HEAD LINE:

• Pak media more loyal than the king: Cong (IE)
• We are not for war: Gilani (IE)
• To kickstart demand, Govt fixes 9.25% rate for home loans below Rs 20 lakh (IE)

LEAD:

Unrolling its roadmap towards revamping internal security after the Mumbai attacks exposed its glaring gaps, the Cabinet today cleared the setting up of a federal agency for Terror crime, the inclusion of more stringent provisions against terror accused and the extension of cover of the Central Industrial Security Force to sensitive installations in the private sector. All these need new laws or changes in existing legislation. At a meeting chaired by PM Manmohan Singh which saw heated debate on contentious aspects of these provisions, the UPA decided to form the National Investigating Agency (NIA) for which it will have to bring a law in Parliament, amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to give it more teeth and an amendment to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Act. Bills are expected to be introduced in the current Parliament session. (IE)

• New Delhi: Investigation into the Mumbai Terror attack have moved a step forward with intelligence agencies confirming that the Pakistani "handlers" whom the terrorists telephoned several times during the siege in the Taj Mahal Hotel and Nariman House were indeed top operatives of the Lashkar-e-Toiba Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Yusuf Muzammil. As first reported by The Indian Express, Indian intelligence agencies as well as the Maharashtra Police had intercepted the terrorists' mobile phones throughout the siege and the voices were being matched with those in a data bank. (IE)
• New Delhi: In a blunt message to Pakistan in the aftermath of Mumbai attacks that left 174 people dead, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, an umbrella body of Muslim socio-religious organizations, has asked Islamabad to stop ''shedding crocodile tears for Indian Muslims". In a resolution passed on Saturday, Mushawarat slammed attempts to link Mumbai attacks to the alleged ''injustices meted out to Indian Muslims". ''Indian Muslims are capable of fighting their battle for justice and equality within the constitutional framework of India and no outside power, especially Pakistan, should shed crocodile tears for us," Mushawarat president Zafarul Islam Khan said. He said the Pakistani govt, terrorist organizations in that country or anyone else responsible for the attacks should be made to pay the price. ''Investigations should focus on all possible internal and external players who have an interest in destabilizing India and are beneficiaries of the crime," the Mushawarat resolved. The resolution said that Mushawarat appreciates the Security Council's move to ban certain Pakistan-based organizations. It also appreciated the authorities and media for refraining from giving a communal tinge to Mumbai attacks. (TOI)
• India's new home minister is leading by example P Chidambaram has refused to get his security cover upgraded from 'Y' category, which he currently has. Chidambaram was provided the security by virtue of being the Union finance minister, also called "positional" security in police circles. After he took over as the home minister, the Intelligence Bureau and other security agencies did a fresh security and threat assessment for the minister, as is the routine. However, sources said, Chidambaram's office politely refused up-gradation of his security cover, as the minister did not desire so. Senior security officials, who did not wish to be named, as it is a sensitive issue, confirmed that the minister had refused more security. Rajeev Mittal, private secretary to the home minister, refused to comment when contacted. (HT)
• New Delhi: The parliamentary panel probing the cash-for-vote scam has given a clean chit to SP MPs Amar Singh and Reoti Raman Singh while seeking a separate probe into the role of Sanjeev Saxena, the alleged conduit for the Samajwadi Party general secretary. The BJP and the CPM MPs on the panel dissented from the findings, with V K Malhotra and Mohd Salim arguing that the K C Deo-headed committee should have probed deeper and taken into account scientific evidence like telephone call records. Disagreeing with the report, the three MPs who claimed to have accepted the bribe as whistle-blowers Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora told reporters that they had not got justice. The report will end the debate which engulfed the July 22 trust vote necessitated by Left's pullout of UPA regime. The display of currency notes in Lok Sabha had stunned observers, with charges that the ruling establishment had secured support from rival benches with money. Samajwadi camp may be the most relieved as two of its key MPs were embroiled in the case, with Reoti Raman even figuring on sting tapes. (TOI)
• New Delhi: BJP paid heavily for the Gujjar-Meena tussle and organizational disarray as Congress finished ahead in what has been a closer race than the last two polls, when the principal players swept their way to victory. If BJP managed 78 seats despite ending on the losing side against Congress's 96, it is because Congress could hike its vote share by just 1.2% while BJP shed 3.7% over 2003 polls. Observers claim the results reflect a lack of wave against CM Vasundhara Raje even as a hardworking Congress managed its social equations while tapping the bickerings in saffron camp cleverly. The results gain significance as it holds key to the 25 Lok Sabha seats where Congress is hoping to revive its fortunes. The party lost 2003 assembly polls and the slide resulted in it winning only four seats and BJP cornering 21. Crucial in coming polls would be the behaviour of key groups Jats, Meenas and Gujjars. Their defection hurt the BJP as it coincided with minor OBCs consolidating behind Ashok Gehlot to tilt the contest in favour of Congress. (TOI)
• New Delhi: To counter apprehensions among tourists wanting to come to India in the wake of the Mumbai Terror attacks, the Govt is planning to use images from the election process in Jammu and Kashmir. As the flow of incoming tourists takes a hit because of last month's terror attacks in Mumbai, the Govt has decided to send out a strong message that India continued to be a safe destination. "Images of long queues of people waiting to cast their votes in J&K make a strong statement of life as it exists in the country. We do not need to be defensive on terrorism. Terror attacks can happen anywhere. But that does not mean the entire country can be branded unsafe. An incident in Mumbai does not make Kerala unsafe," Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said on Monday. (IE)
• New Delhi: Residents of Rajinder Nagar, an area known to be a BJP stronghold, this time voted Congress party's Ramakant Goswami to power over BJP's choice deceased three-time MLA Puran Chand Yogi's wife, 66-year-old Asha Yogi. Congress' victory margin of over 5,000 votes shows that the sympathy wave in view of Puran Chand Yogi's death failed to work for the BJP. Saturday saw the residents of Rajinder Nagar constituency go out and cast their vote to elect the 70th candidate of the Delhi Assembly. Having put up a poor show in the polls, the BJP was banking merely on the popularity of deceased Puran Chand Yogi to get his wife, Asha Yogi, the votes. (TOI)
• New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on writ petitions challenging the revision of the income criterion for the creamy layer among the Other Backward Classes from Rs. 2.5 lakh to 4.5 lakh for admission to educational institutions. In his petition, P.V. Indiresan pointed out that in the Ashok Kumar Thakur (OBC) case, the court had explicitly said non-exclusion of the creamy layer and inclusion of forward castes in reservation violated the right to equality under Articles 14, 15 and 16 as well as the basic structure of the Constitution. (HINDU)

MANMOHAN SINGH & GOVT

A purge of Maharashtra's political leadership and exit of Shivraj Patil as home minister may not be followed by a culling of intelligence bosses. National security advisor M K Narayanan will remain a key figure on security matters while IB and RAW are unlikely to be touched either. After the Mumbai attacks, it has been argued that the accountability principle should be applied to security agencies as well. The post 26/11 blame game between agencies, Navy and Coast Guard underlined a similar apprehension within outfits tasked with intelligence collection and analysis. But after intense in-house discussions, the govt seems to have settled in favour of "status quo" in agencies with PM Manmohan Singh indicating that he is not in favour of changes at the top levels of intelligence organisations at present. The PM seems to have taken the view that agencies would be demoralised if they were shaken up and made the point by suggesting sacking intelligence brass could create a vacuum. This would mean the NSA has weathered the storm kicked up over allegations that intelligence tip-offs over an impending Lashkar-e-Taiba strike were ignored.(TOI)

CONGRESS

The Congress on Monday castigated the Pakistani media for giving a clean chit to Islamabad in the Mumbai Terror attacks and for trying to give a communal colour to the incident. "We truly regret the knee-jerk reaction by a part of the Pakistani press. Not only have they denounced India but also given immediate and advance certificate of innocence. What is most disturbing is that they have talked in open communal terms," AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singh said during a press briefing here. Drawing a parallel with the Indian media, which he said was "self-critical" and which was trying to make codes for emergency situation, Singhvi said, "We find it surprising that they (Pakistani press) are more loyal than the king, that is, the political establishment. It is a matter of pride and satisfaction that our press, on the other hand, has adopted a constructive approach despite some shortcomings about which they are doing self-introspection." The AICC spokesperson said the Pakistani media's approach was not befitting the Fourth Estate. (IE)

LEFT PARTIES

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday demanded an inquiry by a parliamentary committee into the 2G spectrum allocation by the Communications and Information Technology Ministry. Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha, CPI(M) member Basudeb Acharia said the spectrum was allotted at lower prices than the prevailing market rate, causing a loss of about Rs.60,000 crore to the national exchequer. "This is the worst-ever financial scam in the country. The Ministry adopted an inexplicable principle of first come first serve for issuing licences." The 2G licences were priced at 2001 levels on the pretext of keeping the cost low for the consumers, he said. Mr. Acharia demanded action against the two operators who were allocated the spectrum. They sold the licences to other companies and made huge profits, he alleged. Only a detailed discussion in Parliament and an inquiry by a House Committee would be able to bring out the truth. (HINDU)

STATES

ASSAM

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat has demanded that the United Progressive Alliance govt do away with the self-imposed Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act and expand the fiscal deficit to ensure massive spending by the govt at the Centre and the States to overcome a possible slowdown of the economy due to the global financial meltdown. Mr. Karat also asked the UPA govt not to further open up the financial sector to foreign capital. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Karat told reporters that a much higher public expenditure programme was required. It should aim at generating employment and enhancing incomes of the working people through increased public investment in agriculture, expanding the NREGA, higher allocations for health and education, infrastructure like rural roads, housing for the middle and lower income groups and universalisation of the Public Distribution System. (HINDU)

BIHAR

Bihar has sought Rs 291.88 crore grant from the 13th Finance Commission as the State Govt has initiated a number of measures to check infiltration of terrorists and anti-socials besides tackling Naxal menace and cross-border smuggling. Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds the Finance portfolio, told PTI on Monday that a detailed memorandum had been submitted to the Commission chairman Vijay Kelkar seeking a 'suitable' grant for taking up police modernisation schemes. (HINDU)

J&K

They may not see eye-to-eye on many issues but when it comes to declaration of assets at poll time, a common thread connects almost all Valley politicians. They don't own much, their wives quite something. Some politicians have also written in their poll affidavits that they are still paying back car loans. The top trio the National Conference's Omar Abdullah, the PDP's Mehbooba Mufti and former CM Ghulam Nabi Azad have neither land, house or property in their names. While PDP patron Mufti Mohd Sayeed owns an "ancestral house", the only politician to own and declare property worth crores is the NC elder statesman, Farooq Abdullah. Mehbooba Mufti seems to be the poorest of the lot. Her assets include Rs 40,000 cash, Rs 1.29 lakh as bank deposit, besides a Maruti Swift and gold worth Rs 10 lakh. Mehbooba has no land or property in her name, and according to her affidavit, has an outstanding amount of Rs 2.62 lakh against the Rs 4.30-lakh car loan. (IE)

KERALA

Kickstarting electioneering for the ensuing LS poll in Kerala, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that the Left need not teach the Congress patriotism. While addressing a large meeting of Congress workers from across the state on Monday evening, Sonia kept on attacking the Left brand without directly targeting the CPI(M). This is despite Kerala being the ground zero of direct showdowns between the CPI(M) and the Congress. Flaying the Left stand on the nuclear deal, Sonia said that the Congress had contributed several martyrs for the country and that this was the only party that could maintain the unity of the nation. Congress had never compromised with any anti-secular parties, she said. Sonia dedicated a major chunk of her half-an-hour speech highlighting the achievements of the UPA Govt.(IE)

MADHYA PRADESH

While the BJP is engaged in the formation of ministry, the Congress is still struggling to name its legislature party leader in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP returned to power, winning 143 seats, while the Congress got 71 seats, 33 more than its disastrous performance in 2003, which had broken its 10-year rule. The Congress MLAs met at the party headquarters in the state capital on Sunday, but the exercise to nominate the CLP leader remained inconclusive as the faction-ridden apparatus failed to reach a consensus. In the true Congress tradition of leaving everything to the high command, the meeting ended with a one-line resolution authorising AICC president Sonia Gandhi to take the final decision. (IE)

PUNJAB

A day after TOI highlighted how VIPs in Punjab, many of them still using threat perceptions during days of terrorism as an excuse, had lavished a huge number of securitymen on themselves and kin, Punjab and Haryana HC on Monday sought names of those who have armed guards. Visibly perturbed, Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Nawab Singh, after going through the TOI report placed before them by a petitioner, also asked the state govt to disclose details of ''threat perception" to such persons. The details the names of those who get security cover and the number of security personnel on such duty will have to be placed in a sealed cover before the HC on or before December 22, the next date of hearing. TOI had reported how the Punjab CM and his kin had an astounding 1,000 security personnel to cover them. Overall, about 900 leaders and 350 officers have 7,284 gunmen looking after their security needs. This when internal security, which has come into sharp focus after the Mumbai attacks of November 26, exposed sieve-like loopholes.(TOI)

RAJASTHAN

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Monday said an inquiry was ordered against some of the dealings during the previous Vasundhara Raje regime. ''The process of inquiry has already been initiated. I have asked my officials to look into the various allegations against her and her govt," Gehlot said in Delhi after meeting PM Manmohan Singh. Gehlot had already given indications of his intentions when soon after assuming office he ordered the chief secretary to look into all decisions taken in the past six months by the previous govt. In fact, the CM in his meeting with the principal secretaries expressed his displeasure with the dealings of the Jaipur Development Authority and the urban development department. Even during the elections, Gehlot and Congress had been highlighting the alleged financial irregularities and land scams that are said to have taken place during Raje's regime. He also accused her of not delivering on promises and on various MoUs signed during her tenure. Raje, in fact, has been under fire even from her own party men with many of the MLAs levelling charges against her. MP and BJP national vice-president Kailash Meghwal in a meeting chaired by Rajnath Singh in Delhi some time back had accused Raje of collecting money to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore illegally. (TOI)

EDITORIAL

Ends and means: As he mobilises international pressure on Pakistan to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai aggression, PM Manmohan Singh has rightly reaffirmed India's commitment to resolving all outstanding disputes with Islamabad, including the Kashmir question, in a violence-free atmosphere. Two important visitors this week, British PM Gordon Brown and US Democratic Senator John Kerry, who is expected to take over the powerful chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next month in Washington, have both helped reinforce the Indian case against Pakistan. In pointing out that nearly 75 per cent of Terror plots in Britain have been traced back to Pakistan, Brown has underlined that it is not just India that wants to see immediate and credible actions against the thriving "non-state actors" next door. (IE)