what is the target for indian hotel?...

I was celebrating India`s fifth consecutive victory over England. We had moved one step forward towards a whitewash. I was unaware of the terror attack in Mumbai. My phone rang. It was an old friend.

Before she could say anything I told her I was thrilled with India`s victory. "There`s been an attack in Mumbai" she said, "And I hate cricket" she banged the phone down. Perhaps she was disgusted with my ignorance.

Ever since I moved over to sports, leaving the mainstream journalism behind in 2001, I have remained more or less silent on the issues.

I enjoy sports but it`s been frustrating to stay on the fringes and silently look at things and events unfolding.

And that night, cricket and the victory looked irrelevant. Sports is not bigger than life, not even in a country where it is said to be the religion.

That night I rushed back to the newsroom after my friend informed me about the attack.

Taj... Trident... Nariman house... CST... Cama hospital... Commotion. Firing.
Grenade attacks. Hostages.
I watched silently.

My colleagues and ex-colleagues had taken positions and were reporting/anchoring from different locations.

I was watching silently.

I had seen our Home Minister changing clothes after the Delhi blasts.
And that night I saw him informing the whole world on TV that NSG men are leaving to take on the terrorists. He gave the details. Number of NSG men, what time they would leave and what time they would start the operations.

Thank you Mr. Minister the terrorists were watching you on TV.

I listened to this silently.

That night three brave men of ATS died. These men were investigating
Malegaon blasts. And a political party was giving statements that
Hindus are falsely being implicated. The party was gunning for their life demanding narco test of these ATS officers.

According to newspaper reports these men were getting death threats. And that night these men died. Three brave ATS officers who were investigating Malegaon blasts and interrogating Hindu terrorists died fighting with Muslim terrorists. That political party is silent on this angle.

And I was watching it all silently.

Politics at what cost... Congress BJP... BJP Congress... at whose cost.

I wondered silently.

That night I also wondered where was Raj Thackeray. Why was he seen nowhere to save the lives of Mumbaikars ? And did he ask the NSG commandoes whether they are from north or south? Or do they speak Marathi?

I wondered silently.

Mumbai for Mumbaikars! No! Mumbai belongs to all of us. Attack on
Mumbai is attack on India. And that night all the Indians were worried and glued to TV and praying for the safety of hostages. They were not praying for Mumbaikars or Marathis or south Indians or north Indians.
They were praying for all the INDIANS.

I too prayed silently.

That night I also read Amitabh Bachhan`s blog. Day 218. And I quote the last sentence of the blog.

"Before retiring for the night, I pulled out my licensed .32 revolver, loaded it and put it under my pillow. For a very disturbed sleep"

Disturbing times indeed. I am still silent. But I know its time to speak up.

Speak up and ask our politicians and administrators. How long they are going to cage us in fear and insecurity?

Speak up and ask why don`t we have a leader who can come out and say YES WE CAN !

Posted by Darain Shahidi
...

Deepa Balakrishnan / CNN-IBN
SOS: A meeting convened by the Karnataka government with industry heads led to strong suggestions.
Bangalore: The war on Mumbai has left the India Inc angry and vulnerable sectors want much more than a constable with a lathi.

A meeting convened by the Karnataka government with industry heads led to strong suggestions from an industry that`s scared.

“We`re losing faith in the political leadership of this country. There`s no doubt about that,” T V Mohandas Pai, director (HR), Infosys, adding, “To take care of the political class, they have Z-plus security. They have arms. What about us? Isn`t our life important? We`re citizens. The government is unable to protect us, then amend the law. Let us bear arms, we`ll protect ourselves to whatever extent we can”.

A worried Bangalore Inc said they`d rather have machine guns than be sitting ducks to a torrent of bullets.

While government installations have forces who can combat an emergency, the private sector has to make do with metal detectors, frisking and CCTV security.

The latest addition are sniffer dogs, which some organizations have opted for, but nothing that can combat an AK-47.

“We`ll not be in a position to answer these kinds of AK-47s and grenades. We need much stronger help from the government. And we`ll need military intervention. May be we could start some military patrolling at least, then there can be confidence that help can come at short notice,” chairman and MD, Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

But it`s a debate the government refused to be drawn into.

“They`re talking about equipping private guards with automatic weapons, that`s a central subject and has to go to the Centre,” said DG and IGP, R Srikumar.

We`ve seen bomb blasts before but the audacity of the terror attack on Mumbai has got the industry in Bangalore sitting up.

Most companies have decided that they will do whatever it takes to review and reboot their security internally, over the next week. But whether the law helps them or not is another question.
...

BLOWIN` IN THE WIND: A candlelight vigil in Mumbai. Do these vigils help? Can gestures be converted into action?
Never before in its history of facing some of the bloodiest terrorist attacks has India felt so collectively crippled as it does today.
As the astounding and the heartbreaking images of Mumbai attacks and hostage drama played out on television and splashed across newspapers and websites, the country and the world reacted, first with a mix of shock and horror and then, erupted in rage.
The Internet gave many a platform to reach out – to help, to console, to pay tribute but mostly to express their emotion.
Could more have been done to prevent the Mumbai massacre? Will the country come together? How long will the cycle of terror last and what will it take to put an end to it? Voice your opinion
...

Reasons behind the present downfall of global indices...

Mumbai: Railway Police have denied that there has any firing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Station on Friday afternoon.


"The situation is normal. Someone heard some noises and started running which created panic. It was not firing. There was a commotion, but we have checked there has been no firing. Railway services are normal now," K Sharma, Commissioner, Railway Security, said.


He denied reports that three gunshots were fired at the GT Hospital near the station.


He also said that train services are running normally.

Source:ibnlive...

Mumbai: A chief of a Indian Navy commando unit flushing out terrorists at Mumbai`s Taj Hotel said on Friday that he saw 12 to 15 bodies in one room.


"We found 12-15 bodies," the commander, whose face was disguised in a black scarf and sunglasses, told a news conference. The commandos found money, ammunition and an identity card from Mauritius thought to have belonged to the terrorists.


"We recovered $1200, AK series rifles, credit cards and Mauritian national identity card from Taj hotel," the commando chief said.


"We found a bag which contained dry fruits, large amount of ammunition, foreign money (dollars), seven fully filled magazines of AK rifles with extra rounds, grenades of different make, most likely made in China, seven credit cards of ICICI, HDFC, CITI Bank, HSBC etc," he revealed.


Addressing the media at the Western Naval Headquarters, INS Angre, the Marine Commandos (Marcos) said that there were two teams of commandos, one of which was sent to the Taj while other engaged the terrorists at the Oberoi.


"Taj has around 400 rooms and there was blood all over. To avoid the civilian casualty we had to be careful in our gunfire," he said. "They (the terrorists) didn`t cover their face. They were wearing T-shirts and all of them were less than 30 years of age. They must have trained somewhere to use such sophisticated weapons. We are not aware of any RDX being used."


The commando chief also revealed that the terrorists were very well informed about the layout of the hotels.


"Hotel staff (Taj Hotel) told us that three-four terrorists have gone inside. We got the layout from the staff .We also wanted to know what all explosives were held by these terrorists," he said.


There was lot of smoke into CCTV room and entry was not feasible. The staff indicated that terrorists indicated have gone into new building of Taj. When we tried to enter into the building they started to fire and one commando was injured," he said.


He also pointed out that the operations progressed slowly as the rooms were completely dark, which made it difficult for the commandos.


The operation to flush out the terrorists and rescue the hostages is on at the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and the Nariman House.


At least 125 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded in the terror strikes in Mumbai.

Source:ibnlive...

A well thought out policy at a price where one can not wish for better. Dear radhika has deservedly rated it with maximum stars. Algeria in a recent proclamation has advocated $ 75 as just the optimal pricing level for crude taking into considerations cost associated with standard production procedures. Wild swings to $ 150 was equally unrealistic. As per their study crude at present price is trading at almost 15% discount to its standard drill costing levels. regards....

The television has been turned off finally for the first time in two and a half days. The ensuing space and silence allows reflection and a reaction but little relief. The human cost paid has been unbearably high. As we grieve the losses, the grief gives way to a rightful anger, to necessary questions that demand more than routine, banal answers. Helplessness and defeat is what we just cannot afford. Was it a siege, or a war, or a fullblown attack? The right words fail as we regroup somewhat to figure a response to this devastation. Were we equipped to deal with this brand of militarised and meditated violence? We laud the brave who laid down their lives, mourn the innocents who fell pray to vicious bullets and burns and also pick the right kind of holes, raising questions of where we may have slipped up, and possibly gone wrong. The most difficult question to answer is who was responsible. For those who have lost their own, the recovery of the dear one’s body, the performance of that last ritual is as critical as knowing who was responsible for the loss. Only then is the grieving and healing complete. It is when we fail, as a society and state, to provide the honest answers that the space for a vicious, in place of righteous, anger opens up. On the last count, close to 200 precious lives have been lost, over twice the number injured and the social and psychological costs too high to quantify. Since 1992-1993 when Mumbai, (Bombay then), was scarred irretrievably, segregation and unmarked borders have been drawn. We have had since, a dozen bomb attacks, one devastating flood and now this, our own brand of 26/11. Have we in years past, as tragedy after tragedy unfolded, asked, and asked relentlessly the right kind of questions? Or have we been satisfied in the comfort of a working city’s resilience to leave these uncomfortable issues well alone? For the honest answers to come, the questions must be fair, dictated by clean professionalism and reason. Our record in punishing the guilty, those guilty of terror and mass violence, inspires little confidence. Will 26/11 be Mumbai’s defining and differentiating moment? Saturday morning, 29/11 saw an unprecedented event. From Dadar’s Hindu colony to the Hindu crematorium near the sea shore, over 20,000 Mumbaikars, walked in silence to mourn the loss of Hemant Karkare, an IPS officer well loved and respected by his men for his courage and integrity. What made the mourning different, and special, was that a mixed sea of Mumbai’s citizens also joined in and mourned the loss. The silent grief of the mourners was barely broken by slogans and the dignity of the procession mocked the billboards of every political party, claiming the three police martyrs as its own! There is palpable anger against those among the political class who would like to use Mumbai’s 26/11 to fish for votes. There are also questions about the failure to respond to warning of our coast’s vulnerability, Maharashtra’s and Gujarat’s, the failure to check the easy passage of the boat carrying the men and their ammunition to Mumbai’s shores, the inefficient and non-transparent functioning of our institutions of intelligence and law and order. It is these questions, raised outside the framework of a nation and state going to elections (five states went to vote on 27/11 and 29/11, the country will vote in its next government in 2009 and Maharashtra too later in the same year) that need to be consistently raised. And answered. In 60 plus years of our independent existence as a nation, we have failed to implement Police Reforms recommended by multiple National Police Commissions (1981-1989) that have the backing of the most seasoned and senior among the force. Our central and state intelligence agencies govern without accountability and transparency to the public. Both these factors impinge on the critical question of the rule of law in general and specifically and critically impact when we are faced with terror attacks of the likes of 26/11. For Mumbai and India to know the truth behind who and what planned 26/11 we must allow transparent and independent investigations. The guilty, whoever they are, whatever their ideology, must be punished. Source-DNA............

Dear friends, I`m really angry from the core of my heart for indian media & all fellow boarders who r praising NSG (National Security Guards) commandos for their heroic efforts to save all the 3 Terrorist targets. As far as I know - There is no such agency in india named as National Security Guards (NSG). Yes there is an agency in india stationed at MANESAR in Haryana but IT`s name is - POLITICIAN SECURITY GUARDS (PSG) & not the NSG which all of u r posting wrongly. Puzzled sample this - TOTAL COMMANDOS OF PSG = 4500 No. of PSG Commandos deployed for their primary duty (i.e. provoding security to our politicians) = 3500 No. of Commandos made available by our politicians for such Terror attacks = 500 only No. of comandos made available by our politicians to use in case of Plane Hi Jack = 500 Now sample this list of Politicians who r employer of these 3500 commandos - 1. P. M. Manmohan Singh 2. Soniya Gandhi 3. Rahul Gandhi 4. Priyanka Gandhi with her family 5. Mayawati 6. L. K. Advani 7. Narendra Modi 8. Mulayam Singh Yadav 9. Tarun Gogoi (C.M. of ASSAM if some of u r unaware) 10. Rajnath Singh 11. M. Karunanidhi 12. Maninderjeet Singh Bitta There r 8 more names to this elite list of Super politcians, which I`m unable to produce. Now all of u people should decide Its the Commandos of PSG (Politicians Security Guards) or NSG who saved Mumbai from Terrorist. Disclaimer - Above data is sourced from a news channel so boarder community is advised to believe it on their own risk & I (ashalanshu) should not be held responsible if there r more than 20 policticians who r enjoying these commandos or total no. of coomandos employed for politicians security is more than 3500. Thanks Ashal ...

Dear freiends, I`m not sure how many of u r aware with the following. India should snap all sports & specially cricketing ties with Pakistan. Look in for greater details. In some recent developements, Pakistan Govt. had appointed Javed Miandad as the cheif of PCB. As a batsman all of us r well aware about him. BUT There is something more to javed Miandad which may be a matter of great concern for all indians. Here it is - Appx. 2 years ago - Javed`s Son was married with Daughter of Dawood Ibrahim. It`s the same Dawwod who is the most wanted criminal of India & also wanted for 15 years old wounds of AAMCHI MUMBAI - the bomb blasts of march - 1993. How can our Players visit pakistan in this situation? think & decide . Thanks Ashal...

Intelligence without systems : Our systems of governance, especially the way we find, staff and train positions within government are so broken that it would be wishful to believe that we can construct a rapid and robust response to terror in the way that some Western countries have done during the last decade. The first line of counter-attack against a terror strike, as we saw in Mumbai in first few hours of 26 November, was a weak, stretched, and unprepared local police force. Without systematic response mechanisms, intelligence can only be of limited value. Indeed, in the current case itself, 24 hours after the seige ended, the clearest evidence emerged that the Mumbai attacks could have been foiled by Indian security forces. ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the seige had reportedly already warned city hotels that an attack was likely - in part because intelligence reports had recorded a reconnaissance operation of the hotels to be targeted. Even though some security arrangements at the Oberoi and Taj had been tightened recently, one report in The Hindu revealed security was lifted on complaints of `inconveniences`. Mumbai Police have also been quoted as saying they were already stretched and did not have the specialised man-power to provide the security needed to hotels to defend against an attack. Here`s worse. RAW had reportedly intercepted a satellite phone call on 18 November indicating that planned movement along the sea route from Karachi to Mumbai. RAW had alerted the Indian Coast Guard and the Navy. And even as they mounted a search in the seas between Karachi and Mumbai, the terrorists, apparently noticing this, had hijacked an Indian fishing vessel, dumping their own boat. It isn`t clear why the failure to find the vessel did not result in Indian authorities assuming that terrorists could still have landed in on the coast. All of this indicates one thing. This siege and it`s protracted 60-hour battle was not the result of a substantial failure of intelligence itself. It is the failure of governmental-response to knowledge of threats and continuing evidence of a casual attitude within state-governments in the handling of threats. One law enforcement official has been quoted in the DNA, without being named, that there are no methods to grade and prioritise action on threat advisories received from intelligence agencies. And since local officials receive such advisories regularly, they do not have a way to determine which ones to act on. In India, most public systems tend to break down at the local level, even if `national` systems are relatively well-run by otherwise competent officials. The first line of counter-attack against a terror strike, as we saw in Mumbai in first few hours of 26 November, was a weak, stretched, and unprepared local police force. By the time the NSG landed, 10 hours of precious time had be lost. Central governments have not bothered to work with state governments to setup elite tactical squads that can be rapidly mounted and deployed to prevent attacks, especially with evidence of something imminent. In intelligence itself, there is more work to do. By the government`s own account, we need to improve our intelligence gathering and this is not one of those things that can be done in weeks. We need to develop technological sophistication to gather, understand, grade and manage mountains of data - an exercise that has barely begun in most state governments. Don`t forget that state governments, not the Centre, must carry much of the load for whatever is promised now. /TC/...

The much talked about spirit of Mumbai was on the fore once again, with the city displaying exceptional tolerance and courage while brave soldiers were busy battling the terrorists. The nightmare is now over. The terrorists are dead. And the anger and frustration the city was seething with has finally started to ooze out. While the city has been left to pick up the pieces, politicians, who laid low through the ordeal, have started hogging airtime once again. On Sunday, when the storm was finally over, residents of the city carried out a peace protest from Radio Club to Taj hotel, flaying the government and praising brave security personnel who fought the militants. `We would be happy had our politicians been the victims` read a placard, while another criticised the media for covering politicians visiting the Taj and giving speeches. `Why are you showing politicians coming to visit the Taj? Show us the real heroes, the commandos who saved lives`, it read. There were many other telling one-liners enough to shake the government and shame it enough to take concrete steps. Some of them read: `Don`t be divided by politicians`, `UN must take over Pakistan`, `Is a genuine bullet-proof jacket too much to ask for our brave policemen?`, `We are awake. When will our politicians wake up?`, `Who will act, people or the government?` There have also been a slew of SMSes doing rounds. While some are demanding MNS chief Raj Thackeray to come out and save the city, others say one should not worry about `those who have come through boat (terrorists), but about those who have come through vote`. One SMS read: `And now the president is visiting our Mumbai tomorrow to provide lip service. Do we want our brave cops to run behind these useless politicians or do we want them to focus on the investigations? We must stop all politicians from visiting Mumbai for their own political gains and hamper the investigations. Please join in to protest against such visits. Please convey this to all Mumbaikars.` Another stinging SMS read: `Please forward Raj Thackeray`s phone number. Don`t know where he is when you need him. We want him to go and save aamchi Mumbai along with his MNS goondas, the sons of the soil. Army, NSG commandos are not Marathi manoos. Why should they fight or lay their lives for Mumbaikars?` And not wanting to be left behind is supposedly the BJP, using the SMS as a tool to malign the Congress. `Enough is enough. The terrorists have not only attacked Mumbai but our national pride. India can no longer afford a weak government. Mehangi padi Congress.` Another SMS reveals the rage among the people, it says: `I don`t want to light a candle to bury my remembrance for those who have died. My heart is full of anger, resentment, pain and revenge. I see no victory. I see no reason to celebrate. I see no reason to hoist my national flag outside the Taj Hotel. Ten terrorists had the power to make the entire nation go crazy for 60 hrs.` The general public is angry. The politicians are gaining mileage. And the government is busy making promises of strict action against the perpetrators of terror. [India2day]...

India Demands Action From Pakistan MUMBAI, India -- India has formally demanded that Pakistan take "strong action" against the people behind the Mumbai attacks. Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash has told reporters Pakistan`s high commissioner to India was summoned and told that "elements from Pakistan" had carried out the attacks. India "expects that strong action would be taken against those elements," he says the high commissioner was told. The series of coordinated attacks on at least 10 sites across India`s financial capital left at least 172 people dead. Adding further pressure, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the civilized world must unite to fight terrorism and said the U.S. has told Pakistan it expects complete cooperation in connection with investigations into the attacks. Appearing at a news conference in London with British Foreign Secretary David Mililand, Ms. Rice said the perpetrators of attacks "must be brought to justice." She also said Pakistan`s response to the attacks will be a test of the will of the new civilian government. "What we are emphasizing to the Pakistani government is the need to follow the evidence wherever it leads," Ms. Rice said. "I don`t want to jump to any conclusions myself on this, but I do think that this is a time for complete, absolute, total transparency and cooperation and that`s what we expect." At President George Bush`s direction, Ms. Rice is cutting short a European trip to visit India later this week. Six Americans were among those killed in attacks. On Sunday, with corpses still being pulled from the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel, India named Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram Home Affairs minister, after Shivraj Patil stepped down from the job to take "moral responsibility" for not stopping the attacks. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will add the finance duties to his responsibilities. Nine of the 10 terrorists were killed, though police didn`t rule out the possibility others could be at large. The one captured, a 21-year-old Pakistani named Ajmal Qasab, told authorities he had ties to a Pakistani militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to a senior Mumbai police officer. That group, listed as terrorist by the U.S., has long fought an Islamic insurgency in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan. "Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the terrorist acts in the city," said Rakesh Maria, joint police commissioner, who added that Mr. Qasab told police the group had intended to hit more targets during their attacks. "The terrorists were from a hard-core group in the L-e-T" and had trained in one of its camps in Pakistan, Mr. Maria said, according to the Associated Press. A previously unknown group called Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility; it`s not clear what, if any, ties it might have to Lashkar-e-Taiba. A U.S. counterterrorism official also said signs pointed to Lashkar-e-Taiba. A U.S. team is in Mumbai to aid in the investigation. President George W. Bush asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to visit India this week in a show of solidarity. In a phone call Sunday to Indian Prime Minister Singh, Mr. Bush pledged to put full U.S. support behind the investigation. Pakistan`s government has condemned the attacks, and India has requested intelligence sharing to get to the bottom of them. Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani canceled an overseas trip to deal with the aftermath of the attacks, and plans a national-security conference on Tuesday to draw up a common strategy to deal with tension with India. Nonetheless, the apparent Lashkar-e-Taiba connection has aggravated tensions between the neighbors, which have fought three wars since independence in 1947 and now are both nuclear-armed. Pakistan backed off a pledge made Friday to send the chief of its Inter Services Intelligence agency to New Delhi. It now appears likely a lower-ranking ISI official will visit instead. Cont...... ...