TOURISTS, luxury hotels and a series of historic buildings have been targeted in co-ordinated attacks across Mumbai, India.Gunmen were reported inside the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Oberoi Hotel, two of the city’s luxury hotels, specifically targeting British and tourists.Fifteen foreigners are reported to have been taken hostage in the Taj, while three tourists, including a Belgian and an Indonesian, are reported to have been taken in the Trident hotel, which is connected to the Oberoi.The top floor of the Taj Mahal Hotel was set a blaze, believed to have been caused by a bomb, with the fire spreading along the side of the old part of the building. The lobby of the Oberoi was also reported to be in flames.
Category Archives: India
In what would be the world’s greatest rail journey, a new rail link, to be opened later this year, will enable one to undertake a 23-day journey by train from London to Dhaka via New Delhi.The 7000-mile Trans-Asia railway network will follow one of the old Silk Roads through Istanbul, Tehran, Lahore and Delhi. The world’s “greatest railway journey” will be longer than the Trans-Siberian railway, which spans 5772 miles, reported the Times Online.India has already earmarked 90 million pounds to extend its vast rail network towards its border with Burma. From there just 218 miles of missing track stands in the way of an overland rail journey from London to Singapore.Under a UN-sponsored scheme, Pakistan and Iran will link up their lines in the coming months to join the sub-continent’s track to that of Europe for the first time. The UN said the link would open up new trade routes within Asia and give the former Soviet republics of central Asia rail access to Iran’s strategic seaport at Bandar Abbas on the Gulf.The route was extended when the Calcutta to Dhaka line reopened earlier this month, more than 40 years after it was blocked during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965.Last week, senior Indian officials met their Iranian counterparts in Tehran to discuss the progress so far made in the rail network.The prospect has caused excitement among Britain’s rail enthusiasts. Mark Smith, whose website Seat61.com promotes rail adventures around the world, was planning his first London to Dhaka itinerary. His trip incorporates the Eurostar to Brussels, breakfast in Vienna and onward trains to Istanbul, where travelers must take the ferry across the Bosporus linking with Asia.The ferry will eventually be replaced by an underground tunnel, but for now passengers will be able to enjoy views of the Aya Sofya and Topkapi Palace.China, a big supporter of the project, is spending billions on extending rail lines to its Burmese border. Trans-Asia railway sources said the only barrier to eventually connecting London to Yunnan province and Singapore was Burma’s military regime, whose poor human rights record means that no foreign funding is available to rebuild its railways.
CREW on an Air India passenger jet discovered a snake coiled up under a seat and were unable to catch it as it slithered around the plane, the airline said today.The snake was disturbed during a routine check on the Air India A319 aircraft, which had landed at airport after a domestic flight from Srinagar.It evaded capture by slipping into an air vent and could not be found even when staff unscrewed panels inside the fuselage, opened all the doors and fumigated the plane.”There was commotion which scared the snake and it went further inside,” an airport official was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.Reports that the snake was a venomous cobra were denied by an Air India spokesman.”The aircraft was parked at Delhi airport for maintenance purposes. There was a snake but not a cobra,” he said.
MUMBAI city officials are upset with America warning its tourists about the risks of falling into manholes in India’s commercial capital during the monsoon season.An item posted on the USA consulate website said that municipal workers in Mumbai sometimes open manhole covers at times of heavy flooding and then leave them unattended and unmarked.”It’s possible that you could inadvertently step into an open manhole,” said the warning, issued after the monsoon rains arrived at the weekend.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation rejected the statement, and said it had e-mailed the U.S. consulate on Wednesday stating it had cast the city in a bad light.Jairaj Phatak, the municipal commissioner, estimates that 10 people or fewer have died in such a manner in recent years.
Elizabeth Kauffman, a spokeswoman for the consulate, said they did not mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. The consulate has since added a single sentence to its online advisory, saying open manholes are sometimes marked with tree branches.
