Tuesday, May 31, 2011
PM to discuss N-disaster preparedness steps
In the backdrop of recent nuclear crisis in Japan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will discuss India's disaster preparedness on Wednesday at a special meeting that is expected to unveil measures like installation of hi-tech radiation-measuring gadgets in 35 cities. The meeting will also discuss fast-
tracking of other steps like creation of disaster response forces in places in addition to existing four and procurement of special radiation-detection vehicles.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister will review the nuclear safety issues being looked after by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and Department of Atomic Energy, sources said.
He will also take stock of guidelines of management of nuclear and radiological emergencies issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
Among the various steps to be considered as part of the chemical, biological, radiological nuclear response and rescue preparedness is a project for installation of 'dosi-meters' in 1000 police stations in 35 cities having more than one million population.
Dosi-meters are hi-tech gadgets which monitor and measure radiation levels.
The meeting will also review functioning of National Defence Response Force (NDRF) whose four battalions are stationed at Noida (outside Delhi), Kolkata, Arakkonam (Tamil Nadu) and Pune.
The proposal for creation of six more battalions of the force will also be considered with expectations that these could be fast-tracked.
Ilyas Kashmiri plotted to kill Lockheed chief: testimony
June 01, 2011Chicago : A Pakistani-based branch of al-Qaeda led by Ilyas Kashmiri was hatching a plot to kill the head of US defense group Lockheed Martin, self-confessed terrorist David Coleman Headley testified in a US court Tuesday. The planned assassination was in retaliation for the Lockheed Martin-made drones, Headl
testified during the Chicago trial of his childhood friend, Tahawwur Hussain Rana.
Headley pleaded guilty to 12 terrorism charges related to the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks and other unrealized plots in the wake of his 2009 arrest in Chicago.
He is testifying against alleged co-conspirator Rana in exchange for avoiding the death penalty and extradition to India, Pakistan or Denmark.
Headley testified that he secretly used Rana's office computer for research on the plot to assassinate the Lockheed Martin executive but dismissed his brief online search there as insignificant.
"My research is more in-depth than Googling someone a couple of times," he testified during cross-examination by Rana's defense attorney.
Headley said he was working on the plot with Ilyas Kashmiri, the commander of the Pakistani-based terrorist organization Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI), and a senior member of al-Qaeda.
Headley pleaded guilty to working with Kashmiri on a plot to attack the Danish newspaper Jyllen Posten, which published controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, after Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) got distracted with the Mumbai plot.
A spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin declined to comment on whether the group had been informed of the alleged plot or taken any additional measures to protect Robert Stevens, who has been chief executive officer since 2004.
"Our number one concern is the safety and security of every Lockheed Martin employee," Jennifer Whitlow told AFP.
"We base decisions about employee and facility security measures on our ongoing assessment of the security environment but as a matter of policy, we do not discuss specific threats against our company or our employees."
Rana is accused of providing Headley with a cover and acting as a messenger, with prosecutors alleging he played a behind-the-scenes logistical role in both the Mumbai attacks and another abortive plan to strike Copenhagen.
Rana, a Canadian-Pakistani and Chicago businessman, has denied all charges, and his defense attorneys argue that he was duped by his friend, whom he had met in military school.
Bomb scare at Chennai airport, alert sounded
June 01, 2011Chennai: An alert was sounded at both the domestic and international airports here following a bomb threat call received at the Bangalore airport early Wednesday.
Sources at the airport said that the CISF, which provides the security cover, has been alerted following the bomb threat call.
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