<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Second Indo-Pak bus from J&K on June 20
PTI
New Delhi: <b>UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to flag off the second bus service between India and Pakistan on June 20. </b>The service will run between Poonch and Rawalkot at Chakan-da-Bagh in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Gandhi is expected to see off the first batch of 30 passengers leaving from Poonch and receive the same number of people from across the border on Tuesday, official sources said on Saturday.
The first bus service, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 7 2005.
Apart from the passengers, 15 residents of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), who had crossed over from âfoot pointsâ such as Mendhar and Poonch will go back on the bus, and 30 residents of Poonch will come back.
Initially scheduled to be launched on June 19, the bus service was postponed by a day to tie-up some âloose endsâ from both the sides, sources said.
The preparations on the Indian side of the Line of Control, which included de-mining of the area and construction of immigration-cum-customs office, have been completed.
The complex, coming up at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore on an acre of land, will have two arrival and departure lounges, banking facilities, X-ray room to screen baggage and other amenities for travellers.
The frequency of the bus service is initially planned to be fortnightly, and could be increased to weekly if the demand increases.
Located 45 km from the border town of Poonch, the border post has seen no vehicular traffic since the partition in 1947.
The area witnessed the bloodiest battle of Haji Peer in 1971 during the Indo-Pak war.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...661379.cms
<b>Dawood wife attends IIFA awards in Dubai</b>
S Balakrishnan
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The UAE government was a key organiser of the event and it had distributed about a thousand invitations. About 500 tickets were sold, while about 1,500 invitations were given by us to Bollywood members."
The Intelligence Bureau is trying to find out who extended the invitation to Mehzabeen and members of the Shakeel family. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Yadav releases RAW report</b>
[ Wednesday, June 21, 2006 12:58:48 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...665134.cms
NEW DELHI: <b>Pointing out that civil aviation minister had denied Jet chairman Naresh Goyal clearance because of the serious concerns raised by the home ministry, JD(U) chief and former civil aviation minister Sharad Yadav wondered "why is the security clearance being given" to the Jet chief now? </b>
He also released the report from the country's external intelligence agency, RAW, which the home ministry had cited to deny the clearance to Goyal.
In its letter to the home ministry, <b>RAW had referred to concerns expressed by investigating agencies about the "large dubious investments" by Gulf sheikhs, Mumbai underworld as well as smugglers in the airlines</b>.
Besides, the home ministry quoted RAW as saying that Goyal had enlisted the services of underworld dons to settle financial disputes.
<b>"Inputs further indicate intermittent contacts between Naresh Goyal and underworld dons Chhota Shakeel and Dawood Ibrahim to settle financial issues.
There is strong suspicion that part of Goyal's investments may have accrued through the assistance of underworld groups, prominently headed by Dawood and Chhota Shakeel," </b>RAW told the home ministry in 2001.
The letter dates back to the tenure of NDA government when the security concerns expressed by intelligence agencies about Goyal, particularly about the source of Jet Airways funds, entered the public realm. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14237517
<b>Indians among highest opium users: UN </b>
Wednesday, 28 June , 2006, 16:19
New Delhi: <b>Punjab has emerged as a major transit point for drugs coming in from Afghanistan to India, which has one of the highest numbers of opium users in the world, an UN report said.</b>
The supply of drugs, especially heroin, has increased in India in the recent years even though illicit opium cultivation has shown a decline, the 'World Drug Report' released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.
The availability and consumption of drugs have increased in Punjab in the recent years with cities like<b> Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Patiala </b>emerging as hotspots, it said.
The arrival of cocaine, a costly drug, in the country has also increased manifold with anti-narcotics sleuths recovering 200 kgs of the contraband so far this year as compared to 14 kgs seized in the last four years, the report said. The fashion of drug smuggling and supply in India is also changing rapidly, posing a major challenge to authorities and the primary focus now was to understand their fast-changing modus operandi, officials said.
"To grapple with the beast, you need to know its shape and form," said Gary Lewis, the South Asia representative of the UNODC after releasing the report on Tuesday.
Apart from the Punjab route, drugs reach India from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh through the southern and eastern states. According to the report, <b>India has 25 million drug users, which makes the country account for 1/10th of the problem drug users in the world</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Cocaine may be new status symbol in India</b> <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->That's clear on any given weekend at New Delhi's trendy clubs and bars â places with velvet ropes and steep cover charges â where drugs are readily on offer, and, occasionally, openly in use.
A twenty-something banker at an elite New Delhi country club says that when he lived in New York it was common to snort a line or two of cocaine. "Now I'm back here ... and so are a lot of other people," he said. "But we're still living like we did in New York."
He asked not to be named for fear of India's stiff anti-drug laws and "my mother-in-law."
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<b>Spies & security </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->7 July 2006: Rather predictably and unimaginatively, the CPI-M has called for reassessing Indo-US ties in the wake of the discovery of a spy ring in the National Security Council (NSC) secretariat. An American diplomat has suspiciously left the country, and one official and a former cyber security specialist in the NSC secretariat have been taken in. This is an extraordinary breach of security, which needs urgent corrective action, but the CPI-M line is unthinkable. The party, while it is at it, has also blamed the opening up to the US under the NDA, which again misses the picture.
................
As for the CPI-Mâs charge about openness during the NDA term, that borders on the ridiculous. You cannot engage in the great power game, have and pursue the ambition to sit at the high table of nations, by building and living in a fortress. That is like walling yourself up because rapists and murderers are walking the streets. The sensible thing is to take precautions, cover the risks, judge danger against fair weather, and get a life. Being a nuclear power, with an expanding economy pushing it to the league of top line states, the NDA could not have run a closed house. Criticism against a porous security establishment/ environment is valid, but to fiat against all foreign contacts is silly, counter-productive, and impossible to sustain. Effectively, the CPI-M does not know what it is about, or the criticism is pointsâ scoring, which is entirely avoidable.
................
The spying on India is not new, with a history of saleable Union cabinets, the job hasnât been too hard, and the spying is bound to grow as India paces ahead in power and prestige. Even as the intimacies grow, we have to secure ourselves more and more, there is no end to securing ourselves, that is an end in itself. Funnily, even our allies would feel secured by this, no one wants to deal with a leaky state, the classic example is how the Americans hated the Soviet-penetrated British intelligence during the Cold War<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Madhya Pradesh hub for Pak spies
Indo-Asian News Service
Bhopal, July 14, 2006
Abdul Sami was a Pakistani criminal trained in Karachi. He sneaked into India and lived in Madhya Pradesh like a local and spying on military establishments. Authorities say Madhya Pradesh is a haven for Pakistani spies.
Security and intelligence agencies have arrested more than one such Pakistani in Madhya Pradesh, and they say there is very much a pattern.
"Yes, Madhya Pradesh has become a safe haven for notorious criminals and terrorists due to lack of coordination among the police forces of different states," a Special Branch police officer said.
Abdul Sami was living in the Gandhi Nagar area of Bhopal when he was arrested. He had a driving licence, a ration card, a job as data entry operator at a foreign bank and his name was enrolled as an Indian voter - all that is needed to prove one's nationality.
But he proved to be a Pakistani national, spying for the notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Security officers say Sami's arrest underlines the deep penetration role played by Pakistani moles in India. It shows how easy it is to obtain Indian official documents -- for a price.
"ISI zeroed in on Sami, wanted for murder in Pakistan, promising to settle him in India if he agreed to do its bidding. It was an offer Abdul couldn't resist," a senior officer said. "Trained from May 2003 at a Karachi safe house, Sami was launched in India through Dhaka."
Within days Abdul settled down. He found an elderly man, Abdul Salam, and for a handsome amount convinced him to adopt him as his son. Within a month he had the ration card and driving licence, issued by the regional transport office here.
"ISI gave me computer lessons besides teaching me the tricks of the trade," Sami told his interrogators.
Sami was to get married to a local girl May 25 but was arrested three days earlier while sending secret information about the Indian Army to Pakistan via e-mail from an Internet cafe.
"Sami is not an exception," an intelligence official said.
Three days after he was arrested, police in Jabalpur town caught another Pakistani, Ejad-ul-Hassan alias Imran. He too was a Pakistan spy launched from Bangladesh.
The police and the military intelligence raided a photocopy centre in the cantonment area in Jabalpur and recovered several classified documents and maps, related to army training and an ordnance factory.
Nearly 20 "secret books" were also seized.
Fareed Ahmad, arrested in April 2002, was an assistant research officer at an atomic research institute in Islamabad and had lived in Bhopal for five years. He came to Bhopal in 1991 on a 90-day visa and then on a 45-day visa six years later but stayed on.
During his illegal stay, Fareed, then 46, worked as a Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) office secretary and took part in its national convention in Delhi. He was also from Karachi.
The police had another shock when it came to know of a retired soldier of Katni district in Madhya Pradesh who recruited spies to work for ISI.
This ex-soldier confessed having visited Dhaka several times, with help from one Abdul Qasim, to obtain special training in spying.
Four others, including two each from Katni and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, were then arrested. Qasim, who operated under the code name `Aman', was posted at the Pakistani embassy in Dhaka.
Another ISI agent, Aquib, who was arrested in New Delhi, had also stayed in Bhopal and Indore on several occasions.
"I was given the task of making contacts in this region besides establishing a headquarters as well," Aquib told Indian officials.
Aquib lived for several months at Shamla Hills, an area where the Madhya Pradesh chief minister resides.
"There are remote chances of a Mumbai like carnage in Madhya Pradesh because here they (spies and terrorists) get shelter," an Intelligence Bureau officer said. "The state has become an abode of such people, known as sleeper cells."
Police sources complain about lack of coordination among the police forces of different states.
"Information about criminals and terrorists are not shared promptly by other states," the Special Branch officer said, adding this had been brought to the notice of the director general of police.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_174...00900010009.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Indiaâs troubles with Islam and the West
By Gautam Sen
Published 06/27/2006
Indiaâs troubles with Islam and the West
A clash of civilisations was predicted by V. S. Naipaul and later given some sort of quasi academic respectability by Harvardâs Samuel Huntingdon. Some Indians were exercised by this new intellectual oeuvre, either hating it or self-satisfyingly sensing confirmation of their supposed superior understanding of Islam. But Naipaul was clearly on to something. Even hard-nosed Western bankers pronounced him a prophet when his casual observations about an impending crisis in Southeast Asia came to pass suddenly in 1997, halting its ostensibly irresistible economic advance.
Yet Naipaul has remained without honour in the land of his own forebears. The greatest Indian of letters since Rabindranath Tagore has been treated with arrogant short-sightedness by Indiaâs politicians, who unfailingly take refuge in low cunning. Instead of bringing honour upon themselves by honouring him they played shamelessly to the Islamic gallery which dislikes Naipualâs unsparing scrutiny intensely. Of course, there was the crass envy of Indiaâs legion third-rate writers and journalists at the international esteem Naipaul enjoys, coupled with unbridled ignorance of his magnificent literary opus.
Much of Indiaâs social science scholarship is basically crassly imitative, with virtually nothing worthy of note originating in India. I was once impressed by a piece of Marxist writing by a leading ex-JNU academic, now prospering abroad as a human rights entrepreneur (usually tending to become defence of men with bombs strapped to their waists) only to accidentally discover that the key concept in it was lifted, without any acknowledgement whatsoever, from a standard 1976 text by colleague of mine at the LSE. Yet another idea that produced a massive award-winning tome by an Indian writer derived its presiding insight from an obscure piece of writing by a German scholar, also unacknowledged.
Many of these people pontificate darkly about Naipaulâs alleged attempt to justify white colonialism, an accusation first spawned by the New York academic, the late Edward Said. Saidâs reputation subsequently faltered after taking a robust beating from the formidable late Professor Ernest Gellner, who damned him irretrievably with faint praise as ânot all that badâ! But it is the opinions of Indiaâs great patriots and ghastly bureaucratic entrepreneurs that incubate the maximum claptrap when it comes to Islam.
<b>
After 2001 they got it into their heads that India must insinuate itself in the impending Western onslaught against the scourge of Islamic terror or indeed Islam itself. As an aside, it might be noted that such an onslaught was always likely be perceived by the faithful as an assault on them all since they intermingle in a seamless web. Ties of tribal loyalty and multifarious bonds of marriage and commensality override all the media contortions about divisions between moderates and suicide bombers.</b> Every suicide bombers begins as a moderate and both traverse the same rocky path of rage and more rage. Historically, the religion of peace has chronically embraced violence and contemporary denunciations by some of the faithful are mere public relations. Discreetly taped proceedings of many mosques around the world dissolve all such propaganda in a chorus of approval for the suicide bombings of âshahidsâ, with mothers of teenagers urging surviving sons to follow the lead of their deceased brothers.
But neither Indian group, the purveyors of second-hand, imported Leftist âthinkingâ of mass murderers (Lenin, Stalin, Mao, et. al.) and the retailers of mindless patriotic imbecilities, is capable of independent thinking. One is congenitally slave to imported ideas to escape local contamination (i.e. of Hindu provenance) no matter how improbable its relevance to India. The super-patriots on the other hand have dispensed with thinking altogether, taking refuge in slokas, which have become a substitute for applying intelligence. Slokas pertain to social contexts and articulate generalities that cannot be taken literally, but they have turned into a curse for Hindus. They apparently absolve one from engaging in any critical reflection! As a result, India is hostage to nonsense that would have befuddled both Lewis Carroll and Sukumar Ray, one of the few Indians who astutely grasped that mockery and parody were the most appropriate means for interpreting Indian society.
India has foolishly decided to globalise its particular Islamic problem, which remains fundamentally unique. The West is confronted by an Islamic problem that dates back to the 8th century and their civilisations are indeed involved in a world-historical dispute. But it does not follow they are going to help India with its contemporary difficulties with Islam. On the contrary, they are now merely using India to prosecute their own war with Islam. The current disputes go back to the post-FWW settlement in the Middle East, when the Western powers divided up the post-Ottoman Arab world, the establishment of Israel and the Westâs insatiable thirst for oil.
Indiaâs fate did not figure in any of these issues, except to elevate the importance of post-partition Pakistan because of its proximate geographical location to the Middle East. And Pakistanâs Punjabi military elites decided with alacrity to take advantage of the situation by becoming an American colony during the Cold war to ensure their domestic primacy. Indiaâs views of both Islam and West thus reflect what amounts to attention deficit disorder and an immense weakness for shortcuts while the wider world gives a damn about its dire predicament.
The West, which is only wooing Indiaâs because of anxiety about China, has behaved abominably towards Muslims. It has been robbing Arabs for several generations and also imposed various brutal dictators on Arabs to exercise political control over them. The super-patriotic among Indians may consider this a source a satisfaction because Turks, Iranians and Arabs (in that order of precedence) once oppressed Hindu grievously, but it ought not to cloud their judgement. Indiaâs problem, in the first instance, is with Pakistani military dictators though Islam remains the backdrop that allows the dictators to use diplomatic rivalry with India to justify their own ruthless perpetuation at home.
Short of refusing to eat pork meat and beating their women in the prescribed manner there is nothing Islamic about this category of Pakistani low-life. And as it happens, Indians have no major contemporary disputes with the Arabs except that that the execrable potentates, who illegally rule over them, bankroll and support Indiaâs Pakistani tormentors. Of course Palestinians have also helped Pakistani terrorists murder Indian civilians though Indiaâs leftists would liquidate the Indian Union itself in extending support to them.
A grave error of judgement has therefore been made in inferring that joining the Westâs crusade against Islam would somehow benefit India. Islam and the West richly deserve each other and both have, one should always remember, jointly tormented India since independence in 1947. The US allowed China to develop Pakistanâs nuclear arsenal during the 1980s since both were crucial allies against the Soviet Union. The US continues to warn India not to retaliate against Pakistani state-sponsored terror. But different groups of Indians are oscillating slavishly between Islam and the West, the first due to base electoral calculations because Muslim constituents determine their political survival, the other transfixed by green cards. Indiaâs strategy should have been to gleefully (er, mournfully!) observe their sworn enemies fight each other to death, cynically take advantage of the situation and, most of all, advance domestic economic transformation to become altogether independent of both.
The British media continue to treat the Indian government and terrorists on par in their reporting of the conflict in J&K. Recently, they loftily announced that the 35 Hindus murdered by Muslims terrorists could just as well have been killed by Indiaâs intelligence services. Even after 9/11 and 7/7 treating Hindus fairly is unthinkable. This is why India should quietly sign the Indo-US accord, say as little as possible about Iran and keep a firm focus on the domestic economy. They should also think carefully about how to help the Pakistani military implode, a subject that requires some systematic investigation (any takers to fund this venture??). Joining the West against Islam is folly. Instead India should deal ruthlessly with its local problem, originating exclusively in Pakistan. Thus merely watching the rest of the worldâs travails with Islam from the sidelines is Indiaâs best bet, as the Chinese are doing (while they crush their local Islamic militancy without ceremony or mercy). All good things come to those who wait!
Dr. Gautam Sen
PM rules out bringing back POTA to deal with terror
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said the government had macro-level information about a terrorist attack but nothing specific that commuter trains in Mumbai would be targeted.
He also seemed to rule out bringing back the tough POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Activities) law to deal with terrorists but admitted there was need to upgrade intelligence gathering and strengthening disaster management capabilities.
"It is far from true that POTA is the only means to deal with terrorists. There are many other ways. We will strengthen our intelligence gathering ability and we will look at the security apparatus, both at the central and state levels to do that," Singh told reporters on board the special aircraft taking him to St Petersburg Russia for the G-8 summit.
Manmohan Singh said terrorist acts had taken place even when POTA was in place. The law was repealed in one of the first acts of the Manmohan Singh government in 2004 because of widespread criticism from civil liberties and human rights groups of its misuse and it being used to target minorities.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_174...01302390000.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->HSBC fraud reveals new terror tactics
Saturday, July 15, 2006 (Bangalore):
The recently discovered HSBC BPO fraud case might in fact have been a test case conducted by terrorist agencies.
An employee in Bangalore gave confidential data about customers which resulted in the theft of large sums of money.
The results of the brain mapping and polygraph tests conducted on the man arrested in this case - Nadeem Hamid Kashmiri - indicate that he did have links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Kashmiri is accused of data theft and allegedly transferred Rs 1.8 crore. The fraud in Bangalore could well be another way in which terrorists attempt to wage war against the Indian state.
"Financial terrorism is coming to the fore. Terrorist groups are trying to target banking and financial institutions.
"It could be a probing mission by inducting somebody and trying to see how secure are the systems and the methods of recruitment in the banks," said S Mahapatra, IGP, Economic Offences, COD.
Nadeem Kashmiri is likely to undergo narcoanalysis on the July 21, and investigators hope during this process he will reveal more names of those involved.
http://www.sulekha.com/news/nhc.aspx?cid=454352<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.sulekha.com/news/newsitem.aspx?cid=454637
<b>Man in the muddle </b>
In the backdrop of the Indian state showing its soft underbelly to terrorists of every description, BIBHUTI BHUSAN NANDY argues that the responsibility for the mess lies squarely with the national security advisor
Long before MK Narayanan would even have dreamt of becoming the countryâs national security advisor, an eyewitness gave a graphic description of how the then Intelligence Bureau sleuth had felicitated Makhan Lal Fotedar on the latter becoming a Cabinet minister. Stooping his frame in craven genuflection, Narayanan reportedly offered the minister a big bouquet, saying with flourish: âCongratulations from your most obedient servant, sir.â Now this, many may argue, is nothing more than the âcourtesyâ afforded by a bureaucrat to his political master. But is it not a fact that the top positions in the intelligence apparatus are often gained on strength of being close to one politician or the other?
Narayananâs rise to the top of Indian Intelligence was during the Rajiv Gandhi regime. Though VP Singh unceremoniously removed him from the Intelligence Bureau and banished him to the relative obscurity of the Joint Intelligence Committee, he swung back to his former high-profile position as soon as Chandrasekhar was enthroned with the support of the Congress.
During Narayananâs second term as the countryâs intelligence czar, LTTE suicide bombers assassinated Rajiv Gandhi on Indian soil when he was on a comeback trail. The Verma Commission that probed the Rajiv assassination lambasted Narayanan for the failure of the IB to protect the former Prime Minister. Justice Verma said: âIn view of the continuing high threat to Rajiv Gandhi even on his ceasing to be the Prime Minister, the decision of the Central government on 30.1.90 to withdraw the Special Protection Group cover to him without provision of a suitable alternative for his proximate security and the subsequent withdrawal of the SPG cover reducing the level of his protection without any reduction in the level of threat to him was contrary to the Central governmentâs own earlier decision as well as his security requirement and was unjustified<b>.â Justice Verma held the IB squarely responsible for the failure to disseminate information on the threat perception regarding Rajiv Gandhi to the Tamil Nadu state government</b>.
So much for Narayananâs judgement and capability as an intelligence professional and concern for the security of the Prime Minister he had served! It is widely believed in New Delhiâs intelligence and higher bureaucratic circles that the UPA government appointed MK Narayanan first as senior advisor to the Prime Minister and then, after the passing away of JN Dixit, as the national security advisor, reportedly following the wishes of 10 Janpath. It will forever remain a mystery to many how in the face of Justice Vermaâs damning findings he, of all persons, could be the choice of the Nehru-Gandhi family. <b>In fact, the inquiry commission recommended departmental proceedings against Narayanan, but no action could be taken as he had already retired from service</b>.
Even as the CBI was grappling with the sensational war-room leak investigation, a recent espionage scandal allegedly involving the communication systems manager in the office of the national security advisor, a former computer scientist in the Navy and an Army brigadier serving in the RA&W has stunned the country. It has exposed the extreme vulnerability of our national security system and personnel.
Coming in the wake of this shattering espionage blow, the devastating 7/11 serial bombing of suburban trains in Mumbai has compounded the insecurity of the Indian state and people. And MK Narayanan is at the helm. The defection of the R&AW joint secretary Ravinder Singh to a foreign intelligence agency had left no one in doubt about the depth and dimensions of foreign intelligence penetration of the country, most notably its intelligence and security systems. Narayananâs primary task ought to have been to clean the Augean Stables, ruthlessly hunt down the other moles in the organisation, fix responsibility and take all necessary corrective measures, not to mention effective legal steps to put an end to the plunder of national secrets once and for all.
<b>At the end of two years of labour, all that he has to show is that a mole working for a foreign intelligence agency in a sensitive post in his own office is suspected to have stolen its entire database and passed them on with the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of all officers of the NSC including that of the NSA to his case officer</b>. To give the devil its due, the IB top brass including the officer handling the case wanted a proper investigation into the exact nature and extent of the damage caused, but for reasons best known to Narayanan, they were reined in.Â
The espionage scandal in the NSC involving its contractually appointed systems manager is reminiscent of the foreign intelligence infiltration of the Prime Ministerâs Office in the mid-1980s when PC Alexander was the principal secretary to Rajiv Gandhi. But this time over, it has been much more damaging. The terrorist bombings in Mumbai, in the backdrop of the past few yearsâ devastating attacks on targets in Jammu and Kashmir, Coimbatore, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Varanasi, and earlier the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar and the Pakistani offensive in Kargil, have proved once again that ours is a soft state; <b>our intelligence organisations are simply no match for the security challenge facing the country. </b>
The secret services are, of course, responsible for the repeated intelligence failures; but the government cannot shrug off its share of the blame. The post-Kargil intelligence reforms carried out by the NDA government on the advice of a high-powered committee headed by the former R&AW chief and J&K Governor GC Saxena and comprising among others MK Narayanan as a member have not been enough.<b> By appointing the ruling partyâs blue-eyed boys to important national security slots, the UPA government has hampered much-needed reforms</b>. The appointment of an academic by the present government soon after it came to power in May 2004 as a member of the Advisory Board of the National Security Council is a case in point. Both IB and R&AW field formations had reported his prejudicial contacts and activities including clandestine interactions with a foreign intelligence office to their respective headquarters. There was a lot of frustration in intelligence circles that despite adverse reports on the man he was appointed to the National Security Advisory Board. There has been no let up in his prejudicial activities in the past two years. Within weeks of Narayanan taking over as the special advisor to the Prime Minister in 2004, this writer called on him in his South Block office by prior appointment and briefed him on what appeared to be an academicâs undesirable activities. I asked him if people proposed for appointment in the National Security Advisory Board were security-vetted. Narayanan replied: âPossibly notâ. He, however, noted down the name, address and other details of the man, saying he would do the needful. Nearly two years have since elapsed, but the academic continues undisturbed.
An IPS officer of the 1955 batch, Narayanan joined the IB as an earmarked recruit soon after completing his institutional and district training. He spent his whole career in the safe sanctuary of IB headquarters dealing solely with Communism. Except for a couple of years spent in the SIB, Chennai, he had no direct exposure to the challenge of the socio-political and socio-religious dynamics of the 1970s and 1980s which have produced many of our present-day security problems. Having no experience whatsoever in practical police working, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism and the intricacies of international relations,<b> except for some post-retirement lecture trips to the USA, Narayanan is ill-equipped to meet the demands of the office of national security advisor. Unsurprisingly, the countryâs security has taken a beating in his hand</b>.
(The author is a former Additional Secretary, Research and Analysis Wing.)Â
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<b>Jaswant spills secret on PMO spy </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi, July 20: Former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh has alleged that someone in the PMO during P V Narasimha Rao-led Congress government had been leaking nuclear secrets to the US and âwe are still being snoopedâ.
The leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said he had come to know about it a decade ago but remained quiet so far as he did not want to sensationalise the issue.
"Yes, there was a person in the PMO. I have evidence, a letter which gives graphic details," Singh told a news magazine when asked to elaborate on his contention that there was a mole in the PMO of the previous Congress government.
Without naming anybody, the BJP leader claimed that "somebody in the PMO was giving information about India's nuclear programme to the US. It was during the previous Congress regime..."
.........................
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->timesofindia.indiatimes.c...789068.cms
<b>Lashkar cadre in Indian Air Force?</b>
[ 21 Jul, 2006 1550hrs ISTINDIATIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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NEW DELHI: Celluloid nightmares may be becoming reality. <b>A letter written by National Security Advisor MK Narayanan to all state chief ministers has hinted at the possible infiltration of the Indian Air Force by Lashkar-e-Toiba cadre.</b>
An expose by the Times Group television channel Times Now revealed on Friday that the NSA's letter dated November 30 last year had drawn the CMs' attention to the possibility that two Lashkar-e-Toiba cadre had infiltrated the IAF.
The letter is based on a 40-page national security report from the National Security Council Secretariat. Times Now has a copy of Narayanan's letter and has been repeatedly showing it on television since noon on Friday.
Times Now quoted an IAF spokesman as saying that the force conducted minute verifications to ensure there were no infiltrations.
The country is still shaken at the audacity and meticulous planning of the Mumbai blasts last week and the possibility of the armed forces being infiltrated will only add to the fear that terrorist groups are successfully spreading their tentacles through the nation's core.
<b>Reacting swiftly, former Defence Minister George Fernandes has already demanded the resignation of Narayanan.</b> The BJP, meanwhile, has asked the UPA government to change its mindset on terror given the aggressiveness of the terrorist groups and to reassure the nation through a detailed statement on the issue.
<b>Senior party leader Arun Jaitley pointed out that "the armed forces is the last bastion of Indian security" and the revelation should not just "wake up, but shake up this government". </b>
The main Opposition party has repeatedly attacked the Manmohan Singh government for being "soft on terrorâ. The bone of contention is the Prevention of Terrorism Act that the BJP-led NDA had pushed through in its reign, but which the Congress and its allies are completely opposed to as a "draconian law." <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Bomb found in Bangalore city bus </b>
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...787444.cms
<b>Police foil terrorist attack on Coimbatore </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Coimbatore Police in Tamil Nadu claim to have foiled a plan for a series of explosions across the textile city.
The police action comes just a few days after the Home Ministry's alert on possible terrorist strikes.
Following a tip off, Coimbatore police confiscated improvised explosive devices including thirty kilogram of gun powder, detonators, batteries and a country bomb.
They've also arrested<b> five men belonging to Manitha Needhi Pasarai, an Islamic organisation</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Sikhs demand release of TADA prisoners in Punjab</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In their memorandum to the minister, they requested release of Sikhs jailed under TADA during the unrest in Punjab and the annulment of the Sikh entries from the blacklist.
Also, they demanded that the blacklisted Sikhs be allowed to travel to their birth places in India.
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They should allow them to meet people in 10 Janpath. <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>There can be no truce with terror: Gill</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Q. So whom do you hold responsible - the police, the intelligence, or the government?</b>
A. It has to be the government. After all, it is the government which runs the intelligence and the police forces. But that doesn't leave the police and intelligence unblemished. They have to have their own R&D unit. They have to understand that what's going to work in Rajasthan will not work in Chhattisgarh
<b>Q. There were inputs by our National Security Adviser MK Narayanan that LeT men have joined the Indian Air Force. How grave could be the implications?</b>
A. I am surprised and shocked by the IAF's denial. I have always suspected that MiG failures are not just accidents. There is more to itâ¦There should be a proper investigation into this and IAF's denial is not a healthy sign.
Attempts to infiltrate will always be there and there will be successes also. ISRO (Indian Space and Research Organisation) was once in the agenda of Naxalites.
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''We were rulers here for 800 years. Inshaallah, we shall return to power here once again''---Shahi Imam Bukhari speech in a mosque after Mumbai Blast
Checkout this link
http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/...718/394446.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>US embassy Delhi, INDIA, put on terror alert</b>Â timesofindia.indiatimes.c...802891.cms
NEW DELHI: The next few days are likely to be very tense for the US embassy here. For a top IB official has sent a letter to security agencies with a chilling message the American embassy is expected to be targetted any time between now and July 30 by terrorists owing allegiance to an Iranian terror group.
This intelligence input has already sent security agencies scampering to plug real or imagined weaknesses in the security ring around the mission. Sources revealed on Monday that the input was received early last week and has been circulated among all security agencies in Delhi, including the police and paramilitary forces.
"The US embassy has been on an extremely high state of alert and things will remain the same for the next few days. The input has even identified one of the men likely to participate in the attack and efforts are on to establish his presence," said a source.
According to the report, the attack is likely to be carried out by a group of 20 terrorists, some of whom have been part of terror attacks in other parts of the world. This group is headed by a terrorist named Jawad Shah Shanas.
<b>The report also says that these 20 men are of Iranian, Afghan and Kashmiri descent and have been in Delhi since June. They are armed with sophisticated weapons and could cause major damage.</b>
<b>"The threat is that they would launch an all-out assault in the nature of a 'fidayeen' attack. The security review was done in keeping with this possibility," </b>said the official. According to the input,<b> the Iranians in the group of 20 are associated with a Iran terror group comprising terrorists who earlier backed Saddam Hussein.</b>
<b>The alert has also left many wondering if international terrorist groups are trying to join hands with Kashmir terror groups. The letter specifically mentions that people of Kashmiri descent are expected to help the Iranians and Afghans carry out the attack</b>.
This is the first real threat input for the US embassy since the closure of some of embassy offices in August last year because of security concerns. It was then said that some al-Qaida militants arrested in Pakistan had revealed that the US embassy in India was likely to be targeted soon. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If they these people are in Delhi, Why they are unable to catch them?
Where is IB ?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>UPA special drive aids infiltration in Army: BJP </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The BJP on Wednesday accused the <b>UPA Government of enabling jihadi infiltration in the armed forces by carrying out what it called a 'special recruitment drive for minorities'.</b>
Party's Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra charged the Government with lifting surveillance on madarsas suspected of holding jihadi classes.
<b>"There have been reports of LeT's infiltration into the Air Force and terrorists joining the Army. These things have happened because the Government has given a go-ahead to jehadis to join the armed forces by allowing recruitment drive for minorities in military,"</b> Malhotra told media persons.
Malhotra alleged that Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal himself has spoken about such a drive.
The BJP leader also flayed Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil for his "clean chit" to madarsas, alleging such a move was aimed at lifting surveillance on Islamic schools suspected of carrying out anti-India activities.
<b>"There is no surveillance in madarsas along Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh borders today, which is a matter of serious concern,"</b> he said.
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<b>150,000 foreigners disappeared between 2003 and 2006 </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Â
New Delhi, July 27: Over 1,50,000 foreign nationals disappeared after coming to India between 2003 and 2006, Rajya Sabha was informed yesterday.
Of the total 1,50,130 disappearing foreigners, as many as <b>72,415 were Bangladeshis and 34,767 belonged to Afghanistan, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said in a written reply</b>.
A total of<b> 21,389 Pakistanis </b>were the third largest group of disappearing foreigners, he said.
In Madhya Pradesh, 1407 Pak nationals disappeared during the same period.
With the efforts put in by various agencies, 10,829 Bangladeshis, 371 Pakistanis, 94 Afghans, seven Sudanese and two Yeman nationals were intercepted and deported from the country during 2005, Jaiswal said <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
These people came with visa. What about those who came without visa?
<b>Security breach at Prime Minister's house</b>
All three were drunk. They are throwing flying kisses to camera men standing outside. Delhi was in red alert when this happened. As usual cops were napping or they think 10 Janapth is more important than 7 Race Course residence. <!--emo& --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
added later:
<b>Drunk girls wanted to meet PM</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi, July 27: It is exactly 9 pm on Thursday. All top ministers including Home Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister along with the three chiefs of staff have gathered at the Prime Minister's residence â 7, Race Course Road in Lutyens Delhi. The agenda is the meetings on CCEA (Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs) and CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) - to review security in the country after the Mumbai blasts. And ironically, it is PM's security which is breached while the top guns in the country are reviewing the country's security........
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