Mumbai Beat

Sena-BJP's ad blitzkrieg The BJP and Shiv Sena have launched an advertisement blitzkrieg to woo voters in the aftermath of the public meetin...

Sena-BJP8217;s ad blitzkrieg

The BJP and Shiv Sena have launched an advertisement blitzkrieg to woo voters in the aftermath of the public meeting addressed by star Congress campaigner Sonia Gandhi at Shivaji Park yesterday. The ads endeavour to focus attention on the recent Uttar Pradesh developments and bomb blasts in Coimbatore in the run-up to the joint rally of the parties to be also held at Shivaji Park on February 25, thereby providing an automatic barometer for measuring public support for the Sena-BJP combine and the Congress-RPI-Samajwadi Party alliance in the state.

quot;Are you going to silently watch the Congress8217; intrigues and conspiracies creating chaos in Uttar Pradesh?quot; asks an ad issued by BJP in all language newspapers.

Another ad issued by the Sena has invited people to come and listen to Bal Thackeray and Atal Behari Vajpayee unmask the identity of those quot;behind the Coimbatore bomb blasts conspiracyquot; at the rally on Wednesday.

The ad using UP events as a peg, accuses Congressof first destabilising Gujarat. It charges the party with creating instability in UP and also refers to its threat of creating similar situations in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, where BJP-led governments are in power.

Malad fire destroys 5 units

Five small industrial units in Malad were destroyed in a fire. Fire brigade sources said the fire started at about 8:00 am in the industrial units of Jayesh industrial estate. Furniture and equipments perished in the fire. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Immediately, ten tankers and five fire engines were rushed to the spot and the fire was extinguished.

Cylinder blast in Null Bazaar

Five persons were seriously injured when a gas cylinder exploded in a residential flat of the three-storeyed Sikander building in Null Bazaar this morning.

According to fire brigade sources, the cylinder knob which was kept open for the whole night exploded at 6:09 am, when it was being lighted. The injured included a woman, two girls and two boys.They were admitted to J J hospital.

Social themes in MIFF

The gory practice of female infanticide in Rajasthan, the ongoing identity crisis experienced by Red Indians in USA and the age-old fight against racism would be the dominating social themes in the fifth Mumbai International Film Festival MIFF for documentary, short and animation films.

The 93 films to be screened at the festival from March 1 to 7 include Venu Arora8217;s Nirankush, a film capturing the tale of success and failures of a young social worker who, frustrated by her passive role, decides to leave the city and go and work in a remote village in Rajasthan.