HEAD LINE:

• 'Mumbai terror strikes not planned on Pak soil' Islamabad To Hand Over Report On Dossier In A Week, Says Pak Minister. (TOI)
• No official info from Pak: Pranab (IE)
• Pakistan trying to weaken India's unity: Sonia (TOI)
• With letter on Chawla, CEC wrote: Ban us from govt jobs (IE)
• Muslims unimpressed as SP tries to assuage Kalyan hurt (IE)

LEAD:

As India awaits Pakistan's response on its terror dossier, the Pakistan interior minister on Tuesday said the Mumbai attacks were planned outside Pakistan and that the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) final report will be handed over to India in a week. A team of the FIA has submitted its preliminary probe report regarding the Mumbai attacks, minister of state for interior, Tasnim Ahmad Qureshi, told reporters during a visit to National Police Foundation.

"The report would soon be made public at a suitable time, possibly within a week," Qureshi said. Top Pakistani leaders have said the law, interior and foreign ministries are currently vetting the report submitted by a three-member team of the FIA. Pakistan's high commissioner to India, Shahid Malik, arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday for consultations on finalising the country's response to the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks. Malik arrived this morning following summons from the foreign office to return to help finalize Pakistan's response. (TOI)

• New Delhi: Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday dismissed national security advisor M K Narayanan's stand that Pakistan had responded to the Indian dossier by saying the NSA had said it in "his own way" a development that exposed a rift right at the top in govt besides marking a rare rebuke to the intelligence czar. Given that Narayanan's contention, during a TV interview, seemed to contradict the govt's stand articulated by the foreign minister, Mukherjee's public contradiction appeared intended to set the record straight, and should rankle the NSA even more. The NSA had in the interview on Sunday stated that Islamabad had reverted to India to clarify some of the information mentioned in the dossier. This was at variance with Mukherjee's stand and on Tuesday, the foreign minister cut the supercop in PMO to size by suggesting that the latter spoke out of turn and could be giving vent to his own thoughts. "Whatever he has said was in his own way. We have not received any official response from Pakistan on any progress made by them in their investigations after we sent the dossier to them," said Mukherjee, who has been standing in for the PM while he is recuperating. (TOI)
• New Delhi: Hooliganism in the name of "Indian culture" is still thriving in Mangalore. Local goons there have now issued threats to young women to desist from wearing "noodle straps" and "tight jeans" or face action, indicating that local authorities have done little to curb vigilantism unleashed by extreme rightwing groups. A central ministerial probe into the Mangalore pub molestation case, which generated national outrage, has found that fresh threats against "indecent dressing" were still being given in the run-up to Valentine's Day on February 14. This finding is contained in a report submitted by the two-member probe team sent by the women and child development (WCD) minister Renuka Choudhary. The report, prepared by ministry joint secretary Kiran Chaddha, was submitted on Tuesday. The report says these threats, coming on the heels of the pub violence, have generated fear among young couples. When contacted, the minister was unwilling to talk about the report. According to sources, the team met with victims of the pub attack and found them terrified. "The girls do not feel comfortable travelling alone," the source said.(TOI)
• New Delhi: In the noise over the controversial letter written by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami to the President recommending the "removal" of fellow Commissioner Navin Chawla for his allegedly "partisan" conduct, what escaped attention is the fact that he sent two more letters to the President the same day (January 16), underlining the need for the poll panel to be neutral and raising fundamental issues concerning the appointment procedure for ECs and CECs as well as placing clear restrictions on what they can do post-retirement. Neither of these two letters mentions the names, or refers in any way, to fellow ECs Chawla or S Y Quraishi. (IE)
• New Delhi: As over 700 lawyers of the five district courts in the Capital hit the streets with a car rally on Tuesday to protest the proposed CrPC ammendments, all work in the courts came to a halt. The rally also affected lives of people outside the courts as movement of traffic was thrown completely out of gear at India Gate as the lawyers took one round after another of the rotary to register their protest. The car rally started from Tis Hazari courts around 2 pm and lasted nearly three hours. As they started taking rounds in cars, two wheelers and on foot, the traffic police diverted vehicles from all radial roads leading to India Gate. This led to massive jams on all sides, as the rotary serves as a major through fare in the city. "I was stuck near Pandara Park for almost an hour. The road leading to India Gate was blocked. One would expect more responsible behaviour from educated people like lawyers," said Sushil Gupta, a businessman headed for ITO. The traffic police said the situation normalised by evening, as the rally finished around 5 pm.(TOI)

BJP

While party leader Jaswant Singh had earlier gone to court on the issue of appointment of Navin Chawla as the Election Commissioner, in the present controversy involving him, the BJP would prefer someone moving the court in his individual capacity. It may have bracketed the episode with the Emergency, but the party is wary of being seen as leading a parallel battle against a new CEC and fighting the move in a court of law in election season. "If the President turns down the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner (to remove Chawla), there's little that anyone can do. By virtue of his seniority, Navin Chawla may well become the next CEC. But it's the recklessness of this Congress-led govt's functionaries that we will fight. One day, the Union Law Minister says that the CEC's recommendation is lying with the President. And the next day he declares that Election Commissioner Navin Chawla would be the next CEC. So, what happens to be the authority of the President then?" said a top BJP leader. (IE)

CONGRESS

Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday put her stamp of approval on Rahul Gandhi's proposal to push youth in the party. While sounding the poll bugle at a thanksgiving rally in Jaipur, the Congress president also launched a blistering attack on Pakistan.

"The neighbouring country is attempting to weaken us and trying to divide our brotherhood and unity. But we will not let them fulfil their nefarious intentions to spread terror.... Terrorism is a big challenge before the country and we will unitedly defeat it," she said. With barely two months to go before the Lok Sabha polls, Sonia gave a clear indication that this time round youth would get a much larger representation in the ticket distribution. "We must encourage youth to come forward. Without a strong youth power, we cannot develop a strong nation," Sonia told a crowd of over one lakh which had gathered at the Amrudon Ka Baagh ground here. Sonia's emphasis on youth comes just days after Rahul mooted a 30% quota for the young in the party. Even during recent assembly polls in Rajasthan, Congress had fielded several new faces, which had proved decisive in the party's comeback in the state.(TOI)

LEFT PARTIES

After the Samajwadi Party, another key UPA ally, RJD chief Lalu Parashad Yadav, has decided to meet senior Left Party leaders to iron out the differences with the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha Polls. This comes on a day when senior Congress leader Degvijay Singh asserted that his party viewed the Left as a "secular force" and added that they have not problem with Left parties. "They had a problem. They left us, we did not leave them," he said. Union Minister and RJD vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said on Tuesday that Lalu would soon meet the comrades in an effort to bridge the divide between the Left and the Congress, Reminding how Lalu had played a pivotal role in bringing the SP closer to the Congress, Singh said his party Chief would be attempting a similar feat with the Left that withdrew support the UPA over the India-US nuclear deal. Singh praised the move by SP general secretary Amar Singh to call on the comrades. (IE)

STATES

BIHAR

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad flagged off the weekly Bapudham Motihari-Hazrat Nizamuddin Garib Rath from Motihari station on Tuesday. This is the fifth Garib Rath train from Bihar. The train, having only AC economy coaches, would leave every Wednesday from Bapudham Motihari station at 4-30 p.m. and reach Hazrat Nizamuddin on Thursday at 12-55 p.m. On its return journey, the train will leave Nizamuddin station every Monday at 8-35 pm and reach Bapudham Motihari at 4-05 pm next day. The other Garib Rath trains from the State are Saharsa-Amritsar, Patna-Hazrat Nizamuddin, Patna-Kolkata and Jainagar-Hazrat Nizamuddin. Addressing the public meeting at M.S. College here, after the flagging off ceremony, Mr. Prasad said the Nitish govt in Bihar had been a failure on all fronts and had now undertaken the 'Vikas Yatra' only to deceive the people of the State. Using the occasion to virtually campaign for the coming Lok Sabha polls, he said the country would be divided if BJP came to power and to keep communal forces out of power, people must vote for the UPA. (HINDU)

J&K

Union Minister for Water Resources and state Congress chief Saif-ud-Din Soz, former CMs Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad were among the five candidates who filed nominations for the four Rajya Sabha seats on the last day of nomination here today. While Soz and Azad are poised to be elected unopposed, Farooq's win is also almost certain as the ruling coalition has the numbers to clinch at least one of the remaining two seats going to the polls in the third phase. Apart from Dr Farooq Abdullah, the other NC candidate is former minister Mohammad Shafi Uri. The ruling coalition has fielded candidates for all four seats, though it can win only three owing to three separate notifications for elections - one each for two seats and the third for the two remaining seats. Earlier, there was speculation that the NC-Congress alliance might return the goodwill gesture of previous the Congress-PDP regime that allowed Dr Farooq Abdullah to go uncontested in 2002. However, with Uri in the fray the contest for the fourth seat is imminent. (TRIB)

KARNATAKA

The BJP Govt in Karnataka on Tuesday decided to increase allocation for an awareness programme on terrorism started on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and being carried out across colleges in the state. Following a meeting, the Cabinet decided to release Rs 2 crore for the programme which the Opposition Congress and JD(S) have labelled as being part of a Sangh Parivar agenda to cause divisions on the campus. JD(S) convener and MLA Y S V Datta called the program a part of the ruling BJP's "secret agenda". "The program equates terrorism on religious lines. Terrorism is an international problem not to be viewed through the eye of religion," the JD(S) leader said. The Congress has alleged the campaign committee members of the program are drawn only from among ABVP and Bajrang Dal cadre. (IE)

UTTAR PRADESH

After redefining its relationship with Kalyan Singh as a "friendship" rather than an alliance, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday went one step further to contain the damage over its alliance with the former BJP leader. Kalyan, the party said, "should tender an unconditional apology for the Babri Masjid demolition". While party general secretary Amar Singh landed in Deoband to apparently a cold reception SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had no better luck at his meeting with over 100 Barelvi Sunni Muslim clerics. After finding that no prominent Darul Uloom Deoband cleric was willing to entertain him, Amar Singh went to the neighbouring Darul Uloom Waqf madrasa. Addressing students there, he sought Kalyan's apology and said he would speak to Mulayam over the issue. (IE)

• Lucknow: Describing co-education in schools as "anti-Islamic and against the sharia", Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education (UPBME) has banned the system in seminaries across the state. This has evoked strong reactions from clerics and community members who oppose the ban. Most community leaders say that with the limited means and scope of education of Muslim children, such restrictions will deprive them of learning. In his defence, UPBME chairman Haji Rizwan Haq said that in Islam, 'parda' (veil) is essential and co-education encourages "be-pardagi" (women without veils). This, he says, flies in the face of sharia and since madrassas are centres of Islamic education, it's important to implement the sharia in these institutions," Haji Rizwan said. "In a madrassa, we tell students to follow the tenets and traditions of Islam. The education stands on the two pillars of Quran and Sunna. Islam doesn't permit free interaction between boys and girls," the Haji said.(TOI)

WEST BENGAL

West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee scripted a major victory for his govt on Tuesday by having his ambitious Petroleum, Chemical, Petrochemical Industrial Region (PCPIR) cleared by the Central inter-ministerial high-powered committee here. Chaired by the Union Cabinet Secretary, the committee cleared the PCPIR which now awaits clearance of the Union Cabinet's Committee on Economic Affairs (CCAE). The West Bengal Industries Secretary, Sabyasachi Sen, was confident that the clearance would be accorded very soon. The project, to be set up over 12,340 acres on Nayachar island, would entail an investment of about Rs.1 lakh crore and is being seen as the first major project granted by the Centre to West Bengal after the Left pulled support from the UPA govt. The importance for the West Bengal CM was that it underlines his commitment of industrialization of his state particularly of the Singur episode and the shift of the Nano project to Gujarat. (HINDU)