Woke up this morning... Mum told me, "There were blasts in Bombay last night". I shrugged it off in my just-woke-up-so-am-still-groggy state, thinking, oh well, they always happen don't they...
Then I saw the news for myself. Pictures. Accounts. The places mentioned that were attacked last night...all places I frequent when I'm in Bombay. That scared me. Especially the Taj Hotel. When I'd gone to Bombay this time in July-August...I had gone to the Taj specifically for the Sea View Lounge because it's amongst the best (and therefore very expensive :P) cafe style food I've ever had. Since I was a child, I would go there very often. When my aunt was going out with my uncle (before they were married ie), he'd take her to that Lounge and I'd tag along as well... good memories.
Then, I see these pictures.
That is not how I want to remember Bombay. Not how I want to remember the Taj and the Oberoi or Colaba.
This is the road that the Taj is situated on... a busy road... always been busy...
This is how I remember the view from inside the Taj... Gateway of India... the sea... I used to love just gazing out from the Lounge windows while hogging on the super food...
Inside, the Taj was beautiful as well.
Senseless isn't it? Now people will bandy around the words "Hindu militant attacks" or "Islamic fundamentalist blasts" ... who gives a f***ing shit? At the end of it, to me, it doesn't matter whether a freaking Scientologist did this... the point is, someone did. People always do stupid things like this. And more often than not, the causes have been labelled as being religion-based. I don't know any religion that encourages violence. So the idiots who harm others like this
and proudly claim their religion and say they did it for their religion no less... are the most foul people ever. They first of all kill people, take another person's life...and then tarnish the name of whatever religion they belong to.
This one hit close to home. It made me remember that if they'd done this in the first week of August...I could've been inside the Taj and become one of the statistics in the news.
It could've been me. Could've been anyone from my family... Bombay, especially South Bombay is full of them...
http://big-fat-ego.blogspot.com/2008/11/literal-blast-from-past.html
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
A literal blast from the past.........
Mumbai Attack
They are holed up in the hall in the old wing of the hotel since 9.30 PM, when terrorists struck.
Krishna Das, MP, who was among those held up, said they had been advised not to move out of the hall till the police clears the place of terrorists.
He was having dinner with some friends in a restaurant of the hotel when he heard gunshots. The guests ducked under the table from where they had fleeting glimpse of terrorists who were firing indiscriminately.
7 foreigners among 15 taken hostage by 2 gunmen in Taj Hotel
Two terrorists carrying guns tonight took 15 people, half of them foreigners, hostage on the roof of the luxury Taj Hotel here, one of the hostages who managed to escape said.
Two youths in their 20s came to the restaurant of the hotel and took 15 people to the roof of the hotel, Rakesh Patel, a businessman from London who lives in Hong Kong, told NDTV giving the first eyewitness account of what happened in the five-star hotel in South Mumbai.
"The two young boys came to the restaurant and took us upstairs. We were taken to the 18th floor from where we escaped", he said.
Replying to a question, Patel said the terrorists wanted to know if any one of the hostages was carrying American and British passports.
Bush, Obama condemn Mumbai attacks; offer assistance
The Bush Administration and President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday strongly condemned the deadly attacks in Mumbai, offering assistance to the Indian government and convening defence and intelligence officials amid a "grave and urgent threat" of terrorism.
"President (George) Bush offers his condolences to the Indian people and the families of the innocent civilians killed and injured in the attacks in Mumbai, India," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said in a statement.
The United States condemns this terrorist attack -- which left at least 80 people dead and over 275 injured -- and will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy, she said.
"This afternoon, the White House National Security Council convened officials from counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies as well as the State and Defence Departments," Perino said.
"The US government continues to monitor the situation, including the safety and security of our citizens, and stands ready to assist and support the Indian government," the senior White House official said, adding the President has been updated regularly.
Strongly condemning a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai's financial hub, Obama said it only demonstrated "the grave and urgent threat" of terrorism and nations must work to "root out and destroy terrorist networks."
Indian Commandos Battle to Free Hostages at Elite Mumbai Hotels
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Indian commandos battled to free hostages held by gunmen at two luxury hotels in Mumbai, after terrorist shootings and blasts across the city killed 101 people and left 287 injured.
Militants armed with grenades and rifles stormed into the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel and the Trident Oberoi complex late yesterday, saying they were targeting Americans and Britons, according to witness reports.
"The terrorists are still hiding," said Mumbai Police Sub- Inspector S.D. Tarwadkar as security forces swept through the hotels. The officer said he didn't have details of the number of hostages or their nationalities.
Targeting foreign nationals at key tourist hotels and restaurants adds a new dimension to a wave of bombings in India this year that has killed more than 300 people. Multiple attacks have rocked India's cities with bombs planted in markets, theaters and near mosques.
A little known Islamist group called the Deccan Mujahadeen claimed responsibility for the Mumbai attacks, the Press Trust of India reported. Gunmen may have come from Pakistan, the Times Now television channel reported, citing an unidentified intelligence official.
"Mumbai is the New York of India and this is a clear attack on Westerners," said Clive Williams, a terrorism specialist at the Australian National University. "The targeting of British and Americans means there is a new modus operandi."
'Sheer Chaos'
"It was sheer chaos," said Manuela Testolini, a Canadian businesswoman who was dining at the Oberoi when gunmen burst in hunting for foreign nationals. "Every time we heard gunshots they were right behind us," Testolini, who escaped through the kitchen with guests and hotel workers, told CNN television.
President-elect Barack Obama led global condemnation of the attacks as his transition team said the U.S. would work with "India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks."
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the attackers to be "brought to justice swiftly."
Six foreigners, 14 policemen, including the head of India's anti-terrorism unit, and 81 members of the public were killed, according to police.
The U.S. State Department said it wasn't aware of any American casualties in the attacks "at this point." Two Australians were among those injured, according to the government in Canberra. One Japanese citizen was killed and another injured, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said.
Explosions, Gunfire
The attacks, the worst in the city since train blasts in July 2006, began late yesterday with explosions and gunfire ringing out across the city. Shootings occurred outside Cafe Leopold, in the Colaba district of south Mumbai and at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, CNN-IBN television reported.
There was an explosion near a junction in Vile Parle, near the airport, where the remains of a taxicab were strewn across the road. Another explosion in a taxi was reported at Mazgaon dockyard road, according to PTI.
As smoke from a fire billowed from the 565-room Taj hotel, emergency services evacuated guests via ladders. All of the 26 South Koreans at the Taj were rescued, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said in a statement.
Previous guests at the Oberoi have included News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, according to the hotel's Web site. The Oberoi Group, founded in 1934, also operates the luxury Trident hotel brand.
Schools Closed
Schools and colleges in Mumbai will be closed today, the PTI news agency reported.
The attacks come as India accelerates efforts to prop up a slumping economy battered by the global financial crisis.
India's central bank said last month that growth in the $1.2 trillion economy may be as little as 7.5 percent in the year ending next March, compared with 9 percent in the previous 12 months. That would be the weakest pace since 2005 for what is Asia's third-largest economy after Japan and China.
The attacks may affect tourism, which climbed 10 percent in the first nine months of the year to 3.87 million visitors, generating $8.8 billion in revenue, according to government figures. Foreign direct investment into the country more than doubled between April and August to $14.6 billion.
Death Toll
Between January 2004 and March 2007 the death toll from terrorist attacks in India was 3,674, second only to Iraq during the same period, according to the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington.
The government has previously blamed terrorist attacks on organizations linked to foreign powers, without offering evidence or making arrests. Local media often blame the attacks on groups backed by Pakistan or Bangladesh, without identifying the security officials who provided the information.
India's capital, New Delhi, was rocked by five blasts during an evening rush hour in September, killing as many as 26 people and injuring about 133. Indian Mujahadeen, which claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Ahmedabad and Jaipur, said it was behind the blasts.
Troops confront Mumbai attackers
Indian security forces have been exchanging fire with gunmen holding dozens of hostages in two luxury hotels in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay).
Troops surrounded the premises shortly after armed men carried out a series of co-ordinated attacks across the city, killing 101 people and injuring 287.
The hotels were among several locations in the main tourist and business district targeted late on Wednesday.
Police say four suspected terrorists have been killed and nine arrested.
The situation is still volatile in two of the most high-profile targets of Wednesday's attacks - the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi Trident hotels, where armed men are believed to be holding about 40 hostages.
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There are reports of intermittent exchange of fire between security forces and the armed attackers barricaded inside both hotels.
Correspondents say security personnel have so far not stormed the premises perhaps for fear of endangering the lives of hostages, some of whom could be Westerners.
There are also unconfirmed reports that five gunmen have taken hostages in an office block in the financial district of Mumbai.
The city's main commuter train station, a hospital, and a restaurant were among at least seven locations caught up in the violence
Police declare curfew around Taj in MumbaiAmbulances are driving up to the entrance to the hotel and journalists have been moved even further back from the area.
Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station late Wednesday in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital, killing at least 82 people, taking Westerners hostage, police said.
A group of suspected Muslim militants has claimed responsibility.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Computers That Can Think Like Humans
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Cognitive computing offers the promise of systems that can integrate and analyze vast amounts of data from many sources in the blink of an eye, allowing businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to have a significant impact. For example, bankers must make split-second decisions based on constantly changing data that flows at an ever-dizzying rate. And in the business of monitoring the world's water supply, a network of sensors and actuators constantly records and reports metrics such as temperature, pressure, wave height, acoustics and ocean tide.
In such cases, making sense of all the input would be a Herculean task for one person, or even for 100. A cognitive computer, acting as a global brain, could quickly and accurately put together the disparate pieces of this complex puzzle and help people make good decisions rapidly. The end result of this research is to ubiquitously deploy computers imbued with a new intelligence that can integrate information from a variety of sensors and sources, deal with ambiguity, respond in a context-dependent way, learn over time and carry out pattern recognition to solve difficult problems based on perception, action and cognition in complex, real-world environments.
