HEAD LINE:

• Zardari says no proof of Pak hand, rejects India's wanted list (IE)
• Pak must act against Mumbai killers: Rice (TOI)
• We'll give a fitting reply to terrorism, says Sonia (TOI)
• Terror won't halt India's march to a better life: PM (IE)

LEAD:

Under sharp criticism over the tardy response to the sea attack intelligence alert issued on November 19, the Govt has asked Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar to probe and assess the role of different agencies in the entire episode. Also, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan has identified seven action points on which special groups have been formed to come up with "action plans" for coordination on a "war footing" that identify individuals for affixing accountability and responsibility in the future. These are: aviation security, maritime security which has a group each on ports and coastal security, Railways, media management, crisis management group and public participation. (IE)

• New Delhi: In a direct snub to Pakistan, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice brushed aside Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's alibi that the perpetrators of Mumbai terror were "non-state actors", saying that it was still a matter of Islamabad's responsibility and Pakistan needed to act against them. This was even as she promised all "cooperation, support and solidarity" to India in its fight against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism if India promised not to escalate tensions to a military level. "Non-state actors sometimes act in the confines of a state and there has to be strong action against them... It's a matter of responsibility," Rice said. Pakistan has to act, she added, "with urgency and transparency" and it's a message that will be given to Zardari on Thursday. Rice made the comments on being asked about Zardari's remark that Pakistan was not responsible for the Mumbai carnage. Zardari had said, "Even the White House and the CIA have said that today. The state of Pakistan is, of course, not involved. We're part of the victims."(TOI)
• The Congress asked CM Vilasrao Deshmukh to resign on Wednesday night After three days of indecision, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi gave Deshmukh marching orders after discussions with senior party leaders A.K. Antony and Ahmed Patel. "Deshmukh has been asked to resign," Antony, who is the party in-charge of Maharashtra affairs, confirmed. Deshmukh did not answer calls. "He was expecting it," said a close aide. The focus now shifts to Mumbai, where central party observers led by Antony will announce Deshmukh's successor on Thursday While Industries Minister Ashok Chavan is among the favourites, former CM Narayan Rane who joined the Congress in 2005 after quitting the Shiv Sena has emerged as a strong contender too. Sources said Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar is not opposed to Rane. Union Power Minister Sushi1kumar Shinde went out of the reckoning as the leadership felt that sending someone from Delhi at a time when both the Parliament and assembly polls are close by may backfire. Congress veteran Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil and former state party chief Govindrao Adik, both Marathas, are also in the race. This is the second time that Deshmukh has failed to complete his term as CM He first became CM in November 1999 but was replaced by Shinde in January 2003. Deshmukh started his political career as a sarpanch in Babhalgaon village in Latur He entered the assembly in 1980, going on to become CM in November 1999. He stepped down on January 17, 2003, after a factional feud.(HT)
• New Delhi: Close on the heels of Mumbai's Muslim Council refusing burial space to the Pakistani terrorists killed in the Mumbai attacks, a group of imams here has come out strongly against the attacks and asked the Muslim community to wear a black ribbon on Bakr-Eid as an expression of solidarity with those killed in the outrage. The imams, under the banner of All India Organisation of Imams of Mosques, called for subdued Eid-ul-Azha (Bakr-Eid) festivities across the country, scheduled for Tuesday. The imams described the Mumbai carnage as an attack on the nation, and appealed to all mosques, muftis and madrasas to reiterate in this week's Friday prayers that Islam forbids the killing of innocent people and is against any form of terrorism. "We are deeply aggrieved by the loss of human lives and especially by the brutal killing of Jews," they said in a statement.(TOI)
• Terrorists who carried out the Mumbai attacks were shown video footage of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and VHP's Praveen Togadia "spitting venom" against jihad and Pakistan as motivational tools, arrested terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasav has told his interrogators. Ajmal's interrogation report says the terrorists were also shown footage of the "Gujarat carnage and atrocities on Muslims" in India to rouse religious indignation. Ajmal's interrogators said he had received rigorous training and had been primed for fidayeen attacks. He and others in the training camps were subjected to severe beatings by their trainers to develop resistance against any kind of interrogation. Ajmal also revealed the names of nine other terrorists who carried out the Mumbai attacks and were killed in various places. "The nine names revealed by Ajmal reflects that the youngest fidayeen was 20 years old while the eldest was 28. They were identified by Ajmal as Soheb (20), Chota Abdul Rahman (21), Umar (22), Abu Ali (23), Fahadullah (24), Ismail Khan (25), Bada Abdul Rahman (25), Abu Akasha (26), Umair (28). Fahadullah was crippled in one hand," a cop said.(TOI)
• New Delhi: With the marine Lashkars breaching India's coastal security to unleash havoc in Mumbai, it's also time for India to worry about its airspace being pierced by "rogue" planes for use as "missiles" to blow-up high-value targets. The clear and present danger of terrorists hijacking aircraft or using microlights and propeller-driven aircraft, in a chilling repeat of what al-Qaida did during the 9/11 strikes in US, came up during a highlevel meet called by defence minister Antony on Wednesday. While reviewing the "state of preparedness to face any terrorist threat", Antony asked the three Service chiefs, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, General Deepak Kapoor and Air Chief Marshal F H Major, to maintain a high state of vigil against "any possible terror strike from the air". Sources said the IAF chief briefed the meeting about the various "air defence measures" ranging from surfaceto-air missile batteries to scrambling fighters at short notice in place to detect and shoot down "rogue" planes. "A major concern was the poor security at the hundreds of small airfields or landing strips spread across the country.(TOI)

MANMOHAN SINGH & GOVT

PM Manmohan Singh is set to revamp the Union Council of Ministers shortly. In the process he will shed some of his portfolios, according to Congress sources, who also added that there was no possibility of any induction from outside. The PM is, however, likely to retain Finance, it was reliably learnt. He had taken over the additional charge of Finance after P Chidambaram was moved to the Home Ministry following Shivraj Patil's resignation. The nitty-gritty of the reshuffle will be discussed after a replacement is found for Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh. Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Minister of State in the PM's Office Prithviraj Chavan, among others, are said to be in the reckoning for the coveted post. (IE)

• Science is really getting a boost and soon it should start showing results. PM Manmohan Singh has announced setting up of 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) and an additional 10 National Institutes of Technology in the country to strengthen its scientific and technical base. Dedicating the unique International Centre for Materials Science at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research on Wednesday in the presence of its mentor C N R Rao, Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa and governor Rameshwar Thakur, the PM said India being recognised as one of the top science nations, there needed to be higher investment in basic sciences. The new institutes were part of this investment initiative, he said. The PM also announced that the Centre would soon establish a National Science and Engineering Research Board on the lines of the National Science Foundation in the US. The Centre would also set up a second campus of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Hyderabad.(TOI)

CONGRESS

Launching a scathing broadside against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said that India's desire of friendly ties with Pakistan should not be seen as a sign of its weakness. "Till date, we have taken many steps to build good relations with our neighbours. But it seems they are under the illusion that they can intimidate us by unleashing terror. We will give a fitting reply to terrorism," Sonia said, while addressing a gathering here in this frontier town. Describing India as a peace loving country, Sonia said no one should act under the belief that the Indian people can get cowed down by terrorism. While asserting India would use all possible diplomatic means, she said terrorism is a threat to democracy adding, "We will never compromise with those who are against humanity and human values." She complimented the people of the state for reposing their faith in democracy by turning out in large numbers. "This 60% or more turnout of voters should serve as a lesson to those who have been resorting to poll boycott calls. They should come forward and also become part of the democratic process." She then said, "We are open to dialogue with everyone within the parameters of democracy and the Indian constitution." (TOI)

STATES

ANDHRA PRADESH

A terror suspect wanted in the Mecca Masjid blast case and his associates escaped after firing at three members of the police Counter Intelligence wing who tried to nab them near a bustling junction here on Wednesday. A bullet pierced through the abdomen of head constable Guru Ram Raju, while his colleague, Mohammad Jaffar, suffered a fracture in the right hand in a scuffle when they tried to overpower the wanted suspect, Vikar Ahmed. Raju was admitted to a corporate hospital where doctors operated on him. The shootout at the crowded Indira Seva Sadan crossroads in the Santoshnagar area created panic for a brief while. The presence of Vikar Ahmed, his associate Amjad, and two others, all of them reportedly possessing firearms, suggested that they could be plotting a major attack but their targets and plans could not be ascertained, police added. (HINDU)

KERALA

Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan on Wednesday said he was sorry for hurting the family of National Security Guards (NSG) commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan, thereby hoping to put an end to the controversy over his comments. Sandeep's family said it too was sorry for any anguish caused to the CM, who came under fire for saying even "a dog would not have visited Sandeep's house had it not been that of a martyr". Achuthanandan also blamed the media for the crisis. Replying to an adjournment motion in Kerala assembly, the CM denied having made any derogatory remarks and said the media had quoted him out of context. But this failed to calm the Congress-led opposition, whose MLAs staged a walkout and demanded his resignation. Later, Achuthanandan read out a statement outside the assembly. "I am deeply anguished and sorry for the hurt my remarks may have caused to the family of Sandeep," he said.(TOI)

RAJASTHAN

Voters in Rajasthan, which goes to polls today for electing its state Assembly, consider skyrocketing prices and unemployment as two of the most crucial problems they face. They also feel that expansion and improvement of educational facilities is a crying need in the state. These and several other concerns of the prospective voters were revealed in a statewide survey carried out by IMRB exclusively for TOI between 15 and 24 November, in the midst of deepening economic gloom but prior to the terrorist attack on Mumbai. Regarding the current economic downturn, 82% of the surveyed persons thought that the situation in the country was not good, with 20% saying that it was the worst situation ever. Nearly 49% of them thought that it would take at least two years for things to improve. About 23% were so pessimistic that they could see no hope of the situation improving. Just 10% said the crisis would not affect them in any way. On being asked whether they had postponed purchasing decisions due to the economic crunch, 48% said that they had while 51% said they hadn't. Those surveyed were largely going to go by the qualities of the candidate rather than party affiliations. Around 44% said that they would go by the candidate while 29% said that they would go with the party. The rest, about 27%, said they would take both into account.(TOI)

UTTAR PRADESH

A new post of I-G (CM Security) has been created exclusively for supervising the security set-up of Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati who is one of the few politicians in the country with a Z-Plus security cover. I-G (Lucknow Zone) Arvind Kumar Jain will double up as I-G (CM Security). Besides these twin responsibilities, Mr. Jain has been given the additional charge of I-G (Lucknow Zone) of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). The UP ATS was split into four zones by the CM on Tuesday with the Lucknow and Kanpur zones under the supervisory charge of officers of I-G rank. In a late Tuesday night reshuffle, I-G (ATS) S.N. Singh was shifted as I-G (PAC), Central Zone. Mr. Singh has been given the additional charge of I-G (Kanpur Zone) of ATS. DIG (PAC) Lucknow Sector, Rajiv Krishna, will hold the additional charge of DIG, Faizabad Zone of ATS, while Ajay Anand has been appointed DIG, ATS Zone, Allahabad. (HINDU)

EDITORIAL

Mixed messages: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's double take on Tuesday, suggesting that the use of military force against Pakistan was not under consideration only to backtrack a few hours later, underlines the UPA govt's utter incoherence in managing the consequences of the Mumbai aggression. The pressure on our leaders to say "a few words" to the ubiquitous TV crews is understandable. It is unacceptable, however, for senior ministers to make statements that are liable for misinterpretation, at home and abroad, in the middle of a crisis especially when the crisis involves a nuclear-armed neighbour. In the current dangerous context shaping up between New Delhi and Islamabad any imprecise or incomplete formulation by the top leadership creates conditions for miscommunication, misperception and unwanted escalation.(IE)