Our 62 year old history of freedom undoubtedly is gradually withering away as it has become a place for terror attacks owing to a poor and deficient security system. This statement is clearly proved by the frequent onslaughts and their magnitude in the consequent years from 2003 to 2007 including the recent Mumbai terror attack in Nov 2008. These brutal attacks are gradually defacing the face of our motherland; though this fact has been realized by every Indian, the Government is still denying permission to the states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan to pass their own anti – terror laws. This attitude of our Government remains anomalous, which has again shoved our people into a state of panic as India is constantly receiving alarms from the US government on the odds of another terror attack on our Nation.

The feasibility index for the foray to take place is high as the upcoming series of major holidays could provide terrorist groups an opportunity to stage an attack. The Nov 2008 Mumbai attack provided a vivid reminder that luxury hotels, malls and other crowded areas would be the main targets for the terrorist. We lost many of our citizens to the peckish wolves including numerous foreign casualties during the attack, and this has really created a substandard situation for the foreigners to enter our country. The American and Canadian Governments have warned their citizens who are flying to India to maintain a high level of vigilance and have asked them to avoid going to the highly crowded areas, to maintain their personal safety.

As the saying goes “Prevention is better than cure”, our nation has received sirens and now its time to take preventive measures to safeguard our people and nation from the wicked hands of terrorism. Our Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh has promised to strengthen the air and maritime security forces. It is also time for our government to have a radical relook at the anti terror laws because the law should not be so frail that it could embolden the terrorist groups to strike India without fear. The abolition of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) 2004 and the politicization of its anti terror response has left India with no effective central law to counter terrorism.

So as the terrorist groups are becoming technologically advanced and many are functioning with the active help of countries, it is imperative to take extraordinary efforts to tackle them to prevent our nation, our people and our beloved possessions from the scourge of terrorism.

The elderly woman walked into the Police Station with the grenade and two rounds of ammunition which she found in her loft after her husband’s death.

Police took precautions and the station was evacuated, and bomb disposal officers were called to examine the grenade.

Nearby residents were warned to stay indoors, the area was cordoned and the nearby road closed as precautions.

The Police have advised the public to call the police in case they find any hand grenade rather than pick them up and walk in the police station.

The proposed insurance “exchange” scheme will supposedly help reduce the benefits that illegal immigrants might enjoy from a revamped health care system. The President reiterated in his speech to Congress on Wednesday that his health care plan will not provide insurance benefits to illegal immigrants. The topic is particularly sensitive for many elected officials who are still yet to agree on the policies for comprehensive health care benefits to bona fide American citizens.

Part of the President’s health care strategy seeks to provide health insurance for all U.S. citizens, especially for those with limited incomes, by subsidizing the cost of coverage. One way for the government to be able to afford this undertaking is to reduce its current expenditures on health care. The federal government has been spending about $250 million a year on emergency hospital care for illegal immigrants alone. Thus, one way to reduce health-related government spending is to exclude non-U.S. citizens from availing of government aid when they purchase insurance, a benefit to which immigrants are currently entitled.

Under the proposed plan, illegal immigrants will still be entitled to free emergency medical care and they could still voluntarily acquire health insurance by paying for their coverage out of their own pockets.

The administration is relying on lawmakers to come up with the detailed operational guidelines on the proposed insurance market system.

The Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives has proposed a bill that will require all U.S. citizens as well as some legal immigrants to purchase health insurance. Illegal immigrants, however, are not subject to this requirement. But also, according to this draft legislation, both legal and illegal immigrants cannot avail of government-sponsored discounts on their insurance premiums.

Other House committees are also formulating their own versions of this bill.

The Senate Finance Committee, meanwhile, is working on a counterpart health-care bill with a position similar to that of the House Energy and Commerce Committee draft bill.

Reid Cherlin, an administration spokesman, said that the new insurance market system will require
prospective policyholders to provide proof of citizenship before they can buy an insurance plan. If the buyer is a U.S. citizen, then he or she may be eligible for the the government subsidies. The proposed insurance “exchange” could put to use current eligibility verification systems, such as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, to screen those who may or who may not avail of the government subsidies.

Mr. Cherlin added that the President has remained consistent on his views regarding illegal immigrants. The proposed insurance “exchange” may, however, prove unacceptable to proponents of immigrant rights.

Out of the ten swab samples sent to NICD (National Institute of Communicable Diseases) five tested positive in the report sent on 8th September. The Dean of the school for public relations, Mr. Piyush Malviya, mentioned that four of the boys were recovering in their homes, where they had been sent, once the report was confirmed, and one boy was recovering in the school itself where he had been quarantined. Malviya went further to say that the school had taken all the measures required in such a situation, as advised by the Uttarakhand health authorities.

All students with symptoms of flu, however mild, have all been quarantined in a large capacity ward, with added medical personnel. Parents of all students are kept updated on the latest situation and the school has started to curtail activities which require the students gathering in one place like assemblies, classes and so on, and also stopped all events taking place outside the school premises. Malviya also mentioned that authorities were not in favour of a complete shut down of all activities in the school.

The Government of India has classified people with serious symptoms under Category C, and only such students are being tested and the Tamiflu drug is being administered in a judicious manner, as it is known to have side effects in many patients. Dr Peter Mclaughin, who is the school Headmaster, said that the school had been working with the medical authorities of the state of Uttarakhand, from the very beginning, and the school had taken immediate quarantine precautions with all the boys with flu symptoms, when the first boy had tested positive.

London’s Southwark Crown Court recently discovered that William Stone of West Avenue, Clacton, Essex, age 25, engaged in criminal activity by downloading confidential information from a variety of high-security data systems.

Stone, a former constable based at Hemel Hemstead, pled guilty to all charges, including six counts of obtaining personal data and one of conspiring to do so. Other charges included: securing unauthorized access to programs or data, conspiracy to obtain such access, misconduct in public office, and two counts of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office.

Protecting the weak

Stone obtained the information for Ishmail Rahman of Drakes Drive, St. Albans, 26. Rahman confessed to one count of conspiring to obtain personal data, and the court fined him £1,000.

The crimes were committed across several months, when Stone showed up to work early or when he was on sick leave and accessed restricted systems, such as the Police National Computer.

Stone would take notes about various investigations and private details of people of interest to the police, called “nominals.”

Rahman, who had previously been warned for drug possession and had an arrest warrant on the books for a motor offense, was one of Stone’s contacts, apparently a close friend.
Prosecutor Nicholas Paul said that Stone supplied Rahman with information that led Rahman to believe that a police officer carried a “vendetta” against him. Police found details of this in Rahman’s Filofax during a raid of his home.
Although the secure computer systems Stone used to research data displayed stern warnings regarding information sensitivity, the data he gathered was not related to any of his current duties.
During an interview after his arrest in November 2008, Stone stated his reason for joining the police force four years previously: “Because I am protective over my friends and wanted to look after people who can’t fight their own battles.”