Delhi with Avinash & Friends

Monday, September 15, 2008

Heroes emerge from bottom of the social heap

Located at the bottom of the urban social pyramid, ragpickers are the smelly boys in tattered clothes whom everyone quickly passes by. Even street dogs, sub-consciously aware of their lowly status and often confusing them for thieves, chase them in shabby bylanes. On Monday, one such ragpicker and a roadside vendor will be treated as heroes. Reason: their timely action saved dozens of lives in the Saturday bomb blast. Ragpicker Krishna and cloth seller Kundan detected live bombs and alerted the police. Police point out that if the live bombs had not been detected in time, the death toll from the blasts would have been close to 100.

Delhi- A Day After...

Simran hasn’t stopped wailing since Saturday evening. ‘‘I want papa. Where is mamma? I promise to be a good girl,’’ cries the five-year-old. Simran’s father Ashok (32), grandfather Harishchandra (65) and aunt Saroj (35) died in the blast at Gaffar Market. Her mother, Kamleshwati, sustained grievous leg injuries, but has returned to ‘‘meet my husband one last time’’. ‘‘I don’t care whether I see another day. But I want to see my husband once before they take him away forever,’’ she says

It was the chaos of the day after and the worst hit were the city’s poor and illiterate, who in absence of a coordinated information dispensation mechanism ended up making painstaking rounds of hospitals and mortuaries, unaware of the fate of their loved ones, clutching photographs in the hope that somebody will recognise the person and give them the good news they were dying to hear.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Delhi's 28 minutes of Terror

6 .10 pm Ghaffar Market, Karol Bagh, 13 killed, 50 hurt Bomb was placed in a CNG-fitted auto near the bustling MCD market. Injured included shoppers, labourers and jewellery workers
6.30 pm Central Park, 4 killed, 10 hurt CP’s green lung was filled with families out for an evening stroll when a bomb in a dustbin went off. Shrapnel hit many shoppers streaming out of Palika
6.31 pm Barakhamba Road, 13 killed Office-goers waiting for a bus home at a stand near Gopaldas Bhavan were caught unawares when a bomb, again in a dustbin, went off
6.31 pm GK I, M Block Market, 10 injured; Shoppers at this upscale market were jolted when the 1st bomb went off near a fast-food outlet. Shards from shattered shop windows left several injured
6:38 pm GK I, M Block Market, 10 injured; A bicycle bomb went off near Prince Paan Shop, a local landmark. This blast was stronger but caused fewer injuries as most shoppers had been evacuated Could Have Been Worse Defused - 3 bombs At Children’s Park in India Gate, Regal Cinema & Central Park, CP. Are there more? Killer Device Low-intensity chemical explosives (ammonium nitrate) with electronic timers used, similar to Jaipur, Ahmedabad blasts No Uniform Pattern 3 bombs placed in dustbins, 1 on cycle, 1 in CNG-fitted auto Key Witness 11-yr-old balloon seller near Gopal Das Towers, CP, saw 2 people dressed in black place a polythene bag in dustbin.
Bomb went off 15 min later Markets Down Shutters Sarojini Nagar, CP, Bengali Market, Lajpat Nagar, etc., evacuated and closed Metro Disrupted Metro stops ops after CP blasts. Resumes soon, but strict security checks lead to long queues Network Jammed Increased cellphone activity creates logjam in mobile network

Crowd gather after blast at Karolbagh on Saturday Evening.

Anxious relatives at RML Hospital Delhi

The dustbin which blew up on Barakhamba Road, soon after Central Park blast

GRIEVING RELATIVES AT RML HOSPITAL

The bomb at GK-I market damaged the other cars in the parking lot

DELHI SERIAL BLAST-Virus called Terrorism

Islamic militant group Indian Mujahideen (IM), believed to be a front for Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), today claimed responsibility for the five bomb blasts in three crowded Delhi markets. At least 100 people had been injured at the time of going to press and more than 20 had died.The bombs were placed in dustbins and in the boot of a CNG-fuelled autorickshaw, an action replay of Gujarat and Jaipur blasts earlier this year. The credit for these two was taken by IM in emails, the authenticity of which has been confirmed by the Intelligence Bureau.
Two blasts each at Greater Kailash and Connaught Place occurred soon after the first bomb exploded in Karol Bagh at 6:10 pm. Two bombs were diffused at CP.

As police secured the scene, investigations into the cause of the blasts got underway The Indian security establishment believes that Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) and SIMI are behind IM. Some security analysts believe that IM is a group of ex-SIMI cadres, rather than HuJI-B. Others say that IM is a fake organisation designed to misguide investigators

Five bombs have ripped through busy shopping areas of India's capital, Delhi, within minutes of each other, killing at least 18 people, police say. As panic spread, mobile phone connections were jammed and shops immediately downed shutters. The Metro rail service paused for a few hours and prominent markets were evacuated
.

Nearby property was badly damaged.Glass pieces lie scattered after bomb ripped through CP, the heart of Delhi The Supreme Court, on an appeal from the government, continued the ban but only till October 2. After that date, the court will review its order.
Intelligence sources say one Abu Subhan, believed to be the mastermind of the Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts, may be involved in today’s attacks. Intelligence agencies had warned the government recently that SIMI was planning BAD (Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi) serial blasts.

The explosions are not thought to have been very powerful but they happened in areas crowded with evening shoppers.

A victim being taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital after Serial blasts Rocked Delhi...Delhi and Mumbai have been placed on high alert, and there is a palpable sense of panic in the capital. For at least an hour after the blasts, phone lines were jammed and traffic slowed to a crawl as people rushed home to safety

Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a hundred brilliant saves but the only shot that people remember is the one that gets past you

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Yet Again....Delhi Blasted

Members of bomb disposal squad examine a blast site in New Delhi

A victim being taken to Ram Manohar lohia Hospital after Serial blasts Rocked delhi saturday eveining

At least five blasts ripped through different parts of the National Capital on Saturday evening between 6:15 PM and 7 PM. At least 18 have been killed and over 100 have been injured. Unconfirmed reports say the casualty figure may be higher.According to Delhi Police, two persons were detained from Connaught Place area soon after the blasts. Police said a boy named Rahul had claimed to have seen the terrorists. Rahul informed the police that terrorists were travelling in an auto-rickshaw. He also said that the terrorists were clad in black kurta-pyjama. Security was tightened across the National Capital, with police personnel fanning out in large numbers to railway and Metro stations, hospitals, bus terminals and airport. Gun-toting security personnel were deployed at sensitive points after explosions in a span of 45 minutes ripped through the city. Barricades were put up at several places to regulate traffic. There was chaos on the roads as people who were outside rushed back home following the blasts. Security was stepped up at railway and Metro stations, inter-state bus terminals, airport, cinema halls, shopping malls and other sensitive points. Several major city markets, including the popular Sarojini Nagar Market which was targeted in the previous Diwali-eve blasts in 2006, were shut down and evacuated. Mobile services were jammed in Connaught Place and Gaffar Market area, the sites of three of the explosions. Extra personnel have been deployed at religious places, besides keeping an extra vigil on the borders. Police have asked cyber cafe owners and dealers to be on alert and keep a tab on their customers. Security has been tightened at all the Metro stations to avoid any untoward situation. "Security has already been strengthened and frisking and checking of the commuters have been stepped up. The Metro is under constant vigil," a CISF spokesperson said. He added that the public transport system is already under red-alert and hence security has always been the priority. Extra personnel have

been pressed into service to keep a vigil on the commuters.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Music has no boundaries

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management recently organised a live performance by Pakistani rock band Fuzon. The performance marked the finale of Cicero’s Challenge 2008 – Great Indian Dream Debate competition. Students from over 60 schools, including 19 international schools, participated in the competition. The first prize was given to CH Vaishnavi from Sagar School, Rajasthan. Karan Huda of British School, Delhi won the second prize, while the third position went to Liviu Helender from Danish International School, Austria. W h i l e R a j i t a C h a u d - huri was the host for the evening, A r i n d a m Chaudhuri, dean, IIPM, said, “Our endeavour has been to give best international exposure to our students. Every year we have an international band performing after the debate and the performance by Fuzon was exciting.”

CITY HURT As No One Seems TO CARE

The government can definitely give the city a makeover in time for the Commonwealth Games, but can it change those who call the city home? Your neighbour, or perhaps you, for whom garbage management is throwing stuff on the road at dawn or dusk. Or those who travel in luxury cars but treat the road like an extended waste bin, rolling down the window to dispose of foodstuff and cans. Or for that matter that man in an expensive suit who doesn’t hesitate to drop his pants to wet a roadside wall or spit copiously on the pavement.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Young Gandhis Rocks On

Arjun Rampal, Javed Akhtar and Rahul Gandhi. Rahul, who’s a self-confessed rock music fan, came for a private screening of Rock On!! in Delhi recently.