Bali Bombers Executed

Convicted for carrying out the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings the killed 202 people, three terrorists were shot dead last night by a firing squad at the prison island of Nusakambangan off southern Java Saturday, the widely expected executions came after Indonesian authorities set aside warnings from the families of those killed in the macabre bombing that mainly targeted foreign tourists.

Relatives of some of the British dead requested for the executions to be stayed, warning that they would be used as a propaganda coup by the militants' supporters and families.

“Jasman Panjaitan, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, told a news conference last night that Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron had been executed on the prison island of Nusakambangan off southern Java,” reported the Guardian.

The executions are understood to be have been carried out in a clearing in the heavily forested island by police who had been preparing for days.

According to reports the men were taken from their cells to the site about 4 km from the prison, where they were strapped to wooden poles, and shot through the heart. Following negotiations with the men's families, their bodies will be flown to their home villages for burial.

Amrozi had gained notoriety as the 'smiling bomber' for his behaviour at his trial when he was convicted of providing the van and explosives for the attack on the Sari Club in the popular resort of Kuta.

The carrying out of the death sentences, passed five years ago, brings an end to a protracted period of delays. The dead men said that they carried out the twin bombings in retaliation for US-led aggression in Afghanistan.

As news of the killings spread around the globe, western countries renewed warnings to their citizens to be vigilant against reprisal attacks.

The three men were found guilty of planning and helping to carry out the attacks on 12 October 2002 that thrust Indonesia on to the front line in the war on terrorism. They never expressed any remorse, even taunting some of the relatives of their victims at their trials five years ago.

(Internet inputs)

No Call from Obama Worries New Delhi

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has not yet received a call from U.S. president-elect Barack Obama. New Delhi is reportedly concerned a being put low on the list, though the president Pratibha Patil and .the PM issued congratualatory statements soon after Obama squared off a victory to the Oval office on November 4.

So far, Obama has spoken to 15 world leaders, including Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

Apart from Premier Singh, Obama is yet to interact telephonically with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

According to reports, Obama has spoken with the leaders of Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Italy, Poland, Pakistan and Spain.

Prime Minister Singh is currently on an official visit to Oman and Qatar and the earliest he can speak to Obama is on Tuesday when he returns to New Delhi.

Insiders say Obama might have been annoyed with the way the Indian government deliberately omitted a crucial paragraph from a letter he had written to Singh during his US visit in September. Obama had asserted in the letter that the Indo-US relations would not spiral down under the next US administration and Congress.

Independent Adeeb Milks Secular Woes

The Congress-Samajwadi Party marriage of convenience was finally consummated Sunday, after fears of emerging political isolation pushed ‘the not so amiable allies’ into a political embrace that ironically, does not guarantee the nomination of independent Adeeb Khan to the upper house of parliament.

Khan is the Congress-SP backed independent for Rajya Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh, the decision to field Khan came less than 24 hours before the deadline for nominations expires on Monday.

Khan had recently launched a tirade against National Security Advisor MK Narayanan and questioned the Congress’ commitment to "secularism."

An alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University, Khan was earlier the coordinator of the minorities’ cell of the All India Congress Committee.

His candidature thwarts the aspirations of various Congress leaders including Salman Khursheed and Pramod Tiwari and adds to the growing worries of SP leader from Mumbai, Abu Azmi, whose term ends later this month.

The going may not be ‘all easy’ for Khan as Bahujan Samaj czarina, Mayawati is expected to attempt blockade of the Congress-SP truck by aggressively poaching opposition and independent members to garner support for Congress rebel Akhliesh Das, who is in fray as the sixth BSP candidate.

The Congress-SP decide on fielding Khan is the pro-minority middle path worked out after Amar Singh’s repeated flaying of the Congress for not ordering a judicial probe into the Batla House encounter.

Echoing sentiments first voiced by the Singh, Khan had on October 26 written to the Congress president and blistered the party, for failing to honour ‘Muslim expectations.’

The carefully worded communication blistered NSA Narayanan and criticized the Congress policy on minorities but, stopped short of going beyond the point of no return.

The decision was made public after Congress president Sonia Gandhi and SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh met for what may be viewed as fence-mending talks.

With the BJP vowing a rout in the forthcoming parliamentary elections and the third front slicing through their vote banks to gain political ground, the Congress-SP rethink over their relationship, according to pundits, is a reflection of dwindling electoral fortunes that may see the two romance each other, as a minor force, on the opposition benches next year.

Advani - 81 and Online

BJP prime ministerial shadow, LK Advani celebrated his 82nd birthday by launching an interactive portal - lkadvani.in- on Saturday, meanwhile his party used the occasion to project him as the best person for the job as he combined the experience of a veteran with modernity and even technology.

The portal, a part of the BJP attempts to connect to the youth especially, first time voters, was launched by former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Lt Gen (retd) S K Sinha.

Speaking at the function at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, party chief Rajnath Singh said Advani could feel the pulse of the youth and added that the tech savvy PMO hopeful was "a veteran leader always moving with modern times", Singh recalled having seen Advani using a palmtop years ago when it was not common in the country.

He also described the BJP as the "most progressive and forward looking party" which was evident from the fact that it was the first political party in the country to use SMS and email for official communication.

Senior leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and RSS chief K S Sudarshan wished Advani on his birthday. Advani had met former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee two days ago.

Top party leaders, including chief ministers Vasundhara Raje, BC Khanduri and former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, attended the function that unveiled the latest salvo in the Advani armour.

Kashmir a Bilateral Issue, Says Pranab

Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata on Saturday while reacting to US president-elect Barack Obama's views on the issue. MEA Mukherjee was speaking on the sidelines of a function in the city.

"Essentially, it has been stated that it (Kashmir) is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan,"said the MEA.

Mukherjee was responding to reporters' queries on Obama's interview with Joe Klein of Time magazine, in which he spoke about his desire to play a more pro-active role in helping India and Pakistan resolve the six-decade old dispute.

Obama is also reportedly mulling appointment of former US president Bill Clinton as a special envoy on Kashmir.

Obama's remarks caused disquiet in New Delhi and were seen as an attempt by the US to play an interventionist's role on the issue.

Mukherjee said: "The (Kashmir) problem needed to be solved under the Simla agreement and the Lahore pact signed later." The Simla agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in 1972.

The minister also referred to the series of discussions between the two nations within the framework of a composite dialogue.

He sidestepped a query on Obama being opposed to outsourcing by US companies, saying it was an internal matter of that nation.

"We will comment on it when the need arises," he added.

Mukherjee was attending the curtainraiser to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit 2008 scheduled to take place in New Delhi on November 13.

The BIMSTEC is a seven-nation bloc that acts as a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The grouping comprises India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand.

Muslim Clerics Resolve to Combat Terror

Drawing distinction between jehad and terror, Muslim clerics belonging to the country’s best known Islamic seminary ‘Darul Uloom, Deoband,’ resolved to fight terrorism and distanced themselves from all kinds of terror activities. They also regretted that Muslims across the world were being branded as terrorists.

The congregation drew a distinction between "jehad" and terrorism saying while the former "is basically a constructive phenomena", terror is "based on destruction alone".

The resolution adopted at the two-day national session of Jamiat-Ulema-I-Hind (JUH) in New Delhi strongly condemned efforts being made to link Islam with terrorism and made it clear that Islam did not allow killing of innocent people or disturbing peace in any manner. It said 'jehad' and terrorism were "poles apart".

Jehad is permitted only for restoring peace and is a fundamental right of a human being, they added.

The Jamiat said it was against any kind of terrorist activity and was ready to combat the menace with the help of others.

Malegaon Blasts: Two More Held

Investigations into the Malegaon bomb blast on Saturday revealed new dimensions amid speculation that some more serving and retired army officials could be involved as Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) picked up two more persons for questioning.

Investigations are underway to discover possible links of nine arrested in the Malegaon case with the 2006 Nanded blasts in which CBI has charge-sheeted 10 people allegedly belonging to Bajrang Dal.

While ATS officials remained tightlipped on the probe, sources in the investigating agency said two persons were picked up from Vapi and Pune in connection with the Malegaon blast on September 29 that killed six people.

The Army has requested presence of some of its Military Intelligence officials during the brain mapping and narco- analysis of Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit, the first serving Army officer to be arrested by the ATS in connection with the blast.

Purohit is suspected to have masterminded the blast providing financial support and deadly RDX used in the bombing.

Top ATS officials, who met top Army brass yesterday, drew a blank when they asked about the laptop of Purohit, which has mysteriously disappeared from Pachmarhi in after he was shifted to Mumbai on October 29.

The ATS believes that Purohit's laptop contains vital information besides a list of 54 people who were trained in a military school in Pune. Purohit's leave records have been given to the probe agencies.

Smog Delays 70 Arrivals in New Delhi

Nearly 70 inbound flights, including three international ones, were delayed on Saturday morning due as smog reduced visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport to a mere 750m, the plight of passengers was further aggravated by an hour-long shutdown of one of the two ILS friendly runways.

One of the two runways equipped to handle flights during low visibility was closed for an hour.

“The new runway at the airport is equipped with an Instrument Landing System, which enables a pilot to land a plane even when he cannot see the runway,” said a spokesperson of Airport Authority of India, which handles air traffic at IGI Airport. However, the ILS is dependent on the data provided by Runway Visual Range (RVR) machine, which gives exact status of visibility.

“The RVR machine was not working and therefore the ILS could not be used. We had to shut down the new runway for an hour,” the spokesperson said.

Manipur Cops in Kolkata to Quiz Prepak Suspects

Two officers of the Manipur Police officers reached Kolkata Saturday evening to question the seven alleged People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Prepak) militants arrested in Kolkata on Friday. Charged under Section 41C of the CrPC, the seven were remanded to police custody for two days.

The officers from Manipur are interrogating the suspects but, thee identities have not ye been disclosed.

If the seven are found to be members of the banned outfit, the officers will seek transit remand and take them to Imphal, the capital of Manipur. The arrests wee made following specific inputs provided by the Military Intelligence (MI).

MI sources say the seven were active members of the outfit, which had changed its name to United People’s Party of Kangleipak (UPPK) on Thursday. The UPPK is led by one Chenglamba. The seven were allegedly on a ‘mission’ to collect funds from businessmen dealing in scrap from Manipur.

“We had kept tabs on their movement in the city for the last few days. They were arrested near auction houses in Kolkata, where bidding for scrap from Manipur was going on. Militants are now trying to revive the outfit in Manipur, and funds are very crucial. Delhi was a favourite target earlier. Now that central agencies are breathing down their necks, the militants are carrying out their activities in Kolkata,” a senior MI official was quoted as saying by the TOI.

Though the city police denied that any cash has been recovered from the seven, the army maintained that they were in possession of nearly Rs 15 lakh that they had collected from businessmen over the last few days. There are also allegations that one of those arrested, M Chittaranjan Singh, is a small time contractor from Manipur.

Prepak has claimed responsibility for two blasts in Imphal this year. In both cases, the group claimed that it was merely showing off its capabilities in the state. The group is also said to have links with other outfits, both in Manipur and elsewhere.

Chandrayaan Probes into Lunar Orbit

Sends Back Chandrayaan-1, the first Indian lunar craft crossed the big test and entered moon’s orbit on Saturday. Scientists commanding it from the Spacecraft Control Centre in Bangalore made a 77-minute orbit manoeuvring exercise to put it within 500 km of the lunar surface.

With this, ISRO said, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to moon, after the former Soviet Union, the US, Japan and China. ISTRAC scientists began the sixth, lengthiest and most complex operation of the mission — the ‘lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre’ — at 4.51 p.m. by firing at the onboard motors. They nudged it into an elliptical orbit 500 X 7,500 km around moon. The ISRO release said the spacecraft would take about 11 hours to go round the moon once in the orbit.

“This is the most crucial move of the lunar mission,” ISRO’s spokesman, S Satish, said. Over the next 2-3 days, the control centre will further fire the motors to slow it down and ease it gradually, first to a 100 km X 500 km orbit and finally into a circular 100 km X 100 km orbit for the next two years.

The performance of all the systems onboard Chandrayaan-1 is normal. The Terrain Mapping Camera, one of the 11 scientific instruments of the spacecraft, has been opened twice to take pictures of the earth and moon.