Sachin Tendulkar was on Wednesday ruled out of India's must-win match against the West Indies in the Champions Trophy.
Tendulkar was reported to be down with food poisoning. He will be replaced by Dinesh Karthik.
The other change in the Indian team would be Abhishek Nayar in place of Ishant Sharma.
In order to stand a chance for a semifinal berth, India need to beat the West Indies and hope that Pakistan defeat Australia.
New Delhi, Sept 30, 2009: Australia Pakistan score and Ind vs WI India vs West Indies live streaming. Indian hopes off making it to semifinals of Champions Trophy were dashed today when Pakistan was beaten by former World number one team Australia by a whisker. Every one was expecting Australia to win the match easily
But it proved nail biting match as Pakistani bowler proved their mettle by bowling sensibly.
The same Pakistani bowlers had demolished Indian batting line up in the only match they played against their arch rival India.
Pakistani batsmen who had piled up a match winning score in excess of three hundred runs, floundered against a more aggressive bowling attack by Australian pace battery.
No Pakistani batsman was able to complete even a half century.
India on the other hand demolished the West Indian batting line up within just thirty six overs and restricted them to merely 128 runs.
Indian pacers Praween Kumar and Ashish Nehra did a commendable job by not only being very economical but also scalping three wickets each.
Indian captain MH Dhoni too bowled a few overs and was successful in scalping a wicket.
But the start was not good as India lost two batsmen cheaply. Gambhir and Dravid lost their wickets for individual scores of six and four only.
Kamran Akmal b Watson 44
Shahid Afridi c Hopes b Johnson 15
Younis Khan c Johnson b Hopes 18
Shoaib Malik c Ponting b Johnson 27
Mohammad Yousuf c White b Lee 45
Misbah-ul-Haq hit wicket b Watson 41
Umar Akmal not out 2
Naved-ul-Hasan not out 7
Extras: (w-6) 6
Total: (For six wickets in 50 overs) 205
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Shahid Afridi, 7.1 overs), 2-75 (Kamran Akmal, 18.3), 3-89 (Younis Khan, 23.4), 4-123 (Shoaib Malik, 31.5), 5-186 (Mohammad Yousuf), 6-198 (Misbah-ul-Haq)
Bowling:
Brett Lee 10 0 30 1 (2w)
Peter Siddle 5 0 24 0
Mitchell Johnson 10 0 45 2 (2w)
Shane Watson 8 0 32 2 (2w)
James Hopes 10 0 50 1
Nathan Hauritz 7 1 24 0
Australia:
Shane Watson c Kamran Akmal b Umar Gul 24
Tim Paine� lbw b Shahid Afridi 29
Ricky Ponting c Umar Gul b Shoaib Malik 32
Michael Hussey b Naved-ul-Hasan 64
Callum Ferguson b Saeed Ajmal 7
Cameron White b Mohammad Asif 5
James Hopes c Younis Khan b Mohammad Asif 1
Mitchell Johnson b Saeed Ajmal 9
Brett Lee not out 12
Nathan Hauritz not out 9
Extras: (b 1, w 12, nb 1) 14
Total: (For eight wickets in 50 overs) 206
Fall of wickets: 1-44 (Watson, 8.4 overs), 2-59 (Paine, 11.3), 3-140 (Ponting, 31.2), 4-157 (Ferguson, 36.4), 5-174 (Hussey, 40.5), 6-175 (Hopes, 41.2), 7-176 (White, 41.5), 8-187 (Johnson, 45.5)
Bowling:
Umar Gul 9 1 38 1 (1w)
Mohammad Asif 8 0 34 2 (3w)
Shahid Afridi 10 0 47 1 (1w)
Naved-ul-Hasan 9 2 39 1 (1nb)
Saeed Ajmal 10 1 31 2
Shoaib Malik 4 0 16 1 (1w)
Toss: Australia, who chose to field
Man of the match: Michael Hussey (Australia)
Umpires: Billy Bowden (New Zealand) and Allan Hill (New Zealand)
TV umpire: IJ Gould (England)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (India)
WASHINGTON: US president Barack Obama announced a plan on Wednesday to spend $5 billion to create new jobs for medical and scientific research,
The funds, to come from the $787 billion economic stimulus package, will pay for "cutting-edge medical research in every state across the US," the White House said.
"The more than 12,000 grant awards are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs over the next two years and are part of an overall $100 billion Recovery Act investment in science and technology to lay the foundation for the innovation economy of the future," the statement said. The awards will take the form of grants, meaning that institutions and researchers will have to apply for them.
More than $1 billion of the money will go to genomic research - studying the DNA map to find causes of diseases and potential new treatments for them, especially cancer.
The book, titled 'Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor' - written by Matt Latimer, an ex-speechwriter for Bush-has revealed that the Scots-based Harry Potter author was nominated for a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
But White House officials raised an objection against the move, saying that she promoted sorcery in her boy wizard series, which has been made into smash-hit movies starring Daniel Radcliffe.
Thus they stopped Rowling from receiving the US's top gong for civilians who contribute to America, world peace or culture, reports the Sun.
Latimer said "narrow thinking" led "people in the White House to actually object to giving the author JK Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encourage witchcraft".
He also disclosed other names who were denied the privilege under Bush, which included Senator Edward Kennedy - as he was "too liberal".
Rowling's alleged exclusion is not the first example of her writing coming into conflict with the American right. In 2007, Bill O'Reilly of Fox News hit out at the author for announcing that Harry Potter character Dumbledore was gay. He said the outing of Dumbledore was part of a liberal "indoctrination" of children.
BEIJING: China formally kicked off mass celebrations of 60 years of communist rule on Thursday with a 60-gun salute that rung out across
Beijing's historic Tiananmen Square.
China will glorify the nation's six-decade revival as a global power with a tightly choreographed display of mass patriotism including a military parade and spectacular pageant depicting the Communist Party-led rebirth.
President Hu Jintao, who reviewed troops from an open limousine, was to deliver a speech at the historic square to an invitation-only audience of spectators and foreign dignitaries, with security air-tight across the city.
China typically holds grand celebrations every 10 years to commemorate revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
But this year's festivities promise to top those staged in the past, with estimates of 200,000 people taking part in an extravaganza that officials say will outdo even last year's lavish opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.
The authorities want to send a clear message: that China has re-emerged as an undeniable force in the world.
Underlining this confidence, Premier Wen Jiabao predicted further Chinese greatness in a speech to a 60th anniversary reception on the eve of the gala.
"In another 40 years, the 100th anniversary of our nation's founding will come. At that time, a prosperous, powerful, democratic, civilised, harmonious and advanced socialist nation will tower over the East," he said Wednesday.
China will add teeth to those projections with a parade expected to feature nuclear missiles and other high-tech, Chinese-developed weaponry meant to convey the message that a nation once bullied by foreign powers is a pushover no more.
But the apparent insecurity of the ruling Communists has been just as clearly on display -- authorities have imposed draconian security in a seeming bid to prevent an array of perceived threats from spoiling the party.
These include seething tensions in ethnic minority regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet, and widespread social discontent over a widening wealth gap, official corruption and horrific environmental degradation.
As a result, Beijing's 17 million citizens will be relegated to watching the festivities in their hometown on television like the rest of the nation.
Lu Haishi, 23, travelled all the way from Shanghai to watch the festivities with friends -- on TV.
"I came to Beijing for the National Day from Shanghai for the atmosphere. We've rented a room to see the parade on television in a hotel near the route, to get the atmosphere," he said.
Police have for weeks been checking traffic entering the capital, residents along the parade route were ordered not to open their windows during the event, and even the city's airport will shut for the parade's three-hour duration.
Beggars and the homeless have been cleared out and knife sales temporarily banned in some stores after two recent stabbings near Tiananmen Square, while even the flying of pigeons and kites has been ruled out.
The Mao-led 1949 communist takeover ended years of foreign domination and war, while three decades of economic reforms initiated by late leader Deng Xiaoping enriched China and propelled it back into the ranks of world powers.
China's state-controlled media has for months unleashed a continuous barrage of content extolling the nation's Communist Party-led re-emergence that culminates with Thursday's patriotic gala.
Beijing's historic Tiananmen Square.
China will glorify the nation's six-decade revival as a global power with a tightly choreographed display of mass patriotism including a military parade and spectacular pageant depicting the Communist Party-led rebirth.
President Hu Jintao, who reviewed troops from an open limousine, was to deliver a speech at the historic square to an invitation-only audience of spectators and foreign dignitaries, with security air-tight across the city.
China typically holds grand celebrations every 10 years to commemorate revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
But this year's festivities promise to top those staged in the past, with estimates of 200,000 people taking part in an extravaganza that officials say will outdo even last year's lavish opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.
The authorities want to send a clear message: that China has re-emerged as an undeniable force in the world.
Underlining this confidence, Premier Wen Jiabao predicted further Chinese greatness in a speech to a 60th anniversary reception on the eve of the gala.
"In another 40 years, the 100th anniversary of our nation's founding will come. At that time, a prosperous, powerful, democratic, civilised, harmonious and advanced socialist nation will tower over the East," he said Wednesday.
China will add teeth to those projections with a parade expected to feature nuclear missiles and other high-tech, Chinese-developed weaponry meant to convey the message that a nation once bullied by foreign powers is a pushover no more.
But the apparent insecurity of the ruling Communists has been just as clearly on display -- authorities have imposed draconian security in a seeming bid to prevent an array of perceived threats from spoiling the party.
These include seething tensions in ethnic minority regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet, and widespread social discontent over a widening wealth gap, official corruption and horrific environmental degradation.
As a result, Beijing's 17 million citizens will be relegated to watching the festivities in their hometown on television like the rest of the nation.
Lu Haishi, 23, travelled all the way from Shanghai to watch the festivities with friends -- on TV.
"I came to Beijing for the National Day from Shanghai for the atmosphere. We've rented a room to see the parade on television in a hotel near the route, to get the atmosphere," he said.
Police have for weeks been checking traffic entering the capital, residents along the parade route were ordered not to open their windows during the event, and even the city's airport will shut for the parade's three-hour duration.
Beggars and the homeless have been cleared out and knife sales temporarily banned in some stores after two recent stabbings near Tiananmen Square, while even the flying of pigeons and kites has been ruled out.
The Mao-led 1949 communist takeover ended years of foreign domination and war, while three decades of economic reforms initiated by late leader Deng Xiaoping enriched China and propelled it back into the ranks of world powers.
China's state-controlled media has for months unleashed a continuous barrage of content extolling the nation's Communist Party-led re-emergence that culminates with Thursday's patriotic gala.
KARACHI: Ten months after the devastating attacks in Mumbai by Pakistan-based militants, the group behind the assault, Lashkar-e-Taiba,remains
largely intact and determined to strike India again, according to current and former members of the group, and intelligence officials.
Despite pledges from Pakistan to dismantle militant groups operating on its soil, and the arrest of a handful of operatives, Lashkar has persisted, even flourished, since the Mumbai carnage last November.
Indian and Pakistani dossiers on the Mumbai investigations, copies of which were obtained by The New York Times, offer a detailed picture of the operations of a Lashkar network that spans Pakistan. It included four houses and two training camps here in this sprawling southern port city that were used to prepare the attacks.
Among the organizers, the Pakistani document says, was Hammad Amin Sadiq, a homeopathic pharmacist, who arranged bank accounts and secured supplies. He and six others begin their formal trial on Saturday in Pakistan, though Indian authorities say the prosecution stops well short of top Lashkar leaders.
Indeed, Lashkar's broader network endures, and can be mobilized quickly for elaborate attacks with relatively few resources, according to a dozen current and former Lashkar militants and intelligence officials from the US, Europe, India and Pakistan.
In interviews with NYT, they presented a troubling portrait of Lashkar's capabilities, its popularity in Pakistan and the support it has received from former officials of Pakistans military and intelligence establishment.
Pakistani officials say that after September 11, 2001, they broke their contacts with the group. No credible evidence has emerged of Pakistani government involvement in the Mumbai attacks, according to an American law enforcement official.
But a senior American intelligence official said the ISI was believed to maintain ties with Lashkar. Four Lashkar members, interviewed individually, said only a thin distance separated Lashkar and the ISI, bridged by former ISI and military officials.
One highly placed Lashkar militant said the Mumbai attackers were part of groups trained by former Pakistani military and intelligence officials at Lashkar camps. Others had direct knowledge that retired army and ISI officials trained Lashkar recruits as late as last year.
"Some people of the ISI knew about the plan and closed their eyes," said one senior Lashkar operative in Karachi who said he had met some of the gunmen before they left for the Mumbai assault, though he did not know what their mission would be.
The intelligence officials interviewed insisted on anonymity while discussing classified information. The current and former Lashkar militants did not want their names used for fear of antagonizing others in the group or Pakistani authorities.
But by all accounts Lashkar's network, though dormant, remains alive, and the possibility that it could strike India again makes Lashkar a wild card in one of the most volatile regions of the world.
The dossiers show that at the level of the police, the two countries can cooperate, and have exchanged DNA evidence, photographs and items found with the attackers to piece together a detailed portrait of the Mumbai plot.
But the files are laced with barbs and recriminations, reflecting the increasingly acid tenor of their relations. Despite pledges to work together to fight terrorism, the Pakistani and Indian intelligence services are not on speaking terms, according to officials in both countries and the US.
The gaps heighten the risks of a new attack substantially, American officials fear.
"The only cooperation we have with the Pakistanis is that they send us their terrorists, who kill our people, and we kill their terrorists," a senior Indian intelligence official said in an interview.
Asked how much his agency communicated with its Indian counterpart, a senior Pakistani intelligence official made an O with his thumb and forefinger.
"Zero", he replied.
The Pakistani investigation concludes beyond any reasonable doubt that it was Lashkar militants who carried out the Mumbai attacks.
According to testimony by the only surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, Lashkar recruits were vetted and trained around the country, including at well-established camps in Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, as well as in Mansehra, in North-West Frontier Province.
A core group, the 10 chosen for the Mumbai assault, was eventually moved to Karachi and its suburbs, where the real drilling began and where Pakistani investigators later retraced the plotters steps.
Beginning as early as May 2008, the group trained and planned brazenly while living in various neighborhoods in and around Karachi. They made scores of calls using cellphones, some with stolen numbers, starting in August. They set up voice lines over the Internet.
At one water sports shop, they bought inflatable boats, air pumps, life jackets and engines. One of their training camps, with five thatched rooms and a three-room house, was located near a creek, where they conducted water drills in the open.
The police later recovered an abundance of evidence: militant literature, pocket diaries, spent and live ammunition, empty gun magazines, life vests and receipts for supplies, including distributed weapons and explosives, the Pakistani dossier says.
At the other camp, which they named Azizabad, the group and their trainers set up a classroom.
Using handwritten manuals, the recruits were trained how to use cellphones to keep in contact with their handlers during the attack. They pored over detailed maps of the Indian coastline, plotting the course they would take to Mumbai. They learned how to use global positioning devices.
Working from Millat Town, a dusty, middle-class Karachi suburb on the eastern edge of the city, Sadiq organized the cadre. Neighbors described him as quiet and pious, riding around the streets with his two young sons perched on his motorbike. The Pakistani dossier says he was a committed Lashkar militant.
In an interview, his uncle, Lala Yasin, said the same thing, adding proudly that Sadiq was willing to do anything to liberate Kashmir from Indias grip.
"Lashkar-e-Taiba does not kill people without reason," Yasin said at his home in Karachi, a few blocks from where his nephew planned the Mumbai attacks.
"It is the champion of jihad," he explained. "Muslims are like a body and if one part of your body is aching, the entire body may be jeopardized."
Pakistani authorities have arrested seven men linked to the Mumbai attack, including Sadiq and Zaki ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a man well known as the chief of operations for Lashkar. They are searching for at least 13 other suspects.
But their investigation has come up short of the founder of Lashkar, Hafiz Saeed, the man Indian and Western officials accuse of masterminding the attacks.
In June, a Pakistani court freed Saeed from detention, declaring that it did not have enough evidence to hold him.
Under continuing pressure, Pakistani authorities this month confined his movements once again. But they say they have no new evidence against him.
Rehman Malik, Pakistans interior minister, said that there was simply not enough evidence to charge Saeed with a crime, and that all the evidence pointed to Lakhvi as the mastermind.
"Lakhvi was the head, and that is why he has been taken into custody," Malik said in an interview. "He has been charged and now they are all under trial."
Indian officials say they have sent Pakistan a six-page summary of evidence of Saeed's complicity in the Mumbai attacks, a copy of which was given to The Times. The document, based on India's own intelligence and testimony from Kasab, quotes Saeed giving detailed instructions to the group that carried out the attack.
"One Hindustani boat has to be hijacked for going to Bombay from Karachi," the document says, using Mumbais former name. Saeed also told the group that it should aim to begin the assault around 7:30pm.
"At this hour there is considerable crowd at the places of our target," the document quotes him as saying.
Pakistani officials and legal experts say the evidence is not as clear-cut as India says. The case against Saeed rests almost entirely on the testimony of Kasab, the surviving attacker, and serious questions remain about the way the Indian police obtained his statements, they say.
Meanwhile, despite promises to crack down on terrorists, Pakistan's government has taken few concrete
Despite pledges from Pakistan to dismantle militant groups operating on its soil, and the arrest of a handful of operatives, Lashkar has persisted, even flourished, since the Mumbai carnage last November.
Indian and Pakistani dossiers on the Mumbai investigations, copies of which were obtained by The New York Times, offer a detailed picture of the operations of a Lashkar network that spans Pakistan. It included four houses and two training camps here in this sprawling southern port city that were used to prepare the attacks.
Among the organizers, the Pakistani document says, was Hammad Amin Sadiq, a homeopathic pharmacist, who arranged bank accounts and secured supplies. He and six others begin their formal trial on Saturday in Pakistan, though Indian authorities say the prosecution stops well short of top Lashkar leaders.
Indeed, Lashkar's broader network endures, and can be mobilized quickly for elaborate attacks with relatively few resources, according to a dozen current and former Lashkar militants and intelligence officials from the US, Europe, India and Pakistan.
In interviews with NYT, they presented a troubling portrait of Lashkar's capabilities, its popularity in Pakistan and the support it has received from former officials of Pakistans military and intelligence establishment.
Pakistani officials say that after September 11, 2001, they broke their contacts with the group. No credible evidence has emerged of Pakistani government involvement in the Mumbai attacks, according to an American law enforcement official.
But a senior American intelligence official said the ISI was believed to maintain ties with Lashkar. Four Lashkar members, interviewed individually, said only a thin distance separated Lashkar and the ISI, bridged by former ISI and military officials.
One highly placed Lashkar militant said the Mumbai attackers were part of groups trained by former Pakistani military and intelligence officials at Lashkar camps. Others had direct knowledge that retired army and ISI officials trained Lashkar recruits as late as last year.
"Some people of the ISI knew about the plan and closed their eyes," said one senior Lashkar operative in Karachi who said he had met some of the gunmen before they left for the Mumbai assault, though he did not know what their mission would be.
The intelligence officials interviewed insisted on anonymity while discussing classified information. The current and former Lashkar militants did not want their names used for fear of antagonizing others in the group or Pakistani authorities.
But by all accounts Lashkar's network, though dormant, remains alive, and the possibility that it could strike India again makes Lashkar a wild card in one of the most volatile regions of the world.
The dossiers show that at the level of the police, the two countries can cooperate, and have exchanged DNA evidence, photographs and items found with the attackers to piece together a detailed portrait of the Mumbai plot.
But the files are laced with barbs and recriminations, reflecting the increasingly acid tenor of their relations. Despite pledges to work together to fight terrorism, the Pakistani and Indian intelligence services are not on speaking terms, according to officials in both countries and the US.
The gaps heighten the risks of a new attack substantially, American officials fear.
"The only cooperation we have with the Pakistanis is that they send us their terrorists, who kill our people, and we kill their terrorists," a senior Indian intelligence official said in an interview.
Asked how much his agency communicated with its Indian counterpart, a senior Pakistani intelligence official made an O with his thumb and forefinger.
"Zero", he replied.
The Pakistani investigation concludes beyond any reasonable doubt that it was Lashkar militants who carried out the Mumbai attacks.
According to testimony by the only surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, Lashkar recruits were vetted and trained around the country, including at well-established camps in Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, as well as in Mansehra, in North-West Frontier Province.
A core group, the 10 chosen for the Mumbai assault, was eventually moved to Karachi and its suburbs, where the real drilling began and where Pakistani investigators later retraced the plotters steps.
Beginning as early as May 2008, the group trained and planned brazenly while living in various neighborhoods in and around Karachi. They made scores of calls using cellphones, some with stolen numbers, starting in August. They set up voice lines over the Internet.
At one water sports shop, they bought inflatable boats, air pumps, life jackets and engines. One of their training camps, with five thatched rooms and a three-room house, was located near a creek, where they conducted water drills in the open.
The police later recovered an abundance of evidence: militant literature, pocket diaries, spent and live ammunition, empty gun magazines, life vests and receipts for supplies, including distributed weapons and explosives, the Pakistani dossier says.
At the other camp, which they named Azizabad, the group and their trainers set up a classroom.
Using handwritten manuals, the recruits were trained how to use cellphones to keep in contact with their handlers during the attack. They pored over detailed maps of the Indian coastline, plotting the course they would take to Mumbai. They learned how to use global positioning devices.
Working from Millat Town, a dusty, middle-class Karachi suburb on the eastern edge of the city, Sadiq organized the cadre. Neighbors described him as quiet and pious, riding around the streets with his two young sons perched on his motorbike. The Pakistani dossier says he was a committed Lashkar militant.
In an interview, his uncle, Lala Yasin, said the same thing, adding proudly that Sadiq was willing to do anything to liberate Kashmir from Indias grip.
"Lashkar-e-Taiba does not kill people without reason," Yasin said at his home in Karachi, a few blocks from where his nephew planned the Mumbai attacks.
"It is the champion of jihad," he explained. "Muslims are like a body and if one part of your body is aching, the entire body may be jeopardized."
Pakistani authorities have arrested seven men linked to the Mumbai attack, including Sadiq and Zaki ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a man well known as the chief of operations for Lashkar. They are searching for at least 13 other suspects.
But their investigation has come up short of the founder of Lashkar, Hafiz Saeed, the man Indian and Western officials accuse of masterminding the attacks.
In June, a Pakistani court freed Saeed from detention, declaring that it did not have enough evidence to hold him.
Under continuing pressure, Pakistani authorities this month confined his movements once again. But they say they have no new evidence against him.
Rehman Malik, Pakistans interior minister, said that there was simply not enough evidence to charge Saeed with a crime, and that all the evidence pointed to Lakhvi as the mastermind.
"Lakhvi was the head, and that is why he has been taken into custody," Malik said in an interview. "He has been charged and now they are all under trial."
Indian officials say they have sent Pakistan a six-page summary of evidence of Saeed's complicity in the Mumbai attacks, a copy of which was given to The Times. The document, based on India's own intelligence and testimony from Kasab, quotes Saeed giving detailed instructions to the group that carried out the attack.
"One Hindustani boat has to be hijacked for going to Bombay from Karachi," the document says, using Mumbais former name. Saeed also told the group that it should aim to begin the assault around 7:30pm.
"At this hour there is considerable crowd at the places of our target," the document quotes him as saying.
Pakistani officials and legal experts say the evidence is not as clear-cut as India says. The case against Saeed rests almost entirely on the testimony of Kasab, the surviving attacker, and serious questions remain about the way the Indian police obtained his statements, they say.
Meanwhile, despite promises to crack down on terrorists, Pakistan's government has taken few concrete
steps.
The former director of Pakistan's elite national investigative force was appointed to lead the country's new counterterrorism body in January. But it took seven months to get any money to get the agency moving, and only now is it beginning to hire staff members and flesh out its mission, law enforcement officials said.
Cracking down on Lashkar and other groups linked to the Kashmir struggle, and who do not explicitly seek to overthrow Pakistan's government, was not urgent, they said.
"I have many other things that are higher priority now," said one senior police official in Punjab, the province where DNA tests pinpointed the families of the Mumbai attackers, according to the dossier. "Why would a case in Mumbai be so important when Pakistan is the front line of the war on terror?"
For Pakistani authorities, the political problems posed by arresting Saeed, or undertaking a broader crackdown on Lashkar, may outstrip the legal ones.
The organization remains close to the hearts of the Pakistani public as well as the military and intelligence establishment.
"Since the Mumbai attacks, our funds increased and more people wanted to join us," a senior Lashkar operative in Karachi said in an interview. A midlevel ISI officer told NYT this year that Lashkar's membership extended to 150,000 people.
Despite official denials, the ISI maintains links to Lashkar, though the current level of support remains murky, according to the senior American intelligence official interviewed by The Times, as well as Pakistani analysts, retired military officials and former Lashkar members.
"Hafiz Saeed is the army's man," said Najam Sethi, an analyst and newspaper editor in Lahore, Pakistan. He and other analysts said the ISI was in no hurry to discard a group it helped create for a covert war against India.
"They have not abandoned it altogether," said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a military analyst in Lahore. "It is not a total reversal; it is a realization that this is not advisable at this time."
Senior ISI officials disputed the view. While acknowledging that the ISI had worked closely with Lashkar-e-Taiba in the past, they said things were different now.
"Prior to 9/11, we had a very strong contact with LeT, even on the leadership level," one senior Pakistani intelligence official said in an interview. "But after 9/11, we broke our contacts with not only LeT but also the Taliban."
"Today we think that it would have been better if we had not cut our ties with them the way we did," the official added, "so that we could control them more."
A senior Lashkar militant said the group was divided with the operational wing, led by Lakhvi, chafing for more attacks on India, and the spiritual wing, led by Saeed, advocating a more cautious approach.
The senior Pakistani intelligence official said that some within Lashkar might aspire to a more ambitious agenda, and suggested that parts of the group might have acted on their own.
"Lashkar went rogue," the Pakistani intelligence official said. "Perhaps LeT or dissident factions wanted to emerge as a global player, like al-Qaida."
Even as new details emerge about the Mumbai attacks, senior American military, intelligence and counterterrorism officials express grim certainty that Lashkar is plotting new attacks.
The US warned Indian officials this year about a Mumbai-style attack by Lashkar against multiple sites in India, according to a senior Defense Department official and a senior American counterterrorism official.
The counterterrorism official said the information, gleaned from electronic intercepts and other sources, was not specific and apparently did not result in any arrests. But it was significant enough for American officials to alert their Indian counterparts.
There were indications of possible terrorist activity in the run-up to the Indian elections, in May, and that information was shared promptly with Indian officials, said the counterterrorism official.
Pakistani officials, however, say they have been kept in the dark. "We heard that the Americans have warned the Indians that something in Mumbai might happen, but no one informed us," a senior Pakistani intelligence official said.
If there is one thing on which intelligence agencies on both sides of the border agree, it is that the consequences of a new attack by Lashkar could be devastating.
"We do fear that if something like Mumbai happens in India again, there might be a military reaction from the Indian side and it could trigger into a war," said a senior intelligence official in Pakistan.
"Right now we cannot guarantee that it will not happen again, because we do not have any control over it.
The former director of Pakistan's elite national investigative force was appointed to lead the country's new counterterrorism body in January. But it took seven months to get any money to get the agency moving, and only now is it beginning to hire staff members and flesh out its mission, law enforcement officials said.
Cracking down on Lashkar and other groups linked to the Kashmir struggle, and who do not explicitly seek to overthrow Pakistan's government, was not urgent, they said.
"I have many other things that are higher priority now," said one senior police official in Punjab, the province where DNA tests pinpointed the families of the Mumbai attackers, according to the dossier. "Why would a case in Mumbai be so important when Pakistan is the front line of the war on terror?"
For Pakistani authorities, the political problems posed by arresting Saeed, or undertaking a broader crackdown on Lashkar, may outstrip the legal ones.
The organization remains close to the hearts of the Pakistani public as well as the military and intelligence establishment.
"Since the Mumbai attacks, our funds increased and more people wanted to join us," a senior Lashkar operative in Karachi said in an interview. A midlevel ISI officer told NYT this year that Lashkar's membership extended to 150,000 people.
Despite official denials, the ISI maintains links to Lashkar, though the current level of support remains murky, according to the senior American intelligence official interviewed by The Times, as well as Pakistani analysts, retired military officials and former Lashkar members.
"Hafiz Saeed is the army's man," said Najam Sethi, an analyst and newspaper editor in Lahore, Pakistan. He and other analysts said the ISI was in no hurry to discard a group it helped create for a covert war against India.
"They have not abandoned it altogether," said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a military analyst in Lahore. "It is not a total reversal; it is a realization that this is not advisable at this time."
Senior ISI officials disputed the view. While acknowledging that the ISI had worked closely with Lashkar-e-Taiba in the past, they said things were different now.
"Prior to 9/11, we had a very strong contact with LeT, even on the leadership level," one senior Pakistani intelligence official said in an interview. "But after 9/11, we broke our contacts with not only LeT but also the Taliban."
"Today we think that it would have been better if we had not cut our ties with them the way we did," the official added, "so that we could control them more."
A senior Lashkar militant said the group was divided with the operational wing, led by Lakhvi, chafing for more attacks on India, and the spiritual wing, led by Saeed, advocating a more cautious approach.
The senior Pakistani intelligence official said that some within Lashkar might aspire to a more ambitious agenda, and suggested that parts of the group might have acted on their own.
"Lashkar went rogue," the Pakistani intelligence official said. "Perhaps LeT or dissident factions wanted to emerge as a global player, like al-Qaida."
Even as new details emerge about the Mumbai attacks, senior American military, intelligence and counterterrorism officials express grim certainty that Lashkar is plotting new attacks.
The US warned Indian officials this year about a Mumbai-style attack by Lashkar against multiple sites in India, according to a senior Defense Department official and a senior American counterterrorism official.
The counterterrorism official said the information, gleaned from electronic intercepts and other sources, was not specific and apparently did not result in any arrests. But it was significant enough for American officials to alert their Indian counterparts.
There were indications of possible terrorist activity in the run-up to the Indian elections, in May, and that information was shared promptly with Indian officials, said the counterterrorism official.
Pakistani officials, however, say they have been kept in the dark. "We heard that the Americans have warned the Indians that something in Mumbai might happen, but no one informed us," a senior Pakistani intelligence official said.
If there is one thing on which intelligence agencies on both sides of the border agree, it is that the consequences of a new attack by Lashkar could be devastating.
"We do fear that if something like Mumbai happens in India again, there might be a military reaction from the Indian side and it could trigger into a war," said a senior intelligence official in Pakistan.
At the awards event held on Sunday night, one-time foes, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, met like long-lost friends. They hugged and kissed each other and Kat exchanged pleasantaries.
Katrina says, "When I was waiting backstage to receive my award, one of my friends stepped on it, and to my utter shock, it ripped right up to my thigh! For the first time I really freaked out, as the organisers kept telling me it was time to go on stage. I asked my friend to go fetch a needle and thread to sew up the tear but the poor girl was so nervous that her hands kept shaking and the stitching was crooked."
It was then that Katrina decided to take matters in her own hands. "I asked for Anahita, who had done Kareena and my styling for the event to come and help me. I was panicking by then! Anaita asked me to stay calm and within five minutes stitched it up so finely that I couldn't see the tear.
Then I walked on to the stage to get my award. Normally this kind of thing hasn't happened to me before, because we are always prepared at shows. My hairdresser or other backups are always there to help out."
Wasn't this the same gown Katrina had worn to an awards event in January? Kat admits, "Yes it was the same one I had worn a few months back. It's one of my favourite gowns as I love the colour red. I am glad I wore it as most of the actresses who came to the event - Lara, Aishwarya and Malaika were all attired in various shades of red like pink or maroon."
Kaif got the Woman of the Year award - an award also received previously by Jennifer Aniston in USA as given out by the same men's magazine.
Deepika Padukone proved to be the perfect girlfriend when she threw a surprise party for Ranbir. He is also the proud owner of a brand new laptop. We don’t know if money can buy love, but it sure can make a boyfriend happy! Deepika organised the party to bring in his birthday on Sunday when he came back from Bhopal. Deepika invited few, but very close friends to the surprise dinner.
Our source said, “Deepika took Ranbir to a suburban restaurant on Sunday night on the pretext of having dinner.
She had already called some of Ranbir’s very close friends, which included Rohit Dhawan and Ayan Mukherjee, the director of Wake Up Sid. Ranbir, who is normally not a party animal, was pleased to see them and a couple of his old school friends. They had dinner and brought in his birthday. Ranbir was extremely thrilled.”
Deepika’s present of a sleek and high-end laptop was thoughtful as she is aware of Ranbir being net-savvy. Ranbir loved the gift and was seen checking the features immediately. The source added, “On his birthday on Monday, Ranbir also saw the first trial of his film, Wake Up Sid with Deepika and his parents.”
Indian team is fighting against odds. Before coming to South Africa they already were missing services of two frontline players in Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag.
Now just before their first match against archrivals Pakistan, Indian team has lost one more important player in Yuvraj Singh. Yuvraj broke his little finger during the course of fielding practice session. Indian team is preparing for the Saturday's match which is major attraction of this year's ICC Champions Trophy.
Team landed in Johannesburg on 17th September. Indian team played just one practice match in Potchefstroom. Team is lacking cutting edge in fielding department and Indian bowlers are not in top form. Captain MS Dhoni was quite candid in accepting the fact that his side is not recognized for fielding skills.
Dhoni's main worry is bowling department. All the bowlers were taken to task in triangular tournament played in Sri Lanka. Only Harbhajan Singh took 5 wickets and showed real character in the final match of the triangular tournament. In the recent past, Yuvraj was becoming dependable left arm spinner who can bowl few overs with confidence.
"Sub ko out kar dunga... (will get all of them out)," Yuvraj use to tell us with wink in his eyes. Now Dhoni will miss that vital link in the middle overs.
When Pakistan team coach Intikhab Alam was asked about Yuvraj he said, "I know Yuvraj well as I was coach of Punjab team. He is extremely talented cricketer. I have observed that he was taking his bowling quite seriously. He was becoming man with the golden arm for Indian team. Indian team will certainly miss Yuvi's services."
Relations between media and Indian team are not in pink of health. Gary Kirsten and Paddy Upton's confidential reports broke out in Indian news paper. In the meanwhile Indian team is maintaining very thoughtful distance with the media.
Other than mandatory interaction planned by the ICC, they have refused to have any dialogue with the media. Team is just concentrating on big match preparation. Indian team takes on Pakistan on Saturday. This match is going to be main attraction of ICC Champions Trophy 09.
All the tickets are already sold and cricket fans are going to come from countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana.
"No surprise for me", said Intikhab Alam. "All of us know what Indian-Pakistan match is all about. Even though Indian team is missing 3 major names from their list, but still I refuse to accept that Indian side is weak. They still have some great match winners in their side and I respect f them. I only can say that my team is in good shape and we have combination to take on Indian team in all important match to be played on Saturday."
They say that 'tough gets going when going gets tough'. Same way Indian team members are planning to put up professional performance in the ICC Champions Trophy 09.
