The top stories today...

1. CBI files case on Dr Sachan's murder
2. Investigators looking for safe house in Mumbai
3. Black money probe: Cente wants SIT recalled
4.  PSLV communications satellite launched
5. Giving NCP Home portfolio a mistake: Chavan
6. 70% Indians live in rural areas: MHA
7. Ishrat Jahan case: SIT chief to head probe
8. News International chief Rebekah Brooks resigns
9. Radiation from airport body scanners minor
10. Rath acquitted of fraud in Sukhna scam
11. 11 CCTV grabs hold crucial evidence: Police
12. Zaveri Bazaar scooter owner traced: MHA
13. Communication breakdown unnerved me: Maha CM
14. Woman hostage escapes LeT militants in J-K

The last time BJP senior leader Gopinath Munde was in the news, it was over his 'disatisfaction and hurt' with the party and a veiled resignation threat.

Now, he's in the news expressing dissatisfaction with the Centre and the Maharashtra Government over the intelligence failure that led to Wednesday's serial blasts in Mumbai.

"I want to question the central and state governments until when do they expect us to tolerate such attacks, bombings and go to offices and return to normalcy? Is the government planning to act on the outfits that are behind these attacks? These are the questions of the public," said Munde.

Just in: CBI files case on Dr Sachan's murder in Lucknow. Yesterday, political parties welcomed the high court order asking the state government to hand over the enquiry into the death of deputy chief medical officer Dr YS Sachan to the CBI.

Sachan was an accused in the NRHM fund embezzlement and murder of his two seniors - CMOs (family welfare) Dr VK Arya and Dr BP Singh - within a span of six months. But he was found dead in mysterious circumstances in the jail hospital on June 22. His body was found hanging with multiple injuries in a jail toilet.

Sixty-one-year-old Lalchand Radhakishan Ahuja was the sole breadwinner of his family. One of the victims of July 13, 2011 blasts in Mumbai, Ahuja was killed in the blast at Zaveri Bazaar. Kumar, Lalchand Ahuja's son, is inconsolable.

Sharing his grief, the 25-year-old tells rediff.com's Patcy N how their world had come crashing in a matter of days.

Read

Rediff.com's N Ganesh writes...

The Anti-Terrorist Squad are postulating the idea of a safe house as it would be dangerous to travel with a completely rigged IED bomb over long distances as it may trigger the primary charge which is unstable and requires only a spark to go off.

Moreover with police patrolling at various places in and around Mumbai, the risk of being caught is high. As Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House are within a kilometre of each other and Dadar about 10-11 km and 30 minutes drive from both the sites and, the investigators are looking for a safe house close either close to Zaveri Bazaar or Opera House. Read

From the Wall Street Journal, read Sushant K Singh's column on the holes in India's anti-terror armour. How New Delhi will need bold reforms to its internal-security setup to head off the next attack.

Singh heads the national security program at the Takshashila Institution and is editor of Pragati The Indian National Interest Review.

India today successfully launched its latest communication satellite GSAT-12 onboard a powerful variant of homegrown Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle,
PSLV-C17, from the Sriharikota spaceport.

From the Osama killing, comes news that the two telephone numbers found sewn into the clothing of bin Laden when he was killed by US commandos in Pakistan have turned out to be useless to investigators, who had initially thought that they could provide vital clues about the Al Qaeda chief's contacts. 

Beyond the planning for a 9/11 anniversary attack, the bin Laden trove, recovered from his hideout in Abottabad near Islamabad, produced few concrete leads of any sort, 'The Wall Street Journal' reported today.

This is largely because information that might have located other terrorist leaders, such as phone numbers, ceased to have any value almost the instant the US government obtained it, the Journal said quoting officials.

"The treasure trove has not led to any big takedowns, because the bad guys knew we had it" and adapted, a senior US official said.

For example, the two phone numbers that bin Laden had sewn into his clothing at the time he was killed did not provide actionable leads, the official said. One connected to a public phone centre in the tribal areas of Pakistan, while
the other turned out to be a dead end. 

Amidst questions being raised on security issues in the wake of the Mumbai blasts, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said Congress agreeing to give the key Home portfolio to NCP was a mistake.
"I think it was a mistake. We should have re-looked at it. I don't know of any other coalition government where the portfolios of Home, Finance and Planning are not with the Chief Minister," Chavan said.
"This was a division agreed to by us in 1999 when Congress-NCP first came to power in the state. That pattern as based on the model adopted by the Shiv Sena-BJP government uring 1995-99," Chavan told a TV channel.
The Chief Minister's remarks have come at a time when Hme Minister R R Patil of NCP, who had to quit after 26/11 trror attacks, has come under fire over the Mumbai blasts.

Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani today expressed satisfaction at the resolve of India and Pakistan to continue their bilateral talks and not be deterred by
terrorists' "designs to derail the dialogue once again."

Gilani made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris at the Prime Minister's House. Pakistan has strongly condemned the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai, he said. 

The Premier's comments came a day after External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said India would go ahead with Foreign Minister-level talks with Pakistan as scheduled at the end of this month despite the triple blasts in Mumbai that killed 17
people on Wednesday.

Between makings statements on the Mumbai blasts, Union Home Secretary RK Singh released a report that says nearly 70 per cent of the country's population lives in rural areas.

The report also says that for the first time since Independence, the overall growth rate of population has sharply declined, according to the latest Census.     

Of the 121 crore Indians, 83.3 crore live in rural areas while 37.7 crore stay in urban areas, said the Census of India's 2011 Provisional Population Totals of Rural-Urban Distribution.

On Daily Mail, Rupert Murdoch's daughter accuses former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks of f****** her company.

Read

Rebekah's resignation letter

 A US drone strike targeting militants in southern Yemen Thursday killed at least 50 people, reports cnn.com. This comes as the United States and the Yemeni government step up their efforts to target militants, including those Islamists who've taken over several cities in recent weeks.

Read

Just in: The Gujarat High court has appointed Special Investigation Team head Ramadu to head the probe in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case. The HC today rapped the government saying it was a 'serious matter that witnesses were retracting statements'.

As many as six witnesses in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case have retracted their statements. The statements of the six were considered crucial as on the basis of these the Special Investigation Team planned to connect the missing links on how the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad allegedly took Ishrat and three others in custody and later killed them in a staged encounter.

The Rebekah Brooks story

Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks was News International's chief executive, says a bbc report. Scotland Yard is considering a criminal investigation after Brooks told a Commons committee in 2003 journalists "had paid police for information in the past".

She has since denied "knowledge of any specific cases". Brooks was the NoW editor when voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's mobile phone were allegedly intercepted. She will appear before MPs to answer questions on the phone-hacking scandal on 19 July.

Rebekah Brooks' statement emailed to the staff of News International reproduced in the Guardian:

As chief executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place.

I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis.

However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate. This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past.

Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted.

Rupert's wisdom, kindness and incisive advice has guided me throughout my career and James is an inspirational leader who has shown me great loyalty and friendship.I would like to thank them both for their support.

Vicky Nanjappa's exclusive story:

Ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil was used as the explosive cocktail in the bombs that went off on in Mumbai on Wednesday. Detonators and timer devices were employed and mobile phones used to trigger the blasts.

As terrorists continue to get more innovative, India seems to lag behind as it grapples to counter them with an Explosives Acts dating back to 1884.

Read the report

Hang on a bit the next time you go to Google to get information. A a new study  says that Internet search engines are making people lose their memory.  Researchers at Columbia University have found that increasing number of users relied on their computers as a form of "external memory" as frequent use of online information libraries "wired" human brains. 

The study, examining the so-called "Google effect", found people had poor recall of knowledge if they knew where answers to questions were easily found.

The strident report in Foreign Policy on the Mumbai blasts and why Islamabad still has some explaining to do. 

Read: No, Pakistan is not off the hook

A new study of airport body scanners by US Army scientists shows that the machines produce a low dose of radiation, supporting Transportation Security Administration claims that a screening is equivalent to the radiation a passenger gets in two minutes of flying, says a report in the Pro Publica.

Scanners, which use X-rays to check for objects hidden under clothing, have been the subject of controversy about how safe they are and whether they create a cancer risk for the traveling public.

Just in: Lt Gen P K Rath acquitted of intent to defraud charge in Sukna land scam by general courtmartial.

The Eastern Army Commander, the convening authority in the 2008 land scam, had directed the general court martial to reconvene asking it to reconsider the first charge -- intend to defraud of which Rath was acquitted.

The GCM had on January 22 awarded a sentence of two-year loss of seniority and 15-year pension loss to Rath in the Sukna land scam after he was found guilty on three counts for "conveying NoC in the capacity of 33 Corps Commander to a private realtor for constructing educational institutions on a piece of land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal".

Toral Varia tells us that the Mumbai police are hopeful that they will get leads from the CCTV footage recovered at site of one the blasts at Opera House. From the approximately 60 CCTV grabs, investigators have shortlisted 11. They say their best bet is the footage recovered from behind the Pancharatna building, which is very clear. They are now trying to match motorbike that has reportedly been used in the blasts to the CCTV footage.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan admitted that Mumbai needed more surveillance via CCTV cameras, but red tape was holding up purchases.

The latest on the News of the World phone hacking scandal. The FBI is now investigating reports that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation sought to hack the phones of victims of t he 9/11 attacks. Read

Also see: Who is Rebekah Brooks?

After a headline hiatus, news from Libya. The country's embattled government has accused rebels and the NATO military alliance of carrying out a coordinated air, sea, and land attack on the strategic oil town of Brega on Thursday, the same day a government spokesman vowed to "die for oil."

Read the report on the bbc.

Just in: The owner of the scooter in which the Zaveri Bazaar bomb was planted has been traced, says Home Secretary R K Singh on Mumbai blasts probe. The Activa scooter was damaged in the blast and is a crucial piece of evidence. The scooter was sent for forensic analysis on Wednesday.

Singh also spoke of an email which "originated elsewhere. It is being followed up." Singh replied to a query on cross-border links to the blasts.

Also read on rediff.com: Maharashtra ATS rubbishes 'suicide bomber' theory

Slain Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his operations head were plotting to attack the US on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 strikes, a media report has said.

Bin Laden was shot dead by US commandos during a surprise raid at his safe house in Pakistan's garrison town of Abbottabad where he lived for the last five years.

"Bin Laden and his operations chief Attiyah Abd al-Rahman swapped views about  the composition of the attack team, with bin Laden repeatedly rejecting names that Rahman suggested," the Wall Street Journal reported quoting officials familiar with the intelligence taken from bin Laden's house.

It said the plan, according to US officials, were only in the discussion phase.

And on public anger...

Shobhaa De on Twitter: How many lives does Mumbai have? Nine? Oh good!We still have a couple more left! Ooops! I forgot.We r sitting ducks,not cats.

Read: Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan's interview with NDTV.

In an earlier interview with NDTV, Chavan while admitting he could not get in touch with the police chief in the first 15 minutes after the blast said he was looking at dedicated mobile network now. "Have asked the central government. And key people could carry satellite phones. We were in a tense position because of that."

• But Standard Operating Procedures kicked in.  

CM on Kasab trial: India does not have a Kangaroo court. The fact Kasab was convicted in the shortest possible time should be appreciated.

CM on Mumbai's cosmopolitanism: The fact that Mumbai is cosmopolitan is a fact. Terrorists create community divide, but Mumbai has not erupted into communalism. Mumbai is not a divided city.

CM: Rain did not wash away evidence: NIA, NSG, Forensics team, Mumbai police have collected evidence immediately after the blast. Rains have not washed away evidence. Whatever was required was collected.

Suicide bomber theory: Let us not speculate. Let the specialists, investigators do their job. Lets not insist on a running commentary. (The MHA had suggested the body of the man found with wires, may have been a suicide bomber)

Chavan: Politicisation of the police force is partly true. Transfers and postings will have to be done on merit and not political whim, and I will see that's how it happens.

CM Chavan: We are analysing the CCTV footage from the three blast sites, ATS chief Rakesh Maria and the crime branch are analysing the findings, so we should not speculate on anything right now.

Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan talking to CNN IBN says public anger against the government is legitimate, but in the same breath adds that 'things are much better than it was during 26/11'.

He admits that the government has to ensure safety for citizens no matter who is in power.

News just coming in says the Supreme Court has slammed the Delhi Police for "callous" probe in 'cash-for-vote' scam. The SC said that no substantial progress was made in the case in the last two years and said it was, "Not happy at all" with the probe.

The SC has also asked the Delhi police for a fresh status report within two weeks.

The cash-for-votes scam had rocked India when money was allegedly paid to certain Lok Sabha members to secure their votes for a trust vote after the Left parties withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance government on the India-US civilian nuclear deal.

Read: Why development aid won't stop radicalism. In effect, it's not the poor, but the middle-class in Pakistan that is the breeding ground for extremism.

The report in the Foreignaffairs.com

In the aftermath of the Osama bin Laden's assassination, and the increasing distrust and growing divide between the US and Pakistan, the two nations are coming together -- Iran and Pakistan.

Read the report in the Atlantic: Has Obama pushed Pakistan toward Iran?

Security forces today launched an encounter with four militants, hiding in a house in Lolab area in Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir, after a woman trapped inside the building managed to escape.

Security forces launched a search-cum-cordon operation in Maidanpora village in Lolab, 120 kms from here, following information about presence of three to four foreign militants, officials said.

There was no exchange of firing between the two sides as security forces wanted to ensure that all civilians are out of the building before start of an offensive. 

As the woman came out to safety, the officials said, security forces began engaging the militants. The encounter is on, they said. Other members of the woman's family had come out earlier.

Day after serial blasts, cops clueless as Mumbai seethes (The Times of India)

Investigators were struggling to find clues to the identity of the perpetrators of Wednesday's serial blasts in Mumbai, raising the scary possibility that the fresh outrage may join the list of unsolved terror cases. Read

Fears of a new terror module (Indian Express)
With no specific clues emerging about the perpetrators behind the serial blasts that hit the financial capital yesterday, security agencies have cautioned the Centre that a new terror module has possibly emerged which has been able to organise itself well in the past year or so. Read

Mumbai blasts: Diamonds worth Rs 25 crore went flying in the air (The Times of India)

Diamond merchant Sanjay Shah says the monetary losses are not even a concern right now. "We have lost our people," he says emotionally.Read

Police find crucial CCTV footage, 'identify' suspects (Hindustan Times)

A day after three blasts wreaked havoc during the evening rush hour at Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar, killing 17 persons and injuring 133, investigators have zeroed in on the footage from CCTVs in these area. Read

All Indian cities are vulnerable: Chidambaram (Hindustan Times)
A day after the blasts, Mumbaikars slowly returned to normal even though home minister P Chidambaram said India was in the most troubled neighbourhood in the world and all cities in India are vulnerable to attack. Pakistan-Afghanistan is the epicentre of terror. Read

Mumbai blasts: Dadar market could have been the target, say police (DNA)
The police suspect the bomb at Dadar near Kabutarkhana was planted in a hurry. Read

Relief in Pakistan over absence of finger-pointing (The Hindu)
Amid relief in Pakistan over the absence of finger-pointing'' from India following the blasts in Mumbai, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said such incidents only confirm our resolve to work together for the elimination of the menace of terrorism in the region.'' Read

Timer devices used, says ATS (The Hindu)
Close to 12 joint teams of ATS and Crime Branch have been formed and we are being closely assisted by Central agencies. This case is being taken up on priority, Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria said in Mumbai. Read

Advani sees policy failure (The Hindu)
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani said here on Thursday that Wednesday's blasts here occurred owing to policy failure and not due to intelligence failure. Read