamists' supplies: dates, almonds and bullet rounds. The attackers had apparently prepared for a prolonged siege.

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While freeing the hostages, the Indian special units also captured at least one of the terrorists alive. At first the media reported three captured gunmen. On Friday the PTI news agency reported that they had confessed that they were members of Lashkar-e Taiba, or "Army of the Pure."

On Friday evening, the British Daily Mail newspaper reported that at least two of the men arrested were British citizens of Pakistani descent. Scotland Yard sent a team to Mumbai to help Indian investigators. However, the British connection seemed to be discounted over the weekend.

According to the latest media reports, there is one Islamist in police custody, a 21-year-old Pakistani named as Ajmal Qasab who says he was trained in Lashkar camps.

And Indian intelligence is claiming that the attackers, using satellite phones, spoke with men in Pakistan during the gun battles, even speaking directly with a Lashkar commander.

RÜDIGER FALKSOHN, CLEMENS HÖGES, HANS HOYNG, JULIANE VON MITTELSTAEDT, PADMA RAO, BRITTA SANDBERG, HANS-JÜRGEN SCHLAMP, BERNHARD ZAND

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

'India's Security Apparatus Has Failed'

2008-12-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

Public anger in India is growing in the aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Top officials are resigning and tensions with Pakistan are on the rise. German commentators warn that the last thing the world needs is a new crisis in South Asia.

The initial grief and shock at the terrible events in Mumbai last week is giving way to anger. Indians are beginning to ask why their politicians and security forces were incapable of protecting them from the terror

Heads are beginning to roll in the Indian political establishment as the recriminations mount. At the same time tensions are rising between the government in New Delhi and Pakistan, particularly as the interrogation of the only surviving gunman indicates that the militants who laid siege to Mumbai for three days had come from Pakistan.

On Monday investigators said that the captured man, Ajmal Qasab, had told them that he undertook training in Pakistan at a camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group with links to Kashmir. He was among at least 10 men who paralyzed the city of Mumbai beginning last Wednesday, attacking targets that were known to be frequented by foreign tourists, including two luxury hotels. The terrorist attack left at least 172 dead and 239 wounded and revealed the weakness of India's security apparatus.

India's Home Affairs Minister Shivraj Patil stepped down on Sunday as Indians took to the streets to protest against the government. On Monday the top official in the state of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, offered to resign. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised to beef up maritime and air security and is to hold cross-party talks on the establishment of a new federal investigative agency.

Meanwhile the specter of relations further deteriorating between Pakistan and India has the international community worried. Although New Delhi has held back from accusing the government in Islamabad of being directly responsible, analysts say the involvement of Pakistan's military intelligence agency ISI cannot be ruled out, particularly if Lashkar-e-Taiba proves to be behind the events. The group is regarded as a creation of the ISI, set up to help fight India in disputed Kashmir. The group was blamed for the attack on the Indian parliament in 2001, an incident that brought the two nuclear-armed states to the brink of war.

The attacks in Mumbai.
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The attacks in Mumbai.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has appealed to India not to punish his country for the attacks. "Even if the militants are linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, who do you think we are fighting?" he said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday. Officials in Islamabad have warned that any worsening of relations with India could force Pakistan to move troops to the Indian border and away from the volatile Afghan border, where it is engaged in the US-led campaign against Islamist militants.

On Monday the United States said that it expected Pakistan to cooperate fully in any investigation into the terrorist rampage. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is to travel to India later this week, said: "I don’t want to jump to any conclusions myself on this, but I do think that this is a time for complete, absolute, total transparency and cooperation and that's what we expect."

German commentators voiced their concern on Monday about the prospects of an escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan and many are scathing of India's weak security regime.

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"Perhaps the attackers were sent from (Pakistan) to Mumbai. However, it is well known that the government in Islamabad does not have any control over parts of the country. And is also well known that the army and, in particular, the ISI intelligence agency operates partly on its own account. President Zardari and the government in Islamabad have no understandable reason to want to jeopardize relations with India, just as efforts to calm the tensions in Kashmir are finally showing some success. The economically languishing Pakistan, on the contrary, has an interest in improving its relations with India, in order to profit from that country's growth."

"A new crisis between India and Pakistan would also be a disaster for the West. Both states are needed to regain control over the situation in Afghanistan. And the government in New Delhi cannot afford a crisis, even if a dispute with archenemy Pakistan is part of the usual election campaign arsenal. The consequences of the global financial and economic crisis have also reached India."

The conservative Die Welt writes:

"This year … India became the most important target of the international jihad. Terrorists learn quickly, they are flexible in their choice of victims. If the West arms itself better, then they look for softer targets. And where can they cause more mayhem than in a country with 150 million Muslims and a festering problem with its minorities, that is still in conflict with nuclear-armed Pakistan?"

"The country has now received its wake-up call and has to improve its security. The federally organized state needs a centralized anti-terror institution with clear responsibilities and an intelligence information pool that local authorities can also access. This attack has shown yet again that once the terrorists are in a hotel, a train station -- or here in our Christmas markets -- then it is already far too late. Survival depends on good early detection by intelligence agencies."

The business daily Handelsblatt reports:

"Delhi's political establishment has to resist the temptation to use the scapegoat of Pakistan to deflect from its own failures. One thing is right: India's neighbor is home to the control center of the global jihad and has to take tougher measures against Islamists and their sympathizers."

"However, India like the West has to realize that the fight against cross-border terrorism can only be won with Pakistan. … (President Zardari) has promised to help fight the common threat posed by terrorism. Delhi should take him at his word. If the leadership buries the promising peace process then the terrorists' calculations will have borne fruit: Pakistan would be deflected from the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida and in the upsurge of nationalism the extremists could easily mutate from criminals into heroes."

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

"The Pakistani government has made it clear that, unlike in the past, it wants to reduce militant Islamists' room for maneuver in the country."

"As great as the fear is that there will be new escalation in South Asia, in fact India and Pakistan have common interests in the fight against terrorism. It is important, not only for Delhi, but also for Pakistan, that those behind the attack on Mumbai are identified quickly, particularly if the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group, which operates from Pakistan and has close ties to the ISI, really played a role."

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"The governments in both states will want to do everything to stop the calls for revenge growing louder on the streets, something that could lead to the simmering Kashmir conflict developing its own dangerous dynamic. Neither India nor Pakistan can have any interest in seeing Kashmir develop into another battlefield on the map of the global jihad."

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:

"Although (India) has repeatedly been the target of terror attacks, its political class has continued to sun itself in the glow of the impressive economic growth, while nourishing ambitions of superpower status. They ignored the fact that more influence in the world does not come without more responsibility and greater risks. And India's security apparatus has completely failed. India has to finally reform itself politically and take measures against terrorism -- and its causes. That includes getting politicians and the justice system to investigate and severely punish acts of violence committed by Hindus. The politicians who foment hate between uneducated voters are playing right into the hands of terrorists."

"If India does not act with a cool head now it will not only endanger its identity as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state. It risks becoming dragged into the vortex of Islamism. This is not only threatening the existence of Pakistan, but peace in whole of South Asia."

-- Siobhán Dowling, 1:30 p.m. CET

2008-11-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

L.Pavarotti & C.Dion & B. Adams ...All For Love

ValyBMW - Luciano Pavarotti Bryan Adams - O Sole Mio Live
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Musik Musik Musik Makes the El Mundo go around

2008-11-30T00:45:00.000-08:00

Carla Maffioletti sings Gesú Bambino

Gesù Bambino (Luciano Pavarotti)

ricky martin and pavarotti - mamma

PAVAROTTI and DARREN HAYES Pavarotti and Friends

Luciano Pavarotti Mamma, son tanto felice (Bixio) Budapest

Luciano Pavarotti and George Michael - Don't Let The Sun Go

Luciano Pavarotti & Enrique Iglesias

Pavarotti & Friends Celine Dion My Heart Will Go On

India Is Pointing in the Right Direction

2008-11-29T23:27:00.000-08:00

By Claus Christian Malzahn

Mumbai a terror zone, and India bitterly points its finger at Pakistan. The unloved neighbor needs all the help the West can offer. Pakistan is nearly a failed state -- and a US invasion under President Obama can't be ruled out.

It is still not clear who exactly carried out the terror attacks in Mumbai this week. But the actions speak for themselves. The murderers expressly went after Britons, Americans and Jews. In the world's largest democracy, attacks were carried out by a determined minority against the will of an overwhelming majority. The crimes bear the clear and bloody fingerprints of militant, political Islamism.

The uncomfortable resonance left behind by the series of attacks is that the criminals were almost omnipotent: They could strike where, when and -- almost -- whomever they wanted. The terror didn't just claim its victims in one awful moment; it spread out and lasted for days. There was a similar feeling during the terror attacks on the living quarters of Westerners in Saudi Arabia in 2004 as well as the battle at Pakistan's Red Mosque, in the center of Islamabad. But this time the terror overtook an entire city.

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The attacks struck the heart of an Indian civil society that has always functioned fairly well, despite recurring conflicts between the country's Hindu majority and Muslim minority. The terror struck a country that is closely allied, politically and economically, with the West. The terrorists' mission can be neatly summarized: political, economic and cultural destabilization of the whole subcontinent.

The attacks were an attempt to spread religious war from the whole of Afghanistan and regions of Pakistan to their southern neighbor, India. It's obvious the terrorists follow the ideology of al-Qaida, though it's unclear whether the head of that organization gave orders for this mission. Perhaps we'll never know -- it wouldn't be the first time. But we can assume the murderers from Mumbai see themselves as part of an international movement in which Zawahiri and bin Laden hold high ranks.

Now the population of India, shocked to the core by the brutality, is pointing unmistakably in one direction: to the northwest. "Elements with links to Pakistan" are responsible for the massacre, says India's foreign minister. Several terrorists have Pakistani backgrounds, say Indian officials, though the government has so far presented no firm evidence. But a lack of evidence does not mean Pakistan had nothing to do with the well-planned attacks.

On the contrary: The Indian embassy in Kabul was made the target of a bloody attack earlier this summer. Western intelligence services have traced the attackers in that case back to the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI. Pakistani groups in the past have often been responsible for terror attacks in India. Of course, there are also "homegrown" jihadists in India as well. But in Pakistan, above all in its tribal area near the border with Afghanistan, these fighters have the territory they need to plan the spread of their war beyond its local confines.

There have been three major wars between the two countries since 1947, when Britain withdrew and the protectorate was divided into Pakistan and India. There have also been a number of smaller armed conflicts, most recently in 1999. Even when the fighting ceases, a deep mistrust abides. The political mottos in this conflict might be summed up as, "My enemy's enemy is my friend," and "What hurts my neigbor is good for me."

These maxims, born from deep enmity, were familiar in Europe in the 19th century, when every nation thought it was better than its neighbor. But on the Indian subcontinent 21st century Islamist terrorism has to be added as a decisive political factor to these kinds of parochial ideas.

Brainwashing for the Holy War

Nevertheless, Pakistan's foreign minister offered India his help on Friday. He pledged to send the head of the ISI to share information with his Indian counterparts. These are praiseworthy developments, but it will take more than words to prevent attacks like those in Mumbai from happening again.

Even if the governments in New Delhi and Islamabad have cautiously begun to discuss their core differences, like the status of Kashmir, and even if telegrams of sympathy are sent from Islamabad to Mumbai and New Delhi, the benefits will be limited. And if the murky political and military situation in Pakistan is not clarified and solved, then the war on the terror between Kabul, Karachi and Mumbai will almost certainly be lost.

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For years a kind of death industry has been taking hold in Pakistan's tribal areas. There are hundreds of Koranic schools which could better be described as cadet schools for Islamists. Boys as young as five are sent here by their impoverished parents. The state provides hardly any free education; the schools that exist are poorly equipped. Children learn the Koran by heart in Arabic, often without understanding a word. After all they speak Pashtun, not Arabic.

The idea is to condition or brainwash them. The goal is jihad. As young men these warriors are given military training which underscores their so-called spiritual training.

Anyone who doubts the existence of this death-machinery can visit the hundreds of schools just a few hours' drive from Quetta, near Afghanistan's border. To get there one has to pass checkpoints and roadblocks erected by the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence agency. The ISI carefully protects this region, which might be described as an extended barracks for jihad, interspersed with rural villages. Why? No one in Islamabad seems willing to answer that question.

Is Pakistan a Failed State?

The Pakistani government has long ago given up control of this region. The army and the ISI, which takes a lion's share of the national budget, lead their own independent existence. Their links to the Taliban and to Islamic groups in Kashmir and India have grown.

Even if the government in Islamabad showed a will to crack down on these tribal areas, it's doubtful the army and the ISI would follow orders. Even Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf was unable to keep a lid on terrorism, and unlike his successor he had not just political but military power.

All in all, medium-term prospects for the subcontinent are rather gloomy. Pakistan recently had to be taken under the wing of the IMF. The state is as good as bankrupt. Its political leadership is either corrupt or -- when it comes to the military-intelligence service complex -- almost without influence.

And somewhere in Pakistan, nuclear weapons are stored. The Americans have always vouched that the weapons of mass destruction in the bunkers between Karachi and Lahore were secure -- but that was before American helicopters were fired at in Pakastani airspace by, ostensibly, their closest allies in the War on Terror.

From a political point of view Pakistan is nearly a failed state. But no Western statesman will say that out loud, because openly admitting it will not make things any easier.

The next American president seems to understand the reality of power relations in Pakistan. During the campaign, Barack Obama's rhetoric in this regard set him apart with surprising clarity from his opponent John McCain. Whereas the Republican put diplomatic negotiations with the regime in Islamabad up front and centre, Obama was open about bringing military intervention in the tribal areas into the discussion. Strengthening the US presence there seems, in any case, a firm part of Obama's agenda. The planned American withdrawal from Iraq could -- in a worst-case scenario -- be followed by an invasion of Pakistan. This must not be something he wants, at least not in the fullest sense. Even Vietnam was never imagined as a long war.

Naturally Obama will talk with the government in Islamabad. But the fact that he has emphasized military strength shows that he is soberly, if pessimistically, assessing the political power relations between the army and the Pakastani government.

The coming weeks should demonstrate what the Pakastanis are in a position to undertake in the battle against terror. If they want to prevent the Americans from raising the stakes, they must act now. Of course the chances of purging the jihad zone with one, two, or three military actions -- whether from Americans, Pakastanis, or some combination -- are very slim. If a serious battle there is now envisaged, it will be very protracted.

The Enemy of My Enemy

It's difficult to win a war when one side refuses to accept moral, military, or state boundaries while the other is permanently bound by them. Clausewitz himself might groan in despair. Carl von Clausewitz -- the Prussian war theoretician -- wrote that the goal of a war is to disarm the enemy. But how do you begin to disarm an enemy in tribal areas where it is hard to tell the difference between harmless peasants and fighters in disguise?

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The jihadis who tried to transform Mumbai into a killing zone have the deaths of Hindus, Jews, Americans, Britons, and also Germans to answer for. Like-minded people are also killing Muslims every day -- in Pakistan the attack on the Marriot hotel hit several groups that were celebrating the end of Ramadan.

These death squads can only be defeated if the political actors in the subcontinent start to see through the borderless game their enemies are playing, and if they share information and act together. This would require a level of trust and goodwill that hasn't existed between India and Pakistan for many years.

The Mumbai attacks seem to have caught the Indian government by surprise. At the moment it may not know where to direct its energies in the war against terrorism. In contrast to Pakistan, though, it retains full control of its military -- which brings its own kind of responsibility.

India's foreign minister has blamed "elements with links to Pakistan" for the terror attacks. A couple of years ago it would have called them "Pakastani elements." In the Great Game against terror in the subcontinent, this is a difference as small as it is important -- and given the depressing outlook for the region, one is thankful for any nuance that offers a glimmer of hope.

Maybe now the regimes can agree to a marriage of convenience. They, do, after all, have the same enemies.

Marine Cammandos (Marcos) who did joint operations with NSG Elite group

2008-11-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

Tribute to Fallen Heros

2008-11-28T21:18:00.001-08:00

Mumbai/Bangalore: Mumbai is bidding a tearful farewell to Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare while Bangalore gets ready for the cremation of National Security Guard commando Major Sadeep Unnikrishnan.

Karkare was killed along with two other top policemen, Additional Commissioner of police Ashok Kamte and police inspector Vijay Salaskar at Cama Hospital near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal when they came under fire from terrorists on Wednesday night.

His colleagues, visibly moved, paid homage to the senior officer. Karkare is survived by his wife Amruta, his two daughters Jui and Sayali and son Akash.

Major Unnikrishnan was martyred on Thursday while trying to save one of his colleagues at the Taj.

2008-11-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI, India — Fire and smoke poured from the landmark Taj Mahal hotel Saturday as Indian forces battled suspected Muslim militants making a last stand inside, just hours after commandos stormed a Jewish outreach center and found six hostages dead.

More than 150 people were killed in the violence that began when gunmen attacked 10 sites across India's financial capital Wednesday night. Fifteen foreigners, including five Americans, were among the dead.

Authorities scrambled to identify those responsible for the unprecedented attack, with Indian officials pointing across the border at rival Pakistan, and Pakistani leaders promising to cooperate in the investigation. A team of FBI agents was ordered to fly to India to investigate the attacks.

With the fighting stretching into a third day, commandos killed the last two gunmen inside the luxury Oberoi hotel, where 24 bodies had been found, authorities said. Dozens of people — including a man clutching a baby and about 20 airline crewmembers — were evacuated from the Oberoi earlier Friday.

The Taj Mahal hotel was wracked by hours of intermittent gunfire and explosions that continued into Saturday morning, even though authorities said earlier that they had cleared it of gunmen. Indian forces kept up a counterattack with grenades and trading gunfire with what authorities believed was one or perhaps two militants holed up in the ballroom. TV images showed shattered windows on the building's first floor.
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CNN reported the government had cut off their live transmissions from the scene in Mumbai. Authorities have asked not to show live broadcasts of the battle because they believe the gunmen were monitoring the news. Most channels largely obliged.

The capture of the hotel would mark the end of one of the most brazen terror attacks in India's history.

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The coordinated strikes in Mumbai, a city of 19 million on the Arabian Sea, were the most audacious yet to be seen in India.

According to the Associated Press, more than 30 terrorists entered the city by ship, then clambered into inflatable rubber rafts around 9 p.m. Wednesday, passing through the Gateway of India — a massive archway on the Mumbai waterfront built during British colonial rule.

They focused on the kind of "soft targets" that security experts have long cited as being vulnerable around the world: two luxury hotels, a cafe, a train station, a hospital and the headquarters of a Jewish group, among others.

In the most dramatic of the counterstrikes Friday morning, masked Indian commandos rappelled from a helicopter to the rooftop of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish center as snipers laid down cover fire.

For nearly 12 hours, explosions and gunfire erupted from the five-story building as the commandos fought their way downward, while thousands of people gathered behind barricades in the streets to watch.

The assault blew huge holes in the center, and, at one point, Indian forces fired a rocket at the building.

Soon after, elated commandos ran outside with their rifles raised over their heads in a sign of triumph.

But inside the Chabad House was a scene of tragedy.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel's Channel 1 TV that the bodies of three women and three men were found at the center. Some of the victims had been bound, Barak said. "All in all, it was a difficult spectacle," he said.

Local media reports, quoting top military officials, said two gunmen were found dead in the building.

Chabad Lubavitch is an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group that runs outreach centers in far-flung areas of the globe. The center in Mumbai served as a synagogue and cultural center for crowds of Israeli tourists and the small local Jewish community, the group said.

Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, a spokesman for the Chabad Lubavitch movement, said the dead Americans at the Jewish center were Holtzberg; Bentzion Chroman, an Israeli with dual U.S. citizenship; and Leibish Teitlebaum, an American from Brooklyn. Holtzberg's wife was an Israeli citizen.

Two other U.S. victims of the attack, from a Virginia community that promotes a form of meditation, were identified Friday as Alan Scherr, 58, and daughter Naomi, 13, of Faber, Va. They were killed in a cafe Wednesday night at the Oberoi, said Bobbie Garvey, a spokeswoman for the Synchronicity Foundation.

"There are still Americans at risk on the ground and we want to be very, very careful with any facts," said U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid.

The other dead were from Australia, France, Italy, Canada, Japan, Germany, Singapore and a dual British-Cypriot citizen.

By Friday evening, at least nine gunmen had been killed, one had been arrested and as many as six were still in the hotel, said R. Patil, a top official in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed "external forces" for the violence — a phrase sometimes used to refer to Pakistani militants, whom Indian authorities often blame for attacks.

On Friday, India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in the western city of Jodhpur that "preliminary information" indicated that "some elements in Pakistan are responsible for Mumbai terror attacks."

"Proof cannot be disclosed at this time," he said, adding that Pakistan had assured New Delhi it would not allow its territory to be used for attacks against India.

Earlier Friday, Pakistan's Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, in Islamabad, denied involvement by his country: "I will say in very categoric terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents."

Sitaram Sharma, who runs a street stall, saw that horror up close.

"I've lived in Mumbai for 50 years and never seen anything like it," Sharma said still visibly shaken hours after the bloodshed.

Sharma saw two young men in T-shirts and jeans stride past his stall and open fire with assault rifles into a sidewalk cafe filled with Western tourists.

The attacks began at about 9:20 p.m. with shooters spraying gunfire across the Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station, one of the world's busiest terminals. For the next two hours, there was an attack roughly every 15 minutes — at the Jewish center, a tourist restaurant, one hotel, then another, and two attacks on hospitals. There were 10 targets in all.

The gunmen were well-prepared, apparently scouting some targets ahead of time and carrying large bags of almonds to keep up their energy.

"This is going to be our future — the Indian state fighting terrorists," said Suba Chandran, deputy director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in the Indian capital, New Delhi. "It is going to be a long process. There is no easy solution."

Though it was unclear exactly who orchestrated the attacks, they appear to provide further evidence that the main battleground for Islamist extremists is shifting from Iraq, where violence has fallen dramatically this year, to the democracies of South Asia. Militants are inflicting heavy casualties on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, seizing control of territory from a fragile government in Pakistan and proving they can strike just about anywhere in India.

"The implication for us is that there are bad guys still out there, and we're going to have to learn how to deal with them, because our friends are getting sucked into this big-time," said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., chairman of the House subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

In the past six months, terrorists have detonated bombs and killed dozens of people in several cities including New Delhi and the technology and outsourcing center of Bengaluru.

The very factors that in recent years have made India such a compelling success story — its impressive economic growth, its expanding ties with the West, its relatively open society — may be making it an irresistible target.

"India is going to have more problems in the future," said Edward Turzanski, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. "It's such a large target of opportunity."

President Bush called India's prime minister Thursday from Camp David to express "solidarity with the people of India," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. President-elect Barack Obama, spending Thanksgiving in Chicago with his family, received an intelligence briefing and spoke by phone with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The group that claimed responsibility for the attacks in an e-mail message to Indian news media — Deccan Mujahedin — was largely unknown to terrorism experts, who are divided over who its members are and where they come from.

Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network has established a refuge in the mountains along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Indian officials often accuse Pakistan's military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of orchestrating terrorist attacks inside India, particularly in the disputed region of Kashmir.

The two nuclear-armed countries almost went to war after Pakistani-backed Islamist militants attacked the Indian Parliament in December 2001, killing 12 people. After the Mumbai attacks Wednesday, Pakistan was quick to condemn the terrorists.

Christine Fair, South Asia analyst for RAND Corp., a think tank, suspects that the Mumbai terrorists are homegrown militants, bearing grievances over the way India's 140 million Muslims are treated by the Hindu majority. "This isn't India's 9/11," she said. "This is India's Oklahoma City."

Namrata Goswami, associate fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, says the attackers are domestic terrorists who sought to impress Islamist militants around the world.

"They want to establish some kind of linkage with al-Qaeda," she said. "But I don't believe it is there. The motive is very, very clear. This outfit wants to attract sponsors abroad. There's a lot of money in it."

Goswami said Indian Muslims bear plenty of grievances. They lag economically. And they have been targeted by Hindu extremists; hundreds of Muslims died, for instance, in communal riots in the Indian state Gujarat in 2002.

Other analysts, such as Sajjan Gohel, director of international security for the Asia-Pacific Foundation in London, see the attacks as part of a broader struggle to foment holy war against the West and its allies. "There could be an indigenous element," Gohel said, "but there are always transnational links, normally leading back to al-Qaeda and company in Pakistan."

Al-Qaeda has suffered heavy losses this year in Iraq, where Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told Reuters on Thursday that the war against the militant group was in its "final stages." U.S. military commanders, however, have warned that al-Qaeda is shifting operatives back to the Pakistani-Afghan border region, and it wants to show it is still capable of spectacular attacks.

"I would be stunned if (the Mumbai attacks) were not very heavily based in Pakistan," Turzanski said.

Whoever the attackers were, they caught Indian security forces unprepared. "Till now, we were greeting with glee Pakistan's incompetence in dealing with terrorism," Bahukutumbi Raman, former head of counterterrorism for India's intelligence agency, wrote on his blog after the Mumbai attacks. "We can no longer do so. We have become as clueless as Pakistan."

The killing began at Cafe Leopold, a watering hole for Western tourists who come to unwind in a dining room decorated with a picture of Elvis Presley.

Sharma, the street salesman, said he thought he heard the pop of firecrackers left over from the recent Diwali festival. They were gunshots. He saw people running and screaming. Then he spotted two gunmen picking off patrons in the cafe.

Five minutes later, the terrorists stormed the nearby Nariman House, owned by the ultra-Orthodox Jewish group Chabad-Lubavitch. Three people — including the toddler son of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg — walked out.

The attackers moved onto the majestic Victorian-style Chhatrapati Shivaji train station, mowing down commuters with Kalashnikov assault rifles.

At 10 p.m. Wednesday, gunmen barged into the Oberoi luxury hotel through different doors.

Madhur Kapur was enjoying dinner with her banker husband when a lone terrorist carrying a machine gun barged into the hotel's Kandahar restaurant and told everyone to freeze.

Instead, chaos ensued. Kapur fled down a fire escape and made it downstairs to the swimming pool, where Indian security forces helped her to safety. She hasn't seen her husband since.

Since 9/11, security experts have been divided over the possibility of similar attacks in the U.S.

The unprecedented nature of the attacks in Mumbai made the potential fallout that much harder to gauge.

Geopolitical research firm Stratfor noted previous attacks in India appeared designed to stoke religious violence. "As opposed to trying to rile up extremist elements in India's Hindu and Muslim communities, the attacks in Mumbai are going after the country's tourism industry, spreading fear — thereby hitting at India's economic lifelines."

Then again, India has largely avoided massive Hindu-Muslim violence, despite the terrorist provocations.

Train attacks that killed about 200 in Mumbai in July 2006 were "devastating for everyone," said Chandran at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. "But we bounced back the next day."

Gohel at the Asia-Pacific Foundation agreed: "India is the world's largest democracy, a vast subcontinent — It has faced many atrocities in the past, and as in the past, it will simply lick its wounds and move on."

Paul Wiseman reported from Hong Kong. Thomas Frank, Richard Wolf and Douglas Stanglin reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Wire reports.

2008-11-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

{Ashok Kamte (42): Additional Commissioner of Police}

Ashok Kamte was an alumni of St Stephen’s College, New Delhi. A national power-lifting champion, Kamte hailed from a family of policemen and armymen.

He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of weapons, explosives and unarmed combat, Kamte was summoned late on Wednesday night to deal with terrorists holed up near Metro Cinema, where he was gunned down.

“We have lost the bravest officer in the entire Maharashtra police force,” said Additional Director General of Police Arup Patnaik.

Kamte, a 1989 batch IPS officer, was one of the brightest. Twice, he was sent on UN peace missions, in Bosnia for a year (1998-99) and later in Somalia.

An HT correspondent spoke to him on his return from Bosnia. Kamte said he was thrilled to meet policemen from other countries but said it was not as exciting being a “soldier without an enemy” as a peacekeeper.

“I want to be in real combat situations,” he said. The much-loved former police commissioner of Solapur also served as superintendent of police in Naxal-infested Gadchiroli.

There are 10 pages set up by fans on Orkut, with comments from over 400 people, most of them ruing the fact that he could not continue as their police chief forever.

Daring and efficient as they were, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police (North East) Ashok Kamte and high-profile encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar were among those who died a hero's death while fighting terrorists in Mumbai.

Karkare was recently under attack of Right-wing parties and organizations for the investigations into the September 29 Malegaon blast probe, which has been engineered by fanatic Hindu fundamentalists. An officer of the 1982-batch of IPS, he was a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai before being deputed to the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the external intelligence agency.

As R&AW officer, he was posted in Europe, he was Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the United Nations in Vienna, where is work was excellent and still recognized. On his return to parent cadre, he was made Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) in Mumbai before being transferred to the ATS as a Special Inspector General of Police.

So far, 14 policemen were reported dead and nearly 25 others were injured. Among those injured is Additional Commissioner of Police (Central) Sadanand Date. Incidentally, the Pune ATS on November 26 reportedly received phone calls threatening to blow up the residence of Karkare within a couple of days following his investigations into the Malegaon blast. A cool-headed officer, he was a well read man – and was a true officer and a gentleman. The last television visuals of the 54year-old officer showed him in a light blue shirt and dark trousers surrounded by uniformed policemen armed with firearms and walkie-talkies. Karkare laid down his life near the Cama Hospital area.

Born and brought up in Nagpur, Karkare graduated from the Visveswaraiya Regional College of Engineering in 1975 and took up a few jobs in private sector before his selection in the IPS. He earned the reputation as a competent and upright officer during his stints in Thane, Nanded and Akola. During his posting as superintendent of police in Vidarbha's Chandrapur district, people saw a fascinating facet of Karkare's personality – he created as many as 150 beautiful wood sculptures in the forested area. There would always be some great wood carvings inside his office.

At the same time, Kamte too was a brilliant officer. Having undergone special training for negotiating hostage situations, Kamte was chosen to tackle one of the worst crisis faced by the financial capital of the country. He was a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai and has also done a stint with the United Nations. He was a DCP in Solapur also. He laid down his life near Metro Cinema.

On the other hand, Salaskar to fell to the bullets of agents of terror near the Metro Cinema. Salaskar, a dare-devil officer of the rank of Senior Inspector of Police currently headed the Anti-Extortion Cell. He has so far killed over 70 criminals in his career and is an officer of the famous 1983-batch of cops. One of his famous kills include dreaded underworld don Amar Naik alias Ravan.

7 TERRORISTS SHOT DEAD IN GUN BATTLES >> 1 TERRORISTS HELD >> 9 SUSPECTS IN SECURITY DRAGNET >> NARIMAN HOUSE SIEGE STILL ON >> NUMBER OF HOSTAGES NOT KNOWN
Indian intelligence agencies believe the Mumbai terror attacks was planned by Pakistan's ISI to discredit Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Quereshi while he is visiting India.

A top intelligence official said on Thursday that this attack was a "lesson to teach Quereshi, who has described the disbanding of the ISI's political wing as a positive development".

The terror attacks while Quereshi discussed cooperation between New Delhi and Is lamabad with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee was also a message by the ISI that the army still controlled politics in Pakistan though a democratically elected government is in place, he analysed.

He said that after Pakistani government was told by the U.S. to reign in the ISI and stop aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan, the directorate general of counter intelligence in the ISI focussed all its resources on India as over the last few years it was failing in the Kashmir valley.

He pointed out that ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha had focused on counter-terrorism during his previous assignment as the director general of military operations and his top priority in his new office would be "spread terror in India in connivance with Bangladesh's intelligence agencies".

The Mumbai terror attacks have been fully sponsored by the ISI's CI wing as investigations revealed two boatfuls of weapons and more than 20 Laskar-e-Tayiba terrorists most sailed from Karachi to some uninhibited islands near the shores of Mumbai.

Two ships MV Alfa and MV Al Kabeer have been detained by the Indian Navy. These are suspected to have ferried the terrorists from Karachi.

Intelligence officials have also discovered that these LeT men received directions through satellite telephones and also recruited some locals in Mumbai to carry out their terror operations.

"The LeT men were directly under the control of ISI CI wing and we will not be surprised if they have established contacts with Bangladesh-based terror outfit HuJI, which has spread its tentacles among millions of illegal Bangladeshi migrants spread all over India."

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Mumbai Fighting Narrows to One Hotel

2008-11-28T16:18:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI, India — The standoffs in the Indian commercial capital of Mumbai narrowed to a final running battle between commandos and at least one gunman who was still roaming the charred corridors of a luxury hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, but the murderous assault on this city continued to shake the nation and ratchet up tensions with neighboring Pakistan.
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All told, police said, more than 150 people, including at least 22 foreigners, were killed in attacks across the city, including a rabbi from Brooklyn and his wife, who had moved to Mumbai to operate a Jewish center. Nine gunmen were slain, the police said, and one was captured alive.

American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Friday there was mounting evidence that a Pakistani militant group — one long involved in the conflict with India over in the disputed territory of Kashmir — was responsible for the deadly attacks on Mumbai.

After two days of fighting, Indian security forces killed the attackers in one luxury hotel in the city known as the Oberoi Trident, freeing civilians trapped inside. Other units killed the gunmen occupying the headquarters of the Jewish center.

The slain rabbi, Gavriel Holtzberg, who held dual American and Israeli citizenship, and his wife, Rivka, an Israeli citizen, were among at least five hostages who were killed by attackers at the Jewish center, Nariman House. Another was Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, a Brooklyn native who moved to Jerusalem several years ago, according to a statement by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Israeli radio reported that a sixth body had been found at the center as well.

Also among the dead were two Americans, a 58-year-old man and his 13-year-old daughter, members of a spiritual community visiting from Virginia, who died in the Oberoi hotel. Two more Americans and two Canadians, traveling as part of the same retreat, were injured.

Two French nationals, the founder of a French lingerie line and her husband, were also among those killed in the violence in the city, according to Agence France-Presse.

Shortly before night settled over Mumbai, the police said 30 bodies were discovered in the Oberoi hotel, where the police had finally taken control and many guests and employees were evacuated earlier on Friday. The national security guard said it found two AK-47’s, a 9 millimeter pistol and some grenades inside the hotel; two gunmen were killed inside.

But the army’s operation at the second luxury hotel, the Taj, was only entering its “final phase,” according to the Indian military, with commandos battling at least one terrorist inside who was moving between two floors of the hotel, including an area that had been a dance floor for weddings and other parties. The army said two other gunmen had been killed overnight in the Taj. Later, commandos were seen rushing through the front door of the hotel, in what appeared to be another major assault to dislodge the militants.

Loud explosions and gun battles raged inside the Taj for most of the afternoon and evening. Indian commandos said the attackers at the hotels were well-trained and remorseless, with one attacker carrying a backpack packed with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and they seemed to know the buildings’ layout better than the security forces, indicating a high degree of preparation and sophistication.

The leader of a commando unit involved in a gun battle Thursday morning inside the Taj said during a news conference on Friday that he had seen a dozen dead bodies in one of the rooms.

His team also discovered a gunman’s backpack, which contained dried fruit, 400 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, four grenades, Indian and American money, and seven credit cards from some of the world’s leading banks. They pack also had a national identity card from the island of Mauritius, off Africa’s southeastern coast.

The attackers were “very, very familiar with the layout of the hotel,” said the commander, who disguised his face with a scarf and tinted glasses. He said the militants, who appeared to be under 30 years old, were “determined” and “remorseless.”

The Indian media focused on the possible involvement of the Pakistani guerrilla group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been linked to Pakistani intelligence.

As the State Department reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called President-elect Obama twice to brief him on the attacks, American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Friday there was mounting evidence pointing to the involvement of Lashkar, or possibly another Pakistani group focused on Kashmir, Jaish-e-Muhammad.

The American officials cautioned that they had reached no hard conclusions about who was responsible, or how it was planned and carried out. An F.B.I. team has been sent to Mumbai to assist with the forensic investigation of the attacks.

In a statement, President Bush said he was saddened by the American deaths.

Amid an atmosphere of recrimination between political parties within India, a senior Hindu nationalist leader, L.K. Advani, said the Indian security services had become “preoccupied” with Hindu terrorists and missed threats from Islamists. The Indian foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said early evidence explicitly pointed to Pakistan’s involvement.
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"Preliminary evidence, prima facie evidence, indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved," Mr. Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi.

An Indian official said one assailant had been captured alive and was a Pakistani citizen. The assertion, by R.R. Patil, the home affairs minister of Maharashtra State, where Mumbai is located, could further increase tension between India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed states which have fought wars in the past.

In London, officials said they were unable to confirm reports in a British newspaper that some of the attackers had British passports. Holding British passports is relatively common among people with ties to former colonies, but other officials said such a link was unlikely.

Pockets of resistance remained. In the Oberoi, some guests were still barricaded in their rooms Friday afternoon as security forces reasserted control of the hotel, and they were watching events outside on television news channels. But police and military officers did not explain why the operation to flush out a handful of assailants in the Taj hotel and the Jewish community center had taken so long.

At the Jewish center, commandos slid down ropes from a hovering Army helicopter on Friday morning as they stormed the building. The blue-uniformed troopers landed on the roof and soon made their way inside the center, home to the Hasidic Jewish group Chabad-Lubavitch, and a gun battle raged.

Late in the day, commandos in black uniforms and body armor moved into buildings around the center, Nariman House, relieving commandos in blue or black uniforms who had been in action all day. For the first time, a van with six medics in surgical gowns and masks parked nearby.

The main success of the day for the authorities came at the Oberoi hotel where police said that 93 foreigners — some of them wearing Air France and Lufthansa uniforms — had been rescued on Friday. Exhausted survivors offered harrowing accounts of their ordeal, trapped on the upper floors of the high-rise hotel occupied on lower floors by gunmen.

In a televised speech Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed forces “based outside this country” in a thinly veiled accusation that Pakistan was involved. A day later, India’s foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying that, according to preliminary reports, “some elements in Pakistan are responsible.”

But Pakistan seemed anxious to defuse the mounting crisis in relations with its neighbor. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India and Pakistan should join hands to defeat a common enemy, and urged New Delhi not to play politics over the attacks in Mumbai, Reuters reported.

“Do not bring politics into this issue,” the Pakistani foreign minister told reporters in the Indian town of Ajmer during a four-day visit to India. “This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy.”

President Asif Ali Zardari called Mr. Singh, Reuters reported, to say he was “appalled and shocked” by the terrorist attacks. “Non-state actors wanted to force upon the governments their own agenda, but they must not be allowed to succeed,” he said.

Mumbai Mourns After Deadly Terror Attack

2008-11-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

Home>International News
Updated Nov.28,2008 07:54 KST

Mumbai Mourns After Deadly Terror Attack
Schoolchildren pay tribute to the victims of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in Ahmadabad, Nov. 27, 2008.

Police in Mumbai continue sifting through the wreckage left by the deadly terror attack that left more than 100 people dead and hundreds of others injured. Shocked residents and tourists at the city's luxury hotels watched in horror as the scene unfolded, many of them trapped by the fighting between police and the gunmen. Raymond Thibodeaux has this report from Mumbai.

It was a day of funerals for many of those killed in one of the city's most brazen terrorist attacks. One funeral was for Shashank Shinde, a senior police inspector killed by a gunman at the city's Central Railway Station early Wednesday night. He is one of at least 12 police officers killed in the terror attacks, one of the deadliest days for Mumbai's police force.

Sanjive Piwandakar was a close friend of the slain officer.

"I'm feeling very … I can't express it. I am angry and I have lost one of my closest friends. To me he was like a godfather," he said

The funeral procession leads down a normally busy street. Like Piwandakar, the city of Mumbai appears to be in a state of shock after a night of violence. The attackers targeted the symbols of modern India. Its posh hotels, a café, and a busy train station where there are usually high concentrations of foreigners.

The wave of attacks that began Wednesday night have virtually shut down much of the city. Now, the streets are relatively empty. Many businesses are closed for the day. Mumbai, known as the Maximum City, partly for its constant rush of traffic and noise, is mostly quiet.

Police in flak jackets are patrolling the districts hit by the violence.

Indian commandos take positions close to where Jewish families have been taken hostage in Mumbai, Nov. 27, 2008.
Crowds gathered near a Jewish outreach center in the heart of Mumbai early Thursday, where police commandos and Indian army troops worked to end a hostage crisis in which at least three gunmen were holding captive about six Israeli tourists.

Nearby is the crumpled wreckage of several cars and motorcycles from grenade attacks earlier in the night.

Sanjay Kokate, 35, is a local resident. He was one of the first eyewitnesses as attackers took control of the Jewish outreach center late Wednesday night. He said gunmen opened-fire into a nearby building, killing several residents.

"After one hour or so the cops came. But after that they [the gunmen] kept firing. They fired into the opposite building. So some people in that building died. An old woman and some children. We took out some of the bodies at night," he said.

Little is known about the Deccan Mujahideen, the group that has taken responsibility for the attacks. Some experts said they are linked to the Indian Mujahideen, an Islamist terror group that has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks against civilians in India.

V.N. Athawalla is a police commander posted at the J.J. Hospital in central Mumbai, where many of the injured were taken.

He said these attacks were some of the most violent he's seen in Mumbai. Shooting and bomb blasts have happened before, but this was groups of terrorists firing at people in the streets. They were firing indiscriminately, trying to kill as many people as they could. This hasn't been seen in Mumbai before, he said.

India has been rocked by several terrorist attacks in recent months.

For now, many here worry that anger might set in once the shock of the attacks wears off. The possibility of communal violence is on the minds of many people across the country.

But as one man at Shinde's funeral said: "The way to honor those who were killed in the attacks is to try to carry on normally."

Jewish hostages killed as British terrorists linked to Bombay attacks

2008-11-28T09:36:00.000-08:00

Jeremy Page and Rhys Blakely, Bombay, and Philippe Naughton, London

Israel: rescue operation badly planned | Graphic: how terror spread | They came to kill and maim | Survivors' tales | Analysis: Bronwen Maddox | Andreas Liveras shot dead | The specialist in 'encounter killings' | Was al-Qaeda was pulling the strings? | Opinion: Maria Misra | Leading article: Massacre in Bombay | Markets: India's shares dive

Updated at 16.01 GMT (21.31 Bombay)

At least five Jewish hostages held by Islamic terrorists in a Bombay appartment block have been killed, an Israeli diplomat has said, as it emerged that two of the attackers in India's commercial capital may have been British-born Pakistanis.

"Five bodies of hostages have been found. They are Israeli nationals," Eli Belotsercovsky, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, told the AFP news agency.
Related Links

* Bombay terror: mystery of missing foreign dead

* Israelis - India rescue efforts badly planned

* India points the finger at Pakistan

Multimedia

* Pictures: Bombay

* PICTURES: Bombay attacks

* GRAPHIC: how the terrorists spread fear

After a day of drama during which Indian commandos blasted their way through the six-storey block to rescue an unknown number of hostages at a Jewish outreach centre, it was unclear whether any had survived.

An Israeli rescue service which had sent a mission to help with the siege at the Chavad Lubavitch centre said that it thought all the hostages had been killed. "Apparently the hostages did not remain alive," the Zaka service said in a brief statement, quoting its staff in Bombay. It did not identify the hostages or say how many may have died.

The death toll from the co-ordinated terror attacks today reached at least 143, seven of them foreign, including one Briton.

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra state, Vilasrao Deshmukh, said today that two British-born Pakistanis were among eight gunmen arrested by Indian authorities.

Both Gordon Brown and David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, played down the claim but without denying it outright. "It's too early to say whether any of them are British," Mr Miliband said.

The Times witnessed an Indian air force helicopter dropping no less than 17 commandos onto the roof of the block, Nariman House, at dawn this morning. Throughout the day, the building was rocked by gunfire and explosions as the commandos fought to gain control of the block floor by floor and reach the Jewish centre.

When commandos began to emerge from the building this evening, crowds waiting in the street outside began to celebrate the end of the siege - until they were warned that the site had not yet been fully secured.

Hundreds of people flooded into the streets surrounding the centre, cheering and applauding commando units who emerged from the building with their assault rifles raised. A military spokesman with a loud hailer appealed for the crowds to move back, saying the operation was not "fully over". Hasan Gafoor, the Bombay police chief, said that security personnel were still moving through the building "floor by floor, checking that everything is all right".

Indian special forces, meanwhile, gave their first account of the mission to liberate the Taj Mahal Palace, one of two luxury hotels seized by the terrorists. They described a sequence of running battles with gunmen in corridors and rooms strewn with dead bodies and seriously injured guests - battles which appeared to be coming to a climactic end this evening as the last one or two militants hung on against the security forces.

But officials claimed success in ending a siege of the luxury Oberoi hotel, where as many as 30 people had been held hostage. Commandos killed two gunmen as they seized control of the tower today.

"The hotel is under our control," Mr Dutt said. He said that 24 bodies had been recovered from the hotel, pushing the confirmed death toll from the coordinated attacks up to 143.

In New Delhi, a Government minister explicitly pointed the finger at Pakistan for the first time. "Preliminary evidence, prima facie evidence, indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved," Pranab Mukherjee, the Foreign Minister, told a press conference. In Bombay, officials said that one of the militants arrested was a Pakistani national.
Related Links

* Bombay terror: mystery of missing foreign dead

* Israelis - India rescue efforts badly planned

* India points the finger at Pakistan

Multimedia

* Pictures: Bombay

* PICTURES: Bombay attacks

* GRAPHIC: how the terrorists spread fear

The Pakistani Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, responded with a call to India not to play politics with the Bombay attacks. "Do not bring politics into this issue. This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy," he said during a visit to the Indian town of Ajmer, which hosts an important Islamic shrine.

Nevertheless, Islamabad agreed to an Indian request to send the head of its military intelligence service, the ISI, to India to share information on the attacks.

The investigation into the al-Qaeda-style terror attacks is focusing on a fishing vessel that was found off the city's coast with a dead body aboard. It is thought that the vessel was used by the terrorists before they climbed aboard a smaller boat to land at Colaba, the tourist area in southern Bombay where the gunmen's targets are clustered.

The nationality of the dead man found on the boat is unknown, but one theory being pushed by many inside India's intelligence apparatus is that the boat's origin was Karachi, in Pakistan.

The gunmen were well trained and well prepared, apparently scouting targets ahead of time and carrying large bags of almonds and dried fruit to keep up their energy.

"It’s obvious they were trained somewhere ... Not everyone can handle the AK series of weapons or throw grenades like that," a senior office of India’s Marine Commando unit told reporters, his face wrapped in a black mask to protect his identity, told reporters today.

"These terrorists were very well informed regarding the layout of the hotel. In no time they vanished and were gone elsewhere. The kept moving around the hotel," the officer said.

Bags belonging to the terrorists contained hundreds of rounds of ammunition and grenades were recovered. A Mauritian national Id card, apparently that of one of the gunmen, was also found, together with seven credit cards and more than US$1,000 in cash.

The officer said that the Taj had been filled with terrified civilians, making it very difficult for the commandos to fire on the gunmen. "To try and avoid civilian casualties we had to be so much more careful," he said. "Bodies were strewn all over the place, and there was blood everywhere."

The commando added: "They were the kind of people with no remorse - anybody and whomsoever came in front of them they fired."

Struggling for Control in the Mumbai War Zone

2008-11-28T05:35:00.000-08:00

Struggling for Control in the Mumbai War Zone

By Sascha Zastiral in Mumbai

Since Wednesday evening, war has been raging in downtown Mumbai. Even as a number of hostages have been freed, ongoing violence has the population wary and afraid. And nobody knows how it will end.

In the southern part of India's economic center Mumbai, heavily armed soldiers and police are standing on every corner. Sharpshooters can be seen on the roofs and helicopters circle overhead. The city quarter is called Colaba, and it is here, in the southernmost tip of the city, where attackers struck on Wednesday night. Since then, they have largely held the metropolis of 18 million in their sway. More than 140 people have lost their lives in the 10 coordinated attacks; more than 400 have been injured.

Just days ago, Colaba was still a relaxed café and restaurant quarter, a favorite in Mumbai, India's most progressive city. Now, it is a war zone.

Police cars speed down the Colaba Causeway right through the center of the quarter, blue lights flashing. They come to a stop in front of the Nariman House. On Thursday morning, hours after the first attacks, terrorists forced their way into the house, which houses the Jewish Chad Lubavitch center, and took a number of hostages. On Friday, a rabbi, his wife and two Israelis remained in the hands of the attackers for much of the day.

Police have cordoned off the entire area. Hundreds of onlookers stand at the barricades set up by the authorities, craning their necks to get a look at the house. Journalists and photographers from across the globe shove their way among them. Then, a ripple of suspense makes its way through the crowds: helicopters begin circling over the building. At least seven heavily armed men in black rappel onto the roof of the culture center. They are from the "Black Cats," a highly specialized police unit.

Bullet-Proof Vests

Not long later, the sound of machine gun fire echoes out of the building. Then, just before noon local time, sounds of a large explosion roll over the quarter. Then more shots. Within a half an hour, six further explosions can be heard from inside the house, and yet more gunfire. The police, all in bullet-proof vests, become nervous -- two of them impatiently begin forcing the crowd of onlookers further away. Quiet soon returns. Later on Friday, it was reported that police had gained full control of the building. A security official told Indian television that the commandos had killed two militants and found two other bodies, which appear to be the hostages.

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While the battle was continuing at Nariman House on Friday, panic has begun to spread at the city's central station. Rumors have begun circulating that, just as on Wednesday evening, attackers have fired indiscriminately into crowds of bystanders. Police are quick to deny the reports, saying that three armed men had been arrested at a nearby hospital. But the streets empty out immediately, with people seeking safety in their homes.

Fear has gripped the city. The joie de vivre for which the city is well known has completely evaporated.

The area around the Trident Hotel, formerly known as the Oberoi, has been cordoned off. Hundreds have collected near a side entrance to the building, among them Steven de Souza. De Souza is from the western Indian state of Goa, just down the coast from Mumbai. The 31-year-old with curly dark hair has worked in Mumbai for the last 10 years; he wears a dark blue T-shirt, his arms are crossed tensely.

"I really don't know if friends of mine are still inside, or if they are still alive," he says. He explains that he worked at the luxury hotel for three years a number of years ago. And he reports that, here too, special forces had rappelled down onto the building from hovering helicopters earlier in the day. "People came to the hotel because they were looking for safety," De Souza says. "It is awful what has happened."

Fear on Their Faces

Suddenly, there is pushing and shoving at the door. Police in battle dress push the crowd to the side and a hotel worker leads a man out of the hotel. He looks to be around 60 years old, is wearing a light blue shirt, glasses and is bald. "I have nothing to say," he says, in what sounds like a British accent, as he passes. "I was in my room the entire time." He is then bundled into a waiting car and driven away.

It has been 36 hours since attackers forced their way into the hotel. The armed invaders took a number of hostages -- hundreds of other hotel guests were trapped in their rooms. On Thursday night, officials shut off power to the hotel so that the terrorists could no longer follow events elsewhere in the city on the television.

Where the attacks took place.
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Where the attacks took place.
A bus drives up to the hotel. More and more people climb in, many of them clearly Westerners. The police on Friday freed nearly 100 men and women from their rooms -- they look exhausted, fear still written across their faces.

Ahmed Kahn sits in his taxi at a nearby street corner. Khan is in his early 40s, wears a long, graying beard and henna-dyed red hair -- and he is Muslim. "This is so wrong," he says in Urdu, holding back his tears. "It simply can't be."

Like many other Muslims in the city, Khan comes from the poor state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. He came to Mumbai, he says, to work and to "provide his children with a better future." All the Muslims he knows, he says, are completely shocked by the attacks. "Islam is supposed to bring peace," he says. "But what these young men have done here is 'Haram'" -- forbidden. "Spilling blood is a sin."

A few hours later, the police reported that the operation in the Trident was over. 26 bodies were found in the lobby and the hallways of the hotel. Here at least, the nightmare had finally come to an end.

Shooting People in the Street

But, a paralyzing silence lies over the center of Colaba. All the businesses are closed -- even the countless roving salesmen have stopped hawking their wares. The famed Leopold restaurant has also lowered its shutters. Glass shards lie on the sidewalk. Pools of blood have collected on the dusty pavement. A sharp rotting odor makes its way through the air vents in the shutters. Inside the restaurant, in the dark, plates with food on them still sit on the tables.

One can't help but be astonished by the eyewitness reports about what happened here on Wednesday around 9:30 p.m. Two young men are said to have entered the restaurant -- one of the city's most popular among foreigners and tourists -- to have an evening meal. After paying the bill, they stood up and exited the restaurant onto the street. There, they pulled machine guns out of their bags and began shooting people in the street and the restaurant. They then ran away. At this time, many of the observers who watched in shock thought they were dealing with an act of mafia payback, of the sort that had plagued the city not so long ago.

By Sascha Zastiral in Mumbai

Part 2: Boats Full of Terrorists

At about the same time, two dozen accomplices docked a speedboat in a fishing port near the Trident and Oberoi hotels and entered the city bearing heavy baggage. Later the police secured the boat and found within it a dead body that has yet to be identified. Together with the other incidents, it had now become clear: these weren't incidents emerging from the city's underworld of organized crime; India was experiencing perhaps the most consequential terror attack of its history.

In the world famous Taj Mahal Hotel, the worst is not yet over. Many gawkers have gathered here to stare, not comprehending the blaze that has overtaken the historical building with its towers and domes. Smoke is still escaping from the luxury hotel. Fires have broken out as a result of the fighting between the attackers and the security services. Some of the rooms have been entirely blackened by soot. Dozens of fire fighters, standing directly next to the building, can't put out the blaze. The risk of getting shot by the terrorists is too high.

Within the hotel, the army has already secured 30 dead bodies, says the military spokesman. That the firefights continue is due to the fact that the terrorists had a very good understanding of the building's layout. The wallet of one of the attacker's has been recovered. Within it is a passport belonging to a citizen of Mauritius, $1,200 in American currency and 6,000 Indian rupees.

Media and government officials are very involved in deciding where to place blame for the attacks. One Indian daily newspaper claims to have determined that the terrorists must have originally departed on a bigger boat from the Pakistani city of Karachi with the intention of invading Indian territory. The "mother ship" would have then released into the water the speedboat that went on to fatally attack India's financial capital. The newspaper claims that the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba ("Army of the Pure") was behind the attacks.

Battle rages for Mumbai hostages

2008-11-28T05:27:00.000-08:00

By David Loyn
BBC News, Delhi

PM Singh addresses the nation after the attacks 27/11/2008
PM Singh came close to threatening retaliation against Pakistan

In India the opposition BJP have used the opportunity of the Mumbai violence to put pressure on the government.

Front page newspaper adverts appeared on Friday even while shooting was still going on, saying the incident shows that the Congress government is 'unwilling and incapable' of dealing with terrorism.

With the country in the middle of crucial state elections which could determine the timing of the next general election, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is facing intense scrutiny.

Following the attacks, he has been seen visiting the injured in hospital, alongside Congress party president Sonia Gandhi.

He has already promised to strengthen anti-terrorist laws, and in a TV address came close to threatening retaliation against Pakistan if their involvement in the attacks can be proved.

"We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them," Mr Singh said.

Recent overtures

The Indian Navy has seized two Pakistani merchant ships and is investigating the possibility that they dropped off the militants who then came ashore in fast boats.

Shah Mahmoud Qureshi on a visit to India 27/11/2008
Pakistani FM Qureshi vowed to cooperate with the Indian investigation

They are linking this with the discovery of a trawler, found abandoned off the Indian coastline on Thursday with its captain dead.

Pakistan's denials of involvement have been clear and unambiguous.

The Pakistani ambassador to the US, Hussein Haqqani told the BBC that his country had suffered from terrorism just as much as India had, and offered every assistance in bringing the attackers to justice.

Analysts in Pakistan have been pointing instead to the possibility that these militants are home-grown Indian extremists, operating without external support.

The incident comes just as the first democratic government in Pakistan since the coup in 1999 has made overtures for better relations with India.

For the first time, President Asif Ali Zardari made the quite unexpected unilateral offer to make no first use of nuclear weapons in any conflict.

On Tuesday, home affairs ministers from the two countries met in Islamabad, and Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi is by chance currently visiting India.

Proxy attacks

Such contacts are opposed by significant parts of the Pakistani army and particularly its intelligence service, the ISI, who have in the past inspired terrorist attacks in India to stop just such an improvement in relations between the two countries.

Indian newspaper front pages 28/11/2008
Indian papers said the government had failed to protect its citizens

Feeling encircled - with India to their east allied with Afghanistan to their west - analysts believe they have taken the option of encouraging attacks by proxies, Islamists inspired to wage unconventional war.

An armed assault by militants on the Indian parliament in 2001 led to a significant worsening in relations that escalated into troops on both sides being sent to confront each other across their shared border.

A further possibility though is that this attack was carried out from Pakistan, but beyond the control either of Pakistan's democratic government or its military establishment.

The war in Afghanistan has led to a further radicalisation of politics in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, where a "Pakistani Taleban" have emerged.

Allied with foreign fighters from al-Qaeda, they have both the financial power and political will to carry out attacks of the sort seen in Mumbai.

Pakistan to send intelligence chief to India on Mumbai attacks

2008-11-28T05:26:00.000-08:00

Pakistan to send intelligence chief to India on Mumbai attacks
www.chinaview.cn 2008-11-28 19:40:12 Print

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has accepted a request from his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to send the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief to India for sharing of information related to the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that left some 130 people dead, according to local press reports.

PM spokesman Zahid Bashir said that Singh had made a request to Gilani, asking him to send the ISI chief to India to "cooperatein the investigation of the Mumbai attacks and for sharing certain information".

Bashir said: "The Pakistani prime minister accepted this offer. The two sides will work out modalities for the visit of the Inter Services Intelligence chief which is expected to take place soon."

Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha was recently appointed chief of the ISI by Pakistan army chief General Parvez Kayani.

This would be the first instance of a chief of Pakistan's spy agency visiting India in connection with the investigation of a terror attack.

Early Friday, Gilani talked with Singh by phone and expressed profound grief over loss of lives in the wake Mumbai terror attacks.

Gilani strongly denounced the acts of terrorism in Mumbai and assured Singh his full cooperation, said the state-run APP news agency.

He added that the Pakistani government and people are with the Indian people in the hours of grief. He said that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism, and extended his government's full support to jointly combat extremism and terrorism.

The private Geo TV said that Singh told Gilani that India got evidence that all the arms and ammunition were sent by boat to these terrorists from the southern Pakistani port of Karachi.

The Geo TV said that Singh requested Gilani to send the Pakistani intelligence chief to India so that India could exchange some evidence with him.

In his separate talks with Singh by phone, Pakistani President Asia Ali Zardari also condemned the Mumbai attacks.

Zardari offered cooperation in investigation of the terrorist act to India. He said that terrorists were not the followers of any religion and should be eliminated altogether.

Obama says India's democracy will win over terrorism

2008-11-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: India’s democracy ''will prove far more resilient than the hateful ideology that led to these attacks'' in Mumbai, US President-elect
Barack Obama said on Wednesday as the world reached out to India in sympathy and support over what American analysts described as “India’s 9/11.”

Both the incumbent Bush administration and Obama and his transition team sent out strong messages of condemnation of the attacks and their backing for India even as they coordinated their response in the transition phase in the United States. President Bush phoned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Camp David early on Thursday morning to offer support and US help in investigation. Soon after, an FBI team from Los Angeles, consisting of bomb and forensic experts, left for Mumbai to help in the investigation.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefed Obama over the phone as the White House assembled its national security and intelligence chiefs for discussion and analysis and offered India any help it required.

From Chicago, Obama also spoke to India’s ambassador Ronen Sen, to convey that his thoughts and prayers with those affected by “this tragic situation” and brief him about his conversations with Rice.

''These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism. The US must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks,'' Obama said in a statement issued through his national security spokesperson, Brooke Anderson.

In comments that extolled India’s institutional strength and was directed against the fundamentalist mindset in the neighbourhood, Obama also predicted the triumph of democracy over the sickening ideology of extremism even as terrorists/mujahideen earned universal disgust over the attack of Indian civilians and foreign nationals.

Audiences in the US remained glued to coverage of the Mumbai massacre more than 24 hours after the carnage began as it got wall-to-wall TV time on a long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

For administration and security officials, that long weekend
had already been disrupted by a mid-week security alert that spoke of possible terrorist attacks on New York’s Penn Station and other mass transit in the region; but the bloodbath occurred 10,000 miles away in Mumbai’s most famous landmarks.

The involvement of westerners, including Americans, Britons and Israelis as victims and hostages in the ordeal also ensured greater coverage than usual with US experts trying to connect the dots and link the attack to Kashmir and al-Qaida, and its possible repercussions on United States.

In fact, there was little or no surprise over the attacks given both the alert in New York and the prediction by foreign policy experts, including vice-president elect Joe Biden, that Obama could be tested by terrorist attacks early in his presidency.

US analysts mulled over the larger implications of the attack that seemed to also target westerners while suggesting that this was not a localized attack arising from home-grown militancy.

“The apparent focus on killing or capturing foreign businesspeople, specifically US and UK nationals, has never occurred before, suggesting a wider global anti-Western agenda. This stands in contrast to the national issues that appeared to motivate Indian Mujahideen,” Jane’s Intelligence, said in a brief update on the crisis.

In Washington, the US State Department put out a hotline number (1-888-407-4747) to enable US citizens concerned about the wellbeing of friends and family in India to get information and updates. A travel advisory cautioning against travel to India was expected later in the day.

However, the Indian government did itself little credit with long periods of silence during a chaotic situation. There were no Indian spokespersons available out of New Delhi or Mumbai for the world media is get a coherent account of what was happening even 24 hours after the crisis erupted.

NSG commandos open fire at Nariman House

2008-11-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI: NSG commandos open fire from a chopper at Nariman house, where two to three terrorists are believed to be holed up. (
Watch )

A witness said security forces fired into the building, apparently to provide cover, as commandos rappeled down a rope from the helicopter.

NSG snipers at the site of a besieged Jewish center in Mumbai have opened fire.

Sharpshooters in buildings opposite the headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch began shooting early Friday as a helicopter circled overhead.

Militants were believed to be holed up inside the building - possibly with hostages.

Earlier, three fresh explosions rocked Nariman House early on Friday as security forces battled hard through the night to end the siege of Taj and Trident luxury hotels by heavily-armed terrorists as the death toll in the audacious strikes in ten places across the city climbed to 127. ( Watch )

As NSG commandos closed in on Nariman House, a Jewish residential complex in Colaba in south Mumbai, for a final assault, two explosions within a span of ten to 15 minutes slowed down their operation. A third explosion was heard at 4.47 am.

"The operation to clean up the Nariman House is still going on," Director General of National Security Guard (NSG) J K Dutt told reporters adding "it is just a matter of time and it will end soon".

Dutt said the operations at Hotel Taj was by and large over with just one injured terrorist still holed-up in the building. "He has been injured and I think we will be able to mop up the operation there very quickly," he said.