After Hazare's detention, Manmohan Singh calls cabinet meet

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has scheduled an emergency meeting of the cabinet Committee on Political Affairs in Parliament House at 10.15 a.m. Today following the detention of Gandhian activist Anna Hazare in the morning.

The meeting will take stock of the situation arising out of Hazare's detention by the Delhi Police early morning, hours before he was set to proceed on an indefinite fast demanding a stronger Lokpal Bill to deal with the corrupt.

Others scheduled to attend the meeting include Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, officials in Prime Minister's Office said.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi are also scheduled to attend the meeting, they added.

Hazare, 74, had announced Sunday he would proceed with his indefinite fast at the Jai Prakash Narain Park near Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium close to the old quarters of the city. The Delhi Police had imposed prohibitory orders there.

He was detained along with some 250 of his supporters including activist Arvind Kejriwal and former top cop Kiran Bedi. Some of them were taken into custody from other places in the city.

'Don't let my arrest stop this movement. This is the nation's second struggle for freedom. The entire world has come to know how deep rooted corruption is,' Hazare had said in a statement, minutes before his detention.

'I appeal to you that let there be no violence in this movement. I also appeal to you, young and old alike, to give eight days of your life to the nation - if necessary for a jail bharo andolan .'

His supporters, who were detailed from various places, described the police action as unconstitutional.

P. Chidambaram : Involvement of Indian module in Mumbai blasts

Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday said there were indications of involvement of Indian module in the July 13 Mumbai blasts that killed 26 people.

He told parliament on Thursday evening that even though a police investigation into the case was still ongoing "all indications point to an Indian module".
No one has claimed responsibility for the July 13 rush-hour bombings that ripped through the Opera House diamond trading hub, Zaveri Bazaar gold and jewellery quarter and the suburban district of Dadar.

It is for the first time that the government has pointed towards the involvement of a home-grown terror group for the three explosions in the metropolis.

But suspicion has fallen on the Indian Mujahideen, a shadowy group of domestic militants that have carried out similar attacks in the past, including in the capital

New Delhi and the western city of Ahmedabad in 2008.

The Indian Mujahideen is believed to have links with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Indian blamed the attacks on the LeT and suspended a peace dialogue with arch-rival Pakistan that only formally resumed earlier this year.
Chidambaram told lawmakers that India was not exempt from the rise of militant forces across the world, as opposition leaders accused the minister of being soft on extremism.

He accepted that domestic extremists threatened the country's unity and recognised that the Pune blast in 2010 and the latest attack in Mumbai were "two major blots" on the counter-terrorism fight.

Mr. Chidambaram said that there was considerable improvement in the intelligence machinery both at the State and at the Central level.