Understanding woman

What she says and what she means
By: Dhanyasree.M



It is a universally accepted truth that men and women have different wavelengths in communication. Women develop their intimacy with other people through talk and they love to talk and talk.... They will convey a lot through their expressions and simple words during their elaborate talk. Women are more emotional than men and they expect their men to talk in an emotional and common language.

However men prefer to use short and direct expressions for communication other than the elaborate female language. Since men are unaware of the female expressions they fail to understand what their woman really means while she says something. This oblivion in communication inflames most sensitive issues and conflicts in the relationship. Imagine a usual conversation between a man and a woman:

She: I thought you'd be coming late for the movie (Followed by a soft sigh)

Here the soft sigh indicates that she is content and relaxed about him. He may not even understand how happy and content she is to have him at her side

He: How long you've been waiting?
She: Just five minutes.

This 'five minutes' is equivalent to half an hour. This is the same 'five minutes' in the previous instances when she had told him 'five minutes' and disappeared to put on her costumes for hours. Here also he may not understand that she was waiting for his company for a long time.

She: How do I look now?
He: Fine

Here he makes the serious mistake of not understanding woman's language. 'Fine' is the word often used at the end of an argument to shut one up, when you are confident that you are right. Here she understands that rather than complimenting her, he wants her to stop her talks.

He: Why are you silent?
She: Nothing (Followed by a loud sigh)

She wants him to be in his place and not to intrude into her personal feelings. The loud sigh indicates that she feels that he is fool at that instant. She also wonders why she wastes her time with him.

He: I was at Mr. Nelson's farmhouse yesterday.
She: Oh I talked to him about what you were doing last night
This 'Oh' is equivalent to the expression 'fine' from her side. She wants him to end the conversation instead of boring her again.

He: It is really frustrating to hear that you called him again. (Pauses)
She: Go ahead (with raised eyebrows)
Here she is daring an argument. If he cannot understand what she means, the talk will definitely end up in a conflict.

He: You must not poke your nose into whatever I do. (Pauses again)
She: Go ahead (normal eyebrows)
Here she is giving up the argument with a feeling that whatever he does or thinks is not mattered to her.

He: I'd considered of taking you along with me.
She: Thanks a lot. It would've been my pleasure to accompany you there.
Here she is not meant to thank him for his concern. He had already hurt her by going alone to the farmhouse. She is just ticking him off for his uncaring action.

He: I've an idea
She: Please do tell me
Her dialogue is not a mere statement. She is giving him a fair chance to come up with the truth or the real excuse.

He: we'll go to Mr. Nelson's next week for a holiday.
She: That's Okay
Her statement implies the idea that she is not all considering the idea of visiting the farmhouse. She wants to think long and hard before repaying him for his neglect.

He: Wait! I'll open the door for you
She : Thanks

She really means to thank him here. He has to just say ' Welcome'.

There are a lot of expressions and statements through which women say what they really mean. If man can understand the female language properly a lot of conflicts in the relationship can be avoided.

Men have to follow some simple exercises to understand what is really meant by women when they say something. A man should try to understand his woman's problems and be a good listener. Moreover it is most important on the part of men to understand that women develop their intimacy through talk and if they really desire the woman's company he must not fail to understand the meaning of her talks.

The Virus War

(courtesy:gunaah.com)

The earthworms are a boon to the farmer to enhance his crop, ancient healers still use leeches to cleanse a sick patient’s infected blood, but no good has ever come to the world from a computer virus or a computer worm. Every year we see countless personal computers and corporations succumbing to the evil of destructive viruses and computer worms. The viruses have become tall-ended menace in the cyberspace in the recent past.

Computer viruses are programs that can infect the computer system and the programs associated with it. Viruses usually spread without any readily visible symptoms and without the knowledge of the user. It passes on from one computer to another through the internet. A virus can erase files, scramble data on a hard disk, cause abnormal screen behavior, suddenly halt the PC and even multiply itself. The worlds most destructive viruses: Jerusalem (1987) Michelangelo (1991) Melissa (1999) The Love Letter (2000) Code Red (2001) The ‘Jerusalem’ Virus (1987): is one of the older and certainly one of the more commonly known viruses. The Jerusalem virus was written in such a way that it activates itself each Friday the 13th, deleting any programs run on that day. The virus caused a general slowdown of the computer thirty minutes after an infected program is run and also causes the screen to roll up two lines. The ‘Melissa’ Virus (1999): it badly flooded the corporate networks with a tidal wave of e-mail messages in March 1999. When a user opened an e-mail message containing an infected Word attachment, the virus was sent to the first 50 names in the user’s address book. The mail was addressed from the name of someone the recipient knew and referred to a document they had supposedly asked for. So much e-mail traffic was generated all of a sudden that the largest of the companies we know today had to turn off their e-mail servers. The ‘Love Letter’ virus (2000): better known as the ‘I Love You’ bug created havoc in the year 2000. This particular virus has caused more damage than any other computer virus till date and affected millions of computers worldwide. Computer systems were corrupted through e-mail, through other file sharing systems and via Internet chat systems. The bug multiplied by sending copies of itself via e-mails. The mail included a file attachment with the e-mail with the subject, “I LOVE YOU”. The ‘Michelangelo’ virus (1991): this was a typical virus that infected the hard disks directly. Michelangelo was written in such a way that it used to trigger off on March 6th, and would delete all programs and files from the system on this particular day. The Michelangelo virus first appeared in April in the year 1991.The virus is named Michelangelo not because of any messages in the virus, but because of the reason that this virus was detected on March 6 which is the birthday of the famous artist Michelangelo. The ‘Code Red’ virus (2001): it affected the computer systems in a very unpredictable manner. The logic of this virus was that it would send the computer into infinite sleep mode. This virus is very dangerous because it spreads not only through e-mail, but also via Web pages and across shared networks. Anti-Virus -The Virus Killer With more and more destructive viruses flooding the Internet the biggest of the companies are susceptible to the risk of viruses. A minor lapse in the security systems of the computers can cost the company its fortune. But is antivirus software a surefire solution to this problem? Mr. Anand Kalanitri who is a network security expert, says that “The main function of the anti virus software is to notify the user about the presence of the particular virus on his network.The affected users are usually those who do a lot of downloading from the Internet every now and then. During this process of downloading it is so much possible that the person may download a virus. In this situation the all the anti virus does is that it gives a warning about the virus. Many a times, people ignore this warning and download the damaged file with the virus”. He further adds that to minimize avoid virus attacks, the computer user should follow some basic guidelines such as: 1) Use the latest version of a good anti-virus software 2) Use a firewall 3) Consult your system support person if you work from home 4) Don’t open e-mail attachments unless you know the source especially those having .exe extension 5) Avoid opening unknown email attachments 6) Update virus definition regularly. 7) Avoid opening links directly from e-mails. 8) Create backup of critical data stored in the computer 9) Scan the computer for viruses regularly

terror in mumbai

A terrorist attack in Mumbai kills at least 100 people

THE sheer scale and audacity of the assault were staggering. Gangs of well-armed youths attacked two luxury hotels, a restaurant, a railway station and at least one hospital. Gunfire and explosions rang through Mumbai overnight on November 26th-27th and through the next morning. By Thursday November 27th more than 100 people were reported to have been killed, and the toll seemed likely to rise. Several foreigners, including some from America, Japan and Britain, were among the dead. So were over a dozen policemen, including Mumbai’s chief counter-terrorism officer. Up to 100 hostages, including selected American and British guests, were alleged to be held hostage inside a hotel.

Even in a city—and country—with a grim record of terrorist violence, these were extraordinary scenes. The attacks started at around 10.30pm on Wednesday, when gunmen started shooting and throwing grenades at Mumbai’s main Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station. Television footage showed two men shooting at random as they drove through nearby streets in a stolen police jeep.

Around the same time, a bomb was reported to have exploded in a taxi parked near the city’s main airport. More or less simultaneously, gunmen speaking Hindi and Urdu, the language of many north-Indian Muslims and of neighbouring Pakistan, stormed two hotels—the Taj Mahal and the Trident Oberoi—and Café Leopold, a restaurant popular with tourists. Police outside the Taj Mahal, India’s most famous hotel, lapped by the Arabian Sea, said gunmen arrived there by inflatable dinghy. In the early hours, a gunfight erupted on Marine Drive, the scenic coastal road seen in so many Bollywood films, in which another Mumbai police chief was killed.

As dawn broke, flames were rising from the domed roof of the Taj Mahal. Navy and army commandos, who had retaken the hotel’s lower floors and killed two terrorists, reported bodies in many rooms and perhaps half a dozen terrorists still living. A trickle of terrified employees and guests, some with gunshot wounds, continued to flee the building. One fugitive, Amit, a hotel-restaurant manager, said his chef had been hit by three bullets and many colleagues remained inside. A few badly-injured survivors were wheeled from the hotel on brass luggage-trolleys. By midday on Thursday most of the hostages were reported to have been released from the hotel, although there were reports of further shooting.

Meanwhile at the nearby Trident Oberoi, as many as 100 hostages were reported still to be held. Gunfire and explosions were reported from the upper storeys of the building.

There seemed little doubt that the attackers were Muslim militants of some description, but their exact provenance was unclear. Responsibility was claimed by a previously little-known group called the Deccan Mujahideen. Speaking to Indian television by telephone, a gunman holding hostages in the Trident Oberoi demanded that Muslim prisoners, including those captured in Kashmir, should be released from Indian jails. “Release all the mujahideens, and Muslims living in India should not be troubled,” he said.

In the past five months India has suffered from a spate of Islamist militancy, with bomb-blasts in half a dozen cities, including Delhi, Bangalore and Jaipur. A home-grown Muslim terrorist group, the Indian Mujahideen, has been blamed for the spree, in which over 150 people were killed. In a chilling, 14-page admission of responsibility for the Delhi bombings in September, the Indian Mujahideen castigated the counter-terrorism efforts of Mumbai’s police, and promised Mumbaikars future “deadly attacks”.

As India’s first indigenous Muslim terrorist group—so they have often been described—the Indian Mujahideen are a worrying sign. They seem to have evolved from a decade-long campaign by Pakistan-based militants, including many fighting an insurgency in Kashmir, to incite India’s 140m Muslims to revolt. These groups have been held primarily responsible for half a dozen major terrorist attacks in Mumbai in recent years. In 1993 local Muslim gangsters backed by Pakistan-based militants set off 13 near-simultaneous bomb-blasts in the city, killing more than 250 people. In 2006 another co-ordinated bombing spree on Mumbai’s railway killed over 180 commuters. A Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-toiba, was blamed at the time.

This week’s attacks in Mumbai seemed different, however. Attacks by bands of gunmen on numerous targets, instead of the mere laying of bombs, and the seizure of so many hostages, led to speculation, unsupported by evidence, that local militants in India could not have mounted the attacks without considerable foreign help. And the targets chosen—world famous hotels and Western tourists—was a new phenomenon for India, despite being a pattern familiar from attacks directed or inspired by al-Qaeda elsewhere in the world.

Al-Qaeda has often threatened to launch strikes on India. In 2006 Arab terrorists belonging to the organisation were foiled in an attempt to set off bombs in Goa, India’s main destination for foreign tourists. Among the targets of the latest attacks was a Jewish religious centre in southern Mumbai which was reported to have been attacked by the gunmen. Police said that an Israeli rabbi and his family were among a group being held as hostages in a nearby apartment block.

Despite these worrying signs, Indian officials have so far resisted suggestions that Indian Muslims are being radicalised and joining a global jihad. Many refer approvingly to the observation of George Bush that Muslims from India have not in general turned up to fight the infidels on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But security analysts have meanwhile despaired at the unpreparedness of India’s security agencies to counter a domestic Islamist threat. Whether or not al-Qaeda was behind the latest attack, that happy complacency must now have ended.

Mumbai 26/11 attack:

(courtesy:gunaah.com)

“ An seaborne invasion, not just a terrorist attack”

Mumbai 26/11

This was not another terrorist incident, not another bomb exploded in a train or an explosive laden cycle or taxi near residential area. Nor was it a reaction to the explosion on the Samjhauta Express or the Malegaon blasts or the carnage at Delhi and Bangalore.

The scale of the attack was different and so was the audacity and ferocity of the strike on what are primary landmarks in Mumbai.

The attack came out of nowhere from the sea and it came with the swiftness of a commondo raid.

This was a pre-planned external operation in co-operation with local networks. While the locals supplied intel and transport, the external force came in the form of about 20-25 armed terrorists who landed via two or more motorboats near Machhimar Colony, Cuffe Parade and fanned out in different directions.

Nearby fisherfolk at the Machhimar Colony subsequently informed the police that they had seen black jacketed men unloading large sacks from boats . So there is a possibility that more than one boat was used. One of the captured terrorist has indicated that their force comprised primarily of Kashmiris and Pakistani mercenaries. The use of local sympathisers could have come in form of providing cars and “pointmen” for seeking out targets and fleeing from the scene.

What is of importance is that this invasive force came via the Arabian Sea in boats heavily laden with arms and ammunition . The police strongly feel that there must have been a ‘mother’ship which brought the terrorists within the Mumbai coastline so that smaller boats could be deployed for transporting the terrorists for a ‘ drop’ near Cuffe Parade. In fact, the Coast Guard has launched a search for ship “ MV Alpha” which is supposed to have brought the terrorists within striking distance of the shore. But it is too late…the ship must have already made its way back.

One group of six or seven stormed into the five-star Taj Mahal hotel , taking the security by surprise. Using grenades and frenetically firing AK-47s, they overwhelmed hotel staff and security personnel , taking several foreign tourists hostage.

Another group captured the Hotel Trident( formerly Hotel Oberoi) at Nariman Point and using a similar modus operandi, quickly took over one floor of the hotel.

Both the five-star hotels has seen a war of attrition between the terrorists holding hostages inside the hotel premises and the anti-terrorists forces outside. The areas have been cordoned off and the battle was still on 15 hours after the attack. The anit-terrorists forces which consists of Black Cat commandoes and NSG personnel along with local policemen are waiting it out till the terrorists run out of ammunition.

The third group stormed into Leopold Café on Colaba Causeway which is just behind the Taj Mahal Hotel. This popular café, which was even described in the novel “ Shantaram “ is a popular hideout for tourists and the well-to-do who need to take a look at the seamier side on Mumbai. The terrorists started firing indiscriminately at the occupants of the café and then took off in a vehicle. In fact, Leopold Café was the first target before the terrorists fanned out in different directions using different vehicles.

The fourth group created maximum damage in terms of human casualties. They stormed into CST railway station (formerly VT station) and let loose with AK-47s. More than 40 home bound commuters died on the spot while the injured cannot be accounted for. This same group , after the indiscriminate firing at CST station, made their way to nearby Cama Hospital and after shooting their way in, took hostages.

The operation began around 9.30 a.m. and in 30 minutes, the terrorists had “captured” two five star hotels, a major train terminus and a hospital. So this was not just another terrorist act…it was an invasion , a commando attack launched with startling swiftness and executed with ruthless efficiency.

Mumbai Terror Attack: Well planned with gestation period Mumbai 26/11

The planning required a mother ship for high seas sailing, a couple of speedboats for landing ashore and a safe landing point near Machhimar Colony , Cuffe Parade which was free from suspicious eyes.

The arms and ammunition including AK-47s and hand grenades came in from the mother ship. It is believed that a consignment of RDX also came in because the police found eight kgs of RDX near Bade Mia’s , a roadside restaurant behind the Taj Mahal Hotel. This was to be used for a rear attack on the Taj but it never took off.

At least three vehicles were needed to transport the terrorists from the landing point to different areas of attack. The police are not sure as to how much arms and ammunition ,including RDX, hav been transferred using other vehicles to different parts of the city and suburbs. But there was an RDX explosion at Vile Parle in which a taxi blew up.

The entire operation indicates that the terrorists had local support. It also shows that it must have taken at least two months to plan and execute.

Meanwhile, the joint meeting between Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Kumar Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart, scheduled to be held at Chandigarh has been cancelled.

Are negotiations holding up the takeover operations ?

Mumbai 26/11

The battle between invading terrorists and the local security agencies which began on Wednesday evening continued for 48 hours and spilled into the afternoon of Friday afternoon. In the process, this long drawn out battle raised the question : were the Indian forces spearheaded by the NSG negotiating with the terrorists ? Is there a list of demands that we know nothing about ?

The local police were quick to cordon off the three targets : the TaJ Mahal Hotel near the Gateway of India, the Trident & The Oberoi at Nariman Point and Nariman House at Colaba . Not adequately armed to tackle AK-47 weilding and grenade throwing terrorists, the local police called in marine commandoes(known as Marcos) from nearby INS Angre in Colaba who kept a running battle going with the terrorist.

As the commanding officer of Marcos revealed(see box item), his men handed over charge to the NSG at around 10. a.m. on Thursday. Then the NSG took over and there was a distinct clamp down on information and images coming out of the three target areas.

All the three zones were hostage heavy targets and the majority were foreigners, particularly British and European. The hostages at Nariman House were Jewish including a rabbi and his wife and a newly married couple which had recently come in from the USA.

The presence of these hostages is the only reason for the long drawn out battle. It became very clear that the terrorists had a list of demands in hand when they took over the targets and were negotiating furiously with a hastily assembled team of high powered Indians.

What the Indian government has done is to clamp down on communication channels between the terrorists and media . Even the Al Jazeera TV crew outside the Taj Mahal Hotel could not receive any communication from the besieged but heavily armed and dangerous terrorists.

The first batch of those who were evacuated on Thursday afternoon , at both the Taj and The Trident , were largely Indians . Those who were evacuated from Nariman House( said to be a Jewish dominated building)on Thursday evening, were also Indian families living in the same building But like the Britishers and Europeans at the Taj and the Trident, the Jews of Nariman House were also kept hostage by the terrorists. They obviously knew what kind of hostages they needed for negotiating their list of demands.

It has been wrongly stated by the state government that there has been no demands from the terrorists. With so much of planning and military trained manpower going into this commando-like seaborne invasion of Mumbai, there has to be a motive , a list of demands pertaining to the release of a prisoner here or a captive in , say, an American prison at Cuba.

The fact that hostages were being released in batches, after an inordinately long delay, indicates that some of their demands were being met. There was a large wave of 93 hostages released from The Trident between 11a.m. and 12 noon but only four of them were Indians (two from Calcutta, one from Mumbai and the third from Singapore). So 89 of the hostages were foreign. Is there release a reaction to a negotiated settlement ? No one really knows since there has been no statement from the Indian authorities on this issue. The rescue operations at Hotel Trident/Oberoi are however over and the premises are fully secure. After a forensics team goes through the hotel premises, it will be handed over to the management.

It may be recalled that a similar hostage scene was negotiated when the IC plane was hi-jacked to Kandahar. Protracted negotiations finally led to the release of three well-known terrorists who went on to form their own terrorist networks.

The battle at Horniman House, Colaba( after 8 a.m.) is intriguing since it is still going on. It is a mere four storey building and should have been re-taken within hours of terrorist occupation. Yet a battle of attrition, named “Operation Black Thunder”is on for the past two days , even though most of the residents were evacuated last evening. The fact that the battle is still on indicates that Jewish hostages are still there and there is a demand to be met.

The Taj Mahal Hotel (after 8 a.m.)

The GOC –in-Command Thambiraj addressed the press and indicated that there was at least one terrorist shuttling between the Ball Room on the first floor and the second floor. There “ was definitely one terrorist but there could be more”, he said. About the presence of hostages, he did not want to clarify.

The NSG stationed outside the Taj took fresh firing positions at around 12.30 p.m. indicating that the battle for the Taj had intensified. A high alert outside the premises was even declared.

By 5 p.m., sporadic firing continued and there appeared no end in sight. One solitary terrorist holding up the might of the NSG ? Not true, there must some more VIP hostages present preventing the NSG from an all-out attack. Come forward and we shoot the hostages, is the message coming down from the terrorists at the Taj and Nariman House. And so there is a lot of sniping and an occasional grenade throwing.

Also what is holding up the NSG charge forward is the possibility of the terrorists being armed with RDX explosives. The DGP of Maharashtra announced today evening that a large cache of RDX was found behind the Taj( The Mathrubhumi had reported that it was found at the famous Bade Mia food stall behind the Taj yesterday). So the presence of RDX, real or imagined, is holding the mopping up operations.

Marine Commandoes : counter attack

Category: Scoops and News, Mumbai 26/11

Soon after the Mumbai police realized that armed and professionally trained terrorists had taken over three targets in South Mumbai , they called in a local unit of marine commandoes(called Marcos)attached to land based INS Angre, Colaba.

The chief who headed the commandoes spoke to the press with his face masked . The following significant details emerged from the dialogue :

* the infiltration into Mumbai had been planned in advance with local networks providing vital intelligence.

* the groups which took over the three targets—Hotel Taj Mahal, Hotel Trident/Oberoi(at Nariman Point) and Nariman House at Colaba ---were a determined lot. They believed in dying hard.

* The terrorists had a complete idea of the layout of the Taj. Obviously a survey had been conducted earlier, either by local networks or by operatives sent in earlier as guests.

* The Marcos however did not have such layout information. All that they knew was that there were around 400 rooms and that five-to-six terrorists had to be flushed out of them.

* A rucksack was found containing 400 rounds of ammunition for AK-47s , grenades , currency of various foreign countries, and even dry fruits to sustain onself during a long siege. This rucksack has been handed over to the police .

* When asked about the nationality of the terrorists, the Marcos leader did not want to comment.

* They recovered credit cards---ICICI, HDFC and Citibank –from the bodies of terrorists killed by the Marcos . They have been handed over to the police.

* When they broke into the second floor, they found 15 bodies .

The marine commandoes managed to extricate the managing director of the Taj Mahal Hotel, including 30 other guests.

* The terrorists did not wear masks. They appeared to be below 30 years of age and had military training.

The marine commando operations at the Trident/Oberoi reported similar findings. This group of terrorists were also ruthless and exhibited no remorse at taking innocent lives.

The marine commandoes handed over anti-terrorist operations at all the three sites to the NSG at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

The marine commander clearly stated that they had to withdraw from the scene since the NSG’s method of operation and their style was different from that of the commandoes.

Quite clearly, the commandoes had not authority to negotiate. But the NSG did and therefore took over entire control of the counter- attack .

Terrorist sings while FBI helps in investigations

Category: Scoops and News, Mumbai 26/11

The one and only terrorist arrested by the Mumbai police in 26/11 attack, Ajmal Amir Kasab (21), has started singing.

Kasab gave detailed information about the organization behind the attack, revealed the name of the mastermind who controlled the entire opertaion and the technique of motivating and brainwashing the terrorist cadre to perform terrorist activities. It is also learned that India has granted permission to a foreign investigating agency to help in the investigation and questioning of a terrorist arrested on Indian soil.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was allowed a brief interaction with Kasab, after the US offered help to fight the ongoing war against terrorism, said police sources.

Kasab told the investigators that Lashkar-e-Tayeba (LeT) commander Mohammed Muzzamil alias Yusuf alias Abu Gurera has controlled the entire operation of 26/11 and “Operation VTS” was the code name of the operation.

He also identified the voice of Muzzamil, when he was made to listen the intercepted telephonic conversations. According to the police, terrorists entered the city with five prepaid SIM cards and were in constant touch with Muzzamil. Two out of five SIM cards were traced to Delhi and the remaining were brought from Kolkata. The SIM cards were procured on the basis of forged documents and were then smuggled to Pakistan said an investigator.

The FBI has helped the investigators by tracing the voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephone to a computer in Lahore. Investigators said, Muzzamil had called the terrorists holed up at Taj and Oberoi Hotels and Nariman House using (VOIP) telephone.

Kasab also revealed the investigators about the Lashkar’s base camp, where Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammed Sayyed and others delivered fiery speeches to motivate the cadre. He unveiled the investigators about the inflammatory films that were shown to brainwash Lashkar recruits.

According to the investigators, Kasab revealed that LeT conducts regular training camps at Danna, Abdul-Bin-Masud, Mangla Dam and Um-Al-qura camps in Muzaffarabad and badli in Kotli. He also disclosed about the two new camps that Let has opened for handpicked cadre to train for suicide missions at Akas in Muzafarabad and another camp in an area known as “Point”.

He told the investigators that LeT commander Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi had promised his poor family in Faridkot a large sum of money in return for his participation in the attack on Mumbai.

Based on the details disclosed by Kasab, the Crime Branch of Mumbai police is preparing a record on the banned terror outfit, which will be handed over to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Security Advisor and the FBI.

The records will also be handed over to the Pakistan government, which has been seeking evidence against LeT from the Indian government. Deven Bharti, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), confirmed that a dossier on the entire operation was being prepared.

In the meantime, investigators are examining the Garmin GPS and walkie-talkie set used by the terrorists to track down the exact route from where the terrorists entered Mumbai from Karachi.

Wiping out the local hand

Category: topstory, Mumbai 26/11

By: Pradeep Shinde

The terrorists , ten of them,(but there could be more) landed in a couple of dinghies, at Machhimar Colony near Budhwar Park, Cuffe Parade. All of them had large rucksacks across their shoulders when they clambered ashore.

They must have landed around 9 p.m. They were seen by a score of fisherfolk who may or may or have alerted the local police stations at Colaba and Cuffe Parade. If they had not done so, it was because such nocturnal landings of boats and suspicious looking men was a matter of routine for fisherfolk . For many decades, this fisherman’s colony has been a smuggling route for gold biscuits, computer peripherals , foreign liquor and recently, drugs. Everyone knows about it but nothing has been done about it.

Both the police stations are on the take and so are some of the key opinion leaders in this Machhimar Colony. Hafta is regular and this time too, both the cops and fisherfolk must have assumed that some smugglers have landed with their cargo. They might have even been eagerly looking forward to their slice of the cake.

One may recall that the RDX landing in 1993 on the Raigad coast was a similar case. The cargo of RDX came in through a route established by smugglers over a long period of time. Hafta was given on a regular basis to all the police stations on the route, including the Customs. So when the RDX came in, the authorities allowed them in , thinking that they were allowing smuggled goods into Raigad district. Unwitting or not, this was a clear case of local aid.

But in this recent terrorist raid on high profile targets , Mumbai Police Commissioer Hasan Ghafoor categorically stated on Tuesday at a press conference that their were no evidence of local aid to the smugglers. There was no evidence of locals helping the terrorists, he said.

So how and why did the terrorists chose the easily accessed Machhamir Colony for their nocturnal landing instead of the Gateway of India. ? Who told them that this was a safer place to land ? And that it is ,anyhow, a safe route for smugglers?

Consider the landing of the terrorists. After walking through Machhamir Colony, ten terrorists came onto the adjacent main road, got into four vehicles and drove separately to Nariman House, Leopold Café, Hotel Taj Mahal and Hotel Trident/Oberoi Were four unoccupied cars waitng for them, parked on the main road, outside Machhimar Colony ? Or did they manage to get four taxis at the same spot ? It is not easy,by the way, to find four taxis simultaneously at that particular spot.

Commissioner Ghafoor cannot accept the fact that four vehicles were waiting for the terrorists since this would have confirmed the presence of a local hand. So the theory propagated is that four taxis were used. If so, where are these taxis ? Where are the statements of these taxi drivers ? Did they not realize they they were carrying gun-toting men ? Or were all the taxi drivers killed ? If so, where are their bodies?

But Police Commissioner Ghafoor says that there was no local help and therefore the terrorists used unwitting taxi drivers to launch their commando-like blitzkrieg on their targets.

This writer, who has lived in Bombay and them Mumbai all his life, has never seen or heard of Nariman House in Colaba. Yet one group of terrorists unerringly zeroed in on this four-storied building located in one of the narrow lanes of Colaba and captured it as quickly as one might say ‘abracabdra’. Some locals had obviously targeted and pinpointed this building which primarily housed Jews.

But Commissioner Ghafoor categorically denied the existence of local networks or a helping hand.

Ghafoor has also stated that the terrorists came in using one dinghy. This dinghy carried ten terrorists armed to the teeth with ten rucksacks crammed with grenades, AK-47s and German –made machine guns, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. On can only say that it was a very, very large dinghy!

Nobody wants to bell the ‘local hand ‘ cat. Doing so would lead to Dawood Ibrahim’s network in Colaba and adjoining areas or to his sympathizers. Any mention of a local hand could also led to a communal confrontation. And nobody wants to upset the applecart…it is election time and vote banks have to be protected.

A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You're free at last.
...........................-Charlie Daniels:

________________________________________________________________-

'Drugs like Ecstasy 'emerging threat' to India'

24 Jun, 2007

NEW DELHI: Party drugs like Ecstasy are becoming an emerging threat to India, a top UN official has said.

"The problem of synthetic drugs such as Ecstasy in India is simmering and we have to be extra cautious about it. This is not an epidemic yet but a new emerging threat to India," Rajiv Walia, project coordinator with the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said in an interview in the run-up to June 26, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

"It is a new peril but it has certainly not spread to the same extent as it has in Southeast Asian countries, Europe and the US," Walia said in an interview.

Synthetic drugs like Ephedrine, Amphetamines and Methaqualone are known by many names such as Ecstasy, MDMA, Adam, XTC, love drug and hug They are often abused during parties.

According to Walia, these drugs are a combination of psychoactive drugs that have stimulant and hallucinogenic qualities and are similar to other street drugs known for causing brain damage. They also damage the body by raising its temperature, which can cause muscle breakdown and heart and kidney failure.

Asked about how these drugs reach India, he said most were smuggled from Myanmar. Although the total quantity available in India was not large yet, Walia warned against complacency. "There have been seizures of synthetic drugs, especially party drugs, in metropolitan cities in India," he pointed out.

According to Walia, seizure of narcotics in India during the past few years suggests that local drugs like ganja and hashish - derivatives of opium - continue to be abused most often, as they are cheap and easily available.

"India is the only country currently producing opium for medical and scientific purposes. But despite the best controls, certain quantities do flow into the illicit channel although the extent is very difficult to determine."

Walia added that heroin trailed ganja and hashish in the top drug race, but by and large its abuse was restricted to urban areas and the transit routes of smugglers.

Cocaine abuse too appeared to be confined to the urban elite, he said. Going by the quantity of drugs seized in the last 10 years, Walia felt that there had been no major upsurge in drug abuse, though there was a slight upward trend.

Drug enforcement officials throughout the world have a rule of thumb - the quantity of drugs seized by the authorities is about 10 percent of the quantity being smuggled.

Going by that, an average of 10 tonnes of heroin have been smuggled into India every year over the past decade, Walia said. Some of it was smuggled in from the Maynmar border and the rest from Afghanistan via Pakistan.

But India was a relatively small player in the smuggling of heroin out of Afghanistan, Walia felt, since that country produced an average of 610 tonnes of heroin every year.

He stressed that the number of specially trained people in various drug law enforcement agencies should be increased to fight the menace more effectively.

The UNODC (www.unodc.org) runs various courses to train people in police and paramilitary forces as well as specialised drug law enforcement agencies. It also provides specialised equipment to the authorities.

RISE of child abuse cases:



13 Jan, 2006 MUMBAI: A 35-year-old man from Chembur was arrested for raping and sodomising a 10-month-old infant. The accused, Ramkisan Surajmal Harijan, a resident of Mankhurd-Ghatkopar Link Road, took the baby away on Tuesday night on the pretext of babysitting her after which he raped her. The baby was admitted to hospital and underwent an operation on Thursday. The police said that she was still in hospital, but recovering. Ramkisan was remanded to the custody of the Deonar police. The incident, the latest in a string of violent crimes against children which have been rocking the city, only corroborates statistics recently released by the Maharashtra police. Crimes against children have been steadily rising over the last few years—from 832 cases registered in 2000 to 2,281 in 2004. From 2003 to 2004 alone, crimes against children rose by 3.63%. Rape tops this list; in fact, the number of rapes of children in the age group of 10-18 has almost doubled from 2000 to 2004.



**Over 53% children face sexual abuse: Survey
10 Apr, 2007

NEW DELHI: In a shocking revelation, a government commissioned survey has found that more than 53% of children in India are subjected to sexual abuse, but most don’t report the assaults to anyone.
The survey, released on Monday and which covered different forms of child abuse — physical, sexual and emotional — as well as female child neglect, found that two out of every three children have been physically abused.
Parents and relatives, persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility were mostly found to be the perpetrators of child sexual abuse in the country. According to the women and child development ministry-sponsored report, which assumes greater significance in the backdrop of the Nithari killings that brought into focus the issue of children’s safety, those in the age group of 5-12 years reported higher levels of abuse.
While releasing the survey, women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury said, "Child abuse is shrouded in secrecy and there is a conspiracy of silence around the entire subject. The ministry is working on a new law for protection of children’s rights by clearly specifying offences against children and stiffening punishments."
The survey, carried out across 13 states and with a sample size of 12,447, revealed that 53.22% of children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse, with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Delhi reporting the highest percentage of such incidents. In 50% of child abuse cases, the abusers were known to the child or were in a position of trust and responsibility and most children did not report the matter to anyone.
The survey, sponsored by WCD ministry and carried out by the NGO Prayas in association with Unicef and Save the Children, found that over 50% children were subjected to one or the other form of physical abuse and more boys than girls were abused physically. The first-ever survey on child abuse in the country disclosed that nearly 65% of schoolchildren reported facing corporal punishment — beatings by teachers — mostly in government schools.
Of children physically abused in families, in 88.6% of the cases, it was the parents who were the perpetrators. More than 50% had been sexually abused in ways that ranged from severe — such as rape or fondling — to milder forms of molestation that included forcible kissing.
The study also interviewed 2,324 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, almost half of whom reported being physically or sexually abused as children. When it comes to emotional abuse, every second child was subjected to emotional assault and in 83% of the cases, parents were the abusers.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

CHILD PROSTITUTION
"Child prostitution is the ultimate denial of the rights of the child."

Impact on children

Prostitutes may experience a lifetime of recurrent illnesses, such as fertility problems, pregnancy complications, and depression . Children involved in the sex trade face new and potentially fatal dangers in light of the spread of HIV andAIDS. In addition to this they often suffer from the same psychological symptoms as children who are molested.

Prostitution of children refers to the use of children and teenagers as prostitutes.India's 944 580 000 inhabitants live in an area of 3 287 590 km², with an expectation that the population will reach 1 billion in May. Almost a quarter of this total are under 18 years of age.25% of the population live in urban areas and this is estimated to be growing annually at just over 1%. Over population and lack of education in nutrition and health contribute to the deaths of around 11 000 children each day. In 1951, 164 million Indians were living in poverty compared to 312 million in 1993-94.There are estimated to be over 900 000 sex workers in India. 30% are believed to be children.Recent reports estimate that the number of children involved in prostitution is increasing at 8 to10% per annum.About 15% of the prostitutes in Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi, Madras, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Bangalore are children. It is estimated that 30%of the prostitutes in these six cities are under 20years of age. Nearly half of them became commercial sex workers when they were minors.Conservative estimates state that around 300 000 children in India are suffering commercialsexual abuse, which includes working in pornography.In one study of 456 sex workers in Mumbai who had been 'rescued' by police in February 1996, afifth were under 18 years and two-thirds were under 20. The main obstacle in the cracking down on child prostitution for the police is the issue of rehabilitation and where to place and reintegrateall the children that they rescue.ROOTS:The problem of child prostitution in India is more complicated than in other Third Worldcountries where it is directly related to sex tourism. In India, sexual exploitation of children hasits roots in traditional practices, beliefs and gender discrimination.According to some research, child prostitution is socially acceptable in some sections of Indiansociety through the practice of Devdasi. Young girls are given to the 'gods' and they become a religious prostitute. There are believed to be around 3 300 devdasis in Belguam area alone.Devdasi is banned by the Prohibition of Dedication Act of 1982. Parents or guardians dedicatingtheir girls are liable to five years in jail and a Rs5 000 (approximately £71) fine.

AGE:According to a madam in Kamatipura, the average age of girls supplied to the brothels in the last two years has decreased from 14 and 16 years to 10 and 14 years. A girl between 10 and 12 yearsfetches the highest price.

TRAFFICKING:About 7,000 sex workers cross over from Nepal into India every year. 66% of the girls are from amilies where the annual income is about Rs5 000. They may be sold by their parents, deceived with promises of marriage or a lucrative job or kidnapped and sold to brothel owners. Between 40 - 50% are believed to be under 18, the age of consent in India, some are as young as 9 or 10 years old.
RURAL ISSUE:Child sex workers are not confined to big cities. A survey in Bihar revealed that roadside brothels for truck drivers in the Aurangabad and Sasaram districts offered sex workers aged between 6 and 18 years.
CASE EXAMPLES
• Meena was married off at 12. Soon after she was taken to Delhi by her husband, whereshe found out that he was a pimp. In the last three years, she has serviced up to six clientsa night. The major part of her earnings goes to pay rent on the little room, the rest goes toher husband.
• Rita was sold at 9 years old. She washed and cooked for a madam in Delhi for a few months until a client wanted a virgin. Two years later, she barely talks to anyone andspends most of her spare time painting flowers.
• Maya, 10, was taken to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh by her aunt who was paid Rs 3 000.When she refused to have sex with a client, she was locked in a room for two days, scared with snakes and beaten unconscious. When she came around she was raped by theclient. Four years on, Maya lives in the red-light area of Mumbai. Her two year old spends the night in a crèche run by a social service organisation. When he was only a fewmonths old, she used to drug him and put him under her working cot.


The Children, the Desperate, the Helpless, the Homeless Fall Victim to the Heartless


Six girls from 11-13 years of age were rescued from brothel that offered only young children. Trafficked from Vietnam, children were rescued during sting operation involving Cambodian Interpol and local police, led by End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking (ECPAT).


Filipino children, victims of child prostitution, wait to testify before Philippine Congressional committee on child prostitution and human rights, as 200 street children rallied, in a downpour outside, in support.


East Indian girl holds sign condemning child prostitution, in Calcutta rally by school children and social workers to heighten awareness of problem of child prostitution, during International Anti-Child Labor day.