The Central government on Saturday announced an eight-point initiative to restore peace in the Kashmir Valley after the unrest that began in June this year. This, among others, will include an attempt to de-scale the presence of security forces, the constitution of a group of interlocutors to hold a “sustained dialogue” with all shades of Valley life and the release of about 245 persons detained for stone-pelting.

India on Saturday said terrorism is an “unfortunate reality” which recognises no political borders and the government has taken effective measures to ensure safety and security of all during the forthcoming CWG. The statement comes in response to Australian PM Julia Gillard’s remarks on the security situation in India in the wake of the Games.

The rivalry between the NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Common Wealth Games organising committee (OC) chief Suresh Kalmadi re-surfaced on Saturday, when Mr Pawar took a jibe at Mr Kalmadi during a function in Pune.

Among the many blunders, which the CWG Organising Committee has committed in the run-up to the Games, it added one more by not issuing the accreditation pass to home minister P. Chidambaram, the man who ensured a full-proof security for the mega-sporting event.

Dismissing media reports that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had pulled up his Cabinet colleagues involved in the preparation of Commonwealth Games (CWG), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Saturday said, Dr Singh has rather encouraged them by appreciating that “they have a difficult job at hand”.

With a view to tighten security and prevent any possibility of a terror attack from the skies, the civil aviation ministry on Saturday announced that the airspace over Delhi would be “closed” from 5 pm to 10 pm on October 3 and 14 — which are the days of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games — but assured that routine commercial flights would continue to operate even during this time.

The unfinished work at certain Commonwealth Games venues made it difficult for security agencies to ensure complete lockdown of all premises for security purposes even on Friday. The complete lockdown process for all the Games venues is expected to be completed on Saturday night.

With the arrest of three men, the Delhi police on Saturday claimed to have unearthed a fake currency racket and recovered counterfeit notes with a face value of `1.6 lakhs.
The accused have been identified as Shankar Singh, 35, Shakeel Ahmed, 45, and Rahul Pal, 24, confirmed the deputy commissioner of police (south) H.G.S. Dhaliwal.

The flood threat in the city subsided after Yamuna water level started going down on Saturday. “The water level is expected to recede further during the day,” said an official of the Delhi government’s flood department. This has come as a respite for the residents of low-lying areas and Yamuna bank, who have been living under the flood threat. The reversal of drainage water and overflowing Yamuna had caused severe waterlogging in these areas.

The Delhi government rejected the proposal of various Commonwealth Games participating countries of not allowing use of dedicated lanes for 17 hours a day.
At a meeting with Chef de Missions of the participating countries, Delhi government officials maintained that blocking the lanes from 6 am to 11 pm would create inconvenience to the public at large. The officials said that the lanes will be blocked for the public during the movement of Games vehicles.