Blast-hit UPA wakes up to tougher law, faster courts

The UPA Government, under attack for seeming ineffective in the face of terror, for the first time has acknowledged the need for new counter-terrorism initiatives, including strengthening the existing law and introducing fast-track courts.

Before a two-hour emergency Cabinet meeting late tonight that discussed such measures, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking at the conference of Governors at Rashtrapati Bhavan today, had set the tone.

In an apparent rebuttal of the BJP charge that vote bank politics was the reason Congress was soft on terror, Singh said: “The public debate on the issue of terrorism has, unfortunately, tended to get driven by politics, and has centered on certain laws enacted or repealed by Governments of different political persuasions...Our Government has no fixed, inflexible or ideological view in this regard.”

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Government taking no Tibet chance, seals torch route for 5 hrs

The Olympic torch landed in Delhi late tonight for the India leg of the relay tomorrow. Hours earlier, the Union Home Ministry issued strict security guidelines which includes sealing all government buildings overlooking the Rajpath. The Ministry issued instructions stating that "all windows and doors" of these buildings should be closed from 1 pm to 6 pm tomorrow, and visitors barred.

In measures in line with those seen during the Republic Day parade, rooftops and balconies of these buildings will be secured, open only to security personnel.

The Olympic torch relay is planned along a 2.3 km route, from the main gate of the Rashtrapati Bhawan to India Gate, between 3 pm and 6 pm. In keeping with concerns expressed by the Chinese, the Ministry has come out with a comprehensive checklist that it hopes will keep potential Tibetan protesters at bay.

The measures, reviewed at a meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, includes a multi-layered security along the torch route that will involve thousands of military, paramilitary and police personnel. Crack commandos will form the inner cordon.

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