Police recover explosives near Ranjit Sagar Dam

    Kathua (J-K): An attempt by suspected militants to blow off a popular dam site in Jammu and Kashmir was foiled after a huge cache of explosives was recovered from the area, said police officials on Sunday. Police, acting on a tip off, carried out a search in the area and recovered a huge cache of explosives including hand grenades, rocket launchers, 200 rounds of assault rifles, two batteries, RDX apart from other items wrapped in a polythene sheet, near the hydel project. Johny Williams, Senior Superintendent of Police, Kathua, said that the recovery of arms and ammunition averted a possible tragedy. "There is no doubt that the site where we found the arms and ammunitions was a sensitive area. There is steamer service. There is a highway and the Ranjit Sagar Dam... There is enough indication that there was a plan for a militant strike in the area. We are continuing with our search," he said. Violence in Jammu and Kashmir, the heart of the trouble between India and Pakistan has not really died down, despite the fact that both New Delhi and Islamabad have embarked on a peace process. Thousands of people have died since militancy erupted in the valley in 1989. New Delhi has consistently accused Islamabad of fuelling the nearly 16-year-old militancy in the state. Islamabad has always denied the charge saying it only provides moral and diplomatic support to what it calls a legitimate freedom struggle.

Villagers protest demolition in Delhi (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Hundreds of villagers took out a rally on Sunday in New Delhi against demolitions in classified rural land or "Lal Dora" area in the city. Following court orders to bring down illegal commercial complexes, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday began to tear down one of the city's top shopping complexes on the Delhi - Gurgaon Road which houses stores of some of the top Indian designers such as Rohit Bal, Rana Gill, Suneet Verma, Manav Gangwani, to name a few. Lal Dora, literary red thread, was used in the past for demarcating the jurisdiction of a village. These shopping complexes are in the Lal Dora area of the city and presently imply the boundary of the territory of village within which norms and controls of a municipality or urban development authority are not applicable. Ajit Singh, Chief of Rashtriya Lok Dal Party, said how could the court impose laws that were non-existent in these areas earlier. "It is understood very well that these villagers have not been represented in the court of law. Where arises the question of bylaws? Our argument is that if these bylaws, which were not existent in their areas before, are now imposed on them as they are in all over Delhi, then that would not be right," he said. Former Union Minister Sharad Yadav too protested the controversial demolition drive. "The matter is, that at this point, urban development has become exhaustive all over the county. Thousands of villagers that form this country and the land that has been usurped by the expansion of cities come under this national problem." Villagers say there has been a gross misinterpretation of the Court's orders. "We are going to take this Lal Dora issue to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court order that High Court is quoting in favour of demolitions actually says that only hazardous industries should be removed from the area and any other kind of construction is allowed," said a villager. MCD is demolishing around 18,000 unauthorised structures, mainly illegal commercial establishments in residential areas, on the High Court's orders. The MCD had issued notices about the demolitions to be carried out under police protection. Residents also alleged that MCD officials were bribed to look the other way when illegal buildings came up.

Salman terms situation in SP as 'explosive'  (Go To Top)

     Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Salman Khurshid has termed the situation in the Samajwadi Party as explosive, following the recent statement by party leader Raj Babbar. Speaking to reporters, Khurshid said that Samajwadi Party MP Raj Babbar had contributed a lot to his party and it must have hurt him quite a bit to come out in the open against the party. "I just wanted to say that he was an MP of that party and a respected leader and actor. He had a separate identity of himself. He worked for Samajwadi Party and specially for Agra and adjoining areas. He struggled for the party and he must have been very hurt that he had to open up before the public. This shows the dirty politics going on inside the party," said Khurshid.

    Meanwhile, Chief Minister of the State Mulayam Singh Yadav said that it was internal party politics and there should be no external interference. "Why do you have to interfere in our personal matters and why are you tensed about something which I am not bothered about," said Mulayam. Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha Member from Agra, Raj Babbar, had yesterday called a press conference and charged party leader Amar Singh's "inclination" towards "fundamentalist" forces which he said was destroying the party. Babbar had said that he was trying to save the party and have communicated people's feelings to party leader Ram Gopal Yadav when he visited Agra recently. However, Ram Gopal Yadav came down heavily on Babbar, saying he could not fetch a single vote and it was the SP that gave Babbar political identity by first nominating him to the Rajya Sabha. Ram Gopal Yadav went on to say that if he (Raj Babbar) had political identity, "let him resign and recontest".

Pakistani rock band 'Strings' sets Delhi grooving  (Go To Top)

    New Delhi: Pakistani rock band 'Strings' recently set fans rocking with their recent pulsating performance in the capital New Delhi. Terming music as a 'bridge' that helps to bring people together, 'Strings' Guitarist/composer/vocalist Bilal Maqsood said, "I think music has a lot of power and it certainly bridges the gap between these two countries. Music has been playing its role since the last 10-15 years and we are definitely proud of being a part of it." "We are doing our bit, we interact with the Indian youth, we bring a message of love and hope from the youth of Pakistan and share that with our India friends and we get a great response. We feel that the future is definitely bright for both the countries," he added. Strings' lead vocalist Faisal Kapadia said that musicians like Ghulam Ali Khan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan had played an important role in breaking down barriers among the people of the two countries. "We should have more and more person to person contact, travelling should be encouraged so that people from Pakistan can come here and people from India can go there easily. So, basically it's building a very comfortable atmosphere, between the two nations and politics is playing its part. They are trying their level best to create a good relationship," he said. 'Strings' burst into the international limelight in 2004 with a background song for the blockbuster Hollywood movie 'Superman 2'. Their 2005 album 'Dhaani' was extremely successful in India with CDs and music cassettes flying off the shelves. They have also made their debut in the Indian film industry with the extremely popular song 'Zinda Hoon main' from the recently released Sanjay Dutt starrer 'Zinda'.

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