HEAD LINE:

• Us convinced Pak state actors played role in Mumbai attack (TOI)
• Economy will grow at 7%: Govt (TOI)
• BJP should get credit for new terror law: Advani (TOI)

LEAD:

The govt on Tuesday rejected outright minority affairs minister A.R. Antulay's remarks concerning the killing of Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare during the terror strike in Mumbai last month. By Tuesday evening it became clear that Mr Antulay was in no mood to quit nor did PM Manmohan Singh want to drop him from the Cabinet under pressure from the BJP. "The home minister has made a detailed statement in the House in which he has categorically stated that any doubts about the killing of Hemant Karkare and his colleagues have no basis. Mr Antulay has subsequently made a statement. With the statements I think the matter should be allowed to rest, To err is human," Dr Manmohan Singh told reporters, resolving the crisis created by Mr Antulay's remarks that Karkare was killed after he was misled (by someone) because of his investigation into the Malegaon bomb blasts. Congress managers carried out a delicate damage-control operation after behind-the-scenes meetings of the party top brass and the govt over the last few days. Their first priority was not to make Mr Antulay a political martyr, which would have sent the wrong message to the minorities across the country and helped the BJP ahead of the general elections. Mr Antulay was asked not to allow himself to be provoked in the Lok Sabha when NDA members questioned his patriotism by raising slogans. A meeting of the Congress core group had discussed this issue at length over the last week. On Monday, Dr Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Lok Sabha and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and Union home minister P. Chidambaram met after a dinner for UPA leaders hosted by the PM. (AA)

• The US has endorsed the evidence gathered by India agencies about the complicity of Pakistan's state actors in the terrorist attack on Mumbai. This could result in stepped up international pressure on the Zardari regime to take action against the mentors of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Top US intelligence official John Michel McConell is learn to have expressed complete satisfaction with the strength of India's case against Pakistan, based on FBI's examination of call records of satellite and cellular Phones used by Mumbai attackers and their Pakistan based handlers. McConell confirmed that one of the numbers logged on the satellite phone the terrorists used while navigating their way to Mumbai belonged to known Lashkar terrorist Abu al Qama Indian intelligence officials are familiar with the satellite phone that Qama uses.(TOI)
• Pakistani soldier arrested in Jammu: Indian got more evidence on Tuesday of Islamabad's complicity in terror attacks when J&K police arrested three terrorists, including a Pakistani Army regular. "Once of the three was identified as Ghulam Farid, a sepoy in 10 Azad Kashmir regiment of Pakistan Army. His service number is 4319184," said J&K DGP Kuldeep Khoda.(TOI)
• New Delhi: Minority affairs minister A R Antulay on Tuesday traded credibility for survival after the govt bracketed his attempt to use Hemant Karkare's killing to gain sympathy among Muslims with BJP's criticism of the Malegaon probe, and rebguffed his insinuations as " deeply regrettable". Antulay took back his demand for a probe into the circumstances of Karkare's killing, earning a reprieve. Sources said foreign minister Pranab Mukharjee called him for a morning meeting where he was told his continuation in the ministry would become untenable if he didn't resile from his position. In keeping with the assurance of a clarification, home minister P Chidambaram gave the Lok Sabha a detailed sequence of events leading to Maharashtra ATS chief Karkare's shooting down by Pkistani terrorist on November 26.(TOI)
• Nagpur: Anti-Terrorism Squad officals feel that front organizations of terrorist outfits like SIMI and Indian Mujahideen may try to create hurdles in the interrogation process of Amir Talha, who was arrested at the Nagpur railway station on Saturday. There may be morchas, banners and meeting agencies organized by the sympathizers of the front orgaisations against the arrest of Talha. We are also expecting sections of the media to write anti-police articles and inciting a particular community. This is how the front organisations act. (TOI)

MANMOHAN SINGH & GOVT

PM Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee separately stressed on a single point on Tuesday: that the current issue is not imminent war but terrorism. "The issue is not war: The issue is terrorism and the territory of Pakistan is being used to promote, aid and abet terrorism", Singh told reporters outside Parliament. "No one wants a war", he added. Mukherjee make a similar statement: "The issue is not the defence of Pakistan of Pakistan but of terrorist activities emanating from Pakistani soil against India. They were speaking in a atmosphere of increasing war talk. Pakistan army Chief General Parvez Kayani was earlier quoted in Pakistani media as saying "The armed forces are fully prepared to meet any eventuality, as the men are ready to sacrifice for their country".(HINDU)

BJP

Leader of Opposition L K Advani drew out the outlines of BJP's poll campaign against the Congress-led UPA at the meeting of his party MPs, as the longest ever session of the House wound up on Tuesday. To ensure that credit for the anti-terror law brought in by the govt in its last leg went fully to the Opposition, Advani expressed satisfaction at the fact that govt had to "make a U-turn" on the issue and finally "woke up to the need for tough legislation to deal with terror, which the Opposition has been consistently demanding for the last five years". Speaking at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, he pointed out that the last 10days of the Parliament session had been productive since this finally saw an anti-terror legislation in place.(TOI)

• BJP president Rajnath Singh has constituted two separate committees to review the BJP's recent electoral losses in Delhi and Rajasthan. However, no deadline seems to have been given to the committees regarding the dates by which they are to submit their reports according to the press statement issued by the party, announcing the constitution of the two panels. The Assembly results in the case of Delhi will be reviewed and analysed by a two-member committee, comprising senior leader Yashwant Sinha and Thawar Chand Gehlot, the party leader from Rajasthan and a Lok Sabha member.(AA)

CONGRESS

With many voices in Tamil Nadu raising its pro-LTTE pitch, AICC spokesperson Veerappa Moily has warned that relations between the DMK and Congress will be strained if the Tamil Nadu govt does not take action on such outfits. Under pressure from the Congress, the DMK govt arrested Tamil movie director Seeman for the second time for not only making pro-LTTE remarks, but also reportedly "slandering" former PM Rajiv Gandhi by saying he was responsible for his own assassination. Seeman's arrest led attacks on Congress workers in the party's state headquarters by Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi cadres. Speaking to this newspaper, AICC spokesperson Veerappa Moily said, "LTTE is a banned outfit. Action should be taken on anyone who has links or supports LTTE. We are confident that the state govt will take necessary action on those supporting LTTE, otherwise it will result friction in the relations between the DMK and the Congress."(AA)

• Despite repeated reminders from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi to "put the house in order", the UP Congress remains in a state of disarray. Ever since talks of an alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress began five months ago, the party has slipped into a comatose state. While UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi is undoubtedly working overtime, rushing from district to district, holding meetings and addressing party workers, the party organisation remains in deep slumber. Lok Sabha aspirants are twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the alliance to materialise before they start pre-poll arrangements while other party leaders can be seen happily sun-bathing at the party headquarters, waiting for the leadership to wave the magic wand in the coming elections. "Until we are sure of the seats we are getting, how can we start preparations? Let the party high command take a decision and then we will get going," says a Lok Sabha aspirant from eastern UP. A senior party functionary informs rather politely as he munches on peanuts, "Lok Sabha elections are fought on national issues and there is little we can do from here. It is ultimately the charisma of our leaders that will ensure our victory just like it did in the recent Assembly elections."(AA)

LEFT PARTIES

The Left parties on Tuesday staged vociferous protests inside and outside Parliament against the manner in which Bills were passed amid pandemonium. As members of the BJP stormed into the well of the Lok Sabha demanding sacking of Union Minister for Minority Affairs A.R. Antulay, Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal proceeded with the business which included passage of Bills, undeterred by noise and disruption. Simultaneously, Left MPs rose to protest the move by the govt to transact the business of passage of the Bills without any discussion. A total of nine Bills were passed in just over 15 minutes. While some Left MPs entered the well of the House, others occupied the aisles and many were seen tearing up papers protesting the move. Soon after, the MPs staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha and held an impromptu "sit-in" outside the main gate of the Parliament House. Similar scenes were seen in the Rajya Sabha. Left MPs along with members from the Telugu Desam Party and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam coalesced into a slogan-shouting bloc distinct from the BJP members demanding the removal of Mr. Antulay.(HINDU)

STATES

ANDHRA PRADESH

'BJP to contest all seats' Rajahmundry: Bharatiya Janata Party State president Bandaru Dattatreya has said the party will announce the names of candidates for 25 Assembly and six Parliamentary constituencies after its election committee meeting scheduled to be held in Hyderabad on December 28. Addressing media persons here on Tuesday, Mr. Dattatreya said the BJP would contest for all the Assembly and Parliamentary seats as it was strong enough to face the challenge. (HINDU)

J&K

Srinagar/Jammu (IANS): Voting was underway in Srinagar Wednesday in the last phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls amid palpable tension due to a separatist call for a poll boycott and a protest march. The state's winter capital Jammu and its adjacent Samba district also saw voters trickling in on a chilly winter morning. Streets in Srinagar were deserted and there was little movement of vehicles or pedestrians, especially in Srinagar's old city areas. In the eight constituencies of Idgah, Batmaloo, Amira Kadal, Habba Kadal, Zadibal, Sonawar, Hazrtabal and Khanyar, all of which fall in Srinagar district, authorities have stopped the movement of all people and vehicles except those of poll officials and security forces. The joint coordination committee of the separatist Hurriyat Conference has called for a total boycott of the polls and a protest march Wednesday to the city centre Lal Chowk. "Nobody would be allowed to create a law and order problem anywhere in the city and those trying to disturb peace here would be dealt with in accordance with the law," a police officer told IANS in Srinagar. (HINDU)

PUNJAB

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi wants to replicate the now admittedly successful Youth Congress organisational elections being held in Punjab, across the country. Mr Gandhi flew up to Amritsar to personally monitor the culmination of the experimental pilot project, conducted over the past three months in close consultation with Fame (foundation for the advanced of elections) jointly headed by former chief election commissioners, James Michael Lyngdoh and Taruvai Subayya Krishnamurthy. The youth Congress elections in Punjab are stated to have stringently abided, much to the obvious chagrin of established politicians, to conditions laid down by Fame including, "A zero tolerance for criminals broadly defined as anyone against whom charges have been framed for an offence where the penalty is more than two years." Attired in his now trademark white kurta-pajamas and trainers, Mr Gandhi congratulated Punjab's youth on their overwhelming response to what he hopes will pave the path for true people's representatives to emerge as India's leaders in the coming generations. Describing the ongoing elections as a "success", he promised the "Punjab formula" would soon be replicated in all other states to strengthen inner-party democracy within the Congress. As of now, he admitted, "The Punjab Youth Congress is the only democratically elected body in the whole country" but said this would soon change. "Seventy per cent of the population is constituted by young people and no political party can afford to ignore India's youth," he said. (AA)

KARNATAKA

"Terrorism can be defeated only if fought alongside the "twin challenge" of communalism," said Prakash Karat, general secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist). Addressing a public rally here on Tuesday, which was the culmination of a State-wide jatha organised by the CPI(M) against communalism and terrorism, Mr. Karat said both these forces "challenge the concept of India as a secular democracy." The BJP was "covering up its communal designs as nationalism," but just scratching the surface revealed its colours as "the enemy of the common people," he said. Citing an example, he said the BJP's agreement with the Congress on allowing more foreign direct investment in the banking and insurance sectors exposed the "hypocrisy" of the BJP's claims of nationalism. This amounted to "promoting anti-national policies" when the global financial meltdown had clearly demonstrated what disasters it could lead to.(HINDU)

RAJASTHAN

The BJP is retaining its old team in Rajasthan despite the electoral reverses it suffered under their leadership in the just concluded Assembly elections. The 78-member strong BJP Legislature Party which met for the first time after the election results on Tuesday "unanimously" elected former CM Vasundhara Raje as its leader while the party's Central observer, Venkaiah Naidu, gave enough hints that Omprakash Mathur, the State president, would continue. "The party leadership has decided to continue both of them in their present responsibilities. The next big challenge before them is the Lok Sabha election," Mr. Naidu said talking to newspersons at the end of the brief session in which Ms. Raje was elected the leader. Former Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria proposed her name while another former Minister Ghanshyam Tiwari along with few others seconded it. Both Mr. Kataria and Mr. Tiwari are Raje critics and were potential candidates for the post. There had been reports that Mr. Mathur had offered to step down soon after the party losing the elections in the State blaming the leadership of Ms.Raje. The party leadership, acting fast, summoned both the leaders to Delhi and made them remain there for a few days till the tempers cooled down. (HINDU)

TAMIL NADU

The State will not open any new retail liquor vending shops from now on, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announced here on Tuesday. Also, the shops, which open at 10 a.m., will close an hour early from January 1, 2009 10 p.m. instead of 11 p.m. This follows a meeting Mr.Karunanidhi had with the representatives of various pro-prohibition outfits led by Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S.Ramadoss. Dr.Ramadoss, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi president Thol. Thirumavalavan and the other leaders had pressed for total prohibition in the State. They told the CM that they had passed a resolution at a meeting last month that organisations favouring prohibition would launch an agitation if their demand was not met within a reasonable period. The CM told the group that prohibition was a desirable policy but there were practical difficulties. He said that this could not be implemented at once and, at best, could only be done in stages. Mr.Karunanidhi had given a commitment that he would take measures towards this end. The CM pointed out that all over the State as many as 1,300 bars had been closed down and 128 retail liquor shops had downed shutters. A majority of these shops were closed this year. In 2007, as many 37 shops were closed following complaints from the people and in 2006, five were closed down. (HINDU)

EDITORIAL

Politicians must get their facts right: It is wholly inappropriate that minority affairs minister A.R. Antulay's thoughtless, even irresponsible, observation on the issue of the late Hemant Karkare should be sought to be dragged into the secular-communal debate in the country. The former chief of the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad had very quickly made a name for himself for conducting a painstaking investigation into the Malegaon bomb blast, in which the prime suspects were members of Hindu extremist outfits and an Army officer said to be associated with them. But he, along with two other police officers, were shot dead by Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26. There is no contrived controversy about this. However, Mr Antulay has a bee in his bonnet that the ATS chief was sent to his death by Hindu communal elements whose text message to him, sending him to where the terrorists were operating, put him in harm's way. This is a kind of conspiracy theory that can be heard in tea stalls across India any day of the year. But a minister or anyone holding constitutional office has greater responsibilities than to peddle pedestrian wares.(AA)