Serial blasts rock Jaipur; 15 killed
Death toll likely to mount

JAIPUR: Terror struck Jaipur on Tuesday evening when six serial blasts rocked crowded areas including one near a temple in the space of a few minutes leaving at least 15 killed and scores injured.  Police sources said that 15 persons perished in the attack that triggered a stampede in the affected areas in the walled city which are frequented by foreign tourists.

CNN-IBN television channel reported that 50 people were killed and over 150 injured in seven blasts that took place within 12 minutes time. Six women were among the dead.  It is for the first time that the Pink City is coming under terror radar even as the local police chief, SP of Jaipur, said no intelligence inputs were available earlier, but the police was generally on the alert because of the IPL matches taking place in the city. Scores of wounded people were ferried to several hospitals soon after the low-intensity blasts hit at Tripolia Bazar, where large number of devotees turned up at a Hanuman temple, Johari Bazar, Manas Chowk, Badi Choupal and Choti Choupal in the walled part of the city.  The Chief Information Commissioner of Jaipur, Rohit Singh said that the first blast took place at the Manas Chowk Police Station area. The second blast, according to him, was near the most famous sweet shop in the city, Lakshmi Mishtaan Bhandar which is in Johari Bazaar. The third blast took place in Tripolia Bazar where a Hanuman temple drew a large number of devotees on Tuesday, while the fourth and fifth blasts were reported at Badi Choupal and Choti Choupal. Two more blasts took place near the Kotwali area. A bomb squad has reached the affected areas and an eighth bomb has been diffused in the walled city area. Rajasthan Director General of Police A S Gill said it was "obviously a terror attack”. Police sources said the attack was meticulously planned and the first blast occurred around 7.40 PM and the remaining blasts were set off in quick succession.  The blasts set off panic and near-stampede situation at all the localities.  The places are fairly crowded as they are popular tourist spots and even in the lean tourist season, the areas are congested specially in the evenings when people are on their way home from offices.  The Union Home Ministry reviewed the situation while Mumbai and Delhi were put on high alert. Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel were deployed in Jaipur to help deal with the situation as full Story  >>>

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Roshni reaches Kashmir!
1077 people get 2846 kanals of state land

Budgam, May 13: Asserting that in matters of development his government didn’t differentiate between people on the basis of region, religion or political affiliation, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today claimed credit for having initiated a new political culture based on social justice and equal economic opportunities to all sections of population. Addressing a public meeting here today wherein he distributed ownership rights of 2846 kanals of state land with a market value of Rs 114.19 crores to 1077 beneficiaries under the Roshni Scheme, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that past two-and-half years had been a period of development and justice when facilities were equitably extended to areas and regions above political or other considerations.

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Zardari-Sharief political divorce suits Musharraf

Karachi, May 13: Embattled President Pervez Musharraf will gain the most from the political divorce between the country's two biggest opposition parties who had joined a hostile coalition government.  "It is a great news for Musharraf that Nawaz Sharif has quit the government," Saleh Zafir, an Islamabad-based political analyst, told an online news portal. Nawaz's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) has decided to quit the coalition government led by the Pakistan people's Party (PPP) of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto. The decision followed the failure of several rounds of talks on the reinstatement of supreme and high court judges sacked by Musharraf late last year. "Sharif’s separation from the ruling alliance has paved the way for Musharraf to translate his dream, which was shattered by the results of February elections, into action," says Zafir. "The president house, which fell asleep after February 18, is awakening now." The PPP and the PML-N formed an alliance after defeating allies of embattled Musharraf. Sharif, whose PML(N) has 90 seats in the 342-seat national assembly, had nine ministers in the 24-member federal cabinet. Now the PPP, with 121 seats in the legislature, will have to  Full Story  >>>

Sachar defends report on status of Muslims on moral grounds

New Delhi, May 13: As the Delhi High Court put the government on a soul search on the report on the status of Muslims in the country, Justice Rajendra Sachar who headed the committee that conducted the study defended it on moral grounds.  "The report was prepared only after the committee members agreed to prepare it. As a moral person, if I think what I am doing is improper, I won't do it," Sachar said.  On Monday, during the proceedings of a case on the implementation of the Sachar Committee recommendations for welfare of Muslims, a two-member division bench of the Delhi High Court put searching questions to the government.  "You (government) are trying to please one community and this is where the rot lies," the bench said.  Sachar said, "I have done what I was asked to do. I just prepared the report and submitted to the government."  The former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court refused to be dragged into the debate, saying, "I won't comment on my report. I am not a lawyer in the court. You should ask the Prime Minister." The court was hearing a PIL, filed by Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, an NGO, alleging that the committee's report and government's follow-up action Full Story  >>>

HC orders release of detainee accused of planning to kill CM

Srinagar, May 13: Jammu and Kashmir High Court has quashed the detention of a person under Public Safety Act (PSA) for allegedly hatching conspiracy to kill Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. The single bench comprising Justice Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain quashing the detention of Abdul Rashid said the order of the detention was not sustainable.  “Release the detenue forthwith if he is not involved in any other case,” the court directed the state government. State police had claimed to have arrested Rashid and others who had allegedly foiled a militant plan to kill Azad during a public meeting in Ramban on April 12 last year. The arrest of Rashid and others evoked massive protest demonstrations in the area as people alleged that all those detained by police were innocents. However, Rashid was booked under PSA. The detention was challenged in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Ramban. The CJM after hearing the counsel from both sides acquitted Rashid after prosecution failed to prove the charges. However, he was again booked under PSA which was challenged in the High Court.

Unsung Heroes
‘Multimagic Machine’: Kupwara boy makes a simple machine with multiple uses

S F Ahmad

Kupwara, May 13: He calls it “multimagic machine” – and truly his innovation is magical because it puts a simple principle to multiple uses in the most economical and sensible way. It is the innovative brain and little hands of a seventh standard boy Bilal Rashid Khan of Kupwara Public School, which have, out of a simple wind-mill created a complex machine that can be used for varied activities. It can be used for harvesting stored up rain water for irrigation purposes, it can grind grains and oilseeds, and it can also generate electricity and lift water without actually using electricity or any fuel.  Experts at the University Science Instrumentation Centre (USIC) say Bilal’s machine is a “big innovation” that can be used to solve many a problems related to irrigation and energy.  The most amazing facet of Bilal’s “multi-magic machine” is that it does not require huge investment of money, it can be created very cheap if it is to come into the market.

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British High Commissioner meets PC chief
Sajad Lone blames India for undermining dialogue process

Srinagar, May 13: Blaming India for having undermined the dialogue process, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples’ Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone today lamented lack of seriousness on part of India vis-à-vis the Kashmir issue. Interacting with British High Commissioner Richard Stag and his Political Secretary who called on Lone Tuesday, Peoples’ Conference chairman while highlighting the essence of dialogue process as an institutional mode of resolving conflict and an alternative to the violent mode of resolution, told them that the Indian state has trivialized the institution of dialogue by starting a dialogue process in Kashmir and subsequently abandoning it. “Dialogue is a sacred institution of the civilized world and has been used in conflicts across the world, but the Indian state has not only eroded the sanctity of this intuition in Kashmir, but also set a bad precedence for conflict resolution processes in other parts of the world,” Lone told the British visitors. “If Kashmir is once again pushed in to a state of violent espousal, the Indian state would have a direct role in thrusting violence onto the people of Kashmir,” Lone said as he impressed upon the visitors that the international community had a moral

Infiltration may go up in J&K, warns defence minister
 

Hussainiwala, May 13: Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday warned the country to gear up for more infiltration bids in Jammju and Kashmir from across the border.  "There will be stepped up infiltration attempts in the run up to the crucial elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly," Antony said as he emphasized on security forces to maintain the highest level of vigil on the borders.  Undertaking a tour of forward areas on the international border with Pakistan in the Punjab sector, the Defence Minister said, "Don't expect any let-up."  "We have to be on our guard in the coming summer months as the melting of snows will make infiltration more easier," he said, while ruling out any fresh infusion of forces in the election-bound state.  His remarks assume significance as according to reports Army has withdrawn some forces from the state for deployment in their erstwhile locations on the Sino-Indian border.  Talking tough on dealing with militancy, the Defence Minister told reporters that the renewed large-scale infiltration campaign was apparently aimed at disrupting the election process. Referring to recent encounters with the militants close to international border in Jammu and Kashmir, Antony said the pattern was not new.  He said in the past also militants had made moves to attack security and civilian

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