HEAD LINE:

• Will not allow safe havens for Al-Qaeda in Pakistan: U.S.(HINDU)
• Mumbai attacks not discussed with Holbrooke, says Pakistan (HINDU)
• Cancel missile deal with Israeli firm, says Left (TOI)
• BJP using Ram temple to fool people: Sonia (TOI)

LEAD:

On his first day of meetings with the Pakistani leadership here, U.S. Special Representative Richard C. Holbrooke heard that Pakistan would be better able to combat terrorism and militancy in its north-western frontier regions with "a calm" eastern front, and the need for resolving the Kashmir issue for peace in the region. Without explicitly pushing for an expansion of his mandate to include India, Pakistan's civilian leaders told the special envoy that "a regional" approach was required to deal with the issues of terrorism, militancy and extremism. They stressed that American missile strikes and other incursions inside Pakistani territory were "counterproductive," and urged the U.S. to hurry instead with proposed legislation for more non-military financial aid to Pakistan to spur economic development in the country, particularly its tribal regions. They also called for dialogue with "reconcilable elements" of the Taliban for peace in Afghanistan. Contrary to expectation that the Mumbai attacks would figure in the discussions, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said "interestingly enough, in our interaction, [the] Mumbai [attacks] did not surface." The Minister virtually ruled out any move by Pakistan for the inclusion of India or Kashmir in Mr. Holbrooke's mandate but said he had flagged the importance of good relations with India. "Let us be very clear. His mandate is Pakistan, Afghanistan. Period," Mr. Qureshi said in response to questions at a press conference after his meeting with the U.S. official. (HINDU)

• Mumbai: Threats from the underworld and presumably from Dawood Ibrahim to the life of the lone surviving terrorist of the Mumbai attacks Ajmal Amir came to light on Tuesday when Joint Commissioner of Police (CP) Rakesh Maria spoke of receiving "regular intelligence reports." "There is a threat to Kasab [Ajmal] from the underworld. We have been receiving intelligence reports regularly on threats to his life from various gangs. That is why we do not take him anywhere," the top officer told the media here. However, when asked if the intelligence reports mentioned gangster Dawood Ibrahim's name, Mr. Maria remained non-committal. The Mumbai Crime Branch reckoned with the possibility of a threat to Ajmal's life from day one. For security reasons, the magistrate and the public prosecutor came to the jail to remand Ajmal Amir to police custody, instead of the accused going to court. Calling the Mumbai attacks a unique terror strike, unseen anywhere in the world, Mr. Maria outlined the widespread scope of the probe, closely followed by countries across the world. Delegations of as many as 15 countries have met officials at the Crime Branch and "exchanged" information, he said.(HINDU)
• New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition for consolidation of the two trials being held against leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and seven others in the Babri masjid demolition case in a Rae Bareli court, and against 47 'kar sevaks' in a Lucknow court. A Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices P. Sathasivam and J.M. Panchal allowed Wajahat Ansari to withdraw his petition to pursue other remedies. Senior counsel Ravi Shankar Prasad, appearing for Mr. Advani and others, pointed out that in March 2007 the apex court rejected the review petitions filed by Mohd. Aslam Bhure and Mohd. Hasim seeking transfer of the trial from the Rae Bareli court to the Lucknow court, and hence the writ petition should not be entertained. Justice Balakrishnan told senior counsel S.C. Maheswari, appearing for Mr. Ansari: "We cannot regulate the trial. It is for the High Court to regulate the trial pending in a trial court. You approach the High Court." (HINDU)
• The govt will borrow a further Rs 46,000 crores in one month to meet the extra expenditure incurred in providing a stimulus to the slowing economy. "We had discussions with the Reserve Bank of India. The borrowing will be between February 20 and March 20 to the order of Rs 46,000 crores," said economic affairs secretary Ashok Chawla. He said the extra borrowing would be done in four tranches. This fiscal the govt deficit has worsened due to the farm loan waiver, implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report and a large subsidy on petroleum products which has made the govt borrow more from the market. While due to the economic slowdown the govt's income from taxes has slowed down, it was also forced to induce measures to boost the economy. The combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and states could be 10 per cent this year. Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that such a large borrowing in the remaining months of the financial year would not cause a cash squeeze. "I have no doubt that the extra borrowing can be accommodated this year," said Mr Ahluwalia. He said that any deficit has to be met by borrowing, and if a stimulus is needed, borrowing is a must. "We will ensure borrowing is carried out in a non-disruptive manner," said RBI deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath. She had said the govt and the RBI would keep all options open for borrowing funds from the market. (AA)
• The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for seeking to drop its probe into the corruption case against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. "So you (CBI) were acting at the behest of law ministry. The central Govt was of the view that your should withdraw the case and you apply of r withdrawal. What you are saying is rather unusual. It is rather incomprehensible, "a Bench comprising Justices Altmas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph said in one of the sharpest-ever indictments of India's top probe agency which claims to be autonomous. If the remark was trenchant, the Bench twisted the knife." if the advice if the Centre and the law ministry is the ground for CBI to seek withdrawal of the application, then God help us." The tongue lashing came after CBI's counsel, additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran, conceded that the UPA govt had goaded the agency to withdraw its application to prosecute Mulayam and his kin.(TOI)
• New Delhi: A Pakistani website is a rather unusual place to find an advertisement of BJP leader L K Advani campaigning for the forthcoming 2009 Lok Sabha polls. But there he is on the online edition of Pakistan's premier English newspaper, Lahore-based Dawn, with his slogan: ''Advani for PM.'' The Dawn online advertisement isn't an isolated example. The BJP is hard-selling the 81-year-old Advani all over the web. About 2,000 sites frequented by India's net-users have been identified by BJP's crack IT team. Several foreign media sites have been selected, including Washington Post, New York Times and UK's Guardian online. Apart from the Dawn, Pakistan newspaper The Nation and website Paktribune also carry the ads. These ads are not targeted at NRIs. It is a form of new media target selling where only those logging in from India can view the promos. "Only if you go to any of these sites from India will you see the ad," explains Prodyut Bora, BJP's national convenor, IT. Bora declined to comment on the amount being spent on the online advertising initiative. He said 99% of the sites identified are Indian. (TOI)

BJP

Gearing up for electioneering, the Opposition BJP on Tuesday roped in top private advertisement companies to sharpen its poll campaign around "Brand Advani". Three different ad agencies on Tuesday made detailed presentations of their proposals before a team of top party functionaries, including BJP's prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, at his residence. The other leaders, who were there at the presentation meeting, included senior party functionaries Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Ravishankar Prasad. The agencies included McCann-Erickson. The party has already engaged Hive Communications of Sushil Pandit for the campaign. "We are presenting to the people Advaniji's long experience and ability of delivering governance," party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.(AA)

CONGRESS

Dehri-on-Sone (Bihar): UPA's electioneering in Bihar got underway here on Tuesday with chairperson Sonia Gandhi inaugurating construction work for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and railway minister Lalu Prasad speaking after her. ''To play with human emotions for the sake of power is a sin,'' said Sonia at the well-attended public meeting. Without naming BJP and without explaining its move to revive the Ayodhya issue, she said such people are fooling the people. Sonia said, ''We have fulfiled each promise we made in the common minimum programme... We are ready with our report card,'' and added that the UPA rule will be remembered for the all-round progress made by the country.(TOI)

• Rejecting the SP charges against UP governor T.V. Rajeswar for indulging in partisan politics, AICC general secretary and in-charge of UP Mr Digvijay Singh said the governor is fully aware of his constitutional duties and propriety. "We do not accept the charges made by the SP on the partisan approach of the UP governor. He had a distinguished career in the police and knows his constitutional duty and propriety," Mr Singh said. The AICC general secretary, however, added that his party still considered the SP as an ally of the UPA govt. "We appreciate the SP's effort in containing the communal forces in UP during the last elections and value their support at the crucial juncture," he said. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had accused Mr Rajeswar of being "soft" on the ruling BSP. "The governor has assured the Congress high command that the BSP was in for major gains in the coming elections and it would ensure that a Congress PM assumes office after the Lok Sabha polls," Mr Yadav said.(AA)
• Gearing up for the ensuing General Elections slated to be held in April-May, the Congress has started strategising on the macro and micro challenges that lie beyond. Chairman of the AICC group on future challenges, Mr Veerappa Moily, said the Congress is taking stock of the issues like communalism, economic crisis, identity politics, polarisation of voters, regionalism and insurgency, which will engage the attention of the party and nation in the times to come. While the short-term focus of the group, which includes AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, is to get ready for the next Lok Sabha polls, the long-term objective is to build upon the existing strength of the party. "The Congress is a large party and has vote share ranging from 18 to 40 per cent in various states. In order to increase its spheres of influence, the party should be ready for the future challenges," said Congress media department chief M. Veerappa Moily, who heads the group on future challenges. (AA)

LEFT PARTIES

The Left parties have opposed a Rs 10,000 crore missile defence deal with an Israeli firm and demanded its cancellation, saying that India's own missile programme by DRDO should not be subverted. In a joint letter to PM Manmohan Singh, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and his CPI counterpart AB Bardhan said it was surprising that ''such a contract has been given when the Israel Aircraft Industries is already under CBI probe on charges of bribery and corruption for the anti-ship, ship-mounted Barak missile system''.(TOI)

STATES

ANDHRA PRADESH

Bajrang Dal's opposition to celebration of February 14 as Valentine's Day is likely to snowball into a major controversy in Hyderabad with the right wing organisation threatening to marry off couples moving in parks and on roads in the State capital on that day. "We would station three vans with a purohit in each at different locations in the city to perform marriage of lovers on that day," Bajrang Dal city president, Murari, said at a press conference. Even 'mangal sutra' and clothes for brides and bridegrooms would be kept ready. If the couples turn out to be minors, the Bajrang Dal would take them to the police station, call their respective parents, counsel them and ask the police to take appropriate action. (HINDU)

RAJASTHAN

The death of a person in the police firing in Churu district over the weekend has once again brought back the "trigger happy" image the Rajasthan police had gained during the past five years when the BJP was in power. And much to the embarrassment of the Ashok Gehlot Govt, the police bloodied its hands even before the new political dispensation could complete 60 days in office. An unprecedented number of police firings, which had resulted in the deaths of over 70 persons in the State in the past five years, had been one of the issues in the Congress election campaign this time. As such the killing of Bahujan Samaja Party leader Virendra Singh Nyangali in Rajgarh town on Friday which provoked the protest that led to the police firing was not exactly a political murder as the deceased had a past, mired in the feuds of the liquor mafias operating in Rajasthan and the neighbouring Haryana. However, the fact remains that Mr. Nyangali, who lost the recent elections in Sadulpur to the BJP, was shot dead in broad day light in the market indicating the new low the politics of the State has plummeted to. (HINDU)

TAMIL NADU

AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Tuesday denied that the local cess and local cess surcharge on land tax was increased in 2002 when she was CM. In a statement here, she said though the Finance Department, while issuing orders on the recommendations of the second State Finance Commission on financial devolutions to local bodies, recommended revision of the local cess and local cess surcharge, the taxes were not increased till the AIADMK left office in 2006. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had alleged that the local cess was increased from Re.1 to Rs.2 and local cess surcharge from Rs.5 to Rs.7 during the AIADMK rule. He had said the DMK govt was considering cancellation of the hike.(HINDU)

UTTAR PRADESH

Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party continues to keep all its electoral avenues open: while the Left still hopes for a post-poll alliance with it, BSP emissaries have reportedly been in touch with senior leaders of the BJP to explore options. Sources said a senior BSP leader close Ms Mayawati held a series of discussions with the BJP over possible post-poll adjustments. A section of the BJP seems to be confident the BSP will support its efforts to return to power at the Centre. A BJP national executive member told this newspaper that "if we manage 130 seats, the BSP will throw its weight behind us." Other sources, however, insisted that the BSP has an "aversion" to the BJP, and that if Ms Mayawati's party can manage to win at least 45 Lok Sabha seats it will "try and make Behenji PM." BSP leaders feel that she "will be able to call the shots" if she has 45 or more MPs, and that the Left parties and their pre-poll allies "would then extend support for a BSP-led coalition." The BSP is calculating that "in the event of a close finish, both the BJP and the Congress could vie to support Mayawati's candidature to stop the other from coming to power." In the current Parliament, the Samajwadi Party has 33 members (six defected during the July 22 trust vote), against 19 for the BSP. (AA)