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Bizarre Bazaar: Jun 04 08
SRINAGAR, India JAMMU, India MUMBAI, India COLOMBO, Sri Lanka MUMBAI, India An ambitious project to install an imposing statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji one kilometre into the Arabian Sea overlooking the Malabar Hill and Nariman Point in south Mumbai, was cleared this week by the state government. The decision to install the statue of the seventeenth century Maratha warrior king at the site, along with other tourist attractions, was taken at a high-level meeting presided by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Trouble-torn Jammu and Kashmir resonated with the sounds of guitar rock on the weekend, as thousands here were held mesmerized by Pakistani rock band Junoon’s eclectic fusion of Sufi music and western tunes. High-ranking politicians and ambassadors were among the crowd, grooving to the music. Salman Ahmad, Junnon frontman, took to the stage spreading a message of love and friendship. The free concert was the biggest in the state, rife with separatist violence for nearly two decades.
The barbed wire fence between India and Pakistan and the landmine fields laid to prevent infiltration of militants has had a tragic fallout — on wildlife. The wire fencing has affected the movement of wild animals — including monkeys, leopards, bear and deer — and divided their habitat. Worse, the landmines along the international border have killed and maimed many. The three-tier fence is about 3.5 metres high. Landmines are laid along it as it runs from flat plains through mountainous forests to high passes along the 720-kilometre Line of Control.
With public sector oil firms increasing Aviation Turbine Fuel prices by 18.5 per cent, major Indian air-carriers have just made travel in and out of India more costly. Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Deccan are among the major air-carriers that have already effected a hike in fuel surcharge. With the rise, passengers would be charged a $53 fuel surcharge for a distance up to 750 kms, and $68 for beyond 750 kms.
At least 16 people, including two children, have been killed and over 225,000 displaced from 52,989 families due to floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall that has hit several parts of Sri Lanka over the past few days. Hundreds of army, navy and air force personnel are engaged in relief and rescue operations amid forecasts of more rains and strong winds in the coming days.
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