Not enough, do more: US
New Delhi, December 12
Pakistan is feeling an intense pressure from the international community today to do much more than the few steps it has taken to combat terrorist groups operating from its soil, with Washington unambiguously asking Islamabad and its other ‘diplomatic partners’ to contribute to India’s effort to bring to book the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack.

Pakistan should ensure that its territory is not used again by ‘non-state actors’ to carry out heinous attacks similar to that in Mumbai. Frankly, the US has better relations with India and Pakistan than in 2001-02. But it is obviously a dangerous situation... — US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in an interview to CNBC in Washington

US deputy secretary of state John Negroponte with foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi. — Reuters

British PM coming
New Delhi, December 12
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is making an unscheduled visit to New Delhi to express solidarity with India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack. According to sources, Brown will reach here tomorrow night from Afghanistan and hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over a breakfast meeting on Sunday before flying out.

Mumbai Heat
Pakistan admits it had to crack down on JuD to avoid terror state tag
Pakistan had no option but to implement the UN Security Council decision to ban the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)or face being declared as a terrorist state, defence minister Ahmed Mukhtar said here on Friday.

Kasab is my son, says Pakistani
Islamabad, December 12
Though Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud Dawa may disown him, the father of the lone Pakistani gunman arrested for the Mumbai terror attacks has admitted that the young man whose picture was beamed by media across the world, is his son.

Mumbaikars form human chain to protest attacks
Mumbai, December 12
Nearly 50,000 persons from all walks of life came out on Mumbai’s streets today to form a human chain linking the Taj Mahal Hotel on the city’s southern-most tip and the Nariman House nearby to the northern-most tip of the city.

People form a human chain in front of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai on Friday. — Reuters

Moily panel suggests end to political meddling, babudom
New Delhi, December 12
In what will be one of the biggest changes in the bureaucratically run Indian governance system, the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) today suggested much-desired changes that aim to free the system from political meddling and also from the grip of bureaucrats hiding behind self-serving safety nets.

Murder charges framed against dera chief
Ambala, December 12
The special CBI court framed murder charges against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the Ranjeet Singh murder case and the Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati murder case here today. The dera chief has been charged under Section 302 of the IPC. The next date of hearing has been fixed for January 10.

Pema’s story: Thatched hut to people’s House Mundwana (Rajasthan), December 12 Look at the picture at right. It’s a mud house with a thatched roof. The lady of the house is just one among millions in the country who collect dry grass to cook food — if they can manage it — and trek long distances for drinking water.