India Poses as STRONG STATE POWER Combined with UNITED STATES of AMERICA. Any CONFLICT in Asia Would Create ESCAPE Route For RECESSION ECONOMIES in t

India Poses as STRONG STATE POWER Combined with UNITED STATES of AMERICA. Any CONFLICT in Asia Would Create ESCAPE Route For RECESSION ECONOMIES in the WEST BASED on ZIONIST WEAPON Industries!Infrastructure of terror should be dismantled: PM, Pak may seek Purohit’s custody

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 123

Palash Biswas


Indiainfo.com: Finance -> News -> War to have impact on Indian ...
In case of long war, he feared a push up in the average oil prices to around $ 40 a barrel, thus making a "major negative impact on the Indian economy, ...
finance.indiainfo.com/news/2003/03/18/18industry.html - 27k - Cached - Similar pages
Indiainfo.com: Finance -> News -> Iraq war not to affect Indian ...
New Delhi: Government on February 18 said the possible war in Iraq was likely to have only a marginal impact on Indian economy, as revival of domestic ...
finance.indiainfo.com/news/2003/02/18/18economy.html - 26k - Cached - Similar pages
Long war will hurt Indian economy: CII-India-The Times of India
Long war will hurt Indian economy: CII 10 Feb 2003, 2334 hrs IST, ... However, once the impact of rising oil prices hits home, the rupee will lose strength ...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/36999255.cms - 39k - Cached - Similar pages
Long war may hit Indian economy: Experts-India-The Times of India
Long war may hit Indian economy: Experts 2 Apr 2003, 2213 hrs IST,TNN ... Moreover, he said war may have an impact on workers' remittances flow as well. ...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/42194198.cms - 40k - Cached - Similar pages
More results from timesofindia.indiatimes.com »
War fears : Impact on economy,Indian Economy, News Analysis, India ...
Indian Economy, War fears : Impact on economy, News Analysis, India News Online.
news.indiamart.com/news-analysis/war-fears-impact-on--3861.html - 38k - Cached - Similar pages
Iraq war may have marginal impact on India: Govt
The government on Tuesday said the possible war in Iraq was likely to have only a marginal impact on Indian economy as revival of domestic demand and ...
www.rediff.com/money/2003/feb/18impact.htm - 23k - Cached - Similar pages
'War on Iraq to have very negative impact on global economy'
'War on Iraq to have very negative impact on global economy' Press Trust of India Posted online: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 at 1547 hours IST ...
www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=15842 - 42k - Cached - Similar pages
The Hindu : No prolonged impact on economy likely - CII, FICCI
According to the CII, a short successful war could even be beneficial if oil ... it would definitely have a major negative impact on the Indian economy. ...
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The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Business
A long war can jolt economy. But it can absorb the impact of a short war: experts. New Delhi, March 18. Oil prices in India can shoot up by 45 per cent in ...
www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030319/biz.htm - 51k - Cached - Similar pages
US Economy and the Impact of Indian Economy on the Global Market
US Economy and the Impact of Indian Economy on the Global Market ... it faced challenges which ranged from a 40-year Cold War with the Soviet Union to the ...
www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/us-economy-and-the-impact-of-indian-economy-on-the-global-market-65380.html - 49k - Cached - Similar pages


INDIA VS PAKISTAN
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=xRk-lv-ahwQ


jai hind
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=6LYSVcKZHPc


India Awakens....A message to Indian youth
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=OEQWzwUB9GQ


Shaheed Bhagat Singh
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub8AeZ6HDKk


Jalliawala Bagh
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=gTBROwEza7Y


History of Aryans
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=HbJ2lnvvPYg



Any CONFLICT in Asia Would Create ESCAPE Route fo For RECESSION ECONOMIES in the WEST BASED on ZIONIST WEAPON Industries! What do we get from the WARs? Experiences in 1962, 1965 and 1971 should be enough to resist ourselves demanding more WARs! Pakistan has partitioned. Army Rule had been the Greatest cause of Bangladesh Liberation Struggle! PAK Military Rulers tried their best to CRUSH Bangla Nationality with Miltary Option and the rest is History. Continuous Army RULE has destroyed democaratic SET UP of Pakistan. The Army and ISI created the TERROR Network in Pakistan. United States of America funded and supported Taliban led by Osama Bin Laden because it masterminded the ouster of USSR from Afganistan. What happened next? USA may consider 9/11 background very well. Pakistan had been used by USA to harvest Islamic Militancy against USSR and communism. Thus, Pakistan as well afganistan hold on as most strong Terror bases in this world. Pakistan itself has become the VICTIM of its own terror network. Zardari never knows the plans of ARMY or ISI. Any Indo US conflict would oust the Democratic government in Pakistan. Would it be in the interests of pakistan or India? Musarraf used tehe Kargil conflict to CUT Nawaz to SIZE. What happened? In India, thanks to Media Exposures we now know well about DEFENCE Kick Backs and Swiss bank accounts. Since Indo US Nuke Deal is signed, not only the Americans but entire WEST target India as a HAPPY HUNTING GROUND for their Weapon and Warfare industries! Let us think, CRYING WAR so BLINDLY, in fact, we do help Imperialist United states of America and its Allies, ARMY RULE in Pakistan and ISLAMIC Terrorism to create more TERROR and moreover use our DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDE at their will which has alredy been widened with Hindutva Resurgence and VOTE Bank Politics with demographic Adjustment to sustain the Ruling Hegemony of Manusmriti!

Though,India Poses as STRONG STATE POWER Combined with UNITED STATES of AMERICA! The Ruling hegemony is looking very United as far as The Indian parliment consensus goes and MEDIA reports! WAR CRY is very Popular Nowadays as BLIND NATIONALISM is topmost Priority on Agenda for a RESURGENCE of Hindutva most Master Planned! Anti War, Anti US, Anti Zionist, Anti Imperialist, Anti Fascist, Anti Manusmriti, Anti Apartheid thoughts have to be dubbed as ANTI NATIONAL!

I had been a Primary student during 1965 indo pak War. I missed the EXCITEMENT and the SHAME of Himalayan Blunder in 1962. In 1965, those were the days when we School Children used to be proud of Nation and national leaders! We had only on source of information, ALL India RADIO. We used to get newspapers published from New Delhi, Lucknow and Kolkata at our home in Basantipur. We enjoyed most our first WIN against Pakistan. We belonged to Bengali Hindu dalit Refugee Community and RSS was more active even at the time to make us FULL of HATRED against Pakistan and Muslims. We had no information or knowledge about the story different. We could not understand the Impact of war. We had been shocked with Tashkand Agreement as well as the untimely demise of then Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. We engaged ourselves in the excitement of NON Congress Politics, Mrs Indira gandhi and her Socialism, Indo USSR friendship, Food Movement and Naxal Movements as the Bangladesh war broke out!Meanwhile the masses were disillusioned with Green revolution. We felt the pangs of Price rises. But we had been illusioned with socialism and development. We won the 1971 WAR and at last bangaldesh was liberated. We projected Mrs Indira Gandhi as Goddess Durga! Within mid seventies, the IMPACT of WAR was so critical that Indira Gandhi had to decalre EMERGENCY in 1975 to CRUSH popular resistance and Mass Movements! I had been a student in dineshpur High school during 1971. My father Pulin Babu, the refugee leader crossed the Bangladesh Border and was arrested in Dhaka while demanding the Merger of the two parts of divided Bengal as he believed only this could solve the unresolved REFUGEE Problems in India.

Since 1971, we learnt so many things and now, we happen to be AMERICANISED. We are in a AGE of Information explosion! We have every information at hand! you have not do all the TEdious work in libraries. Just GOOGLE and you know all versions of Truth! Why should we be MISLED, BRAIWASHED and Mind Controlled even today!

Whatever may be the realities of Indo Pak relations, it is quite a BILITERAL affair. Where from does come UNITED STATES of America? What is there for GREAT Britain? With tensions between India and Pakistan heightening, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will make an unscheduled visit to New Delhi on Sunday to discuss the situation arising out of the Mumbai attacks. Why?Brown, who will be here for a day, will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during which the Indian side is expected to share evidence about involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists in the attacks, sources said.There was no plan about Brown's visit but he decided to travel here in the wake of rising tensions between India and Pakistan over the Mumbai terror strikes.

Please do something to READ between the LINES!

Provided India Decides to behave like US after it reacted after 9/11, what rights USA have to speak the language of RESTRAIN? Provided America gives the GREEN SIGNAL! Why do we have to depend on United states of America as if Indian Nation State happens to be ANORTHER STATE of USA!

What interests United States have in a CONFLICT situation in Asia?

Despite RECESSION and MELT Down, US Arms Sale is on rising! Everyone of us knows very well how much US ECONOMY depends on zionist Weapon Economy as we experienced during GULF WAR versions US BRAND War FARE being SHOW CASED so intensively. A FULL FLEDGED WAR would mean BOOM BOOM US WAR ECONOMY. At the same time it would mean Mass DESTRUCTION in South Aisa. MASS starvation! Mass Holocaust? Who does want this besides UNITED STATES of America?

Pardon me! Those intelligent patriotic persons and parties crying for war against Pakistan, are jsut saving US Interests in this Bleeding sub continent! Be AWARE of Them! They have already succeeded in shifting the WAR Zone from Middle east to South Asia!Now they try their best to ROAST US, the MASSES of India as well as Pakistan Within!

Mind you, United states of america is already in WAR in this part of the World. It only wants to Involve India as well as Pakistan. Be Aware of the FATAL TRAP!An overnight airstrike, suspected to be carried out by US forces based in Afghanistan, killed at least six Islamist militants in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal district, officials and local residents said Friday.A missile believed to be fired from a pilotless Predator aircraft hit a house Thursday night in Azam Warsak area some 15 km west of Wana, the region's main town.

The United States has said that although there is 'no bellicose talk' from either India or Pakistan in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Mumbai, the situation is 'obviously dangerous and Islamabad needs to act forcefully'.

The United States has asked Pakistan to widen its ongoing crackdown on banned terrorist outfits to those linked with subversive activities in India, including Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, while assuring that it would work with New Delhi to defuse the tension generated by the Mumbai terror attacks. This message was conveyed by visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte during his meetings in Islamabad with Pakistan's top leadership, diplomatic sources said.


US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte arrived New Delhi Friday on a daylong visit to firm up counter-terror cooperation and to persuade India to exercise restraint in dealing with its neighbour Pakistan, officials said.During his visit, a day after Pakistan banned the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), a front organisation for the Laskhar-e-Taiba suspected of masterminding Mumbai attacks, Negroponte will hold talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. He will brief the minister on his talks with top Pakistani leaders in Islamabad Thursday and share Washington's perception of Pakistan's reported crackdown on terrorist outfits in that country. He is also expected to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.In his talks with Negroponte, Mukherjee is likely to convey India's exasperation with “token action” taken by Pakistan against terror outfits in that country and seek the US' support to pressure Islamabad into taking genuine steps to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in that country, reliable sources said.

Negroponte comes here 10 days after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited New Delhi and asked Islamabad to take action against “non-state actors”, saying Pakistan must cooperate “urgently and transparently” with India in the probe into the Mumbai terror attacks.Indian security agencies have collected more evidence since Rice's visit and are now zeroing in on the list of “ISI handlers” of the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror strikes. New Delhi is likely to share additional evidence with Washington when Indian officials meet Negroponte, sources said. According to The Dawn newspaper, Negroponte had shared a list with his Pakistani interlocutors, that contains names of lesser-known groups like the Pasban Ahle-e-Hadith against whom Washington wants Islamabad to take action.

The United States has asked Islamabad to "act forcefully" as the Mumbai terror attacks have brought about a "dangerous situation," though Washington does not fear a war between India and Pakistan.

"I heard no bellicose talk from either of these governments. I heard instead a very deep concern to deal with the situation," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with CNBC TV channel Thursday.

"But it's obviously a dangerous situation. And Pakistan needs to act and act forcefully," she said when asked if she thought there will be war between India and Pakistan.

"Fortunately, we're in a little bit better situation than we were in 2001-2002 when really the two states were on the verge of war, because India and Pakistan have done a lot of work to improve their relations," said Rice.

"Frankly, the United States has better relations with India and better relations with Pakistan than in 2001-2002," said the top US diplomat who visited both India and Pakistan to ease tensions between the two after the Mumbai attacks.

Rice said she was in India to do a couple of things. "First, to send a very strong message of solidarity to the Indian people and government and particularly to the people of Mumbai, as this was a terrible attack, a heinous crime."

"And I think the Indians rightly were concerned to make sure that the perpetrators were brought to justice, and that follow-on attacks were prevented," she added.

China sees no possibility of a war between India and Pakistan in the wake of the tensions generated by the terror attacks in Mumbai, the Chinese envoy said here on Saturday.

Chinese Ambassador Lou Zhaohui said the two nuclear-armed countries should carry on their dialogue uninterrupted and seek the solution of problems through peaceful means instead of opting for any extreme step.

"China sees no signs of war between India and Pakistan," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

Lou also appreciated the role played by Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, saying it would go a long way in achieving peace, while assuring Islamabad of the full support of the Chinese government and people.

"We have always been helping our brotherly and friendly country and will continue with the same zeal in future," he said.

Earlier, China handed over modern flood and tsunami forecast equipment to the Meteorological Department of Pakistan at the function.

The equipment will be installed along Pakistan's coastal belt.

Lou said: "We have multi-dimensional cooperation with Pakistan in a variety of fields."

Pakistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pakistan (Urdu: ??????? Pakistan listen (help·info)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Greater Middle East, and borders Central Asia and the Middle East.[6][7] It has a 1,046 kilometre (650 mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast.[8] Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor.

The region forming modern Pakistan was home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and then, successively, recipient of ancient Vedic, Persian, Indo-Greek and Islamic cultures. The area has witnessed invasions and settlement by the Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Afghans and the Mongols.[9] It was a part of British Raj from 1858 to 1947, when the Pakistan Movement for a state for Muslims, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League resulted in the independence and creation of the state of Pakistan, that comprised the provinces of Sindh, North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab, Balochistan and East Bengal. With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic. In 1971, a civil war in East Pakistan resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. Pakistan's history has been characterized by periods of economic growth, military rule and political instability.

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. The country is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies. Pakistan is a founding member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Developing 8 Countries, G20 developing nations and the Economic Cooperation Organisation. It is also a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, World Trade Organisation, G33 developing countries, Group of 77 developing nations, major non-NATO ally of the United States and is a nuclear state.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan


Sunday, December 07, 2008


By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: The Mumbai terrorists sought to provoke an Indo-Pakistani crisis, much like the earlier military standoff that nearly brought the two nations to war, according to a commentary.

Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation writes that it is plausible the masterminds of the Mumbai attacks hoped for a similar outcome seven years later. The Mumbai attacks emphasise the extent to which developments and relationships in the region are interwoven, as well as the need to defuse long-standing strategic rivalries in order to contain the terrorist scourge threatening the long-term stability of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The recognition of this reality, she notes, has resulted in murmurings regarding the need for a US Kashmir envoy. The real need, however, is for a broad-based South Asia regional envoy – and the distinction between the two is enormously important, she adds.

Curtis maintains that Barack Obama's recent assertion that the US should try to help resolve the Kashmir issue so that Pakistan can focus on reining in militancy on its Afghan border is “misguided”. Raising the spectre of international intervention in the dispute could fuel unrealistic expectations in Pakistan for a final settlement in its favour. Such expectations could encourage Islamabad to increase support for Kashmiri militants to push an agenda it believed was within reach. Instead of narrowly focusing on Kashmir, the incoming Obama administration should assume a much wider view of the region's challenges. Such a broad approach would recognise that Pakistan's focus on Kashmir is a symptom of broader issues, including the impact of India's emergence as a global power and the Pakistani army's continued domination over the country's national security policies.

Curtis believes that the Indians would be unreceptive to direct international mediation on Kashmir and such a move would raise suspicions in New Delhi that Washington is reverting back to policies that view India only through the South Asia lens rather than as the rising world power it has become. This perception could hurt the Obama administration's ability to build on major gains the Bush team made in improving what vice president-elect Joe Biden has called one of the most important bilateral relationships for the US in the 21st century. However, a high-profile regional envoy can play a productive role in simultaneously easing both Pakistan-Afghanistan and Indo-Pakistani tensions by prodding the countries to move forward with confidence-building measures. Legislation now before the US Congress would create industrial zones to produce and export textiles and other items to the US duty-free, helping to integrate the Afghan and Pakistani economies.

According to the South Asia expert, perhaps the most important task of this regional envoy would be convincing the Pakistani military to give up its policies of relying on violent extremist groups to achieve its foreign policy objectives in the region. In order to defuse the Indo-Pakistani crisis over the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan, she suggests, must shut down the Kashmir-focused groups it has spawned and that increasingly have links to international terrorism, including most likely the atrocities in Mumbai. In the past, Washington has been reluctant to pursue Kashmiri terrorist groups with the same zeal it pursues Al Qaeda. In his meetings with Pakistani officials on December 3, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen apparently demanded Pakistan take firm action against the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT) and its leader Hafiz Muhammed Sayeed, indicating Washington is finally getting tough on the issue of pursuing Kashmir-focused terrorist groups. LT, Curtis points out, has not only succeeded in bringing two nuclear-armed nations to the brink of war, it ultimately threatens Pakistan's own future, a fact recognised by the country's civilian leaders. Therefore, it is time for the military establishment to recognise the threat these groups pose for Pakistan and act decisively to shut them down. Eradicating groups like LT will not be easy and will likely involve further bloodshed. The longer Pakistan waits, the stronger these groups become, the South Asia expert says.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C12%5C07%5Cstory_7-12-2008_pg7_7

Kargil War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict,(I) was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir. The cause of the war was the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LOC), which serves as the de facto border between the two states. During and directly after the war, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents, but documents left behind by casualties and later statements by Pakistan's Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff showed involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces, led by General Ashraf Rashid. The Indian Army, supported by the Indian Air Force, attacked the Pakistani positions and, with international diplomatic support, eventually forced withdrawal of the Pakistani forces across the LOC.

The war is one of the most recent examples of high altitude warfare in mountainous terrain, which posed significant logistical problems for the combating sides. This was only the second direct ground war between any two countries after they had developed nuclear weapons, after the Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969; it is also the most recent. (India and Pakistan both test-detonated fission devices in May 1998, though the first Indian nuclear test was conducted in 1974.) The conflict led to heightened tension between the two nations and increased defence spending by India. In Pakistan, the aftermath caused instability of the government and the economy, and, on October 12, 1999, a coup d'etat by the military placed army chief Pervez Musharraf in power.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kargil_War

Kargil Conflict 1999; Mirage 2000's Hitting Pakistani Camp
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=L_w8Th6EisQ


Indian Air Force - Kargil War - Tiger Hill attack.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=j80E1mHAohU




Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between India and Pakistan. This conflict became known as the Second Kashmir War fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, the first having been fought in 1947. The war began following the failure of Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against rule by India. The five-week war caused thousands of casualties on both sides. It ended in a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration.

Much of the war was fought by the countries' land forces in Kashmir and along the International Border between India and Pakistan. This war saw the largest amassing of troops in Kashmir since the Partition of India in 1947, a number that was overshadowed only during the 2001-2002 military standoff between India and Pakistan. Most of the battles were fought by opposing infantry and armored units, with substantial backing from air forces. Many details of this war, like those of other Indo-Pakistani Wars, remain unclear and many media reports have been riddled with media biases.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965


Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a major military conflict between India and Pakistan. The war is closely associated with the Bangladesh Liberation War (sometimes also referred to as the Pakistani Civil War). Although there is some disagreement about the exact dates of the war, hostilities between India and Pakistan commenced officially on the evening of December 3, 1971. The armed conflict on India's western front during the period between 3 December 1971 and 16 December 1971 is called the "Indo-Pakistani War" by both the Bangladeshi and Indian armies. The war ended in the surrender of the Pakistani military after armed hostilities on two fronts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1971


Sign the open letter to Obama!

Dear Madam, dear Sir,
Frères des Hommes, an international solidarity association, invites you to sign and circulate an open letter to Barack Obama, the new president of the United States of America. It will be sent to him on the 20 January 2009, the day of his investiture.
Sign the petition
http://www.fdh.org/Lettre-ouverte-au-President-Obama.html?lang=en

Mr President,
Your victory is a tremendous message of hope throughout the world.
You represent true change which is on a par with the influence and responsibilities of the United States of America on the international scene.
As President of the world's greatest military power, you cannot ignore the growing desire of the worlds' citizens, that the abolition of poverty must gain priority over the arms race.
As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, your clear duty is that of pioneer, leading the United States of America towards progressive disarmament in favour of the abolition of poverty and consensual, sustainable development – both guarantees of a new step for global human safety.
Mr President, we are counting on you.
Version française - Versión en castellano

Sign the petition now. - http://www.petition online.com/ blair01/petition .html

Urge President-elect Obama not to appoint former Adm. Dennis Blair as
Director of National Intelligence. As Commander in the Pacific, he
cozied up to the Indonesian military and downplayed human rights
concerns in the lead up and aftermath of East Timor's independence
referendum. According to news reports, Obama will appoint his
intelligence chief this week.

For background go here - http://etan. org/news/ 2008/12blair. htm.

In addition to signing the petition, you can also cut, paste and
modify the text below and post it to President-elect Obama's
transition website. Just go here: http://change. gov/page/ s/seattable
and send a comment.

Thank you and spread the word! ETAN

President-elect Obama -

We urge you not to appoint Adm. Dennis Blair as Director of National
Intelligence. During his years as Pacific Commander, Blair actively
worked to reinstate military assistance and deepen ties to
Indonesia's military, despite its ongoing human rights violations in
East Timor and its consistent record of impunity. In 1999, he
undermined the U.S. efforts to support human rights and
self-determination in the Indonesian-occupied territory and opposed
congressional efforts to limit assistance.

In April 1999, just days after Indonesian security forces and their
militias carried out a brutal, churchyard massacre, Adm. Blair
delivered a message of 'business-as- usual' to Indonesian General
Wiranto, then Commander of the Indonesian armed forces. Following
East Timor's pro-independence vote, Blair sought the quickest
possible restoration of military assistance, despite Indonesia's
highly destructive exit and the failure, which continues to this
day, to prosecute the senior officials who oversaw the violence.
This lack of concern for human rights shows that he is unlikely to be
a champion of reform. I don't believe that this is the kind of change
people are expecting.

etanetanetanetaneta netanetanetaneta netanetanetan

Support ETAN! Read a message from Noam Chomsky - Read what
http://www.etan. org/etan/ 2008-09app. htm

John M. Miller john@etan.org
National Coordinator, ETAN

Web site: http://www.etan. org

Send a blank e-mail message to info@etan.org to find out how to
learn more about East Timor on the Internet

Thousands of Mumbai residents formed a human chain snaking through the city on Friday near sites attacked by Islamist gunmen last month, in the latest demonstration against the assault and failure of the government to stop it.

As the New Year s eve nears there is more news of cancellations than of holiday bookings. Have the Mumbai attacks changed the way you live?

India and China will hold their second Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) in New Delhi on Monday!


Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Friday discussed with Indian officials investigations into last month's attack on Mumbai and urged Pakistan and other countries to help. On the other hand,Pakistan shut offices and arrested scores of activists of an Islamic charity, officials said on Friday, as international pressure mounted for firm action against militants blamed for the Mumbai attacks.



The attack, which India blames on militant groups in Pakistan, has jeopardised improving relations between the two neighbours and threatened to divert Pakistan's military from a U.S.-led anti-militant campaign its Afghan border.

Negroponte met Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan to discuss security and what India says is evidence of Pakistan's complicity in the Mumbai raids that killed 179 people.

"The effort at the moment is concentrated on investigating these attacks and bringing those responsible to account," Negroponte said in a statement in New Delhi. He had been in Pakistan on Thursday.

"We're cooperating in this effort, obviously the Government of India is in the lead, but all of our diplomatic partners have a responsibility to contribute to this effort."

Negroponte's visit came days after his boss Condoleezza Rice told Indian leaders she saw evidence of involvement from Pakistani soil, possibly of non-state actors, in the three-day rampage in India's financial capital by 10 heavily armed gunmen.

The United States has pressured Pakistan to bring in those responsible and dismantle militant networks it has used in the past to fight India.

Indian officials had said they expected to benefit from Negroponte's experience as former U.S. Director of National Intelligence in helping tackle militant groups in Pakistan that New Delhi views as a threat to regional and global security.

"We have provided ample evidence to the U.S. and other countries and we will continue to share whatever new evidence emerges," an Indian government official with knowledge of the intelligence sharing said on condition of anonymity.

Analysts say Washington wants to defuse tensions as quickly as possible so Pakistan does not find an excuse to pull its troops from its western borders and slacken its military campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

India blames Pakistan-based outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group for the attack on Mumbai and earlier ones, including a raid by gunmen on the Indian parliament in 2001.

That almost thrust the two countries into their fourth war since winning independence from Britain in 1947.

Reacting to global pressure, Pakistan has detained several Islamist militant leaders India wants extradited and cracked down on LeT and a charity regarded as its front after was sanctioned by the United Nations this week.


Schoolchildren in uniforms, office workers, city employees, commuters and senior citizens, many with posters pinned to their clothes, held hands and shouted slogans against terrorism and government inaction for 15 minutes from noon.

Some carried pictures of some of the 179 victims that were killed in the attacks that lasted from Nov 26-29.

"This is to create awareness among people about terrorism and draw the attention of our politicians," said Saurabh Vadgaonkar, who with several classmates, took time off from college to link hands a short distance from the Taj Mahal hotel.

The chain, broken at several points, made its way from the Taj Mahal Hotel in south Mumbai, where gunmen held hostages and fought off commandos for 60 hours, to the northern suburbs. It slowed traffic in some places until petering out farther north.

Mumbai, India's financial hub, has seen numerous candlelight vigils, rallies and marches in the days since the attacks, with information spreading through mass text messages, e-mail and Facebook, and galvanising the normally placid middle-class.

Many demonstrators have expressed anger at what they see as failures by the security and intelligence apparatus to prevent this attack and other earlier bombings in the country over the last year.

Security, and an economic slowdown, are expected to be major issues in elections due by the middle of next year.

Pakistan is being put through a 'degrading routine' in the aftermath of the Mumbai blasts but is left with little choice as it cannot 'stand up' to the US and India, a noted political commentator said Friday.

Writing in The News, noted political commentator Ayaz Amir also contended 'it may be time to bid a final farewell to the diplomacy of jihad' as 'times have changed' and 'adventures once affordable are no longer so'.

'There should be no doubt about it, Pakistan is being put through a degrading routine - one not exactly calculated to promote national pride,' Amir maintained.

The article was headlined 'Degrading...but do we have a choice?'

He also castigated the government for 'acting in a manner which substantiates the accusations the Indian government, and a very shrill Indian media', were hurling at Pakistan.

'In other words, our actions are making us look like criminals,' Amir maintained.

The comment came two days after the UN Security Council, acting on a request from the US and India declared the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group.

India blames the LeT for the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks and the Dec 13, 2001, assault on its parliament complex.

Soon after the UN action, Pakistani authorities sealed JuD offices and arrested its leaders, including Hafeez Saeed, who heads both the JuD and the LeT.

Did Pakistan have a choice in taking the action it took and, more importantly: 'Do we have that in us which would make us stand up to American and Indian pressure?' Amir asked.

'Honestly, I don't think so,' he maintained.

In this context, Amir noted that nuclear-armed Pakistan with the fifth or sixth largest army in the world 'is not as plucky' as tiny-by-comparison Lebanon.

'There is nothing in Pakistan, not even the jihadi organisations like the Lashkar dedicated to vague causes, to compare with the courage and organisation of Hizbollah. And there is no leader in Pakistan, or indeed across the embattled world of Islam - a religion which we disgrace by our incompetence and cowardice - to match (Hizbollah chief) Hasan Nasrullah,' Amir wrote.

'So, with what weapons in our armoury can we stand up to America and India?' the writer wondered.

Amir also thought that 'national dignity' was a term Pakistan 'should stop using' as it had lost 'what dignity it had' when (then president) General Pervez Musharraf handed over the Taliban ambassador, Mullah Muhammad Zaeef, duly accredited to Pakistan and therefore protected under international law, to the Americans when they attacked Afghanistan.

This apart, Pakistan's 'poor circumstances' (or empty coffers) left it 'with little choice except to make appeasing and soothing gestures, hoping that the clouds above will somehow dissipate and all that we are presently facing somehow passes.'

'From which the slow conclusion emerges that it may be time to bid a final farewell to the diplomacy of jihad,' Amir wrote.

This was because 'times have changed. Adventures once affordable are no longer so. What was doable 10, 15 years ago is now hazardous business, the international terrain having changed after 9/11', he noted.

Amir, however, concluded on an upbeat note.

'In a way, therefore, if the proper lessons are drawn, Mumbai, a terrible event for India, may turn out to be a blessing for Pakistan, helping to concentrate Pakistani minds and enabling Pakistan to take the turning that otherwise it might not have taken so soon,' he maintained.

JuD ban averted Pak being declared terrorist country

Fri, Dec 12 06:00 PM

Islamabad, Dec 12 (ANI): Pakistan Defense Minister Ahmad Mukhtar today said that Pakistan would have been declared a terrorist country, had "we not accepted the ban on Jamaat-ud-Daawa."

Mukhtar said that Pakistan launched operation against banned organizations in accordance with the United Nations resolution. Pakistan could fight against enemy, but it is not possible to go on war against the entire world.

He said US authorities are satisfied with the measures taken by Pakistan. War on terror is in Pakistan's own interest and we are determined for it, The News reported. (ANI)

HBOS bad debt soars on UK woes, deal approved

Reuters - 07:37 PM
HBOS Plc warned bad loans and other losses this year had jumped by two thirds in just two months to 8 billion pounds ($11.9 billion) as loans to companies soured, shortly before its investors backed the British bank's takeover.


Role of Alleged CIA Asset in Mumbai Attacks Being Downplayed

by Jeremy R. Hammond / December 10th, 2008

Recent press reports on developments with regard to last month's
attacks in Mumbai, India indicate the role of Dawood Ibrahim, a wanted
crime boss, terrorist, and drug trafficker, is being downplayed,
possibly the result of a deal taking place behind the scenes between
the governments of the US, Pakistan, and India, to have others
involved in the Mumbai attacks turned over while quietly diverting
attention from a man who some say could reveal embarrassing secrets
about the CIA's involvement in criminal enterprises.

The role in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month of an
underworld kingpin that heads an organization known as D-Company, has
known ties to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and who is
alleged to have ties with the CIA is apparently being whitewashed,
suggesting that his capture and handover to India might prove
inconvenient for either the ISI or the CIA, or both.

more here:
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/12/role-of-alleged-cia-asset-in-mumbai-attacks-being-downplayed/

SCENARIOS - Assessing risks of India, Pakistan confrontation

Enlarge Photo Indian police take up position outside "Nariman Bhavan", where armed militants are holed up, in... Fri, Dec 12 03:04 PM

Since militants slaughtered 179 people in an assault on Mumbai, India has withstood internal pressure to unleash a military attack on Pakistani territory, while Pakistan has begun bending to external pressure to break up jihadi groups friendly with its spy agency. The diplomatic situation is still evolving two weeks after the attack. Domestic dynamics have to play out in both countries. With relations still fraught between rivals who have fought three wars, here is a look at some scenarios that could unfold;

WAR --Highly improbable. No one, except the militants, would want it. India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee has said "it is no solution". The two countries went to the brink in 2002 after Pakistani jihadi groups attacked the Indian parliament in 2001, but ultimately the risk of nuclear conflict made it a crazy option. Any kind of Indian military action is likely to provoke retaliation, either from jihadis or worse still the Pakistani military. India's strength lies in its ability to garner international diplomatic support to pressure Pakistan to clean its house of jihadis.

PEACE PROCESS -- A hiatus in the dialogue they began in 2004 is inevitable, India has already said it is in jeopardy. To move on, India needs Pakistan to seriously crack down on groups analysts say have been favoured by its Inter-Services Intelligence agency. A sham crackdown like one by then military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in 2002 will satisfy neither New Delhi nor Washington. That said President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration is expected to encourage settlement of the Kashmir dispute, a step it also sees as part of the equation to stabilise Afghanistan. India probably realises it's better to engage Pakistan than ignore it in the long run, and it would like to help civilian leaders establish authority over the generals. U.S. pressure to move more swiftly in peace talks won't cut much ice with India, so long as it feels uncomfortable about the durability of Pakistan's democracy. In the short run the Indian government has an election to fight, and will need to show its public results before it re-starts the peace process.

NO WAR, NO PEACE -- If, analysts say, the Pakistani military refuses to abandon old jihadi assets, there'll be no war and no peace. Instead there's a real danger both sides could use non-state proxies to destabilise each others' borders. It would be a return to the pre-2002 era, and the world will be haunted by periodic crises between the nuclear-armed neighbours. -- That, in turn, will complicate the West's efforts to stabilise Afghanistan. Some jihadi groups that had been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir have built ties with al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistani tribal areas, where the Pakistan army is struggling to gain control. -- If these groups are allowed to thrive they will continue to provide gateways for alienated young Muslims in the West to join a global jihad against their own governments

REPERCUSSIONS FOR INDIA With general elections early next year, the government faces widespread voter anger at the security and intelligence failures that led to Mumbai. The opposition BJP has made it a major campaign issue. Many analysts expect a backlash against the ruling Congress party in those elections. But recent state poll wins by Congress, as well as the high-profile appointment of former finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram as the new home minister, have helped take the wind out of the opposition's sails. The BJP has also been criticised in some quarters as too opportunist in working to make terrorism an election issue so soon after the Mumbai attack. While the government may be limited in actions over Pakistan, there may be pressure for tougher policies at home, such as an anti-terrorism law that gives security forces more powers to detain and monitor suspects. So far, the attacks have not sparked communal strife between India's majority Hindus and minority Muslims. India's Muslim community has gone out of its way to criticise the militants.

REPERCUSSIONS FOR PAKISTAN -- Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's offer on Nov. 28 to send the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency to New Delhi following a request from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went down badly in some quarters of the military. But since then there has been no indication the civilian government and military leadership are out of step, even if they hold different opinions over whether the jihadis should be protected or dumped. -- If the crisis worsened, it might bring any differences into the open, which could be risky for a civilian government less than nine months old and dependent on army support for Pakistan's transition to democracy. -- Pakistan already reels from an Islamist insurgency in the northwest. There are security alerts in its cities. The suicide truck bomb attack that killed at least 55 people at Islamabad's Marriott hotel in September was the kind of spectacular attack not seen before in Pakistan, and raised fears of more. -- A crackdown on militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad based in the central province of Punjab could end up driving more of their fighters into the arms of al Qaeda and the Taliban in the northwest tribal lands. That would reinforce the insurgency in Afghanistan and pose more dangers for Pakistani security forces and cities. -- It is doubtful whether Lashkar or Jaish commanders who haven't gone rogue would order revenge attacks inside Pakistan, as they would still like to preserve relationships with the security agencies, and such action would be counter-productive for them at a time when Pakistani and Indian tensions were high.

(For the latest Reuters news on India, see http://in.reuters.com, for blogs see http://blogs.reuters.com/in/ and for videos see http://in.reuters.com/news/video)
http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20081212/738/tnl-scenarios-assessing-risks-of-india-p.html

Indian economic outlook uncertain: Subbarao
ANI

The Governor of Reserve Bank of India or RBI said that the near-term outlook for the Indian economy remains uncertain, and the RBI is ready to follow up last weekend's aggressive rate cuts if needed to boost the economy.

Seven years after parliament attack, serious security questions remain
IANS

Seven years after armed militants stormed the Indian parliament and engaged security personnel in a deadly gun battle, questions persist about the security of the country's highest democratic institution in the light of the Mumbai terror spree.

Pakistan should go an extra mile to combat terrorism: Nawaz Sharif
Fri, Dec 12 04:58 PM

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) If Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive in Mumbai, was indeed from Pakistan then it was time for Pakistan to take 'very serious action' and let India know, says former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

'If a Pakistani name is being taken, a man who belongs to a place called Faridkot or any other place, I think we should take very very serious notice of that. Not just notice, we should take serious action and we should let India know that, here, the action is now being taken against such elements. And it should also be a source of satisfaction to the Indian government, that yes, Pakistan is taking action,' Sharif said in response to media reports that Kasab was from Faridkot.

'Pakistan must take action in a very transparent manner,' he said in an interview to Tehelka newsmagazine conducted at his farmouse at Raiwind on the outskirts of Lahore.

In a significant proposal, he said there should be 'a no first attack pact, a no first pact agreement, a no war pact between the two countries and this included both conventional and nuclear'. That, in his view, was the best for both countries and what they should be focusing on.

Dwelling on the troubled relations between the two countries, Sharif said if India had evidence to prove that Pakistani territory was used to export terror into Mumbai, 'I think we should put our own house in order'.

Describing the 'business of allegations and counter-allegations' between the two countries as devastating, Sharif said when he was prime minister 'diplomats from both sides use to get beaten up and there was this tit for tat bashing'.

'I know that no civilised society will accept that - neither India nor Pakistan. These are the only

two countries I have seen in my life, acting like this... We did move forward but after the Mumbai attacks, the relationship has moved backwards and that is very painful.

Stating that he strongly condemned the Mumbai terror attack, Sharif said 'given the situation India is confronting, Pakistan should go an extra mile to combat terrorism'.

Giving the Asif Ali Zardari government a clean chit, he said: ' If Pakistan is not directly involved, if the Pakistani government has no hand in it and if the Pakistani government is itself confronted with elements who are creating havoc and if Pakistani government is being seen as fighting the scourge of terrorism, I think you should have sympathy with the Pakistani government and also pave the way for Pakistani government to successfully fight this menace and extend full cooperation to India to lay its hands on the culprits.'

Sharif, who parted ways with Zardari, said he was sure that the present leadership was not involved and 'they cannot afford to be involved. The political leadership of Pakistan has no such agenda'.

Discussing the role of Pakistan's spy agency ISI, he said it 'legally and technically comes under the civilian government'.

'But our problem has been that Pakistan has seen some adventurers in the past who have been derailing democracy, who have been responsible for overthrowing governments and abrogating the constitution and (former president Pervez) Musharraf even went to the extent of arresting the judges... We want to see that this adventurism doesn't happen again because it has been devastating for the country.'

Admitting that he was not completely in the picture during Kargil (in 1999 when the two countries came close to war) even though he was then prime minister, he said: '...that was Musharraf's fault.'.

The Indians, he said, were absolutely justified and so was then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee 'when he said they were stabbed in the back by us. I agree with Vajpayee - he was stabbed... but then, I too, was stabbed by Mr Musharraf'.

Sharif, who overthrown in a coup by Musharraf in October 1999, said India had held an enquiry on Kargil. Asking why Pakistan could not do the same, he said: 'I hope one day the facts come to light.'



Human Chain for Peace . We thank Citizens, Students and Children for their enthusiastic particpation.

The wide participation of Mumbai citizens - cutting across the barriers of age, gender, caste creed, language etc. - in today's human chain is a very significant event in so far as it raised its calm and resolute voice against the war frenzy and blind blood lust being whipped up by a section of the media with the backing of certain political forces.
The call for the end to the scourge of terrorism that went out in unison today is securely rooted in the realisation that it is an inalienable part of the broader fight against all forms of unjust violence.

The need of the hour is thoughtful and effective response to the disaster just left behind and, more than that, the further challenges ahead. Not knee-jerk reaction.
So, "No to Terror!" is also "No to War!" and "No to Violence!"

The realisation of the specific ten demands as worked out and listed below calls for sustained popular mobilisation and spirited campaign. Today's resounding success is no doubt a great moral booster for the struggles ahead.

Sukla Sen
EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity)

URGENT PRESS STATEMENT





WE THANK THE CITIZENS OF MUMBAI, STUDENTS AND CHILDREN FOR THEIR ENTHUSIASTIC PARTICPATION IN THE HUMAN CHAIN ON DECEMBER 12.






MUMBAI FOR PEACE
SAY NO TO TERROR AND WAR! SAY NO TO VIOLENCE!

We, thank the Citizens of Mumbai and more particulary the Children ,students, Colleges and Schools for their enthusiastic participation for peace and unity by coming out on the streets and holding hands in unity from 12 noon to 12.15 pm. today, Friday the 12th of December 2008 across the city of Mumbai.

We had an ambitious target of covering 100 kms.Although the chain was not continous , we had a large turnout at different locations which comprised of Children, Students and Citizens across Mumbai. The two routes, one from Oberoi was stretched upto Dahisar and the other one from behind Taj Hotel went through Dadar TT, Dharavi right upto Mankhurd.
Our estimates indicate a participation of over one lakh citizens all over Mumbai.
This campaign was organised by over 200 organisations under the banner 'MUMBAI FOR PEACE', which also included the professional bodies and Institutions like the Indian Merchant Chambers , Institute of Chartered Accountants , and Staff from several Offices etc who also joined in this campaign.
We will also file some of the expectations listed below with both the Goverment of Maharashtra and at the Centre.
We wish to advise that this is not one-off an event and we have planned a sustained Citizens Campaign as only such campaigns would bring the desired changes that are most needed. Watch out for more information on our agenda for action on our website:www.mumbaicitizens.com.
We sincerely thank the electronic and the print media for their extensive support to the campaign and look forward to their continous support for our future events.
Best Regards,
Dolphy D'souza
9820226227
email: citizenmumbai@yahoo.in / dolphyadsouza@gmail.com

MUMBAI FOR PEACE: a campaign of Mumbai based organizations.
website: www.mumbaicitizens.com

We, the people of Mumbai, who have seen hatred and bloodshed in our city, pledge that we will not give in to terror and to those who preach war, violence, hatred and intolerance. We undertake to keep Mumbai a city that is peaceful and united. We commit to building a world based on the principles of tolerance and peace, equality and justice.

We expect:
1. Government must take responsibility and map out long-term and short-term strategies, and take action on them.
2. Accountability, better coordination amongst various security and intelligence agencies to deal with terror; and sharing of intelligence and information.
3. Joint action between India and Pakistan governments to curb religious extremism of all shades in both countries.
4. Punishment of those responsible for attacks on minorities, which is also an attack on the multi-cultural body politic of India.
5. Swift, transparent and credible trial and punishment for all those involved in terror, whatever the religion they may profess.
6. Protection of civil and human rights of people and no arrests and torture of innocents in the name of ant- terror measures.
7. A comprehensive Communal Violence Bill in place of the one pending in the Parliament.
8. Immediate implementation of police reforms, providing equipment and training, basic service conditions to police personnel and state security forces. Active facilitation of community participation in security and intelligence gathering.
9. Ensuring moderation and sensitivity in media reporting of violence whether terrorist or any other form, through self-regulation.
Evolve a policy for legal action against hate speech and demonization of any religion or community.

MUMBAI FOR PEACE: a campaign of Mumbai based organizations.
website: www.mumbaicitizens.com


Contact: Dolphy D'Souza: 9820226227, Jatin Desai: 9322255812, Varsha Rajan Berry: 9820603704, Datta Iswalkar: 9224197954, Soheb Lokhandwala: 9833627173, Varsha V.V: 9869289453, 9820068257, Raju Bhise: 9960464430, Muhammadali Patel: 9820568641, Lena Ganesh: 9821211661

NGO trains 1,000 women to join politics
Fri, Dec 12 08:03 PM

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) In an initiative that aims to encourage more women to join politics, an NGO is training 1,000 women across the country as part of a project whose core strategy is 'train, contest and win'.

Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research (CSR) whose initiative this is, said: 'We need more women in politics. And it is essential to train potential leaders as well as encourage the ones who are successful at the local governance level to enter the state assemblies and Parliament'.

CSR's project, the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDF), has been implemented at three different levels.

At level one, women are being prepared and motivated to contest elections for the state legislatures and parliament.

At the second level, advocacy and lobbying with political parties to increase seats for women within parties and lobbying for passage of the bill to receive 33 percent of seats in parliament and state legislatures is being undertaken.

Finally at the third level, the lessons learnt from the projects are being shared with South Asian partners to build stronger foundation for democracy in South Asia.

'At the end of the project, capacities of women across India will be enhanced to contest elections. Political parties will be made aware about this pool of trained women. Key political parties shall be encouraged to ensure voluntary quotas within parties to ensure gender balance,' Kumari said.

Women who have participated in the programme are generally those who have been in leadership roles. Therefore, academicians, those working in NGOs, in the media and trade unions have participated in the programme. Special emphasis has been given to women in panchayati raj institutions.

According to Kumari, women make up 48.26 percent of India’ s population but comprised only 44.2 percent of all voters in the 2004 general elections. Only 9.2 percent of the Lok Sabha’s elected representatives and 8.6 percent of the Rajya Sabha’s elected representatives are women. Also only two out of 32 Indian cabinet ministers and six ministers of state are women.



Will challenge ban in court: JuD

Friday, 12 December , 2008, 11:29
Last Updated: Friday, 12 December , 2008, 11:35
Islamabad: Terming the ban on the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) illegal and a step taken by Pakistan under pressure from India, the organisation's spokesman said they would challenge the move in court.

As all offices of the JuD, said to be a front of the LeT and blamed for the terror attacks in Mumbai, were closed down or sealed, its spokesman Abdullah Muntazir said the allegations made by India against them were false and they would move the high court against the ban.

JuD, Hafiz Saeed added to UN terror list

He also said the organisation had no links to the outlawed Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT).

The government Thursday placed the JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed under house arrest in Lahore for a period of three months after the UN Security Council declared the organisation a terrorist group.

But the JuD spokesman maintained that Saeed had no terror links and said: "Hafiz Saeed is not related with Lashker-e-Taiba as he is the ameer (chief) of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa."

Muntazir stressed that the Jamaat's aim was to provide relief to Muslims and not indulge in terrorism.

The decision to seal JuD offices taken at a meeting chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday evening. Law enforcing agencies also arrested about 20 other JuD leaders, officials said.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14817149
What is the exact death toll in Mumbai's terror attack? There is considerable confusion about Mumbai terror attack as three different sets of figures are doing the rounds. The toll stood at 173 including 26 foreigners, according to Maharashtra Disaster Management Cell director S C Mohanty. But the ministry of external affairs says 179 people were killed. External affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated this in the Lok Sabha on Thursday as MPs discussed the November 26 terror attacks.

Sources in the Pakistan Government have said that Islamabad might formally ask India to hand over army officer Lt. Col. Shrikant Prasad Purohit, for undergoing a trial in a court in Pakistan for his alleged role in perpetrating the bomb blasts on the Samjhauta Express that runs between both countries. The train blast took place about 100 kilometers from New Delhi in Deewana near Panipat on February 19, 2007. In the attack, 64 people, including some Pakistani nationals, were killed in explosions believed to have been set off by IEDs in two of the train’s coaches as it was heading towards the Attari Railway station near Lahore.

Lt. Col. Purohit is the first serving army officer arrested for his alleged involvement in terrorist activities and for links with Hindu extremist organizations, reports the Daily Times.

Purohit procured RDX for Samjhauta blast: ATS

Lt. Col. Purohit is currently in police custody in Maharashtra after he was arrested by the Mumbai-based Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in connection with the September 28, 2007 Malegaon bomb blast case.

The Pune branch of the ATS obtained Lt. Col. Purohit's custody. Lt. Col. Purohit has already charged the ATS with acting in a high-handed manner.


Tourists back at Mumbai's Leopold Café

While briefing a special session of the UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said: “179 persons, including 26 foreigners, lost their lives while 296 persons, including 22 foreigners suffered injuries in the attack, which was designed to kill as many people as possible."

However, Home Minister P Chidambaram while making a suo moto statement in the Lok Sabha on Thursday gave yet another figure.

Special:Mumbai Terror Attack

“With deep regret, I have to report to this House that 164 persons (civilians and security personnel) lost their lives and 308 persons were injured. Among the civilians killed were 26 foreigners belonging to many nationalities. Besides, nine terrorists were killed in the operations by the security forces. One terrorist was overpowered and captured,” he said.


The United States has declined to indicate whether it too would like the UN take action against Pakistan based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), accused of mounting the Mumbai terror attacks, to preclude "asset flight".

"Clearly, we support the action" by the UN Security Council committee, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Thursday. But "in terms of the United States, you know, we don't foreshadow any particular move that we might take".

It's an ongoing 24/7 operation for those in US "who have responsibility for looking at ways to ensure that terrorist groups don't have access to the kind of funding or resources that they need to operate," he said."And we make announcements post facto, and the reason for that is you don't want to have asset flight. That applies to all of those kinds of operations," McCormack said.

‘Live up to commitment to battle terror’

A UN committee on Wednesday banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), an LeT front operation and listed four LeT members including alleged Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, for targeted sanctions including asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

Asked if the US like India believes that Pakistan is not doing enough, the spokesman said Pakistan has taken some important steps, but it's a day-by-day kind of thing.

"Our emphasis has been, in terms of the steps Pakistan has already taken, let's make sure that everything is done to prevent any future terrorist attacks. And ultimately, people responsible have to be brought to justice, but we'll continue to work with both parties on this."

On Pakistan's reported announcement that it to would ban JuD, McCormack said: "Certainly, that would be a positive step."
Holding that "the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy is no longer acceptable", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday called for galvanizing the international community "into dealing sternly and effectively with the epicentre of terrorism, which is located in Pakistan".

"I believe that we have to work at three levels. Firstly, we have to galvanize the international community into dealing sternly and effectively with the epicentre of terrorism, which is located in Pakistan," the Prime Minister said while replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha on the security scenario in the country in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.

"The infrastructure of terrorism has to be dismantled permanently. This is for the good of the entire world community, including the well being of the people of Pakistan themselves," Manmohan Singh added.

India has told Pakistan that it should concentrate on taking action against those terrorists who were instrumental in the Mumbai terror attacks rather than harping on the Kashmir issue.

"Pakistan should focus its attention on taking action against the criminals who perpetrate or aid, abet, finance or otherwise support terrorism, rather than bringing before this council extraneous issues relating to the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir," Indian diplomat Vikram Doraiswami said at the UN headquarters on Tuesday.

India has “enough evidence” to link elements in its territory to the Mumbai terror outrage and sees Pakistan's demand for evidence as “nothing but a delaying tactic” to avoid dismantling "terrorist infrastructure" in that country, government sources said here on Friday.

“It's absolutely redundant and nothing but a delaying tactic,” high-level sources said in response to Pakistan's demand for “credible information and evidence” about the Mumbai terror attacks, that killed 179 people, including 26 foreigners.

There is a variety of evidence that establishes the complicity of elements of the ISI (Pakistan's spy service Inter Services Intelligence) and elements of the army acting in collusion with jihadi groups, the sources said.

‘Live up to commitment to battle terror’

“India can provide this evidence in a court of law as is the procedure with criminal and terrorist cases,” the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, maintained.

If India has enough evidence, what is preventing it from sharing it with Pakistan?

“You share information with somebody who does not know. Pakistan has the knowledge of what happened,” the sources said.

"Our own investigations cannot proceed beyond a certain point without provision of credible information and evidence pertaining to Mumbai attacks," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a televised statement on Friday.

Pakistan's insistence on evidence comes on a day when the Dawn, a respected Pakistani daily, published a report that quotes the father of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured by Indian authorities after the Mumbai attacks, saying he could recognize the photograph of his son which was repeatedly flashed on TV screens and in newspaper reports.

‘Live up to commitment to battle terror’
Pakistan must live up to its commitment to stamping out terror groups operating from the country, an editorial of a leading English daily of the country said on Friday, even as another said “mixed signals continue to emanate from Islamabad” on the issue.

“The leadership must now live up to its commitment to battle terrorists with determination,” The News said in an editorial a day after the UN Security Council declared the Jamat-ud-Dawah, a front of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and four of its leaders as global terrorists.

The UN action came in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 170 people and which India has blamed on the LeT.

Terrorists wanted to stir trouble between India, Pakistan: Rice

Doraiswami made this statement using the Right to Reply option during the Security Council debate on terrorism after the Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon raised the issue of Kashmir before the 15-member body.

"The issue at hand is that of terrorism and the use of territory controlled by Pakistan by terrorist groups based in Pakistan to perpetrate acts of terror in India," Doraiswami said.

In his speech, the Pakistani envoy tried to link terrorism in the region to the Kashmir dispute.

Govt, opposition join hands to fight terror

Noting that several heads of state and government had spoken to him in the wake of the Mumbai outrage, he said each one of them "praised India for demonstrating restraint" and agreed that "strong action" should be taken against those responsible for such acts.

"I conveyed to them that we could not be satisfied with mere assurances. The political will of the international community must be translated into concrete and sustained action on the ground. It is time for the international community to squarely confront the challenge of terrorism," Manmohan Singh told the house.

"The use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy is no longer acceptable," the Prime Minister said, adding there should be "no double standards in the global fight against terrorism. There are no good or bad terrorists," he stressed.

Admitting that the Mumbai attacks had "highlighted gaps in our preparedness to deal with these kinds of assaults", Manmohan Singh said: "We need to equip ourselves more effectively to deal with this unprecedented threat and challenge to our country's integrity and unity."

Outlining the specific steps being taken in this area, the Prime Minister said the Coast Guard would be entrusted with the sole responsibility of guarding the coastline, arrangements have been streamlined for securing the country's air space taking into account conventional as well as non-conventional threats, and the National Security Guard (NSG) would be decentralised and dispersed.

26/11: PM apologises to nation

A bill would be introduced "at the earliest" to create a national investigative agency to probe terror strikes and prosecute their perpetrators, he assured the house.

"The need for stronger measures to protect our coastline has been highlighted before, but the progress on ground in this regard has obviously been tardy and too slow," Singh conceded.

"We are strengthening maritime security against asymmetric threats from the sea. Since there are currently multiple agencies tasked with coastal security, it has been decided that the sole responsibility of guarding the coastline would be entrusted to the Coast Guard," the prime minister said. The Indian Navy would provide the necessary back up.

Special security and protective arrangements were being put in place for all major ports and sensitive installations in the vicinity of India's shoreline.

He also noted that real time monitoring of aircraft movement jointly by the air force and the civil authorities has begun and that air defence measures to prevent intrusion of rogue or unidentified aircraft were in place.

With the Mumbai attacks highlighting the need for response "with much greater speed", the Prime Minister said: "We have worked out a mechanism for a comprehensive crisis management response."

Images: The men who attacked Mumbai

The National Security Guard would be decentralized and located in major metropolitan areas.

Till such time as the strength of the NSG was increased and new units were trained, the Special Forces available with the army, the air force and the navy and other civilian agencies would be used, while each state would create commando units, the prime minister said.

He told the house the government has already decided to strengthen the legal framework to deal with terror and to set up a national investigation agency. These bills would be brought to the house at the earliest.

The Prime Minister said he was "happy" that the UN on Thursday placed sanctions on four individuals of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group, including its chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, and on the front organisations under which the LeT was operating such as the Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

"This is the kind of purposeful action that we believe should be pursued in a sustained manner by the world community to ensure that the entire infrastructure of terror is dismantled," Manmohan Singh said.

Noting that India had "so far acted with utmost restraint" in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, Manmohan added a word of caution: "But let not our commitment to civilized norms be misconstrued as a sign of weakness.

‘Lakhwi to be tried only if India gives evidence’

"Every perpetrator, organizer and supporter of terror, whatever his affiliation or religion or location, must pay the price for such cowardly and horrific acts against our people."

"We have noted the reported steps that have been taken by Pakistan. But clearly much more needs to be done and the actions should be pursued to their logical conclusion," the Prime Minister added.

Manmohan Singh prefaced his remarks by saying: "I would like to apologise to our people for the fact that these dastardly acts could not be prevented."

Full coverage: Mumbai terror attack

He also noted "with great sorrow" that a number of foreign nationals were victims of the Mumbai onslaught and added: "I have personally spoken and written to leaders of countries apologising for the loss of their nationals."

Saluting the courage and patriotism of the police and security forces, including the Special Forces like the NSG and the naval commandos, Manmohan Singh said: "This nation is proud of them."




The Prime Minister ended his address on a note of caution - and conciliation.

Pakistan foreign minister talks of war

"In conclusion, I wish to say that it is in times of adversity that the true mettle of a nation is tested. We must remain calm and be resolute. We should stand firm as one nation and one people to meet this challenge posed by terrorism.

"We will give a fitting rebuff to our enemies. The idea of India as a functioning democracy and a pluralistic society is at stake. This is a time for national unity and I seek your cooperation. Truth and righteousness are on our side and together we shall prevail."


26/11: Bring the perpetrators to justice, Rice asks Pak

The US had not made "any specific prescriptions" about the persons put under house arrest by Pakistan, he said. "We've talked in general terms and in terms of principle about those responsible being held to account and facing justice."

"The Pakistani Government has acted on what we think are good instincts in terms of going after some of these individuals and extremist groups, and we'll see what the next steps are."

"Ultimately, they're going to be the decision makers on this, but we can certainly make clear our views as well as others who can make clear their views," he said.

"Right now, just as a matter of principle, our concern is that any individuals not be able to able to participate in any planning of violent acts, and that inasmuch as one possibly can, learn information that would help prevent future attacks," McCormack said.

Asked about Pakistan's stand that extraditing the suspects to India is not an option, he said: "Again, I'm not going to offer any particular options. I think I've outlined in principle how we see things."

Pak also probing Mumbai attacks: Zardari

At the White House Press spokesperson Dana Perino too described the UN Security Council action as an important one and said "it shows that the international community recognizes the threat of terrorism against all civilised people."

"And I don't know what the next step is in terms of what they would do, in terms of follow-up action, but I think that was a symbolic vote, and one of importance for India and for the rest of the world, she said.

On a report that the US had been put on high alert, Perino said: "I don't think that the Department of Homeland Security has changed the alert level, but obviously we're always on alert when it comes to helping prevent terrorist attacks in America."

TOP ARTICLE | The Serious Business Of War
11 Dec 2008, 0006 hrs IST, Maroof Raza

The suggestion of external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee that India could exercise a military option against Pakistan has alarmed the
international community, particularly the US, that a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours could see the first ever use of nuclear weapons by both sides. It is precisely this nuclear nightmare scenario that Pakistan's establishment and its military brass, in particular, have often exploited to blackmail the world each time India wants to take them to task for their many acts of terror. Is war really an option?

On at least one occasion in the recent past after the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 India appeared serious about exercising the military option against Pakistan. Apparently, our politicians were energised only when they were directly targeted; as if, the deaths of thousands of other Indians mostly by Pakistan-sponsored terror groups weren't reason enough. But the only chance to hit Pakistan with swift air attacks was in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the Parliament. Technically, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), where many of the terror camps were located, is a part of India, since India claims all of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Hitting terror camps within it can thus be justified. This opportunity was lost as the Vajpayee government dithered.

Deploying the army for almost a year thereafter along the Indo-Pak border was of no use. The Vajpayee government gave in to Washington's pressure not to distract the Pakistan army from supporting America's 'war on terror' on the Pak-Afghan border; as if India's war was not against terror. Pakistan today is using the same argument now to slip out of its current predicament by threatening to shift its forces from its western border with Afghanistan to the Indo-Pak border. And the Bush administration is once again counting on India backing down. But what was apparent then and even now is that India's political elite, having taken a tough posture, is in a bind. India has a long tradition of a complete absence of strategic thinking on matters of national security and our politicians are just not up to the task.

This is essentially a Nehruvian hangover. Jawaharlal Nehru insisted that the military must be outside independent India's policymaking if the country were to shed the tradition of the British raj where the commander-in-chief was second only to the viceroy in the cabinet. That apart, Nehru cut defence spending to 1 per cent of India's GDP. As a consequence this country was humiliated by the Chinese aggression of 1962. Nehru's legacy of uninformed politicians and half-informed bureaucrats running the ministry of defence is still alive in Raisina Hill. In short, the lack of understanding of national security issues amongst the neta-babu set-up is glaringly evident.

If India has to become a great power then Nehru's legacy of civilian supremacy in matters of national security must be abandoned. Just as the Indian economy was turned around by a group of technocratic professionals led by Manmohan Singh in 1990, at this dark hour, we need two cabinet ministers one each for the ministry of defence and a new ministry of internal security who understand what military options India can now exercise.

A full-fledged war against Pakistan on the scale of the 1971 war or on the lines of the American invasion of Iraq could tie us down in long-drawn battles of attrition and give India little in terms of territorial gains to put pressure on Pakistan. Without that, you cannot negotiate concessions from your enemy. Moreover, Pakistan has always made it known that if India attempts to dismember it again like in 1971 it won't hesitate to use nuclear weapons. However, as the Kargil conflict has shown, even nuclear weapon states have the strategic space for a swift military operation with India simultaneously attacking a number of terror training camps in PoK by missiles and special forces units.

And if Pakistan were to escalate matters by responding with tactical nuclear weapons in the battlefield then New Delhi must remind Islamabad that it has the capacity to annihilate Pakistan. The fear of mutually assured destruction the MAD syndrome prevents even a trigger-happy nuclear weapon state from using nuclear weapons in the first instance. In fact, studies of the Indo-Pak stand-off in 1990 have shown that the professionalism of the Pakistan army and the deep understanding of the damage that nuclear weapons could do prevented the military brass of Pakistan from seriously considering a nuclear strike against India. The same can be said even now about Pakistan's armed forces and that of India's. They know the business of conflict management, unlike our politicians.

Winston Churchill had once said that "war is too serious a business to be left to generals". But Churchill was a passionate student of military history and had done some military service. The British military historian, Basil Liddell-Hart, had also commented that "if you want peace, understand war". Until our politicians get to understand war, it might be a good idea to turn Churchill's words on their head, and say that war is too serious a business, to be left only to politicians.

The writer is a Delhi-based defence analyst.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/COMMENT_The_Serious_Business_Of_War/articleshow/3819372.cms

CHAPTER VII
FIRST INDO-PAK WAR
Fall Of Mirpur, Gilgit And Baltistan
Acceptance of the offer of accession made by Maharaja Hari Singh by the Government of India on October 26, 1947 made that state as a whole an integral part of India, its long border touching Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Tibet became the border of India and its defence became the responsibility of the Government of India. Therefore, Pak aggression against the state that began on October 21st, became aggression against India and marked the beginning of the first Indo-Pak war.
This development was not surprising or unexpected. I had predicted it on August 15 itself. I was taking my B.A. History class under the shade of a Chinar tree on the bank of the Jehlum that day. Students were more interested to know about my assessment of partition of united India and future relations between the two new dominions than a routine lecture. I had then told my students that the artificial partition of what God and nature had made one country could not last long. But so long as Pakistan will exist, it will remain hostile to India and a war between the two dominions will be inevitable. But, even I had never expected the war to come so soon.

Pakistan wanted to grab Jammu & Kashmir through a swift and camouflaged action. Its leaders banked on indecisiveness of Pandit Nehru and split mind of Sh. Abdullah. But they counted without Sardar Patel and underestimated Hari Singh.

As stated earlier, Indian army acquitted itself, admirably. It was able to clear the Kashmir valley of the enemy by November 8, when Baramullah was liberated. Thus the battle for the Kashmir valley was virtually over in less than a fortnight.

The real brunt of Pak aggression was borne by parts of Jammu province particularly its western Muslim majority district of Mirpur and trans-Himalayan regions of Gilgit, Baltistan and Laddakh.

The Pak plan was to capture cities of Srinagar and Jammu about the same time, snap all links between them and other parts of the state and present the world with a fait accompli in regard to the whole state. Pakistan had considered its task in Jammu to be comparatively easy because of proximity of this part of the state to Pakistan and almost complete allegiance of its Muslim population to its ideology.

Its plan in regard to the predominantly Hindu eastern part of this province, including the city of Jammu which had a large Muslim population, was to foment trouble from within and send armed raiders from outside at the opportune moment. Jammu city being only 20 miles from Sialkot Cantonment the plan was considered to be quite workable. In pursuance of this plan, arms and ammunitions were smuggled into Jammu in large quantities to equip the local Muslims. Trouble from within was to be started approximately at the same time as the invasion of Kashmir. The signal was to be given by Pakistani raids on the border villages.

The signal was given by the middle of October when the border villages of Alla and Charwah were raided, many persons killed and many Dogra women kidnapped. The Dogras of Jammu who had come to know of Pakistan's plans became alert by these raids on their border villages. They, therefore, forestalled the Pakistanis inside the city as well as outside it. Taken aback by this sudden turn of events the Muslims vacated the city and made a hurried retreat to Pakistan. Some of them were killed in the encounters that took place in the city as also in other parts of the province. Huge quantities of arms and ammunition as well as wireless transmitters found from the houses of Muslim evacuees in Jammu left little doubt that any slackness on the part of the people of Jammu at that critical moment would have spelled disaster for them.

This failure of Pakistan's plan in regard to Jammu contributed a good deal toward the defense of Kashmir. The Dogra part of Jammu forms the only direct link between India on the one side and Kashmir valley and other parts of the State on the other. The vital Pathankot-Jammu-Srinagar road passes through this region up to the Banihal Pass. Had the Pakistanis succeeded in capturing Jammu, the only supply line to Kashmir would have been cut off and military aid to save Kashmir would have become impossible.

The situation in the Punjabi-speaking western districts of Mirpur and Poonch including Bhimber and Rajauri was different. This is a predominantly Muslim area. About a lakh of Hindus, who were less than 10 per cent of the total population of this region, constituted the business community though some of them tilled the soil as well. They were spread over the whole of this area. But the main centers of their concentration were the towns of Ponch, Kitli, Mirpur, Bhimber and Rajauri. The Muslim inhabitants of this area, who are mostly illiterate but warlike, economically depended on the Hindu population to a large extent. The relations with the Hindus were, therefore, generally good. But being closely connected with the Muslims of the adjoining districts of Gujerat, Jehlum and Rawalpindi in West Punjab, they had come under the influence of Pakistan ideology. It appealed especially to the upper and martial classes among them who had economic interests in Pakistan or depended for their living on service in that segment of the armed forces of undivided India which had opted for Pakistan.

The State Government was aware of the dangerous potentialities of this area if its people, of whom about a lakh were demobilized ex-soldiers, ever took it into their heads to rebel against their king. So a large part of the state forces was concentrated in the area as also along its border adjoining Pakistan. The State also depends upon the loyalty of elderly Muslim Rajput chiefs and Jagirdars of this area who had still close social relations with the Hindu Rajputs of their respective tribes and looked upon the Rajput Maharaja as their natural leader.

Rulers of Pakistan, therefore, knew that it was not easy to instigate rebellion from within. Therefore the plan adopted by them for this area was to send a large number of Pakistani nationals, soldiers and tribals, to rouse the local population in the name of Islam. This plan was put in operation in the Poonch area to start with. Large numbers of armed Pakistanis began to cross the Jehlum by barges to enter into the State. The state Government protested repeatedly to Pakistan and West Punjab Governments, as also to the Deputy Commissioner of Rawalpindi during September and October, 1947 against this violation of the State territory by Pakistan nationals. But the protests were of no avail.

When the invasion of Kashmir began, the trouble in the Poonch area had already become widespread with the collaboration of the local Muslims under the guidance of Sardar Mohd. Ibrahim Khan who later became the President of the so-called Azad Kashmir Government. Simultaneously with the invasion of the valley fresh raids on other parts of this area began. The Muslim personnel of the 2nd Jammu and Kashmir Infantry which had been posted in this sector, now deserted to the enemy. The Dogra troops hard-pressed from all sides could not stand the strain. They realized that it was impossible to defend the whole area against Pakistani invaders and local rebels. So they concentrated themselves in the few towns to which the Hindu population from the surrounding areas had gone for safety. Very soon all these towns were cut of from one another as also from Jammu. The history of the war in this region after the 22nd of October, therefore, is the history of the defense of these beseiged towns by the civil population with the help of the State troops who had managed to reach them. Their only hope of safety was reinforcements of Indian troops from Jammu or Srinagar. Unfortunately this expected relief failed to reach them in time, except in the case of Kotli and Poonch. They fell to the enemy one by one. Their history is one of tragic destruction and genocide in spite of the most heroic defense and sacrifices by the Hindu population. In chronological order, the part to fall was Bhimber.

1. Bhimber: This town, with a normal population of three thousand which had swelled to about five thousand because of some refugees from Pakistan and Hindus from surrounding villages, lies just two miles within the State border. It was a tehsil headquarter within the Mirpur district. It fell to the armed Pakistani raiders who began shelling the town with heavy guns. Just at this time, the Indian Dakotas were carrying the first consignment of airborne troops to Srinagar. The people of the town who had assembled in the courtyard of the fort-like tehsil building found all their roads of escape blocked. Still some of them rushed out with the few State troops. But most of them could not. Finding that no hope was left, hundreds of Hindu ladies took poison which they had taken with them as a precaution and thus revived the practice of 'Jauhar'. Many others were kidnapped along with their children. The male population was put to the sword.




Perhaps the fall of this town, though it was very tragic, could not be avoided because there were no troops in Jammu which could have been rushed to save it. But that was not the case with the other towns which fell soon after one by one.

2. Rajauri: This town with a normal population of about six thousand which had swelled to about 11 thousand at the time of its fall because of the arrival of Hindus from the surrounding villages, lies in the interior of Jammu Province on the old Mughal road to Kashmir. It was a tehsil headquarter within the Riasa district before its fall.

This town was considered to be comparatively safe because of its being out of the direct reach of the Pakistan raiders. But the local Muslims, aided by the deserters from State troops did not wait for the raiders. The urgent calls of the beseiged population for help were in vain because the gravity of the situation in these areas was not appreciated by Sheikh Abdullah who continued to divert all available Indian troops to Kashmir. The result was that the town fell on the 10th of November before the local Muslims who proved to be more cruel and barbarous than the tribal raiders. The story of Bhimber was repeated with the difference that the number of the persons who could escape to Jammu safely from here did not exceed a hundred. Most of the ladies performed 'Jauhar' by taking poison while many of the youth, died fighting. Many of those who managed to escape were killed on the way by local Muslims. The number of ladies abducted from this town ran into several hundreds.

3. Kotli: This town with a normal population of 3 to 4 thousand was a tehsil headquarter within the Mirpur district. It lies on the Jehlum-Mirpur-Poonch road. The small detachments of the State troops spread between Mirpur and Poonch had concentrated themselves in this town when their position in the interior became untenable. Colonel Baldev Singh Pathania, the Revenue Minister of the State, who had been sent to guide the operations of the State troops in this area as also Brigadier Chatar Singh, the officer in-charge, had also taken shelter in this town. It was surrounded on all sides by the well armed local rebels and Pakistani raiders. Therefore no contact could be made with Jammu or Mirpur.

The arnmunition with the troops in Kotli ran out early in November. It would have therefore, fallen to the enemy and suffered the same fate as Bhimber but for the heroic gallantry of a few local young men. An Indian army plane dropped about 20 chests of ammunition in the town. But per chance instead of falling at a safe place they fell on a deep slope outside the town within the range of the enemy fire from the adjoining hill. To bring the chests into the town was a problem. It looked like sure death. No volunteers were coming forth even from among the troops. There upon about 20 members of the local branch of the R.S.S. volunteered themselves. They succeeded in salvaging about 17 chests of ammunition. Their heroism and sacrifice enabled the town to defend itself until it was relieved a few days later by an advance party of the Parachute Brigade of the Indian army stationed at Jhangar.

Though saved from the enemy at that time, this town was abandoned by the Indian army later. It withdrew from Kotli to Jhangar after evacuating all the civil population and the troops who had been defending it for over a month. This proved to be a military blunder. It made the position of the besieged population and garrison at Poonch precarious. It also relieved many hundreds of raiders besieging this town who now joined hands with the besiegers of Mirpur. That ill-fated town was next to fall.

4. Mirpur: This strategic town of a normal population of about 10 thousand which had swelled to about 25 thousand at the time of its fall was the headquarters of the Mirpur district. It lies at a distance of about 20 miles from the town and cantonment of Jehlum.

Mirpur had been cut off from Jammu after the fall of Bhimber and Kotli. It had a garrison of State troops. But it had run out of ammunition. Therefore it was feared that Mirpur may meet the same fate as Bhimber & Kotli.

It was a district headquarter and center of influential Mahajans, a fair colored Vaish community with distinct, Aryan features; many of its people hid their relatives in Jammu. They were naturally worried about their fate. They approached Praja-Parishad for moving the authorities to relieve Mirpur.

Pt. Prem Nath Dogra and myself met Brigadier Paranjpe, the Commander of Indian troops in Jammu and requested him to send reinforcement to Mirpur. He shared our anxiety but expressed his helplessness because as per instructions from above, all deployment of Indian troops in the State had to be done in consultation with Sh. Abdullah who was indifferent to the needs of Jammu.

He informed us that Pt. Nehru was visiting Jammu en- route to Srinagar on November 25, and suggested that we should approach him and request him to give proper directions to Sh. Abdullah in the matter.

I met Pt. Nehru at Satwari aerodrome and told him about the critical situation in Mirpur and requested him to order immediate reinforcement of Indian troops to the beleagured tour. I was amazed at his response. He flew into a rage and shouted: "Talk to Sheikh Sahib - talk to Sheikh Sahib. ' I then told him that Sheikh Sahib was indifferent to the plight of the Jammu region, and that he alone could do something to save the people of Mirpur. But all my entreaties fell on deaf ears. No reinforcement was sent to Mirpur.

Mirpur fell on the 25th of November 1947, when the enemy broke open the back gate of the walled town by heavy gunfire. The state troops and local officers then lost heart and retreated even before the town could be evacuated by the civilians. The people, therefore, began to run in terror. The fight soon became a rout and the rout a massacre. Hardly two thousand people out of about 25 thousand living at that time in the ill-fated town managed to reach Jhangar in safety. The rest were ruthlessly butchered. The number of women abducted from there ran into thousands. Most of them were paraded and then sold in the bazaars of Jehlum, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. The barbarities of the Pakistan troops and civilians on these hapless women who were kept for sometime in Alibeg camp before their dispersal to different towns put to shame the worst orgies of rape and violence associated with the hordes of Ghengiz Khan and Nadir Shah.

The loot obtained by the Pakistanis from these towns, especially from Mirpur, went into crores. The floor of every house in Mirpur was dug by raiders in search of hoarded treasures.

5. Deva Vatala: Next to fall along the Jammu-Pakistan border in Bhimber Tehsil was the cluster of Hindu villages inhabited by Chib Rajputs and known by the name of Deva-Vatala. The warlike people of these villages kept the Pakistanis at bay for two months with their crude weapons. But when Pakistanis began to attack them with modern firearms supplied by the Pakistan Government they approached Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed then Chief Emergency Officer for Jammu Province, to supply them with arms and ammunition. But no heed was paid to their requests. Toward the end of December 1947, thousands of Chibs of the area retreated to Jammu with what little they could bring on their heads as refugees. The occupation of Deva-Vatala by the enemy brought him within 30 miles of the city of Jammu from the West.

6. Poonch: The only town of this area which did not succumb to the enemy pressure was Poonch. The small garrison of the State troops supported by the Indian troops who managed to reach there from Uri, kept the enemy at bay for one long year. Their task would have become impossible but for the daring landings of the I.A.F. Dakotas on an improvised air strip in the town, which lay within firing range of the enemy who commanded the surrounding hills. This town was later relieved by the Indian forces advancing from Rajauri.

The story of the war in the Jammu sector is thus a continuous tragedy occassionally relieved by episodes of glory provided by the heroes of Kotli, or the defenders of Poonch. But the most unfortunate part of it is that little is known to the people in India and outside about this side of the Kashmir story.

The sense of tragedy about happenings in Jammu area is heightened by the fact that most of this area fell in the enemy hands and massacres took place there after the State-acceded to India and the Indian troops had taken charge of the defense of the State.

Kashmir valley having been cleared of the enemy by the 8th of November, Indian troops could have conveniently turned their attention to this strategic area. They could have at least relieved the beleagured towns of Rajauri and Mirpur and prevented the worst massacre of Indian history after Timur's massacre of Delhi in 1398 from taking place at Mirpur.

That they could not do so was not the fault of army commanders. The men responsible for these massacres were Pt. Nehru and Sh. Abdullah. Pt. Nehru would not allow anybody else in India to advise him in his handling of the Kashmir situation. He was solely guided by Sh. Abdullah, who had no interest in any other part of the State except the Kashmir valley. His critics even go to the length of charging him uith deliberate indifference toward the fate of beleagured Hindus. That may or may not be correct, but the fact remains that he refused to send troops for the relief of Mirpur even when they were not so urgently needed in the Kashmir valley.

Genocide

A more painful aspect of this unmitigated tragedy of Jammu is that very little about it is known in India or the outside world. Even though the number of Hindu men and women killed and abducted in Jammu area is at least three times that of the Muslim causualties, not a word of sympathy about them was said in India or at the U.N.O. On the other hand both Sh. Abdullah and his Indian patrons made so much noise about killings of Muslims in Jammu that Ch. Zaffarullah, Pakistan's representative at the U.N.O., could indict the Government of India of genocide of Muslims in Jammu with telling effect.

If the ruthless killings in Jammu area could be called genocide, it was a genocide of the Hindus and not of the Muslims. While most of the Muslims in the Hindu majority parts of Jammu province migrated to Pakistan, only a few thousands out of over a lakh of Hindus including refugees from adjoining district of West Punjab could escape to safety from Mirpur-Poonch- Muzaffarabad region.

The External Affairs Ministry of the Government of India did a singular disservice to India and the world by not bringing true facts of the Jammu story to the notice of the U.N. and the world. Pt. Nehru was thus not only unjust to the Maharaja, but also to the heroic people of Jammu who fought the Pakistani invaders and saboteurs on their own and thus saved the vital link between Kashmir Valley and East Punjab from falling into Pakistan's hands which would have made Kashmir operation infructuous.

Fall Of Gilgit

Foiled in their attempt to capture Srinagar and occupy Kashmir valley which would have automatically cut off all the northern parts of the State from lndia and brought them under Pakistan's control without much effort, the Pakistani strategists now decided to capture those parts first both for their own strategic importance and also for encircling the valley from the North. The closure of Burzila and Yojila passes which provided the only link between Kashmir valley and Gilgit, Baltistan and Laddakh due to the onset of winter made the chances of any timely help from Indian army to small detachments of the Kashmir state forces in these parts extremely difficult if not impossible. This was an additional temptation for Pakistan to lay her hand on them just then.

Gilgit, the western most part of trans-Himalayan frontier region of the State being directly continuous to Pakistan and approachable from Peshawar was the first to be attacked and occupied.




The Dogra rulers of Kashmir had a special sentimental attachment with Gilgit because of the great sacrifices made by the Dogra people in conquering it. The "Samadhis" of thousands of Dogra soldiers who had laid down their lives in the various Gilgit campaigns between 1859 and 1895 which finally brought the entire Gilgit area including the Gilgit states like Hunza, Nagar, Ishkuman, Koh and Gizar under Dogra rule, are still a grim reminder of their adventurous spirit and patriotic fervour. They had, therefore, resisted British pressure to surrender the control of this area to them as long as they could.

After obtaining a lease of the Gilgit area for sixty years from Maharaja Hari Singh in 1935, the British had set about building it as a strategic outpost in the chain of their North Western defences. It had been linked with Peshawar by a new road. A local force called "Gilgit Scouts" on the model of Frontier Guides, led by British officers had been raised and a British Political Agent was posted at Gilgit to control the administered area and the States of Gilgit Agency whose rulers continued to owe allegiance to the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir as well. The State forces stationed at Gilgit had been withdrawn to Bunji on the left bank of the Indus about 35 miles South of Gilgit cantonment.

Soon after the announcement about transfer of power the Gilgit Agency had been retroceded to the Maharaja who celebrated the occasion with great joy. He had then appointed Brigadier Ghansar Singh as military Governor of the area. He had reached Gilgit along with Major General Scotts then Chief of Staff of the State army, on July 20, 1947. On arrival there they found that all British officers in Gilgit Scouts also wanted to go over to Pakistan. The only force available to the Governor was the 6th J&K Infantry stationed at Bunji which was half Muslim and half Sikh. It was commanded by a Muslim officer of doubtful loyalty, Lt. Colonel Majid Khan.

In the circumstances it was clear that British officers on the spot were strongly pro-Pakistan. What was worse they had also poisoned the minds of the Rajas of Gilgit States, who so far had a deep feeling of personal loyalty to the Maharaja. It was also clear that the Maharaja's Government at that time was in no position to hold Gilgit militarily against the combined strength of Chitral and Swat levies backed by Pakistan Government and Gilgit Scouts, particularly when the loyalty of the Muslim officers and other ranks of its own army had beeome doubtful.

It was suggested to the Maharaja by some people who knew about the difficult situation in Gilgit that he might lease out the area to Afghanistan on the same terms on which it was held by the British. But the suggestion was never taken up seriously. Afghanistan might have welcomed such a move if it had been seriously mooted.

The things began to move fast after the launching of the fullscale Pakistan invasion of Kashmir in October, 1947. The Muslim personnel of the State army deserted. On the night of October 31, the Gilgit scouts together with these deserters surrounded the residence of the Governor who was forced to surrender. He was put under arrest and a provisional Government was established by the rebels. Most of the non-Muslims in the State army and town population were liquidated and a few made prisoners. Three days later, Major Brown, the British Commandant of Gilgit of Scouts, formally raised the flag of Pakistan in the Scouts lines. Soon after a political Agent from Pakistan established himself in Gilgit.

The fall of Gilgit into the hands of Pakistan and the role played by British Officers in the whole affair throws a flood of light on the British attitude towards the Kashmir questions from its very inception. Their imperial interests demanded that Jammu and Kashmir State as a whole or at least its northern parts including the Kashmir valley should go to Pakistan which they considered to be more dependable of the two new Dom inions.

After consolidating their position in Gilgit the Pakistan militarists hurried to control the approaches to the valley before the winter had run out. One of their columns advanced towards the Burzila pass, occupied it, and began to infiltrate into Gurais area of Kashmir from that side. Another column advanced west, bypassed Askardu, the capital town of Baltistan, for it had a Dogra garrison in its fort, and occupied Kargil without much difficulty. Kargil lies on the road connecting Srinagar with Leh and Askardu through the Yojila Pass. From Kargil one of their columns began to advance toward Leh and the other advanced south and occupied the Yojila pass. Some of them even succeded in infiltrating into Kashmir valley.

Thus before the winter was over and before any reinforcements to Askardu, Kargil or Leh could be sent, the Pakistanis with the help of the Gilgit scouts and local recruits, for whom winter weather was no hindrance, had occupied both the passes linking these areas with Kashmir valley. Leh too would have fallen before the Pakistanis, who despoiled many monasteries and killed about five hundred Buddhists, but for the adventurous and hazardous dash of a Lahauli officer of the Indian Army, Captain Prithvi Chand, with a few companions toward Leh through Lahaul in Mid-winter. He succeeded in reaching Leh, organized a local militia and improvised an air strip at the height of about 11500 feet above sea level, where an equally adventurous Indian Pilot, Sardar Mehar Singh, landed his Dakota carrying sinews of war and thus saved Leh from meeting the fate of Kargil and Gilgit.

The besieged garrison and Hindu population of Askardu was soon reduced to sore straits by the besieging Pakistani forces. The I.A.F. did drop some supplies to them but due to bad weather and great heights that had to be crossed, they fell far short of the minimum needs of the besieged garrison. At last Colonel Sher Jang Thapa of the State forces surrendered to the Pakistanis after a gallant resistance of many months on August 15, 1948. The entire Hindu population as also most of the surviving troops were put to the sword.

Fall of Gilgit, siege of Askardu, genocide of the Hindus in Bhimber, Rajouri and Mirpur and retreat from Deva- Vatala shocked Maharaja Hari Singh who had acceded to India in the hope that Indian army would be above to save his territories and people from the Pak invaders. People of the affected areas of Jammu flocked to him with their tales of woe. He sympathized with them but could do nothing to relieve their agony. He had no control over the administration and deployment of the armed forces. Sh. Aibdullah, fortified by the blind support of Pt. Nehru, was indifferent about the fate of Jammu and other parts of the state. His motives and intentions had become suspect to all friends and well- wishers of India, including Justice Kanwar Dileep Singh who had been appointed Agent-General of the Government of India to watch the Indian interests in the state. Pt. Premnath Dogra and myself met him at the Residency in Jammu in mid-January 1948. We found him thoroughly disgusted and disillusioned about the role of Sh. Abdullah. He frankly told us that he was convinced that Sh. Abdullah was not playing fair to India. He was more interested in consolidating his position in the Kashmir valley than safeguarding national interests and unity and security of the country. He informed us that he was going to Delhi to apprise Prime Minister Nehru of his assessrnent and added, that he would return only if his advise was heeded and he was in a position to safeguard the national interests. He made it clear that he had accepted the post for serving the country and not for its pay of Rs. 5,000 a month. He would rather resign than be a mute witness to Sh. Abdullah's anti-national actions and activities. He never returned. This was a clear indication that Pt. Nehru was in the pocket of Abdullah so far as Kashmir was concerned.

As the founder leader of Jammu Parishad, I then decided to visit Delhi to meet and apprise Sardar Patel and other national leaders about the developing situation in the state and impress on them the urgent need to set things right. I left Jammu on January 29, 1948. I had to meet Sardar Patel in Delhi on February 2nd.

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in January 30, upset everything. I could meet the Sardar a month later on March 8th. He gave me a patient hearing and hinted that he was aware of the situation by saying: "You are trying to convince a convinced man." But he expressed his inability to do anything because Kashmir was being handled by Pt. Nehru. He suggested that I should meet Pt. Nehru and also got my appointment with him fixed. I met Pt. Nehru the day after. His response was most disappointing. He was not prepared to hear a word of criticism of Sh. Abdullah. In the meantime, Sh. Abdullah externed me from the state and banned my re- entry into it. He also externed my parents from Jammu where my father had decided to settle after retirement from state service.

Though my meeting with Sardar Patel and Pt. Nehru had no immediate effect, a top secret letter that Maharaja Hari Singh had sent to Sardar Patel on January 31 did influence the Government of India and military operations in the state thereafter.

A Historic Letter

This is a historic letter which throws a flood of light on the exact situation in and about Jammu & Kashmir at that time and the mind of Hari Singh.

After describing the prevailing political military situation in detail, he wrote:

"In the situation described above a feeling comes to my mind as to the possible steps I may take and to make, as far as I am concerned, a clean breast of the situation. Sometime I feel that I should withdraw the accession that I have made to the Indian Union. Indian Union only provisionally accepted the accession and if it cannot recover back our territory and is going eventually to agree to the decision of the Security Council which may result in handing us over to Pakistan then there is no point in sticking to the accession of the state to the Indian union. For the time being it may be possible to have better terms from Pakistan but that is immaterial because eventually it will mean end of the dynasty and the end of Hindus and Sikhs in the state. There is an alternative possible for me and that is to withdraw the accession. That may kill the reference to U.N.O. because Union of India has no right to continue the proceedings before the Security Council if the accession is withdrawn. The result may be a return to the position the state held before the accession. The difficulty in that situation, however, will be that the Indian troops cannot be maintained in the state except as volunteers to help the state. I am prepared to take over the command of my own forces along with the forces of the Indian army and volunteers to help the state... I am tired of the present life and it is much better to die fighting than watch helplessly the heart breaking misery of my people.




"So far as internal political situation is ccncerned I am prepared to be a constitutional ruler of the state... But I am not satisfied with the leaders of National Conference. They do not command the confidence of the Hindus and Sikhs and even of a large section of Muslims. I must therefore keep some reserved powers of which you are already aware, and I must have a Dewan of my free choice as a member of the cabinet and possibly as its president.

"Another alternative that strikes me is that if I can do nothing I should leave the state (short abdication) and reside outside so that people do not think that I can do anything for them... Of course I will anticipate that as people started saying when I left Kashmir only on Mr. Menon's advice that I had run away from Srinagar, they will say that I have left them in their hour of misery. But it is no use remaining in a position where one can do nothing merely to avoid criticism.

"The third alternative in the situation is that the Indian Dominion discharges its duty on the military side effectively and makes an all out effort to stop the raids from Pakistan and to drive out of the state not only raiders but also all rebels... Pakistan is more organized against Kashmir than the Indian Dominion and as soon as snow melts it will start attacking Kashmir on all sides and the Province of Laddakh will also come into the hands of the enemy... Therefore unless the Indian Union makes up its mind to fight fully and effectively, I may have to decide upon the two alternatives mentioned above".

This letter jolted the Government of India out of its complacency in regard to the war. The Indian army thereafter devised a new strategy which turned the tide against Pakistan by the end of the year. Pakistan army were on the run all along the four hundred mile long battle front. The Indian army would have completed the job entrusted to it by clearing the whole State of the Pakistani invaders both regular and irregular, in course of time had it not been halted by the unilateral cease fire ordered by the Government of India on the first of January, 1949. This was done in pursuance of the resolution of the U.N. Security Council.

Reference of Kashmir issue to U.N. and interplay of super power politics there which gave a new and unexpected dimension and twist to Kashmir problem is even more painful and perplexing. It composed foreign policy of India and its sole architect, Pt. Nehru.
http://www.kashmir-information.com/Storm/chapter7.html

I don’t sell my sons, says Kasab's father

Friday, 12 December , 2008, 13:15
Last Updated: Friday, 12 December , 2008, 15:52


Karachi: Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper has confirmed that there is a link between Faridkot in Punjab province and the terror attacks that were launched on Mumbai last month.

In a special report, the Dawn says that the targeting of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jamaatud Dawa and the rounding up of the activists belonging to the two jihadi organisations appear to have been triggered by information originating in India.

The Dawn says that through its own investigations last week, it could locate a family who claimed to be the kin of Ajmal Kasab, the sole survivor among the 10 attackers.

Special: Mumbai under seige

It says that media organisations such as the BBC and now the British newspaper Observer have done reports trying to ascertain the veracity of claims appearing in the media that the young man had a home there.

Even though the news stories by both BBC and the Observer made a mention of the LeT, some television channels in Pakistan suggested that a connection between Mumbai and Faridkot could not be established beyond a shadow of doubt.

However, the man who said he was Amir Kasab confirmed to Dawn that the young man whose face had been beamed over the media was his son.

“I was in denial for the first couple of days, saying to myself it could not have been my son,” he told Dawn in the courtyard of his house in Faridkot, a village of about 2,500 people just a few kilometres from Deepalpur on the way to Kasur. “Now I have accepted it.

“This is the truth. I have seen the picture in the newspaper. This is my son Ajmal.”



Variously addressed as Azam, Iman, Kamal and Kasav, the young man, apparently in his 20s, is being kept in custody at an undisclosed place in Mumbai.

After his brush with crime and criminals in Lahore, he is said to have run into and joined a religious group during a visit to Rawalpindi.

Along with others, claimed the Indian media, he was trained in fighting. And after a crash course in navigation, said Amir Kasab, a father of three sons and two daughters, Ajmal disappeared from home four years ago.

“He had asked me for new clothes on Eid that I couldn’t provide him. He got angry and left.”

Images of Mumbai terror strikes | Fire and Firing: Terrorists hold Mumbai to ransom

Amir Kasab said he had settled in Faridkot after arriving from the nearby Haveli Lakha many years ago. He owned the house and made his earnings by selling pakoras in the streets of the village.

He modestly pointed to a hand-cart in one corner of the courtyard. “This is all I have. I shifted back to the village after doing the same job in Lahore.

Kasab, a mild-mannered soul, is a bit agitated at the mention of the link between his son’s actions and money.

Kasab to undergo narco test

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist in the November 26 Mumbai terror strike to be captured alive, will be subjected to a narco analysis test to corroborate all that he has confessed so far and to get more information about the conspiracy, police sources said on Friday.

Though Ajmal has already given the police a detailed account of the Mumbai terror attack plan, the training he received in Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) Pakistan-based camps and his personal background, Mumbai crime branch sleuths feel "a narco test might help sift fact from fiction as Kasab is likely to have lied at certain points or hidden some information", the sources said.

Meanwhile, it has emerged from the investigation that the hand-grenades used in the 26/11 attack were of the same make as the ones used in the 1993 Mumbai blasts. The grenades bear the mark of an Austrian company 'Arges' which has a franchise in Pakistan.

Kasab remanded to Police custody till Dec 24

Investigators, analysing the information gathered so far, hope to get their next big breakthrough on Saturday onwards when they started interrogating two suspects -- Fahim Ansari and Mohammed Sabauddin, currently in the custody of Uttar Pradesh police.

The two suspects, who are respectively in the Lucknow and Rampur jails in Uttar Pradesh, are being brought to Mumbai and will be produced before a local court on Saturday.

A crime branch team that went to UP earlier this week to take custody of the two, was requested by the UP police to wait for Fahim's scheduled production in a Rampur court on Friday.

Ajmal hails from Pakistan, reports Guardian

According to information that police has pieced together, Fahim had come to Mumbai in December last year to gather information about the Taj and Oberoi-Trident hotels in the form of maps, photographs and videos. He had also gone around the Gateway of India and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, sources revealed.

In February this year, Fahim was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police while he was on his way to LeT's Nepal base. He had apparently been called back as arms and ammunition required for the Mumbai strike could not be organised till then, investigators have found.

Sabauddin, arrested around the same time in Lucknow, is suspected to be Fahim's accomplice in planning and preparation of the Mumbai terror strike though they did not visit Mumbai together.

Special:Mumbai Terror Attack

Mumbai police are simultaneously questioning one Mansoor Ahmed, suspected to be an associate of gangster Dawood Ibrahim, for his possible role in extending help to the 26/11 terrorists.

Mansoor was earlier arrested under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) Act in connection with the 1993 bomb blasts. He was released in 2006 for want of evidence.

Root out all terrorists: US Congress asks Pak

Condemning the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, both houses of US Congress have asked Pakistan to root out all extremist groups in the country and prevent its territory from serving as a safe haven and training ground for terrorists.

US hopes a ‘shift’ in Pak's approach on LeT



A bipartisan Senate resolution introduced by Democrat Bob Casey and Republican George Voinovich strongly urges the Pakistani government to root out all extremist groups operating on its territory.

A similar House resolution calls upon Pakistan to work in full cooperation with India "to ensure all those responsible are brought to justice and prevent its territory from serving as a safe-haven and training ground for terrorists".

Both resolutions applaud the restraint exhibited so far by the Indian government and ask Pakistan to aggressively investigate the possible connection of groups based in Pakistan to the attacks.

The Senate resolution passed Wednesday affirms that the US stands in unison with the people of India in the aftermath of the horrific attacks and that the US government will provide any assistance the people of India might need.

Pakistan foreign minister talks of war

The resolution encourages the Indian government to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the attacks and applauds India's tone of moderation and restraint in reaction to the attacks.

It also urges bolstered US efforts to develop and implement policies and projects to combat all forms of religious extremism, including anti-Semitism, in order to deter targeted attacks like that waged against the Chabad Lubavitch centre in Mumbai.

It strongly encourages president-elect Obama to consider ways in which the US government can expand counter-terrorism cooperation to provide relevant equipment and training to the Indian government.

The House resolution vows its support and readiness to provide all appropriate assistance and resources to Indian government as it works to bring the terrorists responsible for the Mumbai attacks to justice and expresses its desire for improved coordination between the US and India, with the goal of combating terrorism and advancing international peace and security.

It also calls upon the government of Pakistan to work in full cooperation with the government of India to ensure all those responsible are brought to justice and prevent its territory from serving as a safe-haven and training ground for terrorists.

Images: The men who attacked Mumbai

The House resolution calls upon nations around the world to renew and strengthen efforts to defeat terrorists by dismantling terrorist networks, restricting the financing of such networks, and exposing the violent and intolerant ideology of terrorism.

It also wants all appropriate international law enforcement, intelligence, and other resources to be made available to the Government of India to support a full investigation of the horrific terror attacks according to international legal standards.

"If anyone has forgotten the horrors of international terrorism, the savage attacks in Mumbai are yet another tragic wake up call," said Casey.

"This enemy, whether it strikes in Mumbai, Jakarta, London or New York City, is savage and seeks to undermine the progressive and tolerant values that unite nations like India and the United States," he said.

Mumbai terror attack special

"America is standing with the people of India and our support is strong. These attacks underscore that we are indeed in a war against terrorism with an enemy that is bound and determined to wage war against any that share our values," said Voinovich..

"As evident in the terrorist murders of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka in Mumbai, the United States must bolster efforts to develop and implement policies and projects to combat anti-Semitism," he added.

US car industry bailout plan collapses in SenateFriday, 12 December , 2008, 11:27


Washington: Negotiations in the US Senate on a $14 billion emergency loan for the ailing car industry have collapsed, leaving the fate of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC uncertain.

US House passes auto bailout plan

The discussions failed late on Thursday after the United Auto Workers union refused to agree to Republican demands for wage cuts and reduction in labour costs to the level of Japanese competitors operating in the US.

Chrysler owner an issue in auto bailout talks

"It's over with. I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It's not going to be a pleasant sight," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

Images: Big Three automakers plead for bailout

He later said that there would be "no more work" on the bailout until the "reconvening of the new Congress next year".

The House of Representatives approved the $14 billion emergency loan on Wednesday night, imposing strict oversight rules in exchange for keeping General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy at least until April.

Slideshow of the day: Mesmerising Porsche 911

But Senate Republicans vowed to oppose the same deal in the upper legislative chamber, where Democrats hold a much slimmer majority than in the House. Earlier on Thursday, Reid said the two sides were working furiously towards a compromise.

More India business stories | Get the latest Sensex update

"Millions of Americans, not only the autoworkers, but people who sell cars, car dealerships, people who work on cars, are going to be directly impacted," said Reid. "It's going to be a very, very bad Christmas for a lot of people."

Revoking Israel's UN Membership

An article by our Swedish friends:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shamireaders/message/1210
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14445

By Snorre Lindquist and Lasse Wilhelmson – Stockholm
Contact him at snorre_lindquist(at)hotmail.com
Contact him at: lasse.wilhelmson(at)bostream.nu

The Gaza Strip is now the Largest Concentration Camp in the world.

The situation grows steadily more insufferable for the 1.5 million
Palestinians who live there. Deliveries of food, medicine and fuel
are made difficult or stopped altogether. Child malnutrition is increasing.
-
Water supplies and drainage have ceased to function.
Children die for lack of healthcare.
-
Tunnels to Egypt, dug by hand, are the only breathing space.
Journalists and diplomats are denied entry.
Israel is planning more military efforts.
The Palestinians in Gaza are now to be starved into surrender
and become an Egyptian problem.
-
The UN should use the word apartheid
in connection with Israel and
consider sanctions with the former South Africa
serving as a model.
-
Miguel dÉscoto Brockman, president of the UN General Assembly,
conveyed this message at a meeting on November 24th 2008
with the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon present.
-
The 1976 Nobel peace prize laureate, Mairead McGuire from Ireland,
recently suggested a popular movement demanding
that the UN revoke Israel’s membership.

The international community now needs to put tangible pressure
on Israel in order to stop its war crimes.
-
Not once, during the past 60 years, has Israel shown
any intention of living up to the requirements stipulated by the UN,
in connection with the country’s membership in 1948, namely that
the Palestinians who had been evicted from their homes
should be allowed to return at the earliest possible opportunity.

Moreover, Israel holds the hardly flattering
world record of ignoring UN resolutions.
-
It can be questioned from the aspect of human rights legislation
whether Israel is a legitimate state.

Established practice between states usually requires
borders that are legally maintained and a constitution,
neither of which Israel has.
-
These requirements are also named in the UN resolution (181)
Partition Plan for Palestine, approved by the General Assembly
in November 1947. The plan was accepted by the Zionists Jews
in Palestine but rejected for excellent reasons as unjust by the Arab states.
-
Only decisions made by the UN Security Council are mandatory.
Later on, Israel unilaterally laid claim to a considerably
larger portion of land than that suggested by the UN.
-
The eviction of 80% of the Palestinians who lived west
of the 1947 armistice line, and Israel’s refusal to allow them to return
is the human rights argument for expelling Israel from the UN.
Not only has Israel played the Partition Plan false but has, by its actions,
thwarted the grounds – fragile from the start – for its UN membership.
-
Israel makes use of various strategies to achieve its goals,
the same goals as for over a hundred years ago: As few
and as well controlled and weakened Palestinians as possible in areas
as small as possible between the Mediterranean and the River Jordan.
-
And to try and get acceptance worldwide for the theft of land
that is vital to the “state” that calls itself “Jewish and democratic”.
This obviously bears no similarity to a peace process.
-
Why does nobody ever comment on the fact that Israel’s prime minister
never misses an opportunity to harp on about how important it is
that the rest of the world and the Palestinians recognise Israel,
not as a democratic country for all its citizens, but as a “Jewish state”?
-
What would we have said if South Africa’s Prime Minister,
in a similar way, had demanded recognition of South Africa
as a “white and democratic state”, thus de facto accepting
the racist apartheid system that allowed non-whites
to be classified as lesser human beings?
-
In the article The End of Zionism, published in the Guardian
on September the 15th 2003 the Jewish dissident and
former speaker of Knesset, Avraham Burg wrote:

“Diaspora Jews for whom Israel is a central pillar
of their identity must pay heed and speak out …
We cannot keep a Palestinian majority
under an Israeli boot and at the same time
think ourselves the only democracy in the Middle East.
There cannot be democracy without equal rights for all who live here,
Arab as well as Jew ...
The prime minister should present the choices forthrightly:
Jewish racism or democracy.”

No support can be found in The UN recommendation
concerning a Jewish and a Palestinian state
for unequal rights for the citizens of each country.

Neither is there any indication as to how
a “Jewish” state could become Jewish.
There is support, however, for the intention that
demographic conditions should be held intact at partition.
Interpreting into the text an intention concerning characteristics
of a “Jewish state” tailored to the ideology of Zionism
is wholly in contradiction with the text of the resolution.
-
Even the Balfour Declaration, which entirely lacks human rights status,
notes that the Jewish national home in Palestine
should in no way encroach upon the rights of the Palestinians.
-
Neither did US President Truman recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
On the contrary, he ruled out precisely that formulation
before making his decision to recognise Israel.
-
Thus, the legitimacy of a “Jewish state” so urgently sought by Israel lacks
support in international documents that concern the building of the state.
Israel’s government is, of course, fully aware of this.
Why else would it keep on searching for this recognition?
-
The UN should now embark on a boycott of the apartheid state
of Israel and, with the threat of expulsion from the UN, demand
that Israel allows the evicted Palestinian refugees to return
in accordance with the UN resolutions 194 and 3236.
-
With this done, meaningful peace talks can proceed and various
solutions be reached for co-habitation with equal rights for all people
between the Mediterranean and the River Jordan.
No such solution can be compatible with the preservation
of a Jewish apartheid state.

=
- Snorre Lindquist is a Swedish Architect of, among other things,
the House of Culture in front of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem
on the West Bank. Contact him at snorre_lindquist(at)hotmail.com

- Lasse Wilhelmson is a commentator on the situation in the Middle East,
and is a member of a local government in Sweden for 23 years,
four of which in an executive position.
Contact him at: lasse.wilhelmson(at)bostream.nu
The writers contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

HERE IS THE "BAILOUT"
THEY HAVE FOR YOU

Closed for Business
by John Galt
October 26, 2008
http://www.giannihayes.net/

The first section of this essay is a look into a possible future
our society might encounter in the months,
or perhaps weeks, ahead.

Mary Jo Schlumpunfunk (with all kudos to Glenn Beck)
was driving home from work in the suddenly cold November air
of her home town of Jeffersonville, Indiana. Mary Jo was sick and tired
of listening to the depressing news about all the problems
all those rich bankers and Wall Street types were having
so instead of listening to the news station,
she switched over to her favorite pop music station tuning out reality
and enjoying the drive back to her humble apartment on the outskirts of town.



Her neighbors greeted her with a friendly ‘hello’ as she walked
up the steps and they asked her if her company
was going to shut down or not next week for the holiday.
Mary Jo paused with a puzzled look and said
“We are open, even for Thanksgiving Day as far as I know.”

They nodded and looked at her like she was crazy
and then went inside out of the cold air of the night.
Mary Jo’s position as the Assistant Manager at the local Kroger’s
gave her the confidence that her job was secure
because after all, people had to eat.

As the alarm went off at 3 a.m. Mary Jo did not even
think about what was being broadcast and just hit the off switch
on her clock so she could start getting ready for work.
She turned her computer on as she passed by it on her way to the
bathroom so she could get ready to relieve the night manager at five.

Mary Jo returned to her computer after getting ready to log in
and check her email only to receive a message on her browser
that there was a connectivity issue.

With that frustrating bit of news, she looked at the cable router
and sure as heck, it was down again. The regular routine of having
to dig an old cable bill out to call the idiots at Time Warner
has long been replaced by having the tech support number
on speed dial on her telephone and cell phone.

When she picked her telephone up, it was dead with no dial tone
or service of any kind. Then she grabbed her cell phone and called
finally getting through only to get the message
“We are aware of the current outage in all of our services
and we are working diligently to restore service
to all of our customers as soon as possible. At this time,
all internet access is restricted to certain business accounts
only and will be restored to residential customers as soon as we can.”

With that cheery bit of good news, she grabbed her coffee and
hopped into her car to go to the local combination gas station
to grab some breakfast and gas on her way to work.

With a little bit of stunned disbelief she pulled into the pumps
at the local Gas-N-Go where literally every pump but hers had a car
sitting there and the inside of the store was packed with people.
She dutifully popped the gas cap off and slid her debit card into the slot
as her breath steamed up the morning air. The card reader displayed
“INVALID CARD, PLEASE SEE CASHIER” in the tiny LCD display.

With that she grabbed her keys and purse and huffed inside
to the station now leaving her only forty minutes to get to work.
The line at the poor cashier was murder with people yelling and screaming
at the young lady demanding that she fix the problem immediately
but she kept saying she couldn’t and was on the verge of tears.

Mary Jo grabbed a bagel and a bag of chips the hopped
into the line from hell. When it was her turn at the front
she started to say “My card…” and was cut off by the young lady
who blurted out “I know, I know, it does not work.

It doesn’t matter what card, what bank, whatever but none of them
are working and I don’t know why. I can only take cash now.
Would you still like to buy gas at Pump 4 or not?”
Mary Jo said “Sure give me $20 worth plus this stuff”, knowing full well
that would leave her less than twenty bucks in her wallet after buying
all the groceries and gas but she could get more food at work
because after all, she worked in a grocery store.
-
After that encounter she turned the radio off in her car and
headed off to work, listening to her favorite Johnny Cash CD.
“The heck with all this idiocy” she thought to herself.
Maybe work will be peaceful and we can get the Christmas
food display moved to the front of the store to boost the sales.
Mary Jo pulled into the parking lot expecting to see only the usual
five or six cars that were normally there.

Instead of a usual day, she would see what happens when the world
is turned on its side, as the lot was full and there was a line of people
standing in front of the ATM machine outside which had to be
forty plus people deep. On a day like today, Mary Jo knew
she would have to park in the back and sneak in through
the receiving door just like it was the peak shopping season.

After parking the car, she wolfed the bagel down while walking inside
while trying to slurp down her coffee. Oh the shock she would see.
The night manager was sitting in the receiving area with his head
in his hands sobbing like a baby. Mary Jo would not think
this was unusual except he was a fifty-three year old man,
and as an ex-Marine his will usually was emotionless,
all business, and stalwart.

“Mike, what is the matter, are you okay?”
Mary Jo tried to ask as she approached him in an effort to comfort him.
Mike replied “You should never have come here Mary, this is a disaster.
Do you know how many times we have had to call Law Enforcement
out here to restore order? Don’t you listen to the news or anything?
This is a nightmare, an utter, disastrous nightmare.”

Mary Jo noticed a half empty bottle of bourbon
at his feet and that enraged her immediately.
She snapped back “Get your self together mister.
There is nothing that severe that justifies drinking on the job.
You have a job to do and you need to get your damned butt
on that floor out there right now!”

“Mary Jo,” Mike said in a soft spoken and measured manner,
“you do not have a job. I do not have a job.
Kroger’s does not have a job for us any longer.
You need to go report to the new resource manager
who is running the show here.

We are just clerks in their eyes and you had best get used to it. The State
of Indiana Resource Manager showed up at one o’clock in the morning.
His name is Tom O’Donnell and he’ll remind you of his power
every hour, on the hour. Our store has never been the same since.”

“Mike, you’re drunk. You need to get home and sober up.
I’ll go meet Mr. O’Donnell and straighten this out now!”
Mary Jo confidently stated as she slammed the doors
of the docks open and walked out on to the floor.
As she looked at the shoppers in the meat and deli section,
her only reaction was to drop her full cup of coffee on the floor,
creating a huge puddle of hot steaming java on the floor.
She stomped up to the manager’s office in the front of the store
only to be greeted by a deputy in the doorway who told her
“Ma’am, only authorized personnel are allowed in that office.”

She snapped her name badge off her bloused
and put it in the deputy’s face and in an angry tone told him
“I’ve been in this office longer than you’ve had your job son.
Now let me into my office to meet with Mr. O’Donnell
and find out what is going on in my damn store.”

As she walked into the office she closed the door
and saw another deputy, this one armed with a shotgun,
the resource manager and the store manager, Bill.

Mary Jo looked at him sternly and spouted out “Why are there
two men armed with assault rifles in my deli department?”
Bill, looking tired, disturbed and frustrated already said
“Mary Jo, please sit down. We have a lot to cover.
Let me introduce you to our new boss, Tom O’Donnell
from the State of Indiana Department of Resource Allocation.”

Stunned and now silent, she fell back into a chair in the office
as Mr. O’Donnell arose to shake her hand and said “Hello Mary Jo,
I know this is going to be difficult, but I think we can all work well together.
I assume you have not heard any news since you woke up early this morning?”

Mary Jo in a soft voice said “No, I was listening to a music CD in my car.
I noticed my debit card did not work and that is about the only thing
that was unusual other than my internet being down,
but that’s a regular problem now.”

When she was finished, the news was dropped on her.
Mr. O’Donnell explained to her that 11:30 p.m. last night
President Bush declared a banking holiday and shut down
all civilian internet access and non-emergency telephone
communications to insure a smooth transition while the cash rationing
and bank consolidation programs were implemented nationwide.

Mary Jo stuttered “why the internet, if you do not mind my asking?”
He explained to her that it was to prevent an external internet
based attack on the financial system and that the U.S. stock
and bond markets would now be closed for thirty days
until the new banking system could be implemented.

Mr. O’Donnell then went into a detailed explanation
that ATM machines would be reactivated at 6 a.m. sharp
and that each individual will be limited to $50 per week,
regardless of the number of bank accounts in their name.

He went on further to highlight that all credit cards will be suspended
for the same time period as the stock market to enable the banks
to evaluate who would be allowed to own or utilize the cards in the future.

After that bit of shocking news causing tears to well up in her eyes,
Mary Jo then asked the obvious question,
“So what is your position in all this?”
O’Donnell knew this was coming and replied

“Emergency food, gas and energy rationing has been declared nationwide.
Every state officer or manager with a certain clearance level
received training from FEMA and the Department of Treasury
as to this possibility this past summer.

Every American has to be guaranteed access to food and energy
and those gas stations that do not have a military or state police unit
there by now, will have one by 7 a.m. We have to insure safety
and stability to prevent people from over-reacting as the
Bush administration transitions over to the Obama administration
in the next sixty days. I will be helping you with re-organizing
your store into a more efficient model to deal with the foodstuff
and merchandise purchase restrictions so the civilians will not freak out.

Only forty customers will be allowed into the store
at any given time and each customer will be handed a shopping list
that they can abide by until the rationing program moves into full swing.

Price controls are in full effect and we are in the process of working
with your main offices to reprogram all computers to these limitations.
We can accept cash today and hopefully the debit card system
returns to normal in the next two hours.
Sadly, we are rationing everything this cold winter,
including electricity and most importantly, money.”

Mary Jo was speechless.
She looked at her store manager and wanted to cry but couldn’t.
“What do you need me to do?” was all she could say. Mr. O’Donnell
explained that the entire Christmas display had to come down
as well as any non-essential goods removed from the shelves.

He handed her a file and said “At all times you will have an armed escort
for your protection. I know these are your neighbors and regular customers
but you never know when someone will go Waco on you.”
As she opened the file, she realized the gravity of the situation.
She had to remove the entire electronics and gift section.
Christmas decorations and greeting cards had to be removed;
alcohol shipped on a company truck to the new
“State of Indiana Resource Distribution Center”; all drugs including
over-the-counter moved into the pharmacy. It was a stunning bit of news.
And she realized with the dread of the moment
that this had been planned for months, perhaps years.

Mary Jo now realized why the headline on the Louisville newspaper said
“Closed for Business” and announced the government program
on the front page as well as a brief story
about the midnight bankruptcy filing for the paper.
She thought to herself
“I guess America is now closed for business also”
as she sauntered over towards the cashiers to comfort them
and begin the process of re-organizing the store
to the new Federal and state mandated standards.

==================

=============
Ever Vigilance against the Evil Will of the
Feudal Monarchists and their BANKster Enforcers!
====


<<>>
(The Cursed Machine would have Ground to a Halt )
-
"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking:
"What would things have been like if every Security operative,
when he went out at night to make an arrest,
had been uncertain whether he would return alive
and had to say goodbye to his family?
-
"Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad,
when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had
not simply sat there in their lairs, paling in terror at every bang
of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase,
-
but had understood they had nothing left to lose
and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush
of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers,
or whatever else was at hand.
-
"The Organs would very quickly have suffered
a shortage of officers and transport and,
not-withstanding all of Stalin's thirst;
the Cursed Machine would have Ground to a Halt . . ."
-
~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn writes in The Gulag Archipelago.

Sonal Shah Once Again Denounces VHP

Had this denunciation come at the very first go instead of in incremental instalments, this would have had commanded significantly higher credibility.
But that's just not the case here.

First, she refused to open her mouth. Her brother issued a statement.
Then, she was (apparently) forced to issue a statement. That was considered less than satisfactory by her critics.
Now that a rightwing GOP ex-Senator has taken up the issue has really rattled her.
But as it appears at the moment, the goose is cooked, so to say. More so, after the Illinois scandal.

For the Sangh Brigade, this is of course yet another slap in the face.]



Wednesday, December 10, 2008 4:00 PM
Under Pressure, Shah Renounces Hindu Group
By GAUTHAM NAGESH, Government Executive
http://lostintransition.nationaljournal.com/2008/12/shah-renounces.php

After weeks of questions, Obama transition team member and former Google executive Sonal Shah today renounced her former connection to a Hindu organization accused of fomenting violence against Muslims and Christians in India.

In a statement obtained exclusively by NextGov and National Journal, Shah says that if she could have anticipated the role of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in the 2002 outbreak of communal violence in the Indian state of Gujarat, she never would have associated with the group's American branch a year earlier:

In 2002, Gujarat suffered one of the most profound tragedies in its long history, when extremist political leaders, including some associated with the VHP, incited riots that resulted in the deaths of thousands. Had I been able to foresee the role of the VHP in India in these heinous events, or anticipate that the VHP of America could possibly stand by silently in the face of its Indian counterpart's complicity in the events of Gujarat in 2002 -- thereby undermining the American group's cultural and humanitarian efforts with which I was involved -- I would not have associated with the VHP of America.

The controversy escalated this weekend when Shah asked supporters for their help in stopping the spread of allegations that she had been a member of the VHP.

In an e-mail sent Friday night and obtained by NextGov, Shah asked her supporters for help combating the allegations and expressed fear that the Obama transition team would ask her to resign as a result of the story.

"I need your help," wrote Shah. "This is gaining legs as the National Journal also picked it up and likely Fox. I need to moblize [sic] people against the leftists and the right wing. There is a likely chance that they will ask me to resign as team does not need my publicity."

The controversy has been gathering steam in the Indian press and South Asian blogosphere for weeks now, but it went mainstream on Thursday when former GOP Senator Rick Santorum published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer questioning the appointment of Shah to the transition team -- prompting a Lost In Transition post Friday.

Shah, a Google executive who previously worked for Goldman Sachs and served as a Treasury official in the Clinton years, was appointed to the Obama transition team in November and has since been tapped to be part of the three-person team to develop technology policy. She is also reportedly being considered for Secretary of Energy.

However, her appointment to the administration has drawn strong reactions from the South Asian community. While many prominent Indian-Americans have stood behind Shah, others have raised doubts about her past. Dr. Shaikh Ubaid is part of a group including several Muslim and Sikh associations and dozens of college professors that sent letters to both Shah and President-elect Obama, requesting further information on Shah's past associations.

"When she was appointed, it was initially a proud moment for us, her being an Indian-American," said Ubaid in an interview given before Shah's latest statement. However, the reports regarding Shah's past ties to the VHP gave Ubaid and others a cause for concern.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad is an international Hindu organization which is a part of the Sangh Parivar, the Indian nationalist movement organized around Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the political face of Hindutva; VHP is the social wing of the movement.

The nonprofit group Human Rights Watch as well as the U.S. State Department have condemned the BJP-led government and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for not stopping the 2002 violence in Gujarat following the burning of a train containing Hindu pilgrims by a Muslim mob. In rioting that followed, more than a thousand people were killed, the majority of whom were Muslims.

"I'm not saying Sonal Shah is involved in that," Ubaid said. "But we have questions."

On Nov. 11, Shah had released a statement where she termed the allegations "baseless and silly reports" stemming from her charitable work for victims of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. She denied any involvement in Indian politics, but her critics quickly pointed out that nowhere in the original statement did Shah formally acknowledge her role in the VHP-America or specifically condemn the violence in Gujarat and the actions of Narendra Modi.

Both Ubaid and Vijay Prashad, a South Asian history professor at Trinity College (Conn.) who wrote the original article questioning Shah's ties to the VHP, pointed to a recent interview in which a VHP-America leader indicated that Shah was more than tangentially connected to the group. Prashad, interviewed before Shah's latest statement, called her a "leading figure" of the organization from 1998 to the early 2000s and said her claims of having participated only in the organization's earthquake relief efforts were "disingenuous."

"I can understand someone raised in a suburb, whose parents are apolitical, coming to college, seeing the earthquake, finding an organization and getting involved in raising funds [without knowing any better]," said Prashad. "But here is someone not from an apolitical household. She was well aware of the politics. And she had been in a leadership role. It was not just happenstance."

Shah's brother Anand said that she was co-opted by the organization's leadership, who were eager to show a younger face to the public.

"If the situation wasn't what it is, if it was someone else, I would be asking these questions," said Anand Shah. "It's not a non-serious issue; the questions being raised are legitimate ones." But he added that he hoped people would judge his sister by her own words and actions, and not by her associations.

The text of Sonal Shah's full statement is as follows:

I was recently maligned by a professor at a college in Connecticut who wrote an article in CounterPunch accusing me of association with Hindu extremism. Then, a few days ago, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, published an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer, to which this site linked, that echoed the CounterPunch accusations. These attacks sadden me, but they share one other thing in common: the accusations are false.

In reaction to these attacks, my closest friends -- and many strangers -- have rallied to my side. I am touched by this outpouring of support. And as painful as this episode has been for me personally, I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue with the seriousness that it deserves, but the conversation should proceed on the basis of verified facts and reasoned argument, not innuendo and defamation.

Indian politics and history are contested and emotive, but also unfamiliar to most Americans. I understand why so many Indians and Indian-Americans feel strongly about religious extremism in India, because I share the same concerns.

I am an American, and my political engagements have always and only been American. I served as a U.S. Treasury Department official for seven years, and now work on global development policy at Google.org. And I am honored to serve on the Presidential Transition Team of President-elect Obama while on leave from Google.org.

I emigrated from India at the age of four, and grew up in Houston. Like many Americans, I remain proud of my heritage. But my engagement with India has been exclusively cultural and humanitarian. After the devastating earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, I worked on behalf of a consortium of Indian-American organizations to raise funds for humanitarian relief. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHP-A), an independent charity associated with the eponymous Indian political group, was among these organizations, and it was the only one to list my name on its website. I am not affiliated with any of these organizations, including the VHP-A, and have not worked with any of them since 2001.

The experience with the Gujarat earthquake did, however, teach me an important lesson. It pointed up a lack of dedicated infrastructure to help alleviate suffering in India, so together with my brother and sister, I founded Indicorps, an organization modeled on the U.S. Peace Corps that enables young Indian-Americans to spend a year in service to marginalized communities in India. The fellows come from every religious background, and have worked among every religious community in India. Indeed, some Indicorps fellows focus on inter-faith dialogue as part of their projects.

In 2002, Gujarat suffered one of the most profound tragedies in its long history, when extremist political leaders, including some associated with the VHP, incited riots that resulted in the deaths of thousands. Had I been able to foresee the role of the VHP in India in these heinous events, or anticipate that the VHP of America could possibly stand by silently in the face of its Indian counterpart's complicity in the events of Gujarat in 2002 -- thereby undermining the American group's cultural and humanitarian efforts with which I was involved -- I would not have associated with the VHP of America.

Sadly, CounterPunch and Senator Santorum have suggested that I somehow endorse that violence and the ongoing violence in Orissa. I do not - I deplore it. But more than that, I have worked against it, and will continue to do so. I have already denounced the groups at issue and am hopeful that we can begin to have an honest conversation about the ways immigrant and diaspora communities can engage constructively in social and humanitarian work abroad.

Published last Friday, December 5, 2008




Terror in Mumbai
Mumbai and militarism
J Sri Raman
Lal Krishna Advani and other BJP leaders are proceeding as though even the earlier ATS findings had become irrelevant with the hypocritical tributes to Karkare whom they have reviled in the harshest terms recently



Adjust Font Size

On November 26, just before terror struck Mumbai, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys beat England in the fifth consecutive ODI, a day-and-night match in Cuttack. The iconic captain and his team found almost no media space the next morning. Former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh, the nation's biggest newsmaker about two decades ago, died on November 27. The event found only a fleeting mention in television scrolls. For three days until November 29, rains nearly drowned the southern State of Tamilnadu, leaving about 80 dead. They died unmourned and even unmentioned on the explosive screens that kept millions enthralled.

For at least 72 hours from the night of November 26, Mumbai was India and India was Mumbai. The unprecedented coverage of the terrorist attacks – which left about 200 dead, many more injured, and even more devastated – reflected the unprecedented character of the outrageous event. India's financial capital had faced terrorism before but not of this ferocious kind. It had never seen anything like the terrorists who opened fire at ten spots and took over the famous Taj Hotel with its high-end foreign guests.

The political and public reaction, at least the part that has made itself heard, however, is hardly without a precedent. There has been very little unprecedented or unpredictable about the response from powerful sections that see no link between internal security and peace among the Indian people or a larger regional amity.

Indeed, there was an initial promise of a different response this time to the diabolical strikes, as the details did not appear to oblige the usual beneficiaries of terrorism finding its expression only in bomb blasts. Very soon, however, they have emerged the victors in the media-manipulated debates, with a distinct advantage for verbose "patriotism" over the old-fashioned virtue of restraint for the sake of peace.

Several questions, of course, have remained unasked and unanswered. Even the number of the militants is nowhere near ascertained. We still do not know whether the terrorists included some British nationals. And no one has disputed reports that some of the miscreants spoke "fluent Marathi". All this has not prevented some eminent experts and non-experts from rushing to draw conclusions designed to disappoint and depress those trying hard to preserve faith in the India- Pakistan peace process.

Expert B Raman, formerly of the Research and Analysis Wing of India's External Affairs Ministry, declaimed: "The war of civilisation between the Muslims and the infidels has begun in Indian territory – so said the first statement issued in the name of the so-called Indian Mujahideen in November 2007, after the three orchestrated explosions in three towns of Uttar Pradesh outside local courts. We saw the latest round of this war in Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008…"

Non-expert Simi Garewal, sizzling attraction of Raj Kapur's Mera Naam Joker , worked herself into a nationalist fury on a television show and called for a war on Pakistan. A less known actress lividly suggested that terrorists be thrown into "torture chambers". The elite of Mumbai and elsewhere, mourning the fall of the elegant Taj, have been trying to sound tougher than even the politicians of the Parivar (the Far Right "family").

Few pundits, even outside the Parivar, have dwelt too long on the possible political significance of the elimination of Hemant Karkare, chief of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad, and his entire team during the shootout. Karkare was leading the investigations into the case of the Malegaon blasts. The explosions of September 2006, which took a toll of 37 lives, had become an acute embarrassment to the Parivar, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The ATS investigations had threatened to expose what came to be known as "Hindutva terror". As I have pointed out before ("BJP's true face", Daily Times , November 21), the ATS findings had come at an inopportune time for the BJP, engaged as it was in election campaign with terrorism as the priority issue on its platform.

Many, especially in the minority communities, fear that the end of Karkare (shot thrice and in the chest, thus a specific target of the terrorists, the ones reportedly fluent in Marathi) may be the end of the investigations too. Lal Krishna Advani and other BJP leaders, meanwhile, are proceeding as though even the earlier ATS findings had become irrelevant with the hypocritical tributes to Karkare whom they have reviled in the harshest terms recently.

The Malegaon affair had led briefly to a makeover of Advani and his party as defenders of human rights. They had waxed righteously indignant at alleged violations of the rights of the accused in the case. Mumbai has helped them make a quick U-turn and to re-appear in their more familiar role as loud campaigners for a more draconian law against terrorism.

A particularly disturbing reaction is one that sounds deceptively non-political but can only strengthen the Far Right in the end. Politician-bashing, ever a favourite pastime of the middle class, is now being equated with passionate patriotism in its own media. Mumbai has given the politician-baiters yet another opportunity to broadcast the dream of a democracy without the participation of plebeians.

What makes the reaction all the more disturbing is the accompanying call for the cult of the uniform. "Salute the men in uniform who have risked their lives for us" – that is the recurring refrain assailing our ears ever since that fateful November night. Those who issue the clarion call have never asked Indians to salute the drainage worker without the minimal protective gear or the "untouchables" carrying night soil on their heads still – and keep exposing themselves to deadly diseases and dying slow deaths for us all.

The authors of the Mumbai terror will have won if the militarists of India and the region are allowed to benefit from their mindless massacre.

The writer is a journalist based in Chennai, India. A peace activist, he is also the author of a sheaf of poems titled At Gunpoint

Who owns the Indian Media ?

There are several major publishing groups in India , the most prominent among them being the Times of India Group, the Indian Express Group, the Hindustan Times Group, The Hindu group, the Anandabazar Patrika Group, the Eenadu Group, the Malayalam Manorama Group, the Mathrubhumi group, the Sahara group, the Bhaskar group, and the Dainik Jagran group.

Let us see the ownership of different media agencies.

NDTV: A very popular TV news media is funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain Supports Communism. Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because Pakistan President has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan . Indian CEO Prannoy Roy is co-brother of Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist party of India . His wife and Brinda Karat are sisters.
India Today which used to be the only national weekly which supported BJP is now bought by NDTV!! Since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.

CNN-IBN: This is 100 percent funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world with HQ in US. The Church annually allocates $800 million for promotion of its channel. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.

Times group list: Times Of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Stardust, Femina, Vijay Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more...
Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. 'World Christian Council does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.

Star TV: It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne.

Hindustan Times: Owned by Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.

The Hindu: English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland . N. Ram's wife is a Swiss national.

Indian Express: Divided into two groups. The Indian Express and new Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.

Eeenadu: Still to date controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao. Ramoji Rao is connected with film industry and owns a huge studio in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Jyothi: The Muslim party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with a Congress Minister has purchased this Telugu daily very recently.
The Statesman: It is controlled by Communist Party of India.

Kairali TV: It is controlled by Communist party of India (Marxist)
Mathrubhoomi: Leaders of Muslim League and Communist leaders have major investment..


Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle: Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar.

Article Source : Blog by Shailendra Patil

Current Economic Crisis: A Decisive Turning Point?

/II.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081211/tts-uk-financial-d1d4700.html

Cracks open in EU and U.S. over rescue plans
Thursday, December 11 02:24 pm
Jeremy Gaunt
Cracks emerged in the global effort to drag the world out of recession on Thursday with Germany attacking Britain ahead of an EU summit for rushing into debt to bail out industries and pump up growth. A proposed U.S. auto industry bailout also headed for a clash, in the U.S. Senate where there is Republican opposition.
Deflation fears grew in China while South Korea and Switzerland slashed interest rates to keep their economies afloat.
On financial markets, Wall Street looked set for a poor start after soaring jobless claims, while Europe's FTSEurofirst was down 1.5 percent. Japan's Nikkei earlier rose 0.7 percent.
In a move that suggested trouble ahead for concerted European and perhaps world efforts to end the financial crisis and restore global economic growth, Germany criticised countries for rushing into untested economic rescue packages.
Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck urged governments to pause before pledging to spend billions of dollars to try to push their economies out of trouble.
"The speed at which proposals are put together under pressure that don't even pass an economic test is breathtaking and depressing," he said in an interview with Newsweek magazine, published on the magazine's website on Wednesday.
He singled out Prime Minister Gordon Brown for particular criticism, accusing him of switching to economic policies that would saddle a generation with debt.
"The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking," he said.
Another German policymaker, European Central Bank Executive Board member Juergen Stark, also indicated concerns about responses to the crisis, saying late on Wednesday that the ECB does not have a lot of room for manoeuvre after its interest rate cut last week.
The comments came as European Union leaders were to meet in Brussels to discuss a 200-billion euro ( 177.6 billion pound) stimulus package to wrench the bloc out of recession.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Brussels that she was aware that Germany as an economic power had a responsibility to look over time at new stimulus steps.
British Schools Minister Ed Balls, a former Treasury specialist and strong Brown ally, responded to Steinbrueck's comments by saying Germany's ability to respond to the global economic downturn was being hampered by domestic politics.
"Once the politics in Germany is resolved they will be acting with us too," he told Sky TV.
HURDLES
In a similar vein, the U.S. automaker industry, reeling from financing pressures and a consumer slump, was seeking to secure a $14 billion (9 billion pound) rescue from Washington.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved the bailout legislation on Wednesday. It would force U.S. automakers to restructure or fail.
But Senate Republican pressure could slow down passage of the measure or even block it.
Failure of any of the so-called Big Three carmakers -- Ford, General Motors or Chrysler -- would threaten countless more jobs and send shockwaves through the global supply chain.
The latest U.S. jobs data was also grim, with unemployment claims surging to a 26 year high.
Europe's biggest clothing retailer, Zara fashion store owner Inditex, reported nine-month net profit up 4 percent at constant exchange rates, missing forecasts but pleasing analysts with an encouraging outlook for the fourth quarter.
Finnish stainless steel maker Outokumpu cut its fourth-quarter profit outlook and said it would slash jobs and investments due to weak demand.
CHINA PRICES
Deflation pressures that are spreading through Europe and the United States also now appear to be threatening China, the world's fourth-largest economy. Deflation, a drop in prices, tends to defer spending and makes it harder for governments to boost growth.
China's annual consumer price inflation fell to a near two-year low in November, a report showed on Thursday, a day after data reflected a collapse in wholesale prices and a startling drop in exports and imports.
The slowdown in inflation is partly due to a collapse in global energy and commodity costs, but also reflects demand-sapping recessions underway in Europe, Japan and the United States.
Monetary authorities worldwide have been cutting interest rates sharply to try to get their economies moving but have had trouble persuading banks to lend more.
In the latest moves, Switzerland and South Korea cut rates by 50 and 100 basis points respectively. Korea took rates to 3.0 percent, the lowest since the current policy system was adopted in 1999. For Switzerland it was the fourth cut in two months.
(Additional reporting by Langi Chiang, Seo Eun-kyung, Kevin Plumberg and Reuters bureaux worldwide; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
II.
http://www.truthout.org/121008R
Capitalist Fools
by: Joseph E. Stiglitz, Vanity Fair
January 2009 Issue
Behind the debate over remaking US financial policy will be a debate over who's to blame. It's crucial to get the history right, writes a Nobel-laureate economist, identifying five key mistakes - under Reagan, Clinton and Bush II - and one national delusion.
There will come a moment when the most urgent threats posed by the credit crisis have eased and the larger task before us will be to chart a direction for the economic steps ahead. This will be a dangerous moment. Behind the debates over future policy is a debate over history - a debate over the causes of our current situation. The battle for the past will determine the battle for the present. So it's crucial to get the history straight.
What were the critical decisions that led to the crisis? Mistakes were made at every fork in the road - we had what engineers call a "system failure," when not a single decision but a cascade of decisions produce a tragic result. Let's look at five key moments.
No. 1: Firing the Chairman
In 1987 the Reagan administration decided to remove Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and appoint Alan Greenspan in his place. Volcker had done what central bankers are supposed to do. On his watch, inflation had been brought down from more than 11 percent to under 4 percent. In the world of central banking, that should have earned him a grade of A+++ and assured his re-appointment. But Volcker also understood that financial markets need to be regulated. Reagan wanted someone who did not believe any such thing, and he found him in a devotee of the objectivist philosopher and free-market zealot Ayn Rand.
Greenspan played a double role. The Fed controls the money spigot, and in the early years of this decade, he turned it on full force. But the Fed is also a regulator. If you appoint an anti-regulator as your enforcer, you know what kind of enforcement you'll get. A flood of liquidity combined with the failed levees of regulation proved disastrous.
Greenspan presided over not one but two financial bubbles. After the high-tech bubble popped, in 2000-2001, he helped inflate the housing bubble. The first responsibility of a central bank should be to maintain the stability of the financial system. If banks lend on the basis of artificially high asset prices, the result can be a meltdown - as we are seeing now, and as Greenspan should have known. He had many of the tools he needed to cope with the situation. To deal with the high-tech bubble, he could have increased margin requirements (the amount of cash people need to put down to buy stock). To deflate the housing bubble, he could have curbed predatory lending to low-income households and prohibited other insidious practices (the no-documentation - or "liar" - loans, the interest-only loans, and so on). This would have gone a long way toward protecting us. If he didn't have the tools, he could have gone to Congress and asked for them.
Of course, the current problems with our financial system are not solely the result of bad lending. The banks have made mega-bets with one another through complicated instruments such as derivatives, credit-default swaps, and so forth. With these, one party pays another if certain events happen - for instance, if Bear Stearns goes bankrupt, or if the dollar soars. These instruments were originally created to help manage risk - but they can also be used to gamble. Thus, if you felt confident that the dollar was going to fall, you could make a big bet accordingly, and if the dollar indeed fell, your profits would soar. The problem is that, with this complicated intertwining of bets of great magnitude, no one could be sure of the financial position of anyone else - or even of one's own position. Not surprisingly, the credit markets froze.
Here too Greenspan played a role. When I was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, during the Clinton administration, I served on a committee of all the major federal financial regulators, a group that included Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. Even then, it was clear that derivatives posed a danger. We didn't put it as memorably as Warren Buffett - who saw derivatives as "financial weapons of mass destruction" - but we took his point. And yet, for all the risk, the deregulators in charge of the financial system - at the Fed, at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and elsewhere - decided to do nothing, worried that any action might interfere with "innovation" in the financial system. But innovation, like "change," has no inherent value. It can be bad (the "liar" loans are a good example) as well as good.
No. 2: Tearing Down the Walls
The deregulation philosophy would pay unwelcome dividends for years to come. In November 1999, Congress repealed the Glass-Steagall Act - the culmination of a $300 million lobbying effort by the banking and financial-services industries, and spearheaded in Congress by Senator Phil Gramm. Glass-Steagall had long separated commercial banks (which lend money) and investment banks (which organize the sale of bonds and equities); it had been enacted in the aftermath of the Great Depression and was meant to curb the excesses of that era, including grave conflicts of interest. For instance, without separation, if a company whose shares had been issued by an investment bank, with its strong endorsement, got into trouble, wouldn't its commercial arm, if it had one, feel pressure to lend it money, perhaps unwisely? An ensuing spiral of bad judgment is not hard to foresee. I had opposed repeal of Glass-Steagall. The proponents said, in effect, Trust us: we will create Chinese walls to make sure that the problems of the past do not recur. As an economist, I certainly possessed a healthy degree of trust, trust in the power of economic incentives to bend human behavior toward self-interest - toward short-term self-interest, at any rate, rather than Tocqueville's "self interest rightly understood."
The most important consequence of the repeal of Glass-Steagall was indirect - it lay in the way repeal changed an entire culture. Commercial banks are not supposed to be high-risk ventures; they are supposed to manage other people's money very conservatively. It is with this understanding that the government agrees to pick up the tab should they fail. Investment banks, on the other hand, have traditionally managed rich people's money - people who can take bigger risks in order to get bigger returns. When repeal of Glass-Steagall brought investment and commercial banks together, the investment-bank culture came out on top. There was a demand for the kind of high returns that could be obtained only through high leverage and big risktaking.
There were other important steps down the deregulatory path. One was the decision in April 2004 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, at a meeting attended by virtually no one and largely overlooked at the time, to allow big investment banks to increase their debt-to-capital ratio (from 12:1 to 30:1, or higher) so that they could buy more mortgage-backed securities, inflating the housing bubble in the process. In agreeing to this measure, the S.E.C. argued for the virtues of self-regulation: the peculiar notion that banks can effectively police themselves. Self-regulation is preposterous, as even Alan Greenspan now concedes, and as a practical matter it can't, in any case, identify systemic risks - the kinds of risks that arise when, for instance, the models used by each of the banks to manage their portfolios tell all the banks to sell some security all at once.
As we stripped back the old regulations, we did nothing to address the new challenges posed by 21st-century markets. The most important challenge was that posed by derivatives. In 1998 the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brooksley Born, had called for such regulation - a concern that took on urgency after the Fed, in that same year, engineered the bailout of Long-Term Capital Management, a hedge fund whose trillion-dollar-plus failure threatened global financial markets. But Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, his deputy, Larry Summers, and Greenspan were adamant - and successful - in their opposition. Nothing was done.
No. 3: Applying the Leeches
Then along came the Bush tax cuts, enacted first on June 7, 2001, with a follow-on installment two years later. The president and his advisers seemed to believe that tax cuts, especially for upper-income Americans and corporations, were a cure-all for any economic disease - the modern-day equivalent of leeches. The tax cuts played a pivotal role in shaping the background conditions of the current crisis. Because they did very little to stimulate the economy, real stimulation was left to the Fed, which took up the task with unprecedented low-interest rates and liquidity. The war in Iraq made matters worse, because it led to soaring oil prices. With America so dependent on oil imports, we had to spend several hundred billion more to purchase oil - money that otherwise would have been spent on American goods. Normally this would have led to an economic slowdown, as it had in the 1970s. But the Fed met the challenge in the most myopic way imaginable. The flood of liquidity made money readily available in mortgage markets, even to those who would normally not be able to borrow. And, yes, this succeeded in forestalling an economic downturn; America's household saving rate plummeted to zero. But it should have been clear that we were living on borrowed money and borrowed time.
The cut in the tax rate on capital gains contributed to the crisis in another way. It was a decision that turned on values: those who speculated (read: gambled) and won were taxed more lightly than wage earners who simply worked hard. But more than that, the decision encouraged leveraging, because interest was tax-deductible. If, for instance, you borrowed a million to buy a home or took a $100,000 home-equity loan to buy stock, the interest would be fully deductible every year. Any capital gains you made were taxed lightly - and at some possibly remote day in the future. The Bush administration was providing an open invitation to excessive borrowing and lending - not that American consumers needed any more encouragement.
No. 4: Faking the Numbers


Meanwhile, on July 30, 2002, in the wake of a series of major scandals - notably the collapse of WorldCom and Enron - Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The scandals had involved every major American accounting firm, most of our banks, and some of our premier companies, and made it clear that we had serious problems with our accounting system. Accounting is a sleep-inducing topic for most people, but if you can't have faith in a company's numbers, then you can't have faith in anything about a company at all. Unfortunately, in the negotiations over what became Sarbanes-Oxley a decision was made not to deal with what many, including the respected former head of the S.E.C. Arthur Levitt, believed to be a fundamental underlying problem: stock options. Stock options have been defended as providing healthy incentives toward good management, but in fact they are "incentive pay" in name only. If a company does well, the C.E.O. gets great rewards in the form of stock options; if a company does poorly, the compensation is almost as substantial but is bestowed in other ways. This is bad enough. But a collateral problem with stock options is that they provide incentives for bad accounting: top management has every incentive to provide distorted information in order to pump up share prices.
The incentive structure of the rating agencies also proved perverse. Agencies such as Moody's and Standard & Poor's are paid by the very people they are supposed to grade. As a result, they've had every reason to give companies high ratings, in a financial version of what college professors know as grade inflation. The rating agencies, like the investment banks that were paying them, believed in financial alchemy - that F-rated toxic mortgages could be converted into products that were safe enough to be held by commercial banks and pension funds. We had seen this same failure of the rating agencies during the East Asia crisis of the 1990s: high ratings facilitated a rush of money into the region, and then a sudden reversal in the ratings brought devastation. But the financial overseers paid no attention.
No. 5: Letting It Bleed
The final turning point came with the passage of a bailout package on October 3, 2008 - that is, with the administration's response to the crisis itself. We will be feeling the consequences for years to come. Both the administration and the Fed had long been driven by wishful thinking, hoping that the bad news was just a blip, and that a return to growth was just around the corner. As America's banks faced collapse, the administration veered from one course of action to another. Some institutions (Bear Stearns, A.I.G., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) were bailed out. Lehman Brothers was not. Some shareholders got something back. Others did not.
The original proposal by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a three-page document that would have provided $700 billion for the secretary to spend at his sole discretion, without oversight or judicial review, was an act of extraordinary arrogance. He sold the program as necessary to restore confidence. But it didn't address the underlying reasons for the loss of confidence. The banks had made too many bad loans. There were big holes in their balance sheets. No one knew what was truth and what was fiction. The bailout package was like a massive transfusion to a patient suffering from internal bleeding - and nothing was being done about the source of the problem, namely all those foreclosures. Valuable time was wasted as Paulson pushed his own plan, "cash for trash," buying up the bad assets and putting the risk onto American taxpayers. When he finally abandoned it, providing banks with money they needed, he did it in a way that not only cheated America's taxpayers but failed to ensure that the banks would use the money to restart lending. He even allowed the banks to pour out money to their shareholders as taxpayers were pouring money into the banks.
The other problem not addressed involved the looming weaknesses in the economy. The economy had been sustained by excessive borrowing. That game was up. As consumption contracted, exports kept the economy going, but with the dollar strengthening and Europe and the rest of the world declining, it was hard to see how that could continue. Meanwhile, states faced massive drop-offs in revenues - they would have to cut back on expenditures. Without quick action by government, the economy faced a downturn. And even if banks had lent wisely - which they hadn't - the downturn was sure to mean an increase in bad debts, further weakening the struggling financial sector.
The administration talked about confidence building, but what it delivered was actually a confidence trick. If the administration had really wanted to restore confidence in the financial system, it would have begun by addressing the underlying problems - the flawed incentive structures and the inadequate regulatory system.
Was there any single decision which, had it been reversed, would have changed the course of history? Every decision - including decisions not to do something, as many of our bad economic decisions have been - is a consequence of prior decisions, an interlinked web stretching from the distant past into the future. You'll hear some on the right point to certain actions by the government itself - such as the Community Reinvestment Act, which requires banks to make mortgage money available in low-income neighborhoods. (Defaults on C.R.A. lending were actually much lower than on other lending.) There has been much finger-pointing at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two huge mortgage lenders, which were originally government-owned. But in fact they came late to the subprime game, and their problem was similar to that of the private sector: their C.E.O.'s had the same perverse incentive to indulge in gambling.
The truth is most of the individual mistakes boil down to just one: a belief that markets are self-adjusting and that the role of government should be minimal. Looking back at that belief during hearings this fall on Capitol Hill, Alan Greenspan said out loud, "I have found a flaw." Congressman Henry Waxman pushed him, responding, "In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right; it was not working." "Absolutely, precisely," Greenspan said. The embrace by America - and much of the rest of the world - of this flawed economic philosophy made it inevitable that we would eventually arrive at the place we are today.
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Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist, is a professor at Columbia University.

Organiser: How to establish a permanent Hindu Rashtra - and why BJP couldn't do it last time

Check out this article about Hindu Rashtra published in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece magazine The Organiser. The RSS is the "father" organization of all Hindu Nationalist outfits including the BJP, VHP, Bajrang Dal, ABVP, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram among hundreds of others. This article is particularly important because the RSS sets the overall agenda for the Hindu Nationalist movement and so the appearance of this article in The Organiser is significant.

Other than openly lamenting why the BJP, its political wing, could not get a long lasting Hindu State (Hindu Rashtra) in place the last it was in power, here are some other highlights:


All non-Hindus in India are anti-national foreigners and enemies of India. Arjun Singh, the current HRD minister is "an anti-national".
All caste and region based political parties in India are enemies of Hindus and Hindu Rashtra. Particularly devious are those "provincial one-woman-leader parties" (referring to Mayawati, the Dalit leader). Also, "pugnacious caste-based groups like SP and BSP were used to destroy Hindu unity in UP, assiduously built-up after many decades of work".

Islam and Christianity - "are two most virulent, quasi-political religions".
Communism is "a virulent destructive virus that today stalks our nation in hydra-headed forms".
Muslims, Christians, Communlists and the corrupt - are "all agents of subterfuge working within our borders".
Hinduism provides the "only solution to all the problems of mankind", from global warming, corruption to economic woes. All religious conflicts are essentially rooted in Semetism.

India's democratic and educational systems are "flawed by colonial baggage"! I wonder what kind of democracy existed in pre-colonial India!
A Hindu Rashtra must ensure that these "decrepit and demeaning alien ideologies refuse to gain any response within our borders"! Bye bye democracy, farewell civil liberties.
And finally, the purpose of this Hindu Rashtra? "to actively drive the rest of humanity in directions that are consonant with the core values of the Hindu civilisation!"

The next installment of this article is expected to provided some "solutions" as to how to install a more permanent Hindu Rashtra the next time the BJP comes to power!

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http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=267&page=10

December 14, 2008


Opinion

Hindu Rashtra, the conflict of civilisations and Le-Chatelier’s principle
By AK Bhattacharya
The Organiser, an RSS Mouthpiece



The Hindu civilisation today stands at a crossroads. While it has been continuously and severely buffeted over the past three centuries by competitive civilisations from across the globe, for the first time it is left without a single sovereign government to speak for it in this world, even as it is being demographically marginalised and intellectually immobilised while the government in its own homeland of Bharat deliberately detaches itself from it. Ironically, this is happening just after the six years reign of the BJP-led government, which means that while this government failed to set in motion any irreversible movement towards a Hindu Rashtra (definitions later), its very existence consolidated a plethora of disjointed anti-Hindu forces that now rule the roost.

This note tries to define the concept of a Hindu Rashtra on the basis of the understanding of the progenitors of that phrase, and then analyses why the BJP-led government failed to advance the nation on the path leading towards it. In the light of that insight, it tries to elucidate what a future Hindu-oriented government should do, to enable movement towards the Hindu Rashtra that is sustainable and irreversible. It is felt that this is the right time to discuss and take a stand on these concepts, when a potential pro-Hindu government is not in power at the centre.

Introduction
Our country has passed through a period of more than six years of BJP-led rule. Since then it has endeared a period of nearly five years of Cong-led rule. As it appears today, the period of BJP rule has very nearly vanished without a trace, leaving practically no indelible mark on our body politic. The same vote-bank pampering. The same approach towards fuelling Christian and Muslim fundamentalism, while dividing and humiliating Hindus in every possible way. The same accommodation of discredited and globally-rubbished leftism, in various forms. The pathetic lack of national, civilisational and strategic vision, compromise with national security, and all-encompassing corruption. And more ominously, a new refusal to even speak for the rights of Hindus in different parts of the world.

Six years is a long enough time of rule at the Centre and in states covering more than half the country’s population. Then why did the BJP and the RSS-school-of-thought fail to effect any change of far reaching nature? Of course they provided very good governance. Inflation and interest rates were brought to record lows, spurring unprecedented growth in investments and manufacturing (which takes effect with a lag, and hence the good economic indicators in the first three years of this incumbent). Major enhancements were made in our defence, positive restructuring effected in our geo-political relations and strategy, and our education and infrastructure conditions improved enormously. But five years down the line, all that looks like an aberration in our history. More potently, the ideological school that produced these transitions is mocked in the ‘higher echelons’ of our society and our ‘free’ media, and any reference to this glorious period is considered politically incorrect. Why did we allow this to happen?

It is obvious that certain critical elements were left untouched by our thought processes, some fundamental underlying streams were not sensed by our intellect, which have led to the present situation. It is the objective of this article to try to extract these missing links between conceptualisation and actualisation, discussed in Part 1, and then suggest corrective steps for the future, in Part 2.

Le-Chatelier's principle and parameters of national dynamics

Many of us are familiar with Le-Chatelier’s principle that is taught in high-school chemistry. In essence, it says that if a system is in equilibrium and then one of the parameters of the system is altered, either the other parameters will shift to adjust to this change or the altered parameter will be compelled to return to its value as prevailing at the original equilibrium. Although this was enunciated in terms of chemical systems, it reflects a more general principle equally valid for physical as well as biological, social, economic or any other dynamical systems and may be expressed in layman’s terms simply as any attempt at change in status quo in a system prompts an opposing reaction within, see [1], for example.

For an analysis of the prevailing conditions of our Hindu civilisation and its natural receptacle Bharatvarsha or the Hindu Nation, we will consider this to be a single system in equilibrium under balance of different countervailing forces. From this perspective we will apply the (more analytical) first definition above.

The proof of correctness of an analytical conjecture is that once enunciated, many different and apparently unrelated events and observations in the field of analysis fall into an unifying framework and get lucidly explained. On considering our Hindu civilisation as a system, identifying the countervailing forces and then applying the Le-Chatelier’s principle, it will be seen how nearly all of the dynamics of our nation over the past few decades fall into a lucid framework. The real value addition will then be to use this framework to enunciate steps that can be followed to take this dynamical system along a given direction towards an alternate, and desired, state of equilibrium.

We now proceed to identify the prevailing conditions at equilibrium and the countervailing forces.

Prevailing Conditions of equilibrium:
At the core of our society is the ancient Hindu civilisation whose essential values of life provide the only solution to the myriad problems that mankind has created for itself - conflict between groups organised sometimes along ethnic and sometimes along religious (Semitic) lines in the contemporary world, gradual destruction of the environment that is projected to lead to a crisis of survival, and lack of individual inner peace, contentment and realisation that is the genesis of collective conflicts of the above types. However, the manifestation of the essential values of the Hindu civilisation in the practical life of the Hindu nation and the world at large, is severely constrained by the other conditions that follow.
the Hindu civilisation and the associated Hindu nation has for nearly a thousand years been invaded and harassed by the two most virulent quasi-political religions—Islam and Christianity—and in the process a part of the nation’s geographical area and population is in direct control of these groups; even otherwise these groups exert significant influence on our society due to our somewhat flawed democratic and education systems and colonial intellectual baggage.
after a thousand years of struggle for survival against diverse enemies, the core Hindu society is suffering from grave absence of collective civilisational and national memory, self-esteem and self-confidence, national vision and sense of global mission, a spirit of achievement, and split into stupid caste and regional identities laced with over-dependence on a foreign language. (It may be noted that almost comparatively-great civilisations, like the Egyptian, the Greco-Roman, the Aztec and the Inca have been annihilated by only a few centuries of invasions by one or other class of invaders. The Hindu civilisation faced and defeated seven centuries of Islamic invasions—one may recall Shah Waliullah’s letter to Ahmed Shah Abdali in the 1750’s to invade India and save Islam from kafirs* [2]—and within fifty years after Abdali’s departure the whole of India would have been recaptured by Hindus; but before the Hindu sun could rise again on the soil of Bharat we were invaded by a new class of invaders from a different part of the earth—who laid more stress on systematically weakening the Hindu mind and body than the Hindu religion. Yet we have survived—but battered and bruised—as precisely stated in this paragraph.)
the existential cesspool and social weaknesses characterised by the features described in #3 above also tend to breed a virulent destructive virus called communism that today stalks our nation in hydra-headed forms—leftist guerrillas in backward rural areas, faculty dominating humanities departments in nearly all our universities and consequently dominating our media, and as sections of our mainstream political processes.
in the prevailing global conflict of civilisations [3, 4], where each civilisation naturally tries to impose its features, irrespective of good or bad, on others, the Hindu civilisation and its receptacle, the Hindu nation, is sought to be actively countered and subjugated by competing civilisations backed by powerful nations using means both direct and subversive, and very often working in tandem.
It may be noted that among the above five major parameters of our dynamic national equilibrium today, from the perspective of the Hindu nation and civilisation only the first is positive, while the other four are destructive.

Next, let us see what happened when in the recent past a decisive move was made to shift the equilibrium by strengthening the first parameter—how the other parameters responded and what finally happened.


The Hindu Rashtra: Deadlock of compelling and resistive forces
The RSS school of thought, BJP inclusive, has been working assiduously to reinforce the first parameter and trying to ensure its stronger manifestation in the practical life and affairs of the Hindu nation. Into what state of equilibrium can this ‘stronger manifestation’ ultimately lead our nation? At this point it is necessary to visualise an alternate state of equilibrium, an equilibrium where persons of impeccable integrity with deep faith in Hindu values and confidence in the strength and abilities of the Hindu civilisation are at the helm of affairs in the country, where poverty and various inequalities of opportunity have vanished from sight, where decrepit and demeaning alien ideologies refuse to gain any response within our borders, where our citizens are rational, moral, confident, deeply permeated with the sense of a living Hindu nation and empathetic with every single child of that nation (one may recall Swami Vivekananda’s eulogy of Guru Govind, whom he called the ideal Hindu, see [5], para 13]), and our nation actively drives the rest of humanity in directions that are consonant with the core values of the Hindu civilisation. Let us, for the sake of analysis, define that state of equilibrium as a Hindu Rashtra.

It may be mentioned that this definition is somewhat variant from the RSS’s definition of Hindu Rashtra provided in a related website [6]. According to the RSS, the Hindu Rashtra is like an emotional attribute of Bharat Mata, it is living and inspiring, ever-present. However, for the purpose of this article a more objective definition is needed, purely because that Hindu Rashtra will form the desired state of equilibrium of the Hindu nation, and without defining a desired equilibrium this analysis cannot proceed further along objective lines. At the end the names are not really important, what matters is what we understand to be the desired equilibrium—and that description is given above.

Having defined the system that is the subject of our analysis, including the different forces that are active within it and constitute the present state of equilibrium, and also having defined the desired state of equilibrium, we are now in a position to consciously observe the unfolding of events of the past decade. In 1998, the BJP came to power at the Centre. According to Le Chatelier’s principle, one of the parameters of the existing equilibrium was altered (obviously, because people committed to the Hindu Rashtra state of equilibrium came at the helm of affairs (neglecting variation in individual commitment and pressures of different allies, a separate topic in itself)), hence the other parameters of the existing equilibrium automatically came under strain—either they should shift to adjust to a new equilibrium in conformity with the change, or the changed parameter should be compelled to return to original conditions. Now what really happened?

It would be too detailed an exercise to get into the exact responses of each of the four resistive parameters. Let us just look at the major responses. For the second parameter, Islamic fundamentalists revved up their attack. More trained terrorists sent into India; Kargil, coup in Pakistan, Godhra, attacks on legislative assemblies and massacres of Hindus. (As an aside, at the end of six years Shri Vajpayee had to return to the negotiating table with Pakistan). Christian fundamentalists stepped up their activities, and those sections of the press that play the Pope’s game were activated to denigrate the government (remember Dangs; the partisan coverage of the Gujarat riots and picturisation of Shri Narendra Modi—an example of Muslim, Christian and leftist forces working in tandem. Rajiv Gandhi presided over the massacre of 3000 Sikhs and justified it— remember his famous “big-tree-falling-to-the-ground-statement”— yet he remained a secular hero in the eyes of our press—and the Americans were ever-inviting with visas).

For the third parameter, all the caste and region based parties started raising hell at any signs of government-supported Hindu activity, and kept on nibbling at the government. Recall the antics of some of the provincial one-woman-leader parties, the TDP and DMK, and some others. Also how pugnacious caste-based groups like SP and BSP were used to destroy Hindu unity in UP, assiduously built-up after many decades of work.

As regards the fourth parameter, the left-dominated and missionary-trained press went about rubbishing the BJP government with aplomb. Compare the treatment meted out to Dr MM Joshi vis-à-vis the anti-national Arjun Singh. For all practical purposes, the print and electronic media were at war with the government. This can be better appreciated if one can pull out a typical days’ news reporting say, in 2001, vis-à-vis a typical day today. The contrast will be extremely illuminating.

Looking at the fifth parameter, the nuclear explosions of 1998 literally drove the entire set of English-speaking countries led by the US to rave, rant and sanction against India. Similar was the response from China. More tellingly, the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India and the Communist parties took out joint (!) protests against the explosions. The former was never seen to criticise the US bomb and the latter the Chinese. All the agents of subterfuge working within our borders—Islamic, Communist, Church and plain corrupt—were made to hike their pitch of activity. During the heady anti-nuclear-explosion protest days, this author asked an acquaintance who was also a mid-level communist leader—you are so anti-American, yet how come you and the Americans are together protesting against the same thing? Pat came the reply—we and the Americans fought together against the Nazis, we do not mind doing likewise again!

Thus, the altered first parameter was unable to generate sufficient momentum to shift the existing equilibrium towards the alternate equilibrium of the Hindu Rashtra. The other parameters of the system were in combination (i.e. working in sync) too powerful to be altered, and true to the principle of equilibrium of dynamical systems, these compelled the changed parameter to return to its original value. And the BJP was removed from power.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org , accessed Nov 9, 2008.
http://www.saag.org , accessed Nov 9, 2008.
Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1996, ISBN 0-684-84441-9.
http://en.wikipedia.org , Nov 9, 2008.
http://en.wikisource.org, para 13, Nov 9, 2008.
http://www.sanghparivar.org , Nov 9, 2008.Living Farms,
1181/2146, Ratnakar Bag - 2
Tankapani Road
Bhubaneswar - 751018

DT: 10.12.2008

PRESS RELEASE
INDIAN HEALTH MINISTER EXPRESSES OPPOSITION TO GM CROPS

Bhubaneswar: Speaking at a public meeting of farmers from all over Tamil Nadu at Kancheepuram yeaterday, the Union Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has expressed his opposition to GM cropsand Bt Brinjal in particular. "PMK has always opposed GM seeds. As a Minister of PMK and as the Union Health Minister, I will continue to oppose it. As far as the recent controversy of Bt Brinjal is concerned, it is being brought into the country without proper research on its safety. We should oppose it collectively. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare as a policy will ensure holistic research of Bt Brinjal, including (on) health impacts and farmers' issues. We will not permit it into India otherwise".

Earlier, members of various farmers groups drew the attention of the Minister to the various concerns related to GM crops and foods and the farmers presented him with a memorandum. The Minister, in his speech said, "When there are so many indigenous varieties of brinjal in each region of India, where is there a need to borrow this Bt Brinjal from other countries?".

The Health Minister's statement in this meeting is unsurprising given that PMK, his party, was the first political party to take a clear stand against GM crops in India. Further, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss is known for his progressive political stand on issues like tobacco and alcohol.

On December 4th, a group of doctors from different streams of medicinal systems, including Dr R N Dutta the President of the Orissa Homeopathic Druggists Association, sought to meet with the Health Minister to express their serious concerns with regard to GM foods. They submitted a memorandum to the Minister pointing out that Genetic Engineering in our food and farming is inherently risky and irreversible and that decision-making in India is currently happening based on the crop developer's data without any independent research for assessing long term effects.

The Minister has also been receiving thousands of faxes from all over the country as part of the "I Am No Lab Rat" campaign launched by the Coalition for a GM-Free India and Hamara Beej Abhiyan. So far, more than 70000 Indians, including thousands from Orissa, have endorsed a petition to the Health Minister saying that they refuse to become guinea pigs in this experimentation with GE foods.

Living Farms, Bhubaneswar, along with consumer, environmental, women's and organic farming groups from all over the country reacted by thanking the Minister for the progressive view he took on this matter, with his scientific background and for putting the interests and health of ordinary consumers of India at the centre of his policy with regard to GM crops and foods.

Living Farms, an organisation campaigning the introduction of GM crops including Bt Cotton into Orissa and the threat from the introduction of Bt Brinjal into the State since the last many years has welcomed the stance taken by the Union Health Minister and has thanked the people of Orissa for having actively participated in the "I AM NO LAB RAT" campaign. The organisation emphasised that the campaign will continue in order to create awareness about the various hazards of GM food..

"The fight is not yet over as Orissa is in the grip of large scale illegal cultivation of Bt Cotton and there has not been any declaration that the proposed field trials of Bt Brinjal in Orissa will be stopped. The threat therefore still remains as it is uncertain whether seed multinationals will stop their ongoing efforts to force Bt Brinjal and other genetically modified food crops into Orissa." "Just as Bt Cotton has entered Orissa illegally and with the full knowledge of the state administration what is the guarantee that other GM crops too will not enter into the state in the same fashion?"


Debjeet Sarangi, Jagannath Chatterjee
9938582616, 9337102146
Living Farms.

WORLD ASSEMBLY OF YOUTH

STATEMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

10 DECEMBER 2008



60 years ago, Nations of the world came together and declared the rights of human’s .Its after the atrocities of the two world wars that nations forged a bond never to allow the misdeeds that occurred during the two (wars never to happen again). Under the stewardship of Eleanor Roosevelt, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights document was presented to nations to sign on 10th December 1948. To date the International Bill of Rights, which comprises the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its two covenants are what steer the world towards a just and peaceful world in which all Humans are seen as being equal and having inalienable rights.

On this day, the World Assembly of Youth joins in hand with other organizations and the world as a whole, as we celebrate 60 years of progress of Human Rights. Although not fully achieved, WAY in association with National Youth Council and Youth Organizations members, strive to promote and protect the understanding of Human Rights issue to youths.

Youths form a crucial part of society and it would be detrimental if they were not educated on this important issue. It’s for this and many other reasons that attention should be given to youth issues such as Education, Unemployment, HIV/AIDS, and Health etc. These Youth issues are Human Rights issues and failure to meet them denies our youth the very essence that embodies the International Bill of Rights of a free being with inalienable rights. It should thus be within our selves to fight for these Rights as well as its protection and education so as to prevent a recurrence of our past mistakes.

The theme for 2008, “Dignity and justice for all of us,” reinforces the vision of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as a commitment to universal dignity and justice. It should not be viewed as a trivial idea. The UDHR and its core values, inherent human dignity, non-discrimination, equality, fairness and universality, apply to everyone, everywhere and always. The Declaration is universal, enduring and vibrant, and it concerns us all. As we all look back to the 60 years that have passed, let’s not forget the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. “The time is always right to do what is right”. Let this be the time we all stand and make a difference.


ENDS.

ISSUED BY: WORLD ASSEMBLY OF YOUTH

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WORLD ASSEMBLY OF YOUTH

Visit our website at http://www.way.org.my
Secretariat Address: World Assembly of Youth, World Youth Complex, Jalan Lebuh Raya, 75450 Melaka, Malaysia.
Telephones: +6062321871 or +6062322711 Fax: +6062327271
Email: info@way.org.my


By KEN THOMAS and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writers Ken Thomas And Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Associated Press Writers 32 mins ago


WASHINGTON – Their efforts in Congress squashed, automakers are depending upon a reluctant White House to quickly provide a multibillion lifeline to help them avoid imminent collapse.




General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which have said they could run out of cash within weeks, have few options left after the dramatic defeat in the Senate of a $14 billion bailout for the domestic auto industry.




Its demise late Thursday prompted immediate calls from lawmakers in both parties for the Bush administration to tap into the $700 billion Wall Street bailout to rescue the beleaguered auto industry. The bill failed after talks broke down over the refusal of the United Auto Workers union to meet Republican demands for aggressive wage reductions.

The Senate rejected the bailout 52-35 on a procedural vote — well short of the 60 required — after the talks fell apart.




"I dread looking at Wall Street," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in anticipation of Friday's stock market reaction. "It's not going to be a pleasant sight."




Indeed, stock markets in Asia and Europe dropped sharply on Friday after getting word of the bailout's failure, and U.S. markets were set to plunge when trading opened. Dow Jones industrial futures were down more than 200 points.




The Bush administration has repeatedly said the Wall Street bailout fund should not be used for emergency aid to the automakers because it was designed to restore stability to the financial sector. Following the vote, the White House said it was studying its options.

"Due to this colossal failure by the U.S. Senate, now it's up to the president and the Treasury secretary," Virg Bernero, mayor of Lansing, Mich., said Friday on CBS' "Early Show." "Working Americans will appreciate the president stepping in — and pull us back from the precipice, pull us back from the economic cliff."




Lawmakers, who aren't scheduled to return to legislative work until early January, were looking to the president, as well.




"Plan B is the president," said Sen.. Carl Levin, D-Mich. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said action by President George W. Bush was the "only viable option."




General Motors and Chrysler are in the most immediate danger while Ford Motor Co. has said it does not need federal help now, but could face collateral damage if one of its domestic rivals fell. With the economy in recession, the auto industry has struggled with lackluster sales and choked credit markets.




Detroit's carmakers employ nearly a quarter-million workers, and more than 730,000 others produce materials and parts for cars. If one of the automakers declared bankruptcy, some estimate as many as 3 million U.S. jobs could be lost next year.




The White House said it was disappointed by failure of legislation that "presented the best chance to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy while ensuring taxpayer funds only go to firms whose stakeholders were prepared to make difficult decisions to become viable."




Many congressional Republicans and some economists said the companies would be best to pursue a prearranged bankruptcy that would allow them to restructure quickly. But most Democrats and the carmakers rejected that, arguing it would quickly lead to liquidation because consumers would never buy cars from a bankrupt auto company.




As it lobbied unsuccessfully on Thursday, White House officials said the weak economy couldn't afford the collapse of the auto industry. President-elect Barack Obama said an industry shutdown would have a "devastating ripple effect" on the already battered economy.




GM said in a statement is was "deeply disappointed" that the bipartisan agreement faltered. Chrysler said it was also disappointed and would "continue to pursue a workable solution to help ensure the future viability of the company."




The companies efforts for funding failed after a marathon set of negotiations at the Capitol among labor, the auto industry and lawmakers who bargained into the night to salvage the auto bailout at a time of soaring job losses and widespread economic turmoil.

The group came close to agreement, but it stalled over the UAW's refusal to agree to wage cuts before their current contract expires in 2011. Republicans, in turn, balked at giving the automakers federal aid.




Aid to the automakers gained urgency last week when the government reported the economy had lost more than a half-million jobs in November, the most in any month for more than 30 years.




The stunning disintegration of the auto bailout proposal was eerily reminiscent of the defeat of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout in the House, which sent the Dow tumbling and lawmakers back to the drawing board to draft a new agreement to rescue financial institutions and halt a broader economic meltdown. That measure ultimately passed and was signed by Bush.




It wasn't immediately clear, however, how the auto aid measure might be resurrected in a bailout-fatigued, postelection Congress, with Bush's influence at a low ebb.

Earlier in the week, the House approved a bill that would have created a Bush-appointed overseer to dole out the money and monitor the companies' progress in restructuring.

Some Senate Democrats joined Republicans in turning against the House-passed bill, despite increasingly urgent calls from the White House and Obama for quick action.


Comment: Maybe we should just let the chips fall where they may. Amerika cannot even help its most poor homeless people, let alone bailout a mega-billion corporate auto industry. The whole priorities of the present corporate capitalist economic system is upside down.


Educate to Liberate!

Third-World- News Yahoo Group


Peter S. Lopez aka: Peta


Email: peter.lopez51@ yahoo.com

Sacramento, California, U.S.A.



The Mumbai terror strike is no ordinary attack. All over the world
there have been several blasts but in all those cases they have been
attacks by stealth. Here is the first instance where the attackers
have openly defied a nation of one billion. That the nation's 200
elite commandos were defied for 60 hours is a tremendous boost for
the morale of terrorists all over the world. This also brings into
question even India's nuclear deterrence. The effect of inaction can
be devastating.

Understanding the attack objectives:

Enough has been written and shown about the methods, routes and
actual actions of the young psychopath terrorists who killed Indian
citizens and foreigners in Mumbai. I do not intend to cover that
ground again except to say that as an ex-soldier (and a commando
instructor) I felt immense pride at the bravery shown by our men in
eliminating the terrorists.

I salute those brave men and women of the staff at the hotels who
gave their lives to protect the guests in hotel. It is in a sense our
finest hour -- shows how a decent peace-loving citizenry can rise to
the occasion. I salute them.

First and foremost it must be clearly understood that the attack did
not have a direct Pakistan government hand in it, by that I mean the
civil government. Whether it had the backing of Pakistan Army
[Images]/Inter Services Intelligence combine is a difficult question
to answer. I wish to again reiterate that I do not distinguish
between ISI and the army. This is myth propagated by the Pakistan
army and swallowed by gullible Indian media; after all the ISI
functions directly under the army chief (recent efforts to put it
under civil control were brought to naught due to army pressure) and
headed by a serving Lieutenant General. The ISI and Pakistan army are
one and the same.

The young attackers had a single motivation -- to kill the maximum
number of Indians. It is true that they asked for Americans and
British citizens in hotels -- but that must have been when they may
be running short of ammunition.

Some idea of the aim of the terrorists could be gauged from the
effect it has had on the sub-continent. First and foremost, it has
brought to naught the entire peace process and CBMs (confidence
building measures) between India and Pakistan. This has been the aim
of extremist elements in Pakistan for a very long time. Some elements
in Pakistan, close to the army, are blaming India for over-reaction.
These worthies forget that it is the failure of the Pakistan
government and society to control these jihadists in their midst that
is the reason for this sorry pass.

The rise in Indo-Pakistan tensions has given the opportunity to the
Pakistani army to wind down its operations against al Qaeda and
Taliban [Images] on the Afghan border. Thus the direct beneficiary of
this attack is undoubtedly al Qaeda/Taliban. The perceived threat
from India has given rise to the Taliban offering a ceasefire to the
Pakistan army to deal with the infidel enemy on the east -- India!
This has extricated the Pakistan army from a difficult and bloody
campaign that many in Pakistan and in its army had termed
as 'America's war'. Thus there is a convergence of interests of
Taliban/Al Qaeda [Images]/Pakistan army in breaking the Indo-Pakistan
peace process and creating tensions on the Indo-Pakistan border.

In international affairs there are no accidents -- each event has a
firm cause-effect relationship. It is therefore fair to assume that
it was a joint al Qaeda/Taliban/ Pakistan Army operation. Here the
term 'Taliban is used in a generic sense and includes groups like
Massod Azhar's Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayiba or its new 'avatar'
Markaz-e-Dawa. As more and more evidence comes to light, involvement
of groups from the middle-east -- Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and
UK-based Pakistani is coming to light. There seems to be
a 'consortium' formed to carry out terror attacks in India.

Another reason to suspect such involvement is the magnitude of
logistic support needed for such an operation. Even professional
armies find it difficult to launch a sea borne assault nearly 500
nautical miles from its base! As a thumb rule for each terrorist in
operation, there would be ten persons needed for support and
logistics. This means at least 100 to 150 persons are involved with
skills ranging from sea navigation to communication to medical aid.
The terrorist must have planned for contingencies and a get away. A
local support cell is an absolute certainty.

None of this can be done without support or nod from the real rulers
of Pakistan -- the army. Democratic fa�ade notwithstanding --
Pakistan is unique. Elsewhere a country has an army -- here an army
has a country. One of the pluses of this operation could well be the
ending of brief life of the democratic govt in that country. The
Pakistan army has conquered Pakistan several times, it may well be
preparing for anther conquest of their own country.

Predictably, western pressure seems to be mounting on India, the
victim of terrorism and not Pakistan the perpetrator. The West is
solely interested in getting help for its operations in Afghanistan --
Indian loss of lives be damned. Some indication of this is already
available with Western media acting coy in acknowledging the fact
that a terrorist has been caught alive and singing like a canary.

There have been attempts to link this with Kashmir -- the perennial
love of the West. That at this very moment Kashmir has voted in
elections -- an overwhelming 60 percent -- is of no consequence to
the blind western media. Indians have seen this farce repeat in the
past 30 years, the end of Cold war has done very little to change
this entrenched mindset. This author was in Salzburg (Austria) last
year September attending a global workshop on terrorism. Whenever
there was a mention of a terrorist attack, 9/11 topped the list and
that included London [Images] and Madrid bombings but never the
serial bomb attacks on Mumbai. But it must be admitted that it is
wrong to blame the foreigners alone. Our own pseudo liberals and
secularists have time and time only highlighted the victim hood of
minorities. These anti-nationals have created an image of the country
and its majority as one of the most intolerant countries in the
world.

Part II: Target the Pakistan army, not Pakistan

Col Athale is Chhattrapati Shivaji fellow of the USI, Delhi [Images],
working on a project on internal security. He is also coordinator of
the Pune-based think tank Inpad.

AID Delhi organizes Candle Vigil to express our love and empathy and pay
tribute to those who have been killed in Mumbai Terror attacks.

Date : 14th December, 2008

Venue: Jantar Mantar Dharna Site

Time : 16.30 hours

Dear All,

The Mumbai terror attacks were the most coordinated terror attacks in the
entire world. Not only Mumbai but the entire nation has felt the pain of
these attacks and now stands united in the fight against terrorism.

*Association for India's Development (AID)* volunteers are deeply saddened
by the loss of over 200 lives, including those of several leading
law-enforcement officers. AID strongly condemns the gun-violence,
hostage-taking and bomb blasts and hopes that the state and central
governments make a determined, honest and just effort to find the
perpetrators and take legal action. In this shocking time we pray for peace,
calm and safety. This situation calls for the residents of Mumbai and
elsewhere in India to stay in solidarity with one another, and to
demonstrate unity and harmony across religious and regional divides.

*We at AID-Delhi( Association for India's Development- Delhi Chapter) would
like to express our love and empathy and pay tribute to those who have been
killed in these attacks. We are planning to organize a CANDLE LIGHT Vigil
at JANTAR MANTAR on 14th December 2008 (Sunday) at 4:30 PM. We would also
invite everyone of us to take a declaration that "We will not be TERRORIZED
by any means" at the venue.
*

*We request you all to JOIN us in this march and show your solidarity
towards all the Mumbaikar's and also to stand by our Army, NSG and the
Police. Please do come and bring your friends along with you and also
circulate widely
*

*Come and Join us in making our voice heard that we care for the lives and
families of those affected and stand UNITED in this fight against terrorism.
*

Thanks

Regards,

Anchit Goel
Mobile: 9818115226
Selva Ganpathy
Mobile: 9818248459
AID-Delhi Chapter
http://www.delhi. aidindia. org

--
P.S :- Do you want a ROTI for you?.. Ask me... have a preview of ROTI here
http://calendar. aidindia. org

Selva Ganapathy.R
Department of Chemical Engineering,
I.I.T Delhi - 110016
Hauz Khas
Phone - +91-11-26596175, +91-11-26596180
Mobile - +91-9891358457

IT and Related Security News Update from
Centre for Research and Prevention of Computer Crimes, India
(www.crpcc.in)

Courtesy - Sysman Computers Private Limited, Mumbai (www.sysman.in)
December 12, 2008

Editor - Rakesh Goyal (rakesh@sysman.in)


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BOOK : CRPCC Released Free Wi-Fi Security eBook
MEGA TRENDS : Crime, New Technologies, Thwart Security Progress
VIEW : Penetration Testing: Dead in 2009???
STATISTICS : Web site-based crimeware hits all-time high
IT Term of the day
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IT and Related Security News Update from

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Courtesy - Sysman Computers Private Limited, Mumbai (www.sysman.in)

December 12, 2008


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today?s edition ??



BOOK : CRPCC Released Free Wi-Fi Security eBook

MEGA TRENDS : Crime, New Technologies, Thwart Security Progress

VIEW : Penetration Testing: Dead in 2009???

STATISTICS : Web site-based crimeware hits all-time high

IT Term of the day

Quote of the day



(Click on heading above to jump to related item. Click on ?Top? to be back here)



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BOOK : CRPCC Released Free Wi-Fi Security eBook

CRPCC Team

11 December 2008



A 44 page eBook titled - "Securing Wi-Fi Network" is released by Center for Research and Prevention of Computer Crimes along with Sysman Computers Private Limited, Mumbai on wi-fi security.



The eBook can be downloaded free at www.sysman.in. It is released as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by CRPCC and Sysman.



The book addresses the burning issue of wi-fi network security in simple language and guide the end-user to secure his/her wi-fi network in 10 simple do-it-yourself steps. The book is the outcome on detailed research by the authors over a period of 3 months. The book has been reviewed and vetted by 12 Indian and International experts.



The authors, Rakesh Goyal and Ankur Goyal are experts in IT Security with 6 books to credit. This eBooks has support of CERT-In and ISEAP project, both of Department of Information Technology, Govt. of India; Data Security Council of India of NASSCOM and Cyber Crime Cell of Mumbai Police.



Few months back, terrorists used unsecured wi-fi networks just before Ahmedabad and Delhi bomb-blasts and the wi-fi subscribers had to face the police action. The eBook is written in response to these incidents and threats.



To download the book ? log on www.sysman.in and click on Books in the top header. Click on download SECURING WI-FI NETWORK - V1.0.



Or click this hot link - Download SECURING WI-FI NETWORK - V1.0



Or click here http://www.sysman.org/book.htm



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MEGA TRENDS : Crime, New Technologies, Thwart Security Progress

December 9, 2008 10:00 PM

http://securitywatch.eweek.com/exploits_and_attacks/crime_new_technologies_thwart_security_progress.html



Even as organizations invest millions of dollars in security mechanisms meant to defend them against potential threats, business initiatives such as outsourcing, combined with the seemingly unstoppable onslaught of cyber-crime, will continue make it hard to prevent attacks targeting electronic data in the coming year, according to a new research report.



Based on the "Security Megatrends and Emerging Threats for 2009" paper published this week by Ponemon Institute -- which has established itself as a leading source of data related to the impact of data breach incidents -- risks to personal and business information will continue to scale upwards during 2009 despite the best efforts of security consultants, vendors and researchers, along with industry and government regulators.



The continued expansion of productivity-related business strategies including outsourcing, mobility and so-called cloud compuiting, which depend on widely-dispersed electronic infrastructure, along with the maturation of the cybercriminal element, will challenge security protections throughout 2009, the report contends.



Of the near 600 IT professional interviewed by Ponemon researchers for the study, roughly 50 percent indicated a belief that outsourcing poses an "imminent and critical risk" to data security. Cloud-based remote computing infrastructure, the growing crossover of consumer technologies and Web 2.0 social networking tools will also have a detrimental effect on overall security standing over the next 12 months, according to the report.



Cybercrime, in its many forms, remains a "major" headache to organizations in trying to protect their electronic data, some 75 percent of participants in the survey said. The report was sponsored by Lumension, a vendor that specializes in security applications aimed at helping organizations stay up to date with vulnerability patches.



The survey also highlighted the growing marriage of operational and security efforts within many of the organizations responding to the study.



"With the emergence of consumer technology in the workplace, coupled with social networking and Web 2.0 technologies and the increased sophistication of cyber criminals, truly securing an organization's IT environment is an uphill battle," Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute, said in the survey.



"In the next year or two, these challenges will increase in both the breadth and depth of threats - the companies we surveyed made this very clear," he said. "The key for both IT operations and IT security is to find the common ground necessary to better-wage this security battle together."



The survey isolates eight "mega trends" that survey respondents believe will factor heavily into security concerns in '09, many of which are also considered areas ripe with cost-saving or productivity opportunities for most organizations. Those trends were:



v cloud computing

v virtualization

v mobility and mobile devices

v cybercrime

v outsourcing to third parties

v data breaches

v peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing

v Web 2.0



While half of the IT security experts interviewed for the survey cited outsourcing as a major data security risk, an even higher number (59 percent) of operational IT workers view the business strategy as a significant area of concern. Both groups referenced the inability of third party business partners to sufficiently protect data as their biggest issue related to outsourcing.



Predictably, survey respondents said that their top worry related to data loss is the potential for misappropriated information to find its way into the hands of cyber-thieves (46 percent for IT security, versus 24 percent for IT operations) allowing the bad guys to carry out identity theft and other nefarious activities at the expense of their customers.



A whopping 92 percent of the organizations participating in the study indicated that they have experienced a cyber attack of some kind over the last year.



Mobility clearly remains another area of concern for data incidents. IT security and operational respondents alike (96 percent and 91 percent, respectively) agreed that the growing adoption of laptops and handheld devices will introduce even greater levels of data risk during 2009. One major problem noted by respondents in relation to mobile users was that the inability of organizations to properly identify and authenticate those people coming onto their networks from outside their walls.



The adoption of other newer technologies, both business-oriented and consumer-based, will also opened additional "avenues for cyber thieves to steal trade secrets and confidential business information", according to the report.



Of those technologies, cloud computing ranked as the top concern, with 61 percent of respondents ranking it as a major security issue.



While there clearly remain no shortage of security and operational-based risks to data protection, according to respondents, the growing closeness of the two areas of focus within IT departments should help improve the situation over time, experts contend.



"Given the breadth and depth of security breaches spanning the globe this year - all of which have had a long-lasting negative impact on organizations and consumers alike - IT security and IT operations professionals have an increasingly critical task at hand, to protect sensitive data wherever it lives in an organization," Pat Clawson, CEO of Lumension, said in a summary.



"What became clear, in conducting this research, is that while these threats will only increase over time, the gap between these distinct groups is starting to close," he said. "This is a great step forward in waging the data security battle - the less siloed and more collaborative IT security and operations groups operate, the more successful they will be in protecting their company's most valued asset: sensitive corporate data and trade secrets."



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VIEW : Penetration Testing: Dead in 2009???

By Bill Brenner

CSO

December 08, 2008

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/120808-penetration-testing-dead-in.html



Penetration testing: Security experts mention it all the time as one of the essential tools of defense-in-depth. Companies have raked in the dough selling the service and the tools for years.



But is it possible that penetration testing -- the art of probing company networks in search of exploitable security holes that can then be fixed -- is an idea whose time is about to expire?



If you ask Brian Chess, co-founder and chief scientist of business software assurance (BSA) vendor Fortify Software Inc., the answer is yes.



"Death sounds rather gloomy, but stuff in high tech dies all the time," Chess said in an interview Tuesday. "Desktop publishing? Dead -- but not gone. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)? Many of the concepts are still with us, but the PDA is dead."



Penetration testing is headed for a similar fate, he said. The concept as we know it is on its death bed, waiting to die and come back as something else. That doesn't mean pen testers will suddenly be unemployed, he said. It's just that they "won't be as cool" as they've been in more recent years.



Customers are clamoring more for preventative tools than tools that simply find the weaknesses that already exist, he said. They want to prevent holes from opening in the first place.



"Death doesn't mean it goes away, it means it transforms. Pen testing will be reborn in the area of production monitoring and measurement," Chess said. "The goal won't be that failure is found and must be fixed. The goal is that failures will become a much rarer event."



Naturally, security practitioners who swear by pen testing as a critical component of a layered security program are reacting to his hypothesis with more than a little skepticism.



Jennifer Jabbusch, CISO at Carolina Advanced Digital Inc. in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, took issue with Chess' basic premise that penetration testing will become a component of monitoring and measuring.



"Pen testing will continue," she said in an exchange over the Twitter social networking site. "Monitoring and measuring is not pen testing. It's what you do after pen testing."



She also faulted the example of desktop publishing being a dead art, saying, "Desktop publishing isn't dead. In fact, it's grown. Now you can design on your desktop and deliver via the Internet for printing at FedEx/ Kinkos."



Others agree penetration will continue, but don't necessarily think Chess' position is all that off the mark.



Max Caceres, director of research and development at Matasano Security in New York, said he can understand the perspective of people who want penetration testing to be part of something larger.



"I can totally see where his customers are coming from," Caceres said. "All things being equal, preventing holes from even existing is a much more interesting approach than riding the find-report-hope-somebody-fixes-it hamster wheel."



But, he added, Chess' prediction may be more of an imagined utopia than a real alternative.



"We have been findings bugs for a while, the most common problems are well understood and documented, yet we keep deploying vulnerable apps," he said. "If we believe true perfection is unattainable -- and I do, particularly for application development, we have yet to invent the tool that produces bug-free code -- then apps will always have bugs that need fixing, and some of them will be security related."



And that's where penetration testing will remain valuable, he said.



Kevin Riggins, a senior information security analyst for a company in the Des Moines, Iowa, area, said it's hard to argue with Chess' premise that the goal should be fewer failures. But he doesn't believe that sentiment has anything to do with the need for or the use of penetration testing. Furthermore, he said, echoing Jabbusch, production monitoring and measuring and penetration testing do not address the same issue.



"The first measures the availability and effectiveness of your production environment," he said in exchanges via Twitter and e-mail. "The second measures its ability to resist intrusion or attack. They are not the same and you can't get from one to the other by transformation."



A better argument for the death of penetration testing is that there will always be issues found, some of which can not be fixed or effectively mitigated, he added. Therefore, what is the real value to the organization in performing this type of test?



"Don't get me wrong, I don't subscribe to this argument either," Riggins said.



In the final analysis, he said, security pros can't stop performing penetration tests until the current compliance requirements are removed. That's not happening any time soon.



"Penetration tests and vulnerability scans help us find where our processes, procedures, and standards might need work," he said.



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STATISTICS : Web site-based crimeware hits all-time high

by Elinor Mills

December 10, 2008



The use of malware on Web sites to steal passwords and other sensitive information is skyrocketing, according to a new report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group.



The number of URLs with hidden code for stealing passwords nearly tripled between July 2007 and July 2008, to a record high of 9,529, while the number of malicious-application variants hit a high of 442 this May, the APWG reports in its quarterly report issued this week.



The increase is primarily due to malicious code being used in SQL injection attacks, in which a small malicious script is inserted into a database that feeds information to the Web site. Typically, the host site is legitimate such as BusinessWeek's, not a phishing site created for the sole purpose of stealing consumer data.



The financial-services industry is the most targeted sector for phishing attacks, followed by those focusing on auctions and payment services, the report found.



"Cybercriminals continue to increase their activities to levels never before seen in the five years since the APWG has been monitoring phishing and crimeware," APWG Chairman Dave Jevans said in a statement.



The recession is prompting even more malicious activity online, he said.



"The current financial crisis has also been used by phishers to create new scams that try to scare consumers into entering their usernames and passwords into sites that mimic those of well-known distressed financial institutions," Jevans said. "As the economy degrades, we are seeing a continual increase in malicious and criminal activity on the Internet."



Another report issued this week shows that IT security professionals view cybercrime and data breaches as the top security risks, followed by mobility, outsourcing, cloud computing, mobile devices, peer-to-peer file sharing, Web 2.0 services, and malware.


Meanwhile, respondents who work in IT operations listed outsourcing as the biggest risk, followed by mobile devices and cybercrime, in the 2008 Security Mega Trends Survey conducted by The Ponemon Institute on behalf of Lumension Security. In the survey, 577 respondents work in IT security, and 825 work in IT operations.



Of those surveyed, 83 percent of the IT security workers and 79 percent of IT operations professionals reported that their organization had a data breach due to customer or employee information being lost or stolen. Overall, 92 percent of the organizations have experienced a cyberattack.



Another survey, released on Thursday by CA, looks at behaviors and perceptions among American adults and teens of their safety online.



Fifty-seven percent of adults fear that they may become victims of identity fraud online within the next two years, and 90 percent worry about the security of their personal data. Meanwhile, 35 percent of teens leave their social-networking profiles open to viewing by strangers, 38 percent post their education information, 32 percent disclose their e-mail addresses, and 28 percent reveal their birth date.



Download the report at Anti-Phishing Working Group website ? http://www.antiphishing.org/reports/apwg_report_Q2_2008.pdf



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New IT Term of the day

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SSH port forwarding


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An SSH service that provides secure and encrypted connections to traditionally non-encrypted services, such as e-mail or news. SSH port forwarding allows you to establish a secure SSH session and then tunnel TCP connections through it. It works by opening a connection to forward a local port to a remote port over SSH. The client software (e.g. your e-mail client) is then set to connect to the local port. With SSH port forwarding passwords are sent over an encrypted connection.



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Quote of the day


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Since world war two we've managed to create history's first truly global empire. This has been done by the corporatocracy, which are a few men and women who run our major corporations and in doing so also run the U.S. government and many other governments around the world.



John Perkins

2005

Author of the book titled ' Confessions of and Economic Hit Man'



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From: Vikas

The hue and cry following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai is so loud, shrill, and hollow that it has left no room for quiet introspection.

Let us begin by asking this question: 24,000 people die from hunger and hunger-related causes PER DAY. Three-fourths of these deaths are of children below the age of five. Has any brave television or newspaper reporter ever captured the picture of a five-year old child who died of hunger?

Do you have an idea how it feels to die of hunger? Where is your hue and cry, and your calls to the conscience of a nation when these poor children are dying everyday?

The simple answer is, poverty-related death is not a problem of the rich. If you are reading this over a computer, there is little chance of your dying of hunger someday.

But terrorism, like obesity, is a problem of the rich. The trouble is that the terrorist's bullet does not discriminate between rich and poor. Rather, it prefers the rich. If it did not, terrorism would be as useless and boring an issue as hunger.

Being a problem of the rich, the amount of attention that terrorism attracts is far too disproportionate in its favor. In George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, the pigs proclaim: “All animals are equal.” But as soon as they seize power, they revise the principle: “But some animals are more equal than others.”

Your calls to eliminate terrorism are as cheap and hollow as the calls to eliminate violence in the last five thousand years. Violence is a dysfunctional element of an unfair society where some men are more equal than others.

The lesser equal men need the same power, fame and attention as you. And for them, terrorism is an excellent available route to achieve their nirvana.

The more you publicize these attention-starved men, the more fuel you add to their fire. Publicity and attention is their lifeline on which they thrive and multiply. In its absence, they die a starvation death.

And you, the rich, hypocritical scoundrels of the human society, provide them with precisely what they need.

Since barking dogs seldom bite, so a polite suggestion for you would be that you better stop barking about terrorism. You know you are not even capable of paying your taxes willingly. You will cheat if no one is watching. So stop your pseudo-nationalist hyperbole and look at yourself in the mirror. You are barking just like a politician -- who does not come from Mars, but from among you only. What is there to blame a politician? Are you any different from him in hollowness of character?

Imagine if terrorism becomes as boring an issue as hunger. Imagine if there is no empty gossip about terrorism. If you stop being terrorised, it would reduce terrorism to the point of irrelevance. It would take the wind out of the terrorist's sails. It would make him a nobody. And that, and that alone, is certain death for him. That is the ONLY way to kill him, without making him a martyr in his own eyes.

So now sit up, you mass emotional fools full of illogical hatred and anger, and understand this logical fact once and for all: Terrorists are not after religion. Osama Bin Laden is not interested in Islam. The one, and only one fundamental need of every human being is: Fame and Attention. Our entire life is centered around fulfilling this singular need.

In the final analysis, ironically, you and the terrorist are no different. Both are human beings of poor logic, ridiculous emotion, and shallow character. Both are starved for fame. Though you are slightly worse than him because you are also a hypocrite.





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