Civic and faith leaders of Liverpool held a candle light prayer at the Town Hall to remember victims of the July 11 bomb blasts in Mumbai.

Present on the occasion included Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Joan Lang and Dr Shiv Pande, secretary of the Indo-British Association (North), senior Civic leaders Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of City Council, Representative of opposition leader Councillor Joe Andersen and Chief Executive Colin Hilton.

A minute’s silence was observed last evening in memory of those who had lost their lives in the serial blasts.

Pande read out a message from Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall. In his message sent to President of India A P J Abdul Kalam, the Prince said, “It was with such a heavy heart that I learnt of yet more dreadful bombings across Mumbai, and of the incomprehensible grenade attacks in Kashmir.

“My wife joins me in expressing our profound grief and anguish at the appalling aberrations in the modern world which produce such cruel and mindless carnage. Our hearts go out to you, Mr President, and to the people of India, but most particularly to those who have been directly affected by such inhuman and deplorable outrages,” the message said.

In his message, High Commissioner for India, Kamalesh Sharma said, “the people of India are determined not to let such challenges dismay us or our unity and this resolve to conduct the nation’s business as usual has been demonstrated on this occasion as well.” PTI

Condemning as “heinous” and “unjustified” the wave of deadly blasts that rocked Mumbai, the US House of Representatives adopted a unanimous resolution asking the international community to rout terrorists by defeating their ideology and networks that carry out attacks.

The House adopted the resolution (425-0) to express its “deepest” condolences to the victims and the families of the July 11 Mumbai suburban train blasts.

Emphasising that the attack on India’s financial hub was part of terrorists’ “determination” to cause “economic terror” in the country, the resolution called upon the international community to renew and strengthen efforts to combat social evils that breed terrorism.

The resolution, sponsored by Congressmen Jospeh Crowley and Joseph Wilson, also urged countries to defeat terrorists by defeating their ideology and networks that train and carry out attacks.

The statement also recalled the historic July 18, 2005 agreement reched bewtween the two countries on sharing nuclear energy and expressed its resolve to “transform the relationship between the countries and establish a global partnership”.

The discussions on the resolution saw members not only condemning the terror attacks but also hailing India’s commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights Saluting the spirit displayed by the people during the hours of crisis, the resolution said, “the people of India quickly responded to the attack by turning out to donate blood, taking bed sheets to turn into stretchers and offering assistance and comfort to the victims of the attack.” PTI

In the wake of the July 11 blasts on commuter trains here, the Bombay High Court today asked railway authorities to upgrade its plan for dealing with medical emergencies arising from such incidents.
“You should act on a war footing,” the judges said.

When the counsel for the railways told the court that a disaster management plan was implemented in 2004, the bench of Justices R M Lodha and N J Patil remarked that it needed to be upgraded in view of what happened on July 11.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by Sarosh Mehta in 2001 to raise the issue of delay in the process of providing medical help to victims of railway accidents. The High Court had earlier passed detailed orders in this regard.

But Mehta approached the court today, demanding fresh directions and alleging that after the blasts on July 11, it took more than half an hour in some cases for medical aid to reach victims.

On hearing this, the court remarked that half an hour was too long a period and this could have fatal consequences.

The court also expressed concern at over-crowding of trains, saying this was one of the reasons that had compounded the effects of such calamities. It asked the railways to state what measures had been taken to solve this problem.

Railways’ counsel replied that certain steps had been taken, such as increasing coaches on trains from nine to 12 and laying additional tracks.

The court directed the authorities to file a reply on all these issues within three weeks. PTI

After listening to a group of young men discussing over the issue of “female dominance� in the country I feel its one of the most controversial topic to talk about. For ages people have believed that women have been the deprived section of society. They have been given special privileges by law. But this is certainly opposite to what most young men would be thinking.

According to them there exists a female dominance in India. “Mrs. Gandhi� smartly running the politics of India via the current prime minister “Manmohan Singh� stands tall as their first and foremost example. The next examples they quoted were of “Jaya Lalitha� and “Mayavati�. Moving to the grass root levels they confidently argue with smile that even at home there mothers have more say than their fathers. That defines it all. Then why are women being treated as the deprived section of society. What they pose is only one side of the coin lets discuss the greener glass of the other end too.

India as we all know is an agricultural society where more than 20% of the population is living below poverty line. The population that resides in the rural section of the country comprises its most of the population. This rural section still cultivates the age old belief of “male dominance�. Female infanticide, polygamy, child marriage are still existing in these areas. Female child still does not get enough education that enables them to take mature, smart and independent decisions. Financial decisions still are in hands of male members of the family as they have the purchasing power for they are the only earning members of the house. Many females still sacrifice their independence and desires for their spouses or family. Viewing the condition of Indian women in light of these facts I certainly would argue that they need most of the reforms to stand equal with men.

Just viewing the independent & educated females of the urban areas is indeed a very shallow view of the whole situation.

President A P J Abdul Kalam today led the nation in observing a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to those who perished in terror blasts in suburban trains here on July 11.

Accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Kalam laid a wreath at a memorial at Mahim railway station, one of the seven places hit by the deadly blasts, as thousands of people across the country joined the observance of the solemn occasion in a show of solidarity against terror.

A police contingent reversed arms and army buglers sounded the last post in memory of over 200 people who were killed in the blasts as Kalam paid floral tributes.

Trains along the Western Railway line in Mumbai, which was the target of the attack, came to a halt for two minutes as people observed silence at the stroke of 6.25PM when the first blast had occured a week ago.

Similar memorial functions were held across Mumbai, including at Jogeshwari, Churchgate and other stations which had witnessed the blasts, and Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore.

Sirens signalled the start of observance of two-minute silence and people later released white baloons and doves, symbols of peace, on the occasion. PTI

In the wake of reported shooting up of terror and hate messages on the internet following the deadly Mumbai serial blasts, the Telecom Department has directed all the 150 operational Internet Service Providers to block 18 websites.

The 18 websites, according to the Government, could be used by terror groups to communicate and spread provocative messages.

Two websites www.Dalitstan.Org and hinduunity.Org figure among the blocked sites. It is not immediately clear till what time period this blockade will be in force.

Although DoT and Department of Information Technology officials declined to comment on the issue in which DoT issued notices to ISPs, Deepak Maheshwari, secretary, Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) said the Association has received the instructions from the government.

“The instructions have been received from the government and the sites have been blocked accordingly”, Maheshwari said.

Meanwhile the software industry has flayed the decision to block the sites.

“The Centre’s decision to block some blogs and websites in the wake of last week’s serial blasts in Mumbai was “neither desirable nor feasible,” NASSCOM President Kiran Karnik said in Chennai today.

“The Internet should be a free media. Any attempts to block out some websites is not desirable. “If you stop the media, rumours float very fast and it is not desirable,” he said. PTI

We have heard the education experts talk endlessly on the topic of “Brain Drain�. Most of the brilliant brains of our country fly away to developed countries as they see better prospects out there. Everyone has the right to live life their way until it is legal and when received a chance for betterment who would decide otherwise. They have the responsibilities of their families. But what happens to the progress of the country if every brainy person flies away? Luckily enough there is an emotional sensitization among youngsters these days. They tend to be patriotic upon listening & viewing patriotic music & videos. A fire burns deep inside them to do something for their country. They do feel sympathetic for fellows in trouble but all in vain. They are not aware of how they can contribute.

Many times this short lived patriotism is just an emotional outbreak. One has to be sensitized enough to act. When you are emotional you would loose the ability to think rationally. You would also loose the ability to argue your point logically. Sensitization makes one objective. You can differentiate between good and bad. You can identify possibilities and think of new ideas. It opens your mind. It makes you firm on your decision. Working for society is not easy. A short lived emotional patriotism can only be tuned into sensitized patriotism after careful thought. You might have to get mud on your clothes. There would not be luxurious cars and air conditioners. You might have to eat food under filthy conditions. You have to come in contact with communicable diseases. You will face the hardest facts of life.

Would you be able to sacrifice your all? Would you be able to shake hands with street peddlers? Would you be able to teach a child after a hard day at work? Would you be able to stop a girl fetus from being killed? Think, Discuss and Then Act! You can not have a wavering mind. Better not enter than running away later.

Everyone remembers a moment when they desperately wanted to contact their near and dear ones to know their well being and got no replies to their numerous calls. Today when everyone has a mobile phone including school students there are times when your call is not picked at the other end. The reason can be anything they are busy or sleeping or may be their phone is kept on charging. You tend to worry about the worst under such situations. Priyanka ; a housewife residing in south delhi ; says her husband being a business man is in meetings mostly and there are times when she eagerly wants to discuss something and the phone goes on ringing endlessly. Sohail ; a marketing executive in am MNC ; says he gets worried when her wife does not pick the calls reason being she is busy in office. Neelam tends to worry when her 17 year old daughter does not return home after sun sets.

It’s time that we should be thankful to the telecom giants for considering this gruesome situation. BSNL has decided to launch software that would track your location and send it to caller. You get a message asking for permission to send the location specific information. Under situations where you can neither deny the request nor reveal your location information there is a facility to change your settings and still save them at one location. Though this can not be trusted for an honest location determination until the receiver desires but it would surely give temporary relief to all those worried callers. This feature would come at a very pocket friendly price of Rs.50 per month. It is a technology that many men & women would not like but you can be nice to you counter parts can not you?

The recent blasts in the “financial capital� of India were astonishing. Consecutive blasts occurred in “first class� compartments of seven trains as they stopped at various stations across the city of Mumbai. The incident took place on July 11, 2006 and would be known as 11/7 from now on.

The blasts definitely were a result of terrorist activities and have been discouraged world wide. The incident definitely brought Mumbai on a stand still for a short span of time. The only identifiable substance in the compartments after the blasts was blood. Numbers of people were rushed to various hospitals with a hope for recovery.

India has decided to raise a voice against “terrorism� in the G 8 summit. They have decided to suggest a “no-tolerance� policy against global terrorism along with other important issues. The great 8 countries of the world are also keen to act against global terrorism that is becoming a threat for all.

It all started with the twin tower attack in United States and since then the terrorist groups have not rested. The blasts that took place in London earlier this year is also among the grieved instances in human history. Now, the Mumbai blasts were one of the most devilish acts one could ever commit.

It really trenches my heart when I think about the breed of human who can kill fellow humans for no reason at all.

July 7th 2006 the city of bollywood went through a heart trenching incident. Seven blasts occurred in first class compartments of trains at various railway stations across the city. The seven serial blasts took place after 6 pm in evening. The targeted locations were of Khar, Borivali, Mira Road, Matunga, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar and Santa Cruz. The very first blast took place at the Khar Station. There was no sign of city police & ambulances to help until after 1 hour of the incident. More than 100 people were killed on the spot and numbers were injured. Those who were waiting at the railway stations witnessed the most horrifying incident of their lifetime. Blood and pieces of flesh was the only residual of the compartments in which the bomb was planted. The people in surrounding compartments & platforms were severely injured. Those witnessing the dance of death rushed injured people to hospitals. All the phone networks were jammed till late night and messages also traveled as turtles pace. This indeed was a bad week for Mumbai following heavy rains & the Meenatai Thackarey statue riots.

Interesting news is that these blasts followed the early morning explosions in Srinagar, Kashmir which killed 5 people. The blasts are a result of terrorist activities of “Lashkar E Tohiba� that is a sub set of “Al Queda� along with the Local Students Islamic Movement Of India (SIMI) activists. According to the intelligence reports Dawood Ibrahim is the master mind behind the blasts. Though Indian ministry is hesitant to directly blame Pakistan for attacked they do suspect it to be an act that could not have been the sole planning of the terrorist groups. The reason for explosions could either be to start communal riots as they followed Meenatai Statue riots in Mumbai. Another reason can be to slow down the booming economy of the country. The explosions took place in business class compartments signifying they targeted the higher income group of the country. India has warned Pakistan to ban all terrorist groups they have been breeding on their land. After going through a rocky phase on peace talks with Pakistan is time India must show a “no tolerance� attitude on any further terrorist progressions.