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Three near-simultaneous explosions rocked Mumbai at rush-hour on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people in what the government said appeared to be another terrorist strike in the city hit by a major attack nearly three years ago.

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the latest attack killed 20 people, and home minister P Chidambaram said the toll was likely to rise.

Television footage showed dozens of police officials, several of them armed, at the sites of the explosion and at least one car with its windows shattered. A photograph showed victims of a blast at the Zaveri Bazaar crowding into the back of a cargo truck to be taken to a hospital.

Because of the close timing of the string of explosions, ``we infer that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists,'' home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said.

India has always been an important source of the foreign labour that has built Kuwait’s skyscrapers, taught in its schools and run its businesses. With the opening of a mosque this year, the subcontinent has become a source of architectural inspiration, too.

The As-Sadeeqa Fatimatul Zahra Mosque, built in the style of the Taj Mahal, is already gaining a reputation as one of Kuwait’s most distinctive buildings.

“It’s giving a sight for the [passengers of] planes when they come in,” said Eisa Mohammed, the supervisor of the Shiite mosque in the Abdullah al Mubarak residential area, a suburb on the approach to Kuwait International Airport.

“Inside, it’s totally different. It’s not the same as the Taj Mahal for sure,” Mr Mohammed said. “It’s not a mausoleum; it’s not a visiting place; it’s a place for praying.”

International water expert Joseph Katrivo has affirmed that the Kuwaiti waters are safe and consistent with international standards. The assertion was made following tests done to various water networks which are run by the Ministry of Electricity and Water.

Noting that bromide percentage is within international levels, the expert added that the Kuwaiti waters are the best in the world in terms of quality and that they don't contain any particles that may transmit diseases.

The expert pointed out that Kuwaiti waters are as good as mineral water in terms of high quality. He further explained that bromide levels are within the limits specified by the World Health Organization (WHO), and brushed aside the notion that bromide can cause cancer.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmed Al-Hamoud has given instructions to the concerned departments to complete the residence transactions — of expatriates belonging to certain nationalities — which were frozen upon an order issued by the ministry earlier, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.

The orders were issued by the minister after the daily published detailed accounts of hardships facing certain nationalities including the Syrians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Iranians and Afghans.