| Shivraj
Patil resigns over Mumbai attacks
In response to mounting pressure in the wake
of terror attacks in Mumbai, Union Home Minister
Shivraj Patil on Sunday submitted his resignation
to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A spokesman
of the Congress party said that Patil took moral
responsibility for the recent co-ordinated attacks
in Mumbai that killed at least 183 people and
injured 295.
The Prime Minister’s Office has not yet
accepted Patil’s resignation. The resignation
becomes official only after the President approves
it. Defending Patil, the spokesman said that the
Home Ministry took appropriate steps following
the worst terror attack on the Indian soil.
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Captured gunman links Mumbai attacks to Pakistan
The only gunman captured during the attacks on
Mumbai has provided testimony of the operation's
links to a Pakistan-based militant group, Indian
press reports said Sunday, quoting intelligence
sources. Ajmal Amir Kamal, whose young, clean-shaven
face has become an enduring image of the attacks
after he was caught on a CCTV camera wearing a
‘Versace’T-shirt, is reportedly being
interrogated in a safe-house in Mumbai.
According to the sources quoted by several newspapers,
Kamal, 21, has identified all the attackers as
Pakistani citizens and acknowledged that they
were trained by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group
fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.
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SAD to announce remaining Lok Sabha candidates
in ten days
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will announce all the
remaining candidates for coming Parliament elections
within ten days. SAD's Secretary General Sukhdev
Singh Dhindsa disclosed it here on Saturday after
the presiding over the annual day function of
Government Mohindra College.
Talking to media persons he said that party has
already announced candidates for three parliament
constituencies and three seats have left for its
alliance partner BJP. He said that the party has
shortlisted many candidates for remaining seven
seats and will announced it within ten days.
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Attacks chill economic prospects
The deadly terror strike on India's financial
nerve centre clouds the future of Asia's third-largest
economy at a time when it already faces a significant
slowdown, analysts say. Ruthless gunmen stormed
luxury hotels, including the iconic Taj Mahal
Palace, a landmark restaurant and the main train
station, killing at least 195 people in a brazen
attack that paralysed Mumbai for 60 hours.
The murderous rampage, which Indians are calling
their own 9/11, was clearly intended to "destabilise
markets and scare off tourists," said Nikhilesh
Bhattacharyya, an economist at Moody's Economy.com.
The attack -- which also saw the gunmen single
out Americans, Britons and Israelis -- "signifies
an attack by extremists on India's economic success
and its closer and warmer economic and diplomatic
ties with the West," said Deepak Lalwani,
India director at London's Astaire and Partners.
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National Games now to be held
in Feb
Jharkhand Sports Minister Bandhu Tirkey on Saturday
announced that the National Games have been further
postponed and will now be held from Feb 15-28.
Tirkey also said that the state government will
seek Rs.10 billion in assistance from the central
government to hold the Games. Jharkhand was awarded
the 34th national games in 2002 and the event
was later scheduled in 2007.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) earlier postponed the Games at the request
of National Games Organising Committee (NGOC)
as Jharkhand failed to develop the infrastructure
in time for the Dec 1-13 event. "The National
Games date has been extended as the necessary
infrastructure was not ready. The IOA has accepted
the request to extend the dates and the games
will take place in February," he said. "The
infrastructure will be ready by that time.
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