Leadership lapses marred response to Mumbai terror attack

Top police officials under fire for errors of judgment

MUMBAI:

Errors of judgment and top-level leadership lapses marred the Mumbai police’s management of the first, critical hours of last month’s Lahskar-e-Taiba attack — errors that are now driving calls from for a full review of the force’s crisis response system.
Mumbai’s top police officials, highly placed government sources said, failed to take charge of the Police Control Room, the nerve centre of the city police’s overall command structure. Nor did they use the force’s wireless system to rally their men demoralised by the loss of several of officers, notably the heroic joint commissioner of police and chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad, Hemant Karkare. Instead, one top official chose to station himself and two aides inside a bullet-proof vehicle parked at the National Centre for the Performing Arts Building near the Oberoi Hotel, thus cutting himself off from the broad flow of operations.
Coordination at the Police Control Room fell to a committee of three joint commissioners of police — Crime Branch chief Rakesh Maria, his Law and Order counterpart, K.L. Prasad, and Administration head Bhagwantrao More. Without authority over subordinates outside their own chain of command, the control room team achieved little. Mumbai’s police failed to initiate a thoroughgoing lockdown of major roads, to block the potential movement of the terrorist groups. Nor were teams of police personnel dispatched to other potential targets. Worst of all, police and Special Reserve Police personnel stationed in the suburbs were not rushed to reinforce the small, ill-armed groups engaged in the early fighting.

Pakistan ready to ban Jamat-ud-Dawah :Yousuf Raza Gilani

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani confirmed on Wednesday that Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander who Indian investigators suspect to be the mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks, had been taken into custody in a crackdown on the group.He also hinted that Pakistan is prepared to impose a ban on the LeT front Jamat-ud-Dawah and take action against the founder-leader of both, Hafiz Saeed, if it was designated as a terror group by the United Nations Security Council.
In addition, he confirmed that Zarar Shah, named in a New York Times report as a communications expert of the LeT and a “central character” in the plot, and a possible “liaison” between the group and the Inter-Services Intelligence, was also in custody.
Speaking to reporters in his hometown Multan, Mr. Gilani, however, said he did not know about the reported action against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar. A Pakistani newspaper had said authorities had “confined” Azhar to his home in Bahawalpur which, like Multan, is in southern Punjab province.
“About the other two [Lakhvi and Shah], yes. We are investigating them,” Mr. Gilani said, in reply to a question about all three. “As far as Maulana Masood Azhar is concerned, I have not received any report about him.”
The Prime Minister said if India provided evidence of any Pakistani’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks, action would be taken against that person or persons in accordance with Pakistani law.
“If the Indian government provides evidence, we will take action; we have already started taking action on our own, and that is a good message for our neighbour country and for the whole world that Pakistan is a responsible nation and is taking action on its own,” he said.
He denied the actions were being taken under pressure from India and the U.S. Mr. Gilani declined to answer a question about the Indian allegation that all attackers were Pakistanis, and said he would wait until full investigations had been conducted.
Asked about the possibility of a ban on the Jamat-ud-Dawah in case the U.N. Security Council designates it as a terrorist group (Pakistan’s permanent representative to the U.N has said this could be considered) Mr. Gilani said the world did not differentiate between the JuD and the LeT. “Lashkar-e-Taiba is a banned organisation. If the office-bearers of [the LeT] become part of a new group, then tell me what should we call such an organisation. They are not making a differentiation between the [LeT and the JuD]. They are considered one and the same.”

“U.S. verifying reports”

Warning of “unintended consequences” if Pakistan did not act against the “non-state actors” who used its territory to stage attacks in Mumbai, the U.S. on Wednesday said it was “working hard” to verify what Islamabad was actually doing against such elements.
“... I think we have to be concerned because it’s obviously a time of great outrage in India. And what I emphasised was that this was a threat to both Pakistan and India, these terrorists,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview to the National Public Radio.

Mumbai attacks similar to 1993 New York

The meticulous planning and execution of the Mumbai terror attack, which has left the country's security agencies scurrying for cover, might not be as original as it is presumed to be, because of its eerie resemblance to the 1993 New York Landmarks Plot, hatched by Al-Qaeda.

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When compared to an Osama bin Laden's then-relatively new terror group's plot to target prominent hotels and landmarks in Manhattan that was uncovered 15 years ago, the audacious last week's attack looks like a re-play of the same. According to US-based private Intelligence company, Stratfor, in July 1993, US counter-terrorism agents had arrested eight individuals later convicted of plotting an elaborate, multi-stage attack on key sites in Manhattan. 'The militants, who were linked to Osama bin Laden's then-relatively new group al Qaeda, planned to storm the island armed with automatic rifles, grenades and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In multiple raids on key targets combined with diversionary attacks, they aimed to kill as many people as possible,' the firm's latest report on Mumbai terror attack said. The planned attack, which came to be known as the Landmarks Plot, called for several tactical teams to raid sites such as the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Regis and UN Plaza hotels, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels and a midtown Manhattan waterfront heliport servicing business executives and VIPs travelling from lower Manhattan to various New York-area airports. The militants carried out extensive surveillance both inside and outside the target hotels using human probes, hand-drawn maps and video surveillance. Detailed notes were taken on the layout and design of the buildings, it stairwells, ballrooms, security cameras and personnel all reconnoitered,' the report said. It said the attackers intended to infiltrate the hotels and disguise themselves as kitchen employees. 'One attack team planned to use stolen delivery vans to get close to the hotels, at which point heavily armed, small-cell commando teams would deploy from the rear of the van. Stationary operatives would use hand grenades to create diversions while attack teams would rake hotel guests with automatic weapons. The attackers planned to carry gas masks and use tear gas in hotel ballrooms to gain an advantage over any security they might come up against. They planned to attack at night, when the level of protection would be lower, it said. The targeted hotels, the report said, hosted some of the most prestigious guests in Manhattan, like in the case of the hotels targeted in Mumbai. 'These could have included diplomats like the US Ambassador to the United Nations, who traditionally keeps an apartment in the Waldorf-Astoria, or even the US Secretary of State, who is known to stay at the Waldorf during UN Sessions. They also host various business leaders. If successful, the attackers doubtless would have killed many high-profile individuals key to New York's stature as a center for financial and diplomatic dealings, it said. Stratfor said at the time, US counter-terrorism officials deemed that the attack would have had a 90 per cent success rate. Disaster, then, was averted when federal agents captured the plotters planning the Landmarks attack, thanks to an informant who had infiltrated the group, it said. The intelligence firm said that Mumbai terror attacks closely followed the script of the New York plot. 'The similarities between the Landmarks plot and the November 26 Mumbai attacks are quite obvious. In symbolic terms, as the Mumbai attacks unfolded, many onlookers said that an attack on Mumbai is to India what an attack on New York is to Americans. 'In more concrete terms, the targets, methods, weapons and geography involved were similar (if not identical), and the unconventional style of the attacks points to a common author,' it said. Outlining that Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are known to return to past targets and plot scenarios, the private intelligence company says that the Mumbai attack had al Qaeda brand written over it. The country's counter-terrorism forces had then detained Landmarks plot mastermind Ramzi Yousef in 1995, who remains in US federal prison. Listing out the similarities in the method and targets and surveillance carried out in both New York plot and Mumbai terror attacks, Stratfor said the similarities suggested that Ramzi Yousef and other early al Qaeda operatives who helped prepare the Landmarks plot in New York authored the Mumbai plan. 'Considering that the militants launched their original attack from Karachi, Pakistan, and the previous involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, which has connections with al Qaeda leaders in western Pakistan, it is very likely that al Qaeda in Pakistan at least provided the blueprints for this attack. It also added, 'Ultimately, the biggest difference between the Landmarks plot and the Mumbai attacks is that the Mumbai attacks succeeded. The failure of the Landmarks plot probably provided key lessons to the planners of the Mumbai attacks, who were able to carry out the stages of the attack without detection and with the full element of surprise.'

‘Army not mobilising troops on border’

New Delhi:

The Army is not mobilising troops on the border with Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai terror strikes, a senior Army official said on Sunday, scotching speculation in this regard.
“We have not received any orders from the government for moving our troops to the borders and there will be no [2002] Operation Parakram-like mobilisation,” the official told PTI here.
After the Parliament attack in December 2002, India had mobilised troops on the western front creating an eyeball-to-eyeball situation for 11 months but no war was fought.
The official also said the border ceasefire was well in place.

As siege ends, Mumbai mourns its dead

A commando shows the victory sign from a window of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai on Saturday morning, soon after the siege of the hotel ended.

9 terrorists killed, one arrested; 20 security personnel among 183 who lost their lives

MUMBAI:

The raging fires and fierce gun battles came to an end on Saturday morning as the city came to grips with one of the worst terror attacks it has ever faced. Sixty hours after terrorists took over the landmark Taj Mahal hotel, the massive operation by the National Security Guard (NSG) came to a close around 8.30 a.m. on Saturday. Four terrorists were killed and the hotel is being “sanitised.”
A total of 183 people lost their lives in the attacks — 20 security personnel, 141 other Indians and 22 foreign nationals. The number of injured persons has been put at 327.
The heavily armed terrorists could have killed at least 5,000 people in Mumbai, said Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil. They were so heavily armed and so well prepared that the damage could have been catastrophic, he added.
Nine terrorists were killed and one arrested. The arrested person, Mohammed Ajmal Mohammed Amir Kasab, was remanded to police custody till December 11.
Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said there was no evidence that two of the terrorists killed were British Pakistani nationals. The nationalities of the terrorists were being ascertained.
The final leg of the Taj operations began around 3.35 a.m. on Saturday with a wave of five explosions and heavy firing. A few minutes later, the combat got more intense as seven powerful explosions rocked the hotel within a span of 90 minutes. The firing too became heavy and incessant. Two huge fires engulfed rooms of the first and second floors and firefighters got into the action.
After the fires were doused, it appeared the end was in sight. Later, J.K. Dutt, who was in charge of the NSG operations, told the media that the operation had come to an end as the remaining three terrorists were killed. One was shot dead on Friday.
He said 22 bodies had so far been removed from the Taj, and work was still in progress. The body count could be much higher.
The city is far from normal and the horror of the terror attack continues to haunt its citizens. The Trident and Oberoi hotels, the scene of fierce gun battles and blasts, were cordoned off by the police and the Rapid action Force, while cleaning up operations are under way. Chairperson of the Oberoi Group P.R.S. Oberoi said that while Trident was sanitised, he still could not enter the Oberoi.
Police and security agencies have taken over the Nariman House, where terrorists were holed up for over two days.
Mr. Deshmukh said the whole city was relieved that the three major anti-terror operations were over. He said the State had written to the Centre for an NSG battalion till it could raise one of its own.
About 350 NSG and 400 police personnel worked for three days on end to bring the situation under control. There was no hostage situation and no demands were made by the terrorists, the Chief Minister pointed out.

Major terror attacks in 2008

Terror strikes Assam, 62 killed


INCONSOLABLE: A traumatised relative of a victim breaks down at the Ganeshguri blast site in Guwahati on Thursday.

Guwahati: In one of the worst terror strikes in the northeast, 62 people were killed and over 300 injured in 12 high intensity serial blasts that rocked the city and three lower Assam towns — Kokrajhar, Barpeta Road and Bongaigaon — on Thursday morning. The condition of more than 30 people is said to be critical.

In the city, 31 people were killed and about 125 injured in six blasts at Ganeshguri, the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court premises near the Deputy Commissioner’s office and Fancybazar near the Panbazar police station.

In Kokrajhar, at least 20 people were killed in three serial blasts that rocked the headquarters town of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), while 12 people were killed in twin blasts in Barpeta Road town of Barpeta district.

No death was reported in the Bongaigaon blast, which left 10 injured.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told journalists after an emergency security review that the government would form a high level task force to probe the blasts.

Curfew was clamped on G.S. Road as the blasts triggered violence in the Ganeshguri locality, close to the capital complex. A mob torched ambulances, fire tenders, police vehicles and a traffic police point, and attacked police personnel in protest against “security failure.” Warning shots were fired in the air. Curfew was lifted at 5.30 p.m.

Inspector-General (Special Branch) Khagen Sharma told The Hindu that the needle of suspicion was pointed to jihadi elements. “However, we are not ruling out the possibility of the involvement of the United Liberation Front of Asom in the form of logistics support.”

All the blasts occurred at busy public places between 11 and 11.30 a.m. One of the bombs went off in the busy Ganeshguri locality, very close to the high security zone of the capital complex.

It was a gory sight at the blast sites in the city — mangled remains of vehicles, severed limbs, and the injured crying for help. Thick black smoke billowed for hours as a number of vehicles caught fire.

The IGP said initial investigation pointed to the possibility of a car bomb being used. A team of the Intelligence Bureau and explosives experts of the National Security Guards are scheduled to arrive to probe the blasts.

Terming the incidents acts of cowardice by anti-national extremist elements, Mr. Gogoi directed the law-enforcing agencies to take immediate action to nab the culprits and to deal with the situation very firmly.

He directed them to take precautionary security measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents. Mr. Gogoi appealed to the people to remain on high alert and maintain calm.

The ULFA has denied its involvement in the blasts.

A statement e-mailed by the outfit’s self-styled lieutenant and member of the central publicity unit, Anjan Barthakur, alleged that “the blasts have been triggered by Indian occupation forces to scuttle efforts by the ULFA to seek a peaceful political solution to India-Asom conflict.”

(NOTE:Over 300 injured in 12 high intensity blasts; hand of jihadi elements suspected)

17 killed in Imphal blast

Imphal: At least 17 people were killed and more than 30 injured on Tuesday night when unidentified militants exploded a bomb attached to a two-wheeler near a police commando complex in Imphal West district.

Sources said the victims included a few security personnel. While 13 people died on the spot, four succumbed to injuries in hospital. The condition of many of the injured is critical, sources said.

20 killed as 5 bomb explosions rock Delhi

NEW DELHI: Twenty people were killed and about 100 injured in a series of five bomb explosions that rocked busy marketplaces in the Capital on Saturday.

The first explosion took place at Karol Bagh at 6.10 p.m.; two bombs were triggered at Connaught Place; and two more in the bustling M-Block market of Greater Kailash.

Initial investigations revealed that the improvised explosive devices were configured using ammonium nitrate. Timer devices were used for synchronising the explosions that occurred between 6.10 and 6.40 p.m. Eight persons were killed at Connaught Place and a live bomb was defused outside the Regal cinema in the heart of the Capital. Two more bombs were found at Central Park at Connaught Place and at India Gate.

In an e-mail to the media, the terror outfit, Indian Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the explosions.

A red alert was sounded in the Capital.

While the Centre announced an ex gratia of Rs. 3 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased, the State government announced Rs. 5 lakh for each of the dead, besides Rs.50,000 for those injured.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit visited the injured at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

The injured were rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia, Sir Ganga Ram, Jessa Ram, Lady Hardinge and Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan hospitals. Some were taken to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.

At Karol Bagh, the bomb was kept in or near a three-wheeler. The blast ripped the vehicle apart. An autorickshaw parked nearby was tossed in the air and it fell on the other side of the road. A woman sitting in the vehicle and several bystanders were seriously injured.

Puran Kumar, whose relatives were injured in the blast, said he was in his house when he heard a loud explosion. “I rushed out and saw badly injured people lying on the road writhing in pain and screaming for help. Among them were some of my relatives. Initially, we thought that it was a cylinder blast,” said a shocked Puran.

Another resident, Nanak, said: “A woman lay near the autorickshaw with her face smashed. All that was left on her face were her two eyes.”

A bomb kept in a dustbin near Gate No. 1 of the Barakhamba Road metro station went off around 6.35 p.m.

In Central Park, a bomb kept in a bin exploded five minutes later, causing injuries to over 40 people. Deepak, who runs a garment shop in Connaught Place, said he himself rushed over a dozen injured people to hospital. Most of the injured were women and children.

Two “low-intensity” bombs planted in a dustbin and on a cycle in the busy M-Block Market of Greater Kailash went off at 6.30 p.m. and 6.40 p.m. A woman was injured.

17 BLASTS ROCK AHMEDABAD

WAVES OF ATTACKS: Two victims of a bomb explosion in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

AHMEDABAD: Forty people were killed and over 100 injured when serial blasts struck different parts of Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s major commercial nerve centre, on Saturday evening. The State capital was plunged into chaos for hours after the terror attacks.

As the number of the dead and injured kept rising, police could not confirm the final tally till late in the evening. Chief Minister Narendra Modi, after an emergency Cabinet meeting, said 29 people died and over 100 were injured. Both he and Urban Development Minister Nitin Patel, who visited some of the affected areas, did not rule out the possibility of the casualties going up. For, the condition of many of the injured was critical.

Unconfirmed reports said the worst attack occurred near the trauma centre of the government civil hospital, where at least 25 people, including two doctors, were killed. Some eyewitness accounts claimed that it was a “human bomb” attack. The body was said to have been shattered but the incident was not confirmed by the police, who put the casualties in the hospital attack at not fewer than six.

The reports pieced together by the police indicated 17 blasts in 10 different areas and all, except the minority-dominated Sarkhej and Juhapura, were in the labour-dominated eastern parts of the old city. Most of the blasts occurred in crowded and congested areas during peak evening hour traffic.

About 40 minutes after the first round of blasts, bombs went off near the trauma centre of the civil hospital and the main portico of the L.G. General Hospital in Maninagar, even as the injured were being rushed to the hospitals.

A site of devastation in the city.

The first blast was reported from the Hatkeshwar locality in the Maninagar area at 6.38 p.m.

Thereafter bombs went off at 10 other places, all within the next five to seven minutes. About an hour later, three more blasts were reported from Maninagar and surrounding areas. Police said the injured were admitted to different hospitals in the city.

“Sleeper cell”

Police see the hand of the “sleeper cell” of the SIMI in the carnage.

Similar to the Jaipur blasts, the bombs were planted on cycles, but unlike as in the Rajasthan capital, only old cycles were used here, apparently to avoid being identified.

The preliminary reports from the sites indicated that gelatin rods in tiffin boxes or in cloth bags with timers and tied to cycles were left behind in crowded areas, possibly minutes before the blasts. A couple of vegetable vendors, admitted to hospital with injuries, claimed to have seen a person leaving behind a cycle before the blast.

Most of the blasts occurred in crowded and congested points like traffic circles, near a Hanuman temple where a large number of devotees turn out on Saturdays or near bus stops.

Within minutes after the Hatkeshwar blast, bombs serially kept going off near the Sardar Patel diamond market in Bapunagar, Narol, Ishanpur, Saraspur, Sarangpur, Raipur, Sarkhej, Juhaapura and later at the civil and L. G. hospitals.

101 killed, security forces battle terrorists in Mumbai

Fire engulfs a part of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai.

Mumbai (IANS) ;NOVEMBER 27 ,

Fresh gunshots rang out on Thursday morning at the Hotel Taj in Mumbai where security forces battled terrorists holding hostages after a night of terror attack that left 101 people dead and over 250 injured.

As soldiers, police and elite commandos fanned out across the country's commercial capital to rescue hostages and kill terrorists who stormed the city at night and struck at seven sites in the business hub of south Mumbai, one of the terrorists claimed that the attack was to avenge the "persecution" of Muslims in India.

The otherwise bustling city -- home to Bollywood -- was still on edge, more than 12 hours after a large but unknown number of terrorists armed with automatic rifles and grenades sneaked into Mumbai by the sea, a clear indication that they must be foreigners.

Desperate to cope with a situation they had never encountered before, the authorities declared a holiday in Mumbai Thursday. The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange were ordered closed for the day.

"This is a most audacious attack. It is a very serious situation and gun battles are still on in at least three places," said Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh as leaders around the world denounced the well-planned terrorist operation.

Television footage showed some terrorists, wearing dark colour T-shirts and holding automatic rifles, near some of the buildings under attack. One of them, who called himself Shahadullah, telephoned the India TV channel from Oberoi-Trident Hotel, which too was stormed, to claim that he was from the Indian city of Hyderabad but he spoke in Hindustani with what appeared to be a Pakistani accent.

He told the channel that the attack had been carried out to avenge the 1992 razing of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya and the "persecution" of Muslims in India. He demanded the release of jailed Indian Mujahideen militants in exchange for tourists taken hostage at the Taj and Oberoi Trident hotels as well as Nariman House in the heart of the city.

The man ended the telephonic conversation saying "Allah Hafiz".

The terrorists began targeting high profile landmarks close to the sea and popular with Western tourists from between 10.15 and 10.30 p.m. Wednesday. The targets included Hotel Taj, Hotel Oberoi-Trident, Metro Theatre and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) railway station.

A grenade was also hurled at a taxi in Vile Parle, destroying it and killing its occupants, and one more attack took place at Mazgaon, a Mumbai suburb. A police van was hijacked.

Panic set in quickly all over the city, which has seen several terror attacks in the past. The outwitted police took them on but suffered losses initially. Among the first to die was Hemant Karkare, the highly regarded Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief heading the controversial probe into bomb attacks in Maharashtra blamed on Hindu radicals.

Among his four colleagues who were also believed to be killed were Additional Police Commissioners Ashok Kamte and Sadanand Date and Mumbai Police officer Vijay Salaskar who was known as "encounter specialist" for killing gangsters.

As police reinforcements rushed to the attack sites, backed by the hurriedly summoned paramilitary and Indian soldiers, 200 commandos of the National Security Guards (NSG) were flown from New Delhi. The NSG is trained to take on terrorists.

The security forces killed two terrorists and caught nine. But within a short time, a huge blast was heard on the top floor of the Taj Hotel and a raging fire erupted. Smoke billowed from there even Thursday.

The situation appeared to be somewhat under control Thursday, with police officers herding several tourists from the two hotels into ambulances and police vehicles to move them to safety. Yet there was no word on how many foreigners were dead but one Western woman -- her nationality not known -- was reportedly killed at Hotel Taj.

Maharashtra Director General of Police A.N. Roy said: "The terrorists have fired indiscriminately."

Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Ghafoor said AK-47 and AK-56 as well as semi-automatic rifles besides grenades were used in the "coordinated terrorist acts". On Thursday, a five-kilometre radius in south Mumbai, which covers business districts such as Colaba, Cuff Parade, Nariman Point and Churchgate, was cordoned off.

Train services resumed in Mumbai Thursday but there were few passengers. There were few vehicles on the roads.

A nationwide alert was sounded following the synchronised attacks that came less than a month after over 50 people died in serial terror bombings in the northeastern state of Assam.

Across the world, governments and top leaders denounced the terror attack in Mumbai.

US president-elect Barack Obama asked Washington to work with India to root out and destroy terrorist networks worldwide. The State Department said the US stands ready to support the Indian authorities in dealing with the situation.

"Obama strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks in Mumbai," Brooke Anderson, his spokesperson on national security, said in statement. "These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism."

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "Such violence is totally unacceptable." Canada and the European Union too condemned the brazen display of terror.

Film-makers talk of interference

PANAJI: nov 26 th,

Film-makers at the ongoing International Film Festival of India have accused the government of interfering in the selection process of films being shown at the festival. K.N.T. Sastry, chairman of the Indian Panorama feature film jury, has hit out at the authorities for “imposing” pre-decided popular box-office hits on the Panorama.
“The Panorama is losing its value, its stature. The manner in which the government decides on certain films is shameful. I did not want to include popular box-office hit films as part of the Panorama. Unfortunately, I had to do that. I was given films like Jodha Akbar to include for the festival. I asked why the taxpayer’s money should be used to sub-title a film like Jodha Akbar for the festival.”
Speaking to The Hindu, he said, “We were given seven box-office hits and asked to choose five films. It is a misunderstanding that we are against mainstream cinema. We are against the inclusion of box-office hits in the Panorama section. If the film is already a hit across the country, it does not need extra screening or promotion. ”
The Directorate of Film Festivals, however, denied any interference. “The box-office hit films come from the Film Federation of India. It is an established practice,” a senior official said.
Five box-office hits, including Hindi films Taare Zameen Par, A Wednesday, Jodha Akbar besides Tamil film Billa are part of the bouquet.
Defending his decision, Mr. Sastry said, “I chose a film like Summer 2007 despite it being a commercial film. Its subject of micro credit has substance and the story needed to be told. Similarly, I selected the film from Tripura because it related the story of a hydel power project and the displacement it caused. I chose Kanchivaram by Priyadarshan as it talks of the problems of weavers in Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, Mahasatta, a Marathi film, talks of globalisation and unemployment.”
Extending support to Mr. Sastry, Jabbar Patel compared the films of the 1970s with the present lot. “How the film is selected for Panorama is very interesting and tricky,” he said, leaving a lot unsaid. “Indian Panorama has done a lot for cinema in the past. International directors come here to watch our films. Films have to be chosen with care. But, like our society, films are in a transition phase. As is the Panorama.”

Obama signals aggressive approach

CHICAGO: NOV 26 TH,

With the financial crisis looming as a priority of his term, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama sought to put his imprint on efforts to stem the turmoil as he introduced his economic team on Monday, nominating Timothy F. Geithner as Treasury Secretary and Lawrence H. Summers to head the White House Economic Council.
By naming a team deeply experienced in dealing with financial crises — Mr. Geithner was involved over the weekend in the efforts to stabilise Citigroup — Mr. Obama underscored his determination to assure Americans and foreign investors that he would aggressively step into a leadership vacuum in Washington during the transition.
Moreover, by pledging that his economic team would begin work “today” on recommendations to help middle-class families as well as the financial markets, he sought to convey an impression of continuity and coordination, so that his administration can “hit the ground running.”
Mr. Obama also announced that he had chosen Christina D. Romer to head his Council of Economic Advisers and Melody Barnes as Director of his White House Domestic Policy Council. Ms. Romer is an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, while Ms. Barnes is a long-time aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
The recent economic news, capped by the Citigroup effort, “has made it even more clear that we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions,” said Mr. Obama at a news conference. He listed the drop in new home purchases, the surge in unemployment claims to an 18-year high and the likelihood of up to a million further job losses in the coming year. “While we can’t underestimate the challenges we face,” he said, adding: “We also can’t underestimate our capacity to overcome them to summon that spirit of determination and optimism that has always defined us, and move forward in a new direction to create new jobs, reform our financial system, and fuel long-term economic growth.”Injecting confidence
Mr. Obama said that the struggling automobile industry could not be allowed “simply to vanish,” but that the companies should not get “a blank cheque” from taxpayers. And he said he was “surprised” that the auto companies’ chief executives were not better prepared with specific recovery proposals in their appearances last week on Capitol Hill. And he all but promised that the tax cuts pushed through Congress by President George W. Bush would be repealed, or at least not renewed when they expire in 2010.
In an effort to inject confidence into the quavering financial markets, Mr. Obama made certain that his first formal Cabinet announcement dealt with the economy, not, as is often the case with national security or diplomacy. In announcing the nominations of Mr. Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, and Mr. Summers, a Harvard economist, Mr. Obama sent a signal that he was set to pursue aggressive, yet centrist policies, in crafting moves to help jumpstart the economy. The televised news conference, which came shortly after Mr. Bush made brief remarks at the Treasury Department with Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., created a stark image of the transfer of power that is under way in Washington. Mr. Obama and his new team arrived in a room of dozens of reporters, while Mr. Bush stood nearly alone on the steps of the Treasury Department. — New York Times News Service

Communists, MDMK in protest mode

CHENNAI, NOVEMBER, 26 TH,
Urging the Centre to take immediate action to stop the war in the neighbouring Sri Lanka, the CPI, MDMK and few other political parties today organised a protest demonstration in various parts of the State. The protestors raised slogans condemning the Centre’s inaction.

At a meeting convened by the CPI last week, it was decided to hold demonstration across Tamilnadu on 25 November to stress the Union government to act swiftly over the Lankan issue. Major parties including the DMK, Congress, AIADMK and DMDK abstained from the meeting. Today, the protest was presided over by CPI State secretary D Panidan near Chennai Central Railway Station. Sri Lankan MP Sivajilingam, MDMK deputy general secretary Mallai Sathya, Pudhiya Thamizhagam president Dr Krishnaswamy, Tamil Desiya Vidhuthalai Iyyakkam president Thiyagu among others took part.Speaking on the occasion, Pandian said, ‘the DMK Ministers in the Union Cabinet have not taken any initiative to stress the Centre to act quickly over the issue.’ He expressed hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would take immediate action and bringe peace in the lives of lankan Tamils. Several hundred demonstrators arrested on the occasion were taken to marriage halls nearby.At Chrompet, the demonstration was led by MDMK Kanchipuram district secretary Paalavakam Somu. They tried to lay seige to a post office at the southern suburb. Similar protests were held at Avadi, Kanchipuram, Villupuram and Thiruvannamalai.

CM TO CONVENE ALL - PARTY TODAY (25-11-2008)

CHENNAI - NOVEMBER 25 TH,
TAMIL NADU Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has convened an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss the Lankan Tamils issue. Important decisions are expected to be taken at the meeting.Political parties in the State have been organising protests and demonstrations urging the Union government to take immediate action and bring peace in the island nation.
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CPI had organised a fast last month condemning violence against Tamils in which leaders of various parties took part. However, the DMK, the AIADMK and the Congress abstained from it.At the all-party meeting convened by Karunanidhi on 14 October, a resolution was passed urging the Centre to act swiftly over the issue. And, DMK and the PMK threatened to make their MPs quit if the Centre failed to act immediately over the issue.It may also be noted that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s brother Basil Rajapakse had called on the Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee recently and briefed him on the situation in Sri Lanka. Later, Mukherjee called on Karunanidhi and briefed the details about their meeting.Karunanidhi had expressed satisfaction at the measures taken by the Centre in this regard. However Rajapakse’s statement the next day that the war would continue created a stir in Tamilnadu. Protests and demonstration were organised in several parts of the State. A resolution was passed unanimously in the State Assembly recently stressing the need to bring about a ceasefire in the neighbouring country.Following requests from various quarters to convene an all-party meeting and review the approach towards the whole issue, the Chief Minister decided to have an all-party meeting in Chennai today.

Addressing mediapersons YESDERDAY, the Chief Minister said, ‘party chiefs and floor leaders of every party can attend the meeting and put forward their suggestions.The meeting has been convened in consultation with PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss, who would also be attending the meeting,’ he said.Urging MDMK chief Vaiko to attend the meeting, Karunanidhi said the meeting would be convened in the Chief Minister’s room at the Secretariat.