Voice of Bihar

Mr Bidri said each of the explosions were of a similar magnitude to one or two grenades.

Police said a woman died in the explosion at Madiwala area.

Other blasts were in the areas of Nayanadhalli, Adugudi, Rajaram Circle, Anepallya and Ashok Nagar.

The injured have been taken to Bangalore’s St John’s hospital.

A large part of India’s IT and outsourcing business is concentrated in Bangalore.

Dozens of large international firms like Microsoft, Intel and IBM also have offices in the city which is often called the Silicon Valley of India.

There have been a number of blasts in Indian cities in recent years.

The first two blasts occurred at Adugodi at 1.30 pm behind the famous Forum Mall, which is a major shopping destination in Bengaluru. The second bomb was placed near a granite factory under some granite slabs.

The blast at Madiwala occured near the check post at 1.50 pm, which were followed by a blast at Nayandahalli in a bus shelter at 2.10 pm. Between 2.10 and 2.30 pm very low intensity blasts were reported near the Mallya hospital at a park and on Richmond and Langford road.

A woman who died in the blasts has been identified as Lakshmi. She, along with her husband, was standing at the bus stop when the explosion occurred. Reports suggest that she was hit on the head by a bolt. He husband Ravi has also been injured in the attack. Five other persons have been injured in the blasts.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Shankar Bidri said the blasts were of low intensity and gelatin sticks were used.

Preliminary investigations show that the bombs were attached to a timer device and were triggered off by a mobile phone. A similar pattern was used in the Hyderbad twin blasts and also at Jaipur and Ajmer.

While various theories are being floated regarding the cause of the blasts, the police maintain that it was only to scare people and create law and order problems.

While the Intelligence Bureau are not ruling out the hand of the Students Islamic Movement of India behind the blasts, the cops maintain that it is too early to blame anyone.

The IB says that the attack could be three pronged — one to scare the IT sector in Bengaluru, two to warn the Karnataka police in the wake of the arrests of SIMI cadres in Karnataka which led to the arrests of 10 supremos of SIMI in Indore and lastly as a retaliatory measure since the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power for the first time in south India.

Looking closely at the manner in which the attacks were carried out, the IB says that it was more of an attempt to scare the people rather than kill. The bombs were of low intensity and the places in which they were hidden is a clear indication that the intention was more to scare the general public and in the case of the Madiwala and Adugodi explosions, the IT sector in particular. There are large number of IT professionals living in these two areas.

Moments after the explosions, panic set in Bengaluru city. People were seen running helter skelter at the blast sites, while the rest of the city remained tense. What made matters worse was that all mobile lines were jammed and people were trying desperately to contact their near and dear ones.

However, shops and establishments did not down shutters and offices and schools remained open even after hearing the news of the blasts. The only effect of the blasts were traffic jams all across the city.

On the spot, people looked shaken up and were in a daze following the explosions. They said they heard a loud explosion and when they looked around there was dust that had kicked up and several window panes shattered.

The police were quick to get into the thick of the action and both the dog squad and the forensic team were pressed into service.

Bidri assured the people that the situation was under control and there was no cause for panic. He said that security had been beefed up and the police have taken stock of the situation.

A French nuclear monitoring body has expressed concern at the number of leaks from French nuclear power stations in recent weeks.

The director of Criirad, an independent body, said the organisation was worried by the numbers of people contaminated by four separate incidents.

In the most recent leaks, about 100 staff at Tricastin, in southern France, were exposed to low doses of radiation.

It came two weeks after a leak forced the temporary closure of a reactor.

There has also been a 10-fold increase in the number of incidents reported by people working in the French nuclear power industry, Criirad director Corinne Castanier said.

“This type of contamination is a recurring problem. But that many people in such a short period of time, this worries us,” she said, adding that most incidents rated fairly low on a scale used to judge the potential danger of nuclear incidents.

Ms Castanier linked the high number of incidents to an increased pressure to deliver energy quickly and suggested that working conditions were getting worse at power facilities.

‘No health problem’

The company says sensors detected a rise in the radiation level while maintenance work was being carried out at a reactor that had been shut since 12 July.

The rise in radiation prompted 97 EDF and maintenance subcontractors to be evacuated and sent for medical tests.

“Seventy of them show low traces of radioelements, below one 40th of the authorised limit,” EDF said, adding that the incident would not affect people’s health or the environment.

“What concerns us is less the level of the people contaminated than the number of people contaminated,” EDF spokeswoman Caroline Muller told the Associated Press news agency.

Safety concerns

Two weeks ago, the authorities had to issue a ban on fishing and water sports in two local rivers after 30 cubic metres of liquid containing unenriched uranium leaked from a broken underground pipe onto the ground and into the water.
The environment minister has since ordered tests of all France’s nuclear power plants to ensure such leaks have not gone undetected elsewhere.

On Friday, energy company Areva said liquid containing slightly enriched uranium leaked at another of its sites in south-east France.

The same day, 15 EDF workers were exposed to what the company called “non-harmful” traces of radioactive elements at the Saint-Alban plant in the Alpine Isere region.

The incidents have raised questions about the state-run nuclear industry, at a time when some countries are considering nuclear energy because of the soaring price of oil, correspondents say.

A French nuclear monitoring body has expressed concern at the number of leaks from French nuclear power stations in recent weeks.

The director of Criirad, an independent body, said the organisation was worried by the numbers of people contaminated by four separate incidents.

In the most recent leaks, about 100 staff at Tricastin, in southern France, were exposed to low doses of radiation.

It came two weeks after a leak forced the temporary closure of a reactor.

There has also been a 10-fold increase in the number of incidents reported by people working in the French nuclear power industry, Criirad director Corinne Castanier said.

“This type of contamination is a recurring problem. But that many people in such a short period of time, this worries us,” she said, adding that most incidents rated fairly low on a scale used to judge the potential danger of nuclear incidents.

Ms Castanier linked the high number of incidents to an increased pressure to deliver energy quickly and suggested that working conditions were getting worse at power facilities.

‘No health problem’

The company says sensors detected a rise in the radiation level while maintenance work was being carried out at a reactor that had been shut since 12 July.

The rise in radiation prompted 97 EDF and maintenance subcontractors to be evacuated and sent for medical tests.

“Seventy of them show low traces of radioelements, below one 40th of the authorised limit,” EDF said, adding that the incident would not affect people’s health or the environment.

“What concerns us is less the level of the people contaminated than the number of people contaminated,” EDF spokeswoman Caroline Muller told the Associated Press news agency.

Safety concerns

Two weeks ago, the authorities had to issue a ban on fishing and water sports in two local rivers after 30 cubic metres of liquid containing unenriched uranium leaked from a broken underground pipe onto the ground and into the water.
The environment minister has since ordered tests of all France’s nuclear power plants to ensure such leaks have not gone undetected elsewhere.

On Friday, energy company Areva said liquid containing slightly enriched uranium leaked at another of its sites in south-east France.

The same day, 15 EDF workers were exposed to what the company called “non-harmful” traces of radioactive elements at the Saint-Alban plant in the Alpine Isere region.

The incidents have raised questions about the state-run nuclear industry, at a time when some countries are considering nuclear energy because of the soaring price of oil, correspondents say.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith admitted that drawing the first Test was a huge factor as his team thrashed England by 10 wickets at Headingley.

The tourists batted for more than two days to survive at Lord’s, and then dominated at Leeds to win in four days.

“It was important to get away with a draw, otherwise there would have been a lot more pressure on us,” Smith said.

“We’ve improved in all facets but we’re not going to rest on our laurels, our motivation is to win the series.”

England went into day four on 50-2, needing 262 to make the tourists bat again.

All four South Africa pacemen weighed in with wickets as England just avoided an innings defeat, but Smith’s side needed just nine runs to clinch an emphatic victory.

The win was Smith’s 28th Test victory as South African captain, one more than Hansie Cronje managed in his tenure.

“I think it was a good exciting Test match but I think the key moments we played a lot better,” added Smith.

A lot of our guys stepped up when they needed to and that was great to see.

“We bowled nicely to restrict England and I think the batting performance after that was a credit to the guys.

“It was fantastic to be 319 ahead and I think the guys today bowled really well.”

” “I’m striking it quite nicely,” he smiled. “At the moment I’d say I’m batting as well as ever.”

It was another crucial innings from Prince, who came to the crease with his team 127 runs behind at 76-3, and left with them 152 ahead at 355-5.

“The crowd were right behind the bowlers and the atmosphere was quite intimidating.

“We never felt we were on top of the bowlers, they kept coming at us and we needed to be disciplined throughout.

“We had time on our side having bowled them out on day one so we didn’t need to up the ante, we had time to build an innings.”