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BJP condemns blasts, demands Patil’s resignation
Many shops open for half day only
Gaffar Market deserted
Mother searches for missing son
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CCTVs malfunctioning
A nightmarish b’day bash
50 families take part in car rally for peace
Rehab project launched for Bihar flood victims
Reservation should not be perpetuated, say educationists
Artscape
Another BMW hits couple
Regal draws few film-goers
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BJP condemns blasts, demands Patil’s resignation
New Delhi, September 14 The saffron brigade has termed it as a heinous crime and accused the central government of being a helpless spectator, which has failed to curb terrorism. The resolution was passed in a meeting chaired by Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan, deputy leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra. Malhotra said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had warned home minister Shivraj Patil and the national security advisor that terrorists had been targeting Delhi. “If such incidents keep happening in spite of warnings then it is shameful on the part of the central government,” said Malhotra. Vardhan alleged that since the UPA government came to power the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) was abolished due to which terrorists had become unrestrained and were not afraid of anything. He further alleged that the Sheila Dikshit government was sitting over the file related to the hanging of Afzal Guru. “Instead of identifying and sending back Bangladeshis to their native land, the Delhi Chief Minister calls them guests. The central government treats terrorists as their vote bank more then as traitors,” said Vardhan. Malhotra and Vardhan have demanded the centre to frame stringent laws to deal with terrorists while Afzal should be hanged immediately. The BJP leaders further said that Bangladeshis should be identified and sent back to their country and concrete steps must be taken to make intelligence agencies more capable and efficient. |
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Many shops open for half day only
New Delhi, September 14 A mother of a teenage girl, who was injured at Connaught Place’s Barakhamba Lane and is presently admitted to RML Hospital, said, “The communal outfits who are committing such gory acts should ask themselves about their real purpose. They should learn to respect life and let others live peacefully.” In the markets of the blast sites, almost all the shops opened only after half the day was over. Still, the spirits of the people coming to the markets didn’t seem dim. One or two dairy and beverages shop, which is the only source of breakfast needs of the families staying near these regions had resumed their business since early morning though they didn’t receive many customers from other areas till evening. One such shopkeeper at GK M block market said, “We had decided to open the shop in the morning itself for most of the people staying here purchase things of their daily need. In fact, the Market Association of GK-I had decided last night itself that the shops would open by the afternoon and we would start out daily routine tasks.” He added, “We don’t want to sit being scared rather we want to send this as a daring reply to all those involved in the blasts. We should criticise and fight against terrorism and the public ought to be aware of how they could contribute towards normalising the situation after such tragic incidents. The political parties on the contrary are involved in blame game and mud-slinging. Transparency is lacking in their statements.” Vijay Malhotra, BJP member and MP who had come to the Greater Kailash M-block market said, “The UPA government has always remained inactive when it comes to taking anti-terrorism measures and this time also they acted only after the terror groups had done their part.” Delhi Mayor, Arti Mehra, also present on the occasion said, “The government at the centre is always dormant as it has been sitting on the files of Afzal Guru for two years, and now also it has proved its inefficiency and incapability.” |
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Gaffar Market deserted
New Delhi, September 14 The market, which observes Monday as its weekly off, is usually the most crowded on Sundays when people from across the Capital throng to hunt for bargains in the grey market and savour some of the “specialities” offered by food stalls in narrow bylanes. Shaken by the trail of death and gore left behind by the blast, many shopkeepers in the area preferred to keep their shutters down. Described as the bargainer’s paradise, the market was strangely quiet — no high decibel calls by pavement sellers to woo customers, no traffic jams. The cordoned off blast site presented a gory picture with tell-tale marks of blood and personal belongings of the victims strewn on the pavement, normally crowded with shoppers, a grim reminder of the terror attack and vulnerability of the common man. A few food stalls that were open today saw little business. “I have opened the stall hoping that some people will turn up, but till noon not a single customer has come to eat here,” J.L. Sharma, a food stall owner said. A florist, who normally makes around Rs 2,000 a day, did not get a single customer till noon. |
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Mother searches for missing son
New Delhi, September 14 Kaur’s son Sharanjeet Singh, 40, went to Karol Bagh on Saturday evening and is untraceable since then. “My son never carried a mobile phone and we are searching for him since the news of five blasts broke out,” said the mother, her voice broken and tears rolling down her cheeks. Singh runs a small shop in the Baljeet Nagar area of Patel Nagar. He has a four-year-old daughter, Gurpreet, who clung to her grandma as she appealed to people through TV channels to inform if they spot Singh. The family landed at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital after making the rounds of Lady Hardinge Hospital, Sir Gangaram Hospital and AIIMS. Equally pathetic is the case of Raju, a 25-year-old who was standing outside his house in Karol Bagh when the bomb went off. Since then, no one has seen him. “The police have no information about my brother and that we ourselves should visit every hospital to check out,” Raju’s brother Shyam said. — IANS
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CCTVs malfunctioning
New Delhi, September 14 Some Delhi police officials say that the GK Market Association was informed about it. In fact a proposal of installing eight powerful cameras had already been sent to the market association about one month back. They said that the market association had told them that they would fix new cameras before Divali. But, how could it delay the matter when the city had been put on high alert after the recent serial blasts in other cities. President of GK-I market association Rajendra Sharda, said, “We are going to conduct a meeting in the evening and private security as well as police personnel would be present there.
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A nightmarish b’day bash
New Delhi, September 14 “We were having fun at the Central Park and Shishir asked for a final group photo before we leave for the hostel. As he moved back to focus the camera, a blast took place leaving him injured,” Shishir’s friend Prashant said. Shishir, a mechanical engineering student at Jamia Millia Islamia, suffered injuries as a splinter from an exploding bomb pierced his spinal cord. Some of his friends too received minor injuries. The friends, gathered at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where Shishir was rushed, they said there was no improvement in his condition.
— IANS |
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50 families take part in car rally for peace
New Delhi, September 14 The participants as well as the promoters jointly condemned the horrendous acts of last evening and paid homage to the deceased. A family was clad in black attire to convey the message of anti-terrorism to everybody. It said, “India should strike back at the root of the problem like the USA did after the Pentagon attack on 9/11.” Another participating family who took peace as the theme behind decorating their car for the race, said, “In order to remember all those people who were killed in last night’s blasts, we have taken peace as the theme.” |
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Rehab project launched for Bihar flood victims
New Delhi, September 14 The project is expected to be on for the next six to 12 months. The project has twofold objectives — to contribute in the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims and to bring back experiences of learning into the knowledge system of the university. The first team of DSSW led by fieldwork director Manoj K. Jha had left for Saharsa on September 1. The team consisted of six student volunteers and one non-teaching staff. They established a base camp at Saharsa and made an assessment of Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul. The team also assessed the conditions of relief camps in Saharsa. This team was present in the area for 10 days and provided relief material (like biscuits, ORS, medicines, torches) to the most vulnerable sections. It also operated and managed a mobile medical unit at Majhouva, a remote area where more than a lakh people from over 250 villages have taken shelter. Two doctors worked in the unit. A DSSW spokesman said that the team was undertaking a need-cum-damage assessment of Dalits and the most deprived families in the Bhutahi Baadh area. It has also tried to loosen the shackles of caste biases that tend to become dominant in such situations by consciously employing a Dalit cook in its kitchen. The second team of DSSW led by Farrukh Faheem, faculty member, B.R. Ambedkar College, Delhi University, reached Saharsa on September 8. It consists of six student volunteers, one non-teaching staff and five para-medical personnel. Both the teams worked together for two days. The third team will leave for Saharsa on September 16. Manoj K. Jha said that the department had been closely working with HelpAge India and ‘Jurao’ at the sites. He added that DSSW would have a long-term association with the area. It would work in the areas of damage assessment and rehabilitation. Apart from providing relief material, it would also provide psycho-social support to those who have lost everything in this catastrophe. |
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Reservation should not be perpetuated, say educationists
New Delhi, September 14 The documentary scripted the issue of reservation and conveyed the thought that reservation was introduced for addressing the denial of basic rights to the weaker sections and a balance needs to be made with that as well. Speaking on these lines, Dipankar Gupta, sociology professor at JNU said, “It is fair to think in terms of anti-discriminatory policies and a good reservation policy is one, which is put in place for some specific timeframe. No reservation should be perpetuated. The system and the set of policies have to be finessed in terms of the figures that the groups are offered.” Strongly opposing discrimination through reservations,
P.V. Indirasen, the director of IIT, Madras said, “Dr. Ambedkar’s request to continue reservations for only 30 years was rejected and there the problem began. I think the SC and ST reservations are no longer necessary and the OBC reservation in higher educational institutions is actually a political gimmick. Today, it has become politically valuable to talk about the poor.” He added, “As far as equal opportunities are concerned, anti-poverty measures should be taken, but there shouldn’t be any discrimination.” Supporting this were the views of some students from the audience that the answer to discrimination is not by creating discrimination. However, Sukhdeo
Thorat, the former UGC chairman said, “We must examine the exclusionary character, the discriminatory nature of our society. We ought to analyse the socio-economic conditions of all the sections of people in general and then go for any formulation of policies.” Thorat asserted, “If reservations are introduced, it should be seen that they are done for some definite time period. The most important thing is that society should be free from any discrimination, irrespective of the economic conditions they have. Thus discrimination is independent of economic condition. If economically better groups are suffering from discrimination, they should be given protection.” |
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Pakistani artist pays homage to Picasso
Ravi Bhatia Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 14 The exhibition consists of 70 drawings selected from a corpus of 150 submissions by the artist. Naksh has exhibited his works all across the globe. This is his first solo exhibition in India. While, this particular exhibition is largely drawing based, the creations evolve around the artist’s well-known metaphors—women, pigeons and horses. The language of these works incorporates the earlier miniature traditions of Rajput and Mughal art. The exhibition will coincide with the launch of a book, “Jamil Naksh pays homage to Pablo Picasso”, featuring a compilation of critical essays on the most well-known artist and illustrations of his drawings. Since 2005, the Nitanjali Art Gallery has been engaged in bringing to India the best of contemporary art from Pakistan for the benefit of art lovers here. ‘Life in Bright Colors’
To celebrate the independence day of El Salvador, the embassy of the Republic of El Salvador here and the India International Centre (IIC) are jointly presenting an exhibition “Life in Bright Colors”, consisting of colourful scenery of the Latin American country on September 15 and September 16 at the IIC Art Gallery. The exhibition consists of three inspiring collections– Thoughts of Peace, Sacred Nation-an Oath to the Flag and Traditional Dresses. Exhibition of paintings
The Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre here is holding an exhibition of paintings by Neeraj
Mittra. Entitled “Wholesoul” the exhibition is on till September 30. Provincial dances
The Indian Council For Cultural relations (ICCR) and the ministry of Culture of Russian Federation are jointly organising a programme of provincial dances by the Contemporary Dance Theatre at the Kamani Auditorium here on September 17. The performance is part of the Russian Year celebrations in India. ‘Woman 2008’
Studio Vasant here is presenting “Woman 2008”, an exhibition of paintings by noted artist Lala Ramanand from September 12 to September 18. Exhibits focus on womanhood
The Canvas Art Gallery here is holding an exhibition of paintings by artist Sambuddha Duttagupta entitled, “The Dream of Liberation” from September 13 to September 25. The exhibits focus exclusively on womanhood. Padam Shree Pandit Bhajan Sopori, the legendary Santoor maestro and music composer, was felicitated by ‘Sumadhur Hansadhwani’ on the occasion of its two-day festival titled ‘National Integration Through Music’ here last week. The festival featured recitals by Shanno Khurnan (classical vocal),
Ust. Asad Ali Khan (Rudra Veena), Sumitra Guha (classical and regional vocal) and others. Pandit Bhajan Sopori was honoured for his lifetime contribution to classical music and Indian culture. Pandit Bhajan Sopori is regarded as the cultural bridge of the state of Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of the country, and is hailed as the “Saint of the Santoor” and the “King of Strings” for being the pioneer in establishing the Santoor on national and international platforms. His style of playing called the ‘Sopori Baaj’ is acclaimed as the most distinctive style of playing Classical
Santoor. A highly learned person, Pandit Bhajan Sopori combines a profound knowledge of music and musicology. He has led the revival of Sufism to spread the message of humanism amongst the masses. He has composed almost 5000 songs in different languages with various patriotic songs of India which have been received as masterpieces and major musical hits of the country like ‘Bharat Bharat Hum Iski Santaan’, ‘Hum Honge Kaamyaab’, ‘Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna’, ‘Vijayee Vishwa Tiranga Pyaara’, etc. Sarvam Krishnamayam
On Friday, September 19, Geeta Chandran and her Natya Vriksha Dance Company are presenting Sarvam Krishnamayam, a classical Bharatanatyam performance, at the Kamani Auditorium here. Italian art Expo
The Italian Embassy Cultural Centre here in collaboration with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations is holding an exhibition of contemporary art and design “Italian Genius Now” from September 15 to September 26 at the Travancore House, Kasturba Gandhi Marg here. The exhibition, featuring artworks by 53 creative minds, gives an extraordinary panorama of the Italian contemporary art and design scene. Starting with the Vespa motorcycle by Corradino D’Ascanio and the spatial solutions of Lucio Fontana in the fifties, the show continues with Gio Ponti’s designs, Bruno Munari’s fantasies and Ferragamo and Armani’s fashion creations. It also analyses the artistic movement of Italian Pop Art in the sixties, the Architettura Radicale experimentations and the art of Pistoletto, Fabro, Mertz, Pesce, up to the Transavanguardia of the eighties and the glamorous marriage between artworks and advertising devised by Toscani for
Benetton. |
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Another BMW hits couple
New Delhi, September 14 A black BMW car hit a motorcycle at the intersection of Ferozshah Road and Kasturba Gandhi Road intersection today evening. The car driver has been detained. But the identity of the injured couple has not been ascertained yet. According to sources, while the woman was critically injured in the accident, the man escaped with minor injuries. The couple has been admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. |
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Regal draws few film-goers
New Delhi, September 14 “The capacity of the theatre is 650 people. At weekends we generally have a crowd of around 450 but today we have sold only 143 tickets for the 12.30 p.m. show,” Regal manager Ravi Sharma said. The cinema hall is screening “Singh is Kinng”. Sharma hoped the number would improve in a few days. The few who turned up to watch the film emphasised the need to defeat terrorism. Asked if he was afraid to go to the cinema hall, Ashish Singh, 22, said, “If we remain fearful after such incidents, terrorists would succeed in their aim of terrorising society.” Ashish came with his five friends to watch the movie.
— IANS |
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