Wonders of India - Red Fort, Delhi

Red Fort - Delhi

                      Red Fort, Delhi was laid on the banks of the Yamuna River in the 17th century. The Red Fort also known as Lal Qil'ah or Lal Qila was the made by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. This is known as the shajha’s new capital, Shahjahanabad, the seventh Muslim city in the Delhi. The Great emperor of Mughal Shajahan had built it with the desire of spreading the Mughal power of success between 1638 and 1648. This is not right to say Monument for it, it is more like a small city of mughals. The fort is contentment example of one’s brilliant minds imagination.

                         The fort has two main entrances – one is a Delhi Gate and another is a Lahore Gate. The entrance of Delhi Gate leads to Delhi's most famous and crowded place, Chandni Chowk. The shajha had created this small city when he moved his capital from Agra to Delhi. The Red Fort gets its name from the hefty wall of huge red sandstone that tells us its four sides. The red fort stands at the eastern edge of Shahjahanabad.

                       The fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the fosse that surround most of the wall. The design and esthetics of the Red Fort represent the elevation of Mughal imaginativeness, originality and zeal of power which prevailed during kingdomship of Shah Jahan. Inside the fort there are many small museums which include artifacts related to the independence as well the Mughal period. The Red Fort was originally known as "Qila-i-Mubarak" which means “the blessed fort”, because it was the residence of the royal family. The Fort has the Diwan-i-Am or the Hall for Public Audiences, where the Emperor would sit to hear the complaints and problem of the common people. There is another place as Diwan-i-Khas which is the hall of Private Audiences, where the Emperor held private meetings. The Rang Mahal or the 'Palace of Colours' was the house of the Emperor's wives and mistresses and holds a spectacular Lotus shaped fountain, made out of a single piece of marble. The palace was embellish with excellent paintings, gold bordered projections, variegation of mirrors and the ceiling was made with gold and silver which reflected in a central pool and gives an elegant look.

                         It took almost took nine years to build this indomitable bastion and it got accomplished on 16th April 1648. It is said that it got an expenditure of about one crore rupees, an enormous sum in those days, its construction. Half of this total squander was spent to build only the exotic palaces within the fort. In short if we describe the Red Fort then it is an perfect paradigm of intelligence of our kings and the Indian rich heritage.

Bomb Blast in Delhi today ! ! !

10 of them dead, 45 injured in blast outside Delhi High Court : 

Terror struck Delhi when nine people were killed and at least 45 injured in a blast this morning outside the High Court premises jampacked with visitors waiting to get entry passes. Union Home Ministry R K Singh said the blast was of "medium to high intensity" and created a "deep crater" at the site of explosion at the reception area between Gate No.4 and 5 of Delhi High Court. The blast occurred around 1015 AM. Asked whether the blast was a terror strike, Singh said "it had all the makings of an Improvised Explosive Device(IED) set up by a terror group." Singh said 45 people were injured with some eyewitnesses saying some of the injured were in a critical condition. Special Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar told reporters the bomb was apparently kept in a briefcase. It was the second blast in four months outside the High Court premises. No one was injured in the previous explosion on May 25.           The Gate No.5 was crowded with 100 to 200 people waiting in queue to get entry passes. There were several lawyers at the spot. "We are investigating how the brief case was placed there It is not a controlled area. There were lots of people," said Kumar. Delhi police suspected use of potassium nitrate in the bomb.Court proceedings were adjourned till 2 PM. The main court premises where all the courtrooms are housed have been evacuated. Singh said the bomb was kept in a suitcase since some of its remains were still in it. He said all the injured have been rushed to RML, Safdarjung and AIIMS hospitals. Many of them suffered burn injuries. Singh said there was no prior intelligence input about a possible attack at Delhi High Court. The blast happened in a public area where anyone can just come and drop a suitcase and walk away, he added.            Teams of National Investigating Agency(NIA), National Security Guards(MSG) and Forensic department have been rushed to the spot. Court business is usually heavy on Wednesday which is listed as a Public Interest Litation(PIL) day when the visitors come to the court in large numbers. Ambulances and fire tenders were also rushed. An explosion on May 25 triggered panic prompting the authorities to sound a high alert in the capital and tighten security at public places. No one was injured. Low-intensity explosives, wrapped in a polythene bag and kept close to the car parked near Gate No. 7, went off around 1.30 PM. Ammonium nitrate, a battery-like object, wires and some nails were found at the site by forensic experts.                After the bomb blast ripped through the reception area, panic-stricken people ran helter-skelter as it was chaos at the Delhi High Court premises. Rahul Gupta, a litigant, was at the reception counter just 10 metres away from the blast site. "I was just 10 metres from the site of the blast," said Gupta, adding, he saw "large number of injured people being taken to hospital." A middle-aged woman, who had come to the High Court to get bail for her relative and was asked to make a pass at the Reception by her lawyer, said she is in a state of shock. She was talking to the clerk when the explosion occurred. "I heard a loud noise and hallowing smoke coming oput and heard cries of people," said Narendra Kumar Singh, a guard at a construction site outside the court. Several eyewitnesses said they momentarily lost their hearing capability after the explosion.

Run all the way !

Bengaluru: People in this tech hub have found a new way to raise funds to help educate the poor children and in the process, stay fit.
For 48 hours from 5 p.m. Friday, groups of people will run or cycle to raise at least Rs.200,000 to fund an NGO to educate the poor children here.

'Someone or some group will be running or cycling from 5 p.m. on Jan 21 to 5 p.m. on Jan 23 in Bangalore. One group will be cycling to Hyderabad, about 560 km away,' Kavitha Kanaparthi, one of the organizers, said.

Called the Strides of Hope to help NGO Asha-Bangalore, the 48-hour run/cycle marathon is also intended to encourage Bangaloreans to take up a healthy and environment friendly lifestyle, she said.

'This is also an effort to raise awareness about education for the underprivileged children in India,' said Kavitha, who describes herself as a full-time endurance athlete and owns 'Globe racers', a professional running organization.

Asha-Bangalore said that it 'supports education of underprivileged children and initiatives that help empower communities as a whole'.

The NGO currently supports six projects in India and raises funds through marathon program(running/cycling), monthly donations and calendar sales.

Other organizers of the event include 'Runner's High', which provides coaching and training for the runners, 'Runners for Life', a recreation company, 'Contours International' that helps women to stay fit.

The event is being organized for the second time. Last year, about 350 people took part, together logging 3,000 km.

'This time, we target 1,500 participants and 15,000-plus km.'

Kavitha added that two or three people are looking to run/walk for all the 48 hours.

'Many people will start cycling to Hyderabad but around 10 will continue all the way to the city. Others will return to Bangalore after riding a distance they are comfortable with.'

Kavitha and her co-organizers have appealed to people either to join in the running or cycling along the route the organisers have chosen or do it at any other location.

'If you are a group of 10 or more runners or riders you can run/ride at your own location. For example, employees of a company can get together and run around their office, children from a school could run in their campus.

'We will all be a part of the Strides of Hope team,' the organisers said in their appeal.

Kavitha said the organizers expect at least 50 to 60 percent people who participated in the event last year to take part this year too.

On the number of Bangaloreans who have taken to running, she said, 'There are easily about 10,0000 runners in Bangalore, whether they run one kilometer, 20 km, 40 km or longer distances.'

'Bangalore is known to be one of the most active cities in the country.'

The organizers have plans to 'educate' the city vehicle drivers, considered notorious by cyclists and pedestrians.

Asked how they intended to make vehicle drivers behave, Kavitha said, 'We, cyclists, have been working with police to create awareness, conduct classes and create ads for this purpose.'

On plans for a sustained campaign for a dedicated cycle lane here, she said, 'It's being done by the cycling community. We have faced many life threatening situations while cycling, and I, too, have been in accidents, coming close to death situations.