India protests swell as Anna Hazare fasts (Reuters)

By Arup Roychoudhury and Matthias Williams Arup Roychoudhury And Matthias Williams – Wed?Aug?17, 10:10?am?ET

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Protests swelled across India Wednesday in support of a self-styled Gandhian anti-corruption campaigner fasting to the death in jail, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's struggling government at a loss over how to end the standoff.

Singh, 78, who is widely criticized as out of touch, dismissed the fast by Anna Hazare as "totally misconceived," sparking outrage as lawmakers cried "shame."

"It is a wake-up call for all of us unless we put our house in order. The people of this country are becoming restless," said Arun Jaitley, a leader of the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

The squat and slight 74-year-old Hazare fasted as thousands of his followers gathered outside the jail, the latest development in a crisis that saw him arrested Tuesday and then refuse to leave jail after the government ordered his release.

Spurred by messages on social networking sites, such as on Twitter and Facebook, at least 15,000 thronged to one protest site in central Delhi alone, a Reuters reporter said.

"The government really doesn't know what it is doing," said Kuldip Nayar, a veteran political analyst. "It is bungling, mishandling. They do not know at all how wide and how deep the resentment is."

Hazare, who has struck a nerve with millions of Indians by demanding tougher laws against rampant corruption, had insisted he wants the right to return to a city park where he had originally planned to publicly fast, before he leaves jail.

The arrest and sudden about-turn to release him appeared to confirm a widespread feeling Singh's government is cornered, clumsy and too riddled with scandal to govern Asia's third-largest economy effectively.

A weak political opposition means that the government should still survive the crisis, but it could further dim the prospect for economic reforms that have already been held back by policy paralysis and a raft of corruption scandals.

"We don't have faith in our government," said Sujeet, a young software engineer from the IT city of Gurgaon, as he protested at tourist site of India Gate in the capital. "We are living in a democracy but only in letter, not in spirit."

Many of the crowd were young, with rucksacks on their backs, some with their faces painted. Others were older, decked out in outfits as worn by the bespectacled Hazare, with his trademark white cap and kurta, a long-time social activist who is often compared to independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.

In northeast Assam state, thousands of farmers, students and lawyers marched. In the financial capital of Mumbai, thousands of people carrying the Indian flag and wearing Gandhi caps chanted "I am Anna."

"I was forced to pay a bribe while getting my passport approved and I felt helpless," said student Rahul Acharya, 21. "This is the time all youngsters should join the movement so that the future would be corruption-free."

In the IT hub of Hyderabad, lawyers boycotted courts, students skipped class and hundreds took to the streets.

Across southern Andhra Pradesh state, a Congress party stronghold, thousands went on snap fasts, staged sit-ins, blocked roads and formed human chains.

Demonstrations are part of daily life in the towns and cities of India, a country of 1.2 billion people made up of a myriad of castes, religions and classes. But spontaneous and widespread protests are rare and the scale of this week's outpouring of public fury has taken the government by surprise.

"HIGH IDEALS"

Hazare became the unlikely thorn in the side of the Congress-led coalition when he went on hunger strike in April. He called off that fast after the government promised to introduce a bill creating an anti-corruption ombudsman.

The legislation was presented in early August, but activists slammed the draft version as toothless because the prime minister and judges were exempt from probes.

A stone-faced Singh was uncompromising, but offered little vision in a speech to parliament.

"I acknowledge that Anna Hazare may be inspired by high ideals," a stern-looking Singh said. "However, the path that he has chosen to impose a draft of the bill on parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our parliamentary democracy.

"We must not create an environment in which our economic progress is hijacked by internal dissention."

Critics say Singh's government of mainly elderly politicians has no idea how to react to spontaneous protests, highlighting a generation gap as social networks galvanize thousands, including many of India's growing urban middle class, from Supreme Court lawyers to students.

The Congress party held an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis. But the absence of party chief Sonia Gandhi due to an undisclosed illness appeared to have further weakened the government decision-making.

Gandhi left control of the party in the hands of a quartet, including her 41-year-old son, Rahul, widely seen as a prime minister in waiting.

The arrest played into Hazare's hands. Many parties were sceptical about the fast and there has been criticism the activist was holding Indian parliamentary democracy hostage. But doubts about the protest were overshadowed by the arrest.

RESTIVE MIDDLE CLASS

The arrest, along with the brief detention of about 1,500 followers, shocked many in a country with strong memories of Gandhi's independence battles against colonial rule with fasts and non-violent protests.

Opposition figures likened the crackdown to the 1975 "Emergency" when then-prime minister Indira Gandhi arrested thousands of opposition members to stay in power.

The question for many is whether Hazare's movement will grow in the fast-urbanising nation whose increasingly assertive middle class is fed up with constant bribes.

The scandals, including a telecoms bribery scam that may have cost the government $39 billion, have dented investor confidence and distracted parliament just as the $1.6 trillion economy is being hit by inflation and higher interest rates.

(Additional reporting Annie Banerji, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Parivartan Sharma in New Delhi, Kaustubh Kulkarni in Mumbai, Biswajyoti Das in Guwahati; Writing by Alistair Scrutton; Editing by Paul de Bendern)

View the original article here

Pakistan looms large as Clinton flies to India (Reuters)

ATHENS (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hopes to cement gains in ties with emerging global power India when she flies to New Delhi on Monday ties while heading off new frictions with fragile U.S. ally Pakistan.

Clinton's two-day trip to India, her second as secretary of state, follows President Barack Obama's visit last November and underscores Washington's growing bonds with the world's second most populous country and its $1.6 trillion economy.

Clinton will meet Indian leaders for a U.S.-India "strategic dialogue" session, regular meetings designed to get officials from both sides working more closely together, and comes nearly a week after deadly triple bomb attack on India's financial hub of Mumbai.

She will then move on to Chennai, the eastern port city which has become a hub for U.S. trade and investment, including a major auto engine plant for Ford Motor Co..

U.S. officials say Clinton's trip will demonstrate the breadth of cooperation -- which ranges from expanding military and intelligence work to educational exchanges and nuclear and other hi-tech energy projects.

But the pending U.S. drawdown of forces in Afghanistan and Indian relations with traditional rival Pakistan will both be in focus as Indian security fears grow following Wednesday's attacks on Mumbai.

U.S. officials and political analysts say that Clinton will urge India to stay the course and not raise tension, concerned that any overreaction by New Delhi could upset an already fragile U.S. relationship with Islamabad.

"She will encourage India to do all it can to engage Pakistan, to find areas where they might be able to break down some of their barriers and build some kind of confidence in each other," said Karl Inderfurth, a former senior State Department official under the Clinton administration and now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It will not be an easy sell -- although analysts say India itself is increasingly worried over the stability of its neighbor and has its own reasons for moving cautiously.

No one has claimed responsibility for last week's Mumbai blasts, the worst such attack since Pakistan-based militants struck India's financial hub in 2008, killing 166 people and raising tensions with Islamabad.

Indian police have questioned members of a home-grown militant group, taking some of the immediate heat off Pakistan.

But both New Delhi and Washington suspect that elements of the Pakistani establishment may not be fully onboard with the U.S.-led fight against Islamic militants, doubts underscored in May when U.S. forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a compound not far from Islamabad without telling the government in advance.

"The Indians see the United States as finally waking up to the problem of Pakistan, and they will not want to interject themselves into that process," said Ashley Tellis, an India expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

LOOKING AHEAD

Clinton will update Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other officials on Pakistan, as well as on U.S. plans to draw down about a third of the 100,000 U.S. forces from Afghanistan during the next year.

Indian officials are concerned an overly hasty U.S. departure could benefit the Taliban and by extension Pakistan, and Clinton will outline how Washington plans to both stay engaged amid growing talk of a political settlement.

Despite shared concerns, which include China's growing assertiveness and traditional friendship with Pakistan, Clinton will spend much of her time highlighting U.S.-India economic ties -- a relationship both sides say holds great promise, but has yet to fulfill its potential.

The United States was disappointed when India rejected U.S. bids for an $11 billion fighter aircraft contract in April, but still hopes to profit from New Delhi's ongoing military shopping spree such as a $4.1 billion purchase of Boeing C-17 military transport planes in June.

U.S. firms want to take a slice of India's $150 billion nuclear energy market but have lagged state-backed rivals from Russia and France.

U.S. power giants such as General Electric are hoping to get a foothold after a landmark 2008 nuclear cooperation accord, although progress has been slow.

Washington has been pushing India to water down a law passed in 2010, which would force all private nuclear reactor builders to take on uncapped compensation in the event of a nuclear disaster and is considered tougher than in other nuclear power-producing countries.

And U.S. hopes for Indian moves to open up potentially lucrative sectors such as insurance and large-scale "big box" retail have been repeatedly set back, while outsourcing of U.S. jobs to cheaper Indian workers has also been a concern.

(Editing by Paul de Bendern and Nick Macfie)

View the original article here

India: Terror attack kills 17, wounds 81 in Mumbai (AP)

By RAJESH SHAH and MUNEEZA NAQVI, Associated Press Rajesh Shah And Muneeza Naqvi, Associated Press – 3?mins?ago

MUMBAI, India – Near-simultaneous bomb blasts rocked three busy neighborhoods during evening rush hour in India's busy financial capital Wednesday, killing 17 people in what the government called an apparent terrorist attack on the city besieged by militants nearly three years ago.

Blood-covered bodies lay on the streets and people hugged and wept. Others carried the wounded to taxis. Crowds gathered in the blast areas as police questioned witnesses, and bomb squads inspected the undercarriages of vehicles searching for clues and other explosives.

Motorcycles were charred, shopfronts shattered and a bus stop ripped apart. A photograph showed victims crowding into the back of a cargo truck to be taken to a hospital.

The first blast struck the Jhaveri Bazaar at 6.54 p.m., tearing through the famed jewelry market. A minute later, a second blast hit the busy business district of Opera House, several miles (kilometers) away in southern Mumbai. At 7:05 p.m., the third bomb exploded in the crowded neighborhood of Dadar in central Mumbai, according to police.

Because of the close timing of the bomb blasts, "we infer that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists," Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said.

Indian officials refused to speculate on who might be behind the blasts. Past attacks have been blamed on Pakistan-based militants, and Indian officials have accused Pakistan's powerful spy agency of helping coordinate and fund some of those strikes, including the Mumbai siege.

A U.S. official says there are no claims of responsibility, or firm indication of which terrorist group might be behind the attack at this time. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

"The entire city of Mumbai has been put on high alert," Chidambaram said. "I would appeal to the people of Mumbai and people all over the country to remain calm and to maintain peace."

An eyewitness at Jhaveri Bazaar described two motorcycles exploding in flames and saw at least six bodies.

"People were shouting 'Help me, help me,'" the man told Headlines Today television.

Another witness showed cell phone clips of several bodies sprawled across the street to the NDTV news station.

Prithviraj Chavan, the top official in the state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai was located, said the blasts killed 17 people and wounded 81 others. Chidambaram said the toll was likely to rise.

The blasts marked the first major attack on Mumbai since 10 militants laid siege to India's financial capital for 60 hours in November 2008.

That attack, which targeted two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station, killed 166 people and escalated tensions between India and Pakistan. Peace talks were suspended and resumed only recently.

Pakistan's government expressed distress on the loss of lives and injuries soon after Wednesday's blasts were reported.

Some media incorrectly reported the blasts happened on the birthday of Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving gunmen from the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Kasab, who was sentenced to death in Mumbai, was born on Sept. 13.

Mumbai has been on edge since the 2008 attack. In December, authorities deployed extra police on city streets after receiving intelligence that a Pakistan-based militant group was planning an attack over New Year's weekend. Police conducted house-to-house searches in some neighborhoods for four men who authorities believe entered the city to carry out a terrorist attack, and computer-aided photographs of the four suspects were released.

In March 2010, Mumbai police said they prevented a major terrorist strike after they arrested two Indian men, who, police said, were preparing to hit several targets in the city. In September, police issued a terror alert for the city during a popular Hindu festival.

___

Naqvi reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers Ravi Nessman in New Delhi and Kimberly Dozier in Washington contributed to this report.

View the original article here

31 dead, 100 injured as train derails in India (AP)

FATEHPUR, India – Rescuers searched through the wreckage of a packed express train for people trapped inside after it derailed in northern India on Sunday, killing at least 31 people and injuring 100 others, officials said.

The Kalka Mail train was on its way to Kalka, in the foothills of the Himalayas, from Howrah, a station near Kolkata in eastern India, when 12 coaches and the engine jumped the tracks at Malwan station, near the town of Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh state, senior railway official A.K. Jain said.

The cause of the derailment was not immediately clear but it appeared that the driver applied the emergency brakes, Jain said.

At least 31 people were killed and rescue workers pulled at least 100 injured passengers out of the wreckage, said Brij Lal, a state police official.

Late Sunday night, a second train derailed in the northeastern state of Assam, injuring at least 100 people, said S.K. Roy, a local magistrate.

Local police suspect that a remote control-triggered bomb caused four coaches of the Gauhati-Puri Express to be thrown off the tracks in the town of Rangiya, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of the state's capital, Gauhati, Roy said.

S. Hajong, a local railways spokesman, said two of the four coaches plunged into a pond and casualties are feared.

Roy did not blame any rebel group and no one has taken responsibility for the attack so far. More than 30 groups in northeastern India have been fighting for decades for independence or wide autonomy in the region, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) east of New Delhi.

It was the third train accident in India in the last four days. A train hit a bus at an unmanned railway crossing last Thursday, killing 35 people.

In Fatehpur, the accident site was a pile of twisted metal. At least one coach flew above the roof of another ahead of it and was dangling precariously, television footage showed. Another coach was thrown away from the rest of the train.

The toll was likely to rise as rescuers made their way through the coaches and used gas cutters to cut through the mangled metal, Lal said. Rescue efforts continued late into the night.

"We're trying to cut into the coaches and rescue those still trapped inside," Lal said.

A senior railway official, H.C. Joshi, told CNN-IBN news channel that rescuers were struggling to free at least five people pinned under the wreckage of one of the worst-damaged coaches.

Medical personnel rushed to the area, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.

Army helicopters were ferrying the most seriously injured victims to hospitals and 30 army engineers had joined the rescue efforts, Lal said.

TV stations showed local residents helping injured passengers away from the train, several in makeshift stretchers, and breaking the windows of coaches to help those trapped inside.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed "deep sorrow and shock" at the loss of lives. The Railways Ministry announced compensation of 500,000 rupees ($11,000) for the families of those killed in the accident.

The number of passengers on board the Kalka Mail — named for its past use in the postal service — was not known. Express trains normally carry about 1,000 people and travel at speeds of 60-80 miles (100-130 kilometers) per hour.

India's railroad network is one of the largest in the world and carries about 14 million passengers a day. Accidents are common, with most blamed on poor maintenance and human error.

___

Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow contributed to this story.

View the original article here