Union home minister P. Chidambaram told reporters shortly after a meeting called by the Prime Minister on Wednesday in view of escalating violence in the Kashmir Valley that the Centre would support the state government in restoring law and order in the state. He also hoped that the situation would come under control in the next few days.

Several areas in the city experienced light showers that helped bring the mercury down to some extent on Wednesday. The weather department said that these showers were on account of “local developments” and had nothing to do with monsoon, which will take some more time to reach Delhi.

Even as Congress and the Centre continued to rally behind Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, a section in the Congress on Wednesday felt that a more seasoned and mature leadership would have handled the situation better.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has told each Cabinet minister to oversee the Commonwealth games projects in their respective backyards to make sure that there are no lapses in the preparations for the event.

Prodding Pakistan to act against terror operatives in that country, home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday downplayed the statement made by Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi that it was difficult for his country to rein in elements like LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.

After claiming that all the Commonwealth Games projects would be completed by June 30, the MCD on Wednesday said that it will take another fortnight and will finish all works by July 15. However, municipal commissioner K.S. Mehra claimed that all the major works were complete and only face-lift and street-scaping were left to be done.

Faulty deployment of the CRPF by the Chhattisgarh government may have resulted in the Maoist attack in Narayanpur district, killing 27 CRPF personnel. The Centre has asked the Chhattisgarh government and other Naxal-infested states to revisit the existing deployments of paramilitary forces, in view of the “operational and developmental objectives’’ outlined during the ongoing anti-Naxal offensive.

A Brazilian student, who was allegedly raped by her landlord in the upscale Greater Kailash area, has told the police that the accused, who has been arrested, threatened her with dire consequences if the incident was brought to the notice of authorities.

The retaliatory fire from the CRPF jawans to the Maoist ambush at Dhorai in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Tuesday might have killed 15-20 Naxals, a senior police officer said here on Wednesday.

Bike-borne robbers fired two shots at a businessman when he resisted their robbery attempt in broad daylight on Wednesday in the Karol Bagh area of central Delhi.
The police said the incident took place on Wednesday afternoon when the victim, identified as Sunil Kriplani alias Sonu, who owns a mobile accessories’ shop on P