Daily News

New Delhi: Turkey has threatened Israel with unprecedented action after Israeli forces attacked an aid vessel, killing 10 peace activists headed to Gaza.

Israel said 10 people died while those on the ship said at least 15 were killed. A shocked world has responded with outrage. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel and warned of unprecedented and incalculable reprisals.

Two Turkish activists were reported to be among those killed in the flotilla. Ankara warned that further supply vessels will be sent to Gaza, escorted by the Turkish Navy, a development with unpredictable consequences.

Israel has sounded an alert throughout the country fearing rocket attacks by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Arab League has called an urgent meeting on Tuesday to decide on a common response. Egypt is under pressure to end the blockade of Gaza while Greece has cancelled a military exercise with Isreal.

The world is waiting for the response from Washington, how will President Obama react to the provocation from America's closest ally.

Kolkata: In a snub to Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee's demand, the West Bengal government on Monday ruled out a CBI inquiry into the May 28 Jnaneswari Express disaster in West Midnapore district which claimed 148 lives.

"The CID probe has progressed a great deal and the state government does not feel that a parallel inquiryis necessary," Home Secretary Samar Ghosh told reporters at the state secretariat when asked about a CBI inquiry. He said the Union Home Ministry had sent a letter on Sunday to Chief Secretary Ardhendu Sen seeking concurrence of the state government for a CBI investigation.

Asked why a CID inquiry was ordered, he said that generally the Commissioner of Railway Safety inquired into railway accidents. But since there was criminal involvement and sabotage in the disaster, the CID was investigating it.

Asked how long the CID inquiry would take, he said, "it can't be said immediately."

Alleging that there was a 'political conspiracy' behind the disaster, Banerjee on May 29 had demanded a CBI investigation.

She had said that the Railways had requested the Union Home Ministry for a CBI investigation since it was in the area where joint operations against Maoists were on.

In Delhi, Home Minister P Chidambaram said that the Railways favoured a CBI probe, but the state government's view has not yet been received.

New Delhi: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the firing incident at the Art of Living founderSri Sri Ravi Shankar's ashram on Sunday could be related to a dispute between two of his followers and it may not be correct to say that it was aimed at the spiritual leader.

"The incident took place after he (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) had left in his car. It may not be correct to say that the firing was aimed at him," Chidambaram said in an interaction with reporters on the performance of his ministry during May.

He said the incident could be related to "dispute between two of (his) followers".Chidambaram said that he had received oral report about the incident and would receive a written report by the end of the day.

A follower of the spiritual leader was injured after an unidentified man opened fire at around 6 p.m. in the ashram premises.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who escaped unhurt, said Monday that there were people who wanted to attack him but he was not afraid and would continue to spread the message of anti-terrorism and peace.

The spiritual guru has millions of followers in India and abroad.

New Delhi: Passengers of Air India Express Dubai-Pune flight IX-211-212 had a providential escape on May 24 when the aircraft plunged 15000 feet losing altitude at the rate of 2000 feet per minute.

The auto pilot of the plane got disengaged in the absence of Commander Anupam Tiwari, who was in the toilet at the time of the incident. The co-pilot could not control the aircraft as it started to descend 2000 feet per minute.

The plane experienced sudden decompression as a result of loss of altitude.

The descending aircraft endangered other aircraft which were flying below. Several passengers and cabin crew were injured in the incident. The four cabin crew who were injured in the incident are Sanim Rane, Tajender Kaur, Rashmi Singh and Jyoti B Mane.

The Director General of Civil Aviation has launched an investigation into the incident and will question the commander, co-pilot and crew members on Monday.

The incident happened just two days after an Air India Express plane coming from Dubai overshot the runway at the Bajpe airport in Mangalore and plunged into a forested area beyond the airport killing 158 people.

Bangalore: Karnataka Director General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh claimed on Monday that the firing incident at Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's ashram in Bangalore on Sunday was not an attack on the spiritual guru.

"I won't call this an attack on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The incident happened five minutes after Sri Sri Ravi Shankar left," said Singh which addressing the media on Monday morning.

Singh added that he was not contradicting the claims made by Ravi Shankar's organisation the Art of Living that spiritual guru was the target of the firing. He said that he was juts report the facts.

"The bullet could have been aimed high that is why there were no casualties. The trajectory was not flat. It doesn't look like a country made gun. It's probably a factory made gun," said Singh

Singh added that there was a delay in filing the police complaint by the ashram as they were consulting with each other.

A disciple Vinay was injured and the gunman escaped after the firing at around 6 pm near the ashram at Kanakapura Road on the outskirts of Bangalore.

"The distance between the shooter and Vinay could have been at least 700 feet," said Karnataka DGP.

According to a press statement issued by the Art of Living International Centre, the gunman opened fire asSri Sri Ravi Shankar left after delivering a discourse at his ashram.

"While leaving from public satsang (discourse) this evening in Bangalore, an unidentified gunman shot at Sri Sri's convoy. It hit one the devotee's thigh, causing a minor injury," the statement said.

Swami Sadyojatha, director of international affairs of the Art of Living Foundation, told CNN-IBN he was inside in the car when it was shot at but couldn’t comment who was to blame for the attack. Sadyojatha said the injured disciple, Vinay, was discharged from a hospital after treatment.

Bangalore: Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had a close shave on Sunday evening when an unidentified gunman opened fire at his ashram in Kanakapura Road in Bangalore, just a few minutes after he had left the area, according to his Art of Living organisation.

A disciple of the spiritual guru sustained minor injuries in the leg but was later discharged from hospital. A forensic team and sniffer dogs have visited the site. Police claim that the security arrangements were adequate at the ashram.

But the attempt on Sri Sri's life has also raised many questions:

1) Sri Sri and his staff claim that incident took place around 6 PM, but they made it public only after 9 PM. Why?

2) Except his close circle nobody saw or heard the gunshot. The bullet that was fired was from a .32 bore revolver. All licensed revolver owners can use it. So has the terror angle been ruled out?

3) Why was only one shot fired?

Inspector general of Police, Central Range, Kamal Pant claimed that firing happened five minutes after Sri Sri left his ashram.

"The incident took place five minutes after Guruji left the ashram. Investigations are on. We were informed at 9:30 PM," said Pant.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spoke to his devotees and the media on Monday, saying he wasn't entirely surprised by the attack because his driver had a vision a few days earlier.

Speaking to CNN-IBN Sri Sri Ravi Shankar reassured his devotees that he is fine. Investigations say a .32 revolver was used in the attack. Ravi Shankar said those who want to spread terror might have been behind the attack

"Those resorting to terror should come to the ashram and attend satsangs. It will reform them," he said.

Bangalore: Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is unhurt and safe after an unidentified man opened fire on his car near Bangalore on Sunday evening.

A disciple was injured and the gunman escaped after the firing at around 6 pm near Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s ashram at Kanakapura Road on the outskirts of the city. Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya confirmed that the spiritual leader’s car had been fired at but refused to comment further. “I am waiting for more details. He is safe,” said Acharya about the spiritualleader.

“I won't speculate on who is behind it,” the minister told CNN-IBN. Acharya said he had visited the ashram on Sunday morning and had “no prior information” (warning) about a possible attack on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

"He is one of our very important social leaders. He is a social reformer also," said Acharya, adding that security at the ashram will be stepped up.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spoke to CNN-IBN hours after the incident and said that he was safe. “I am fine. There is nothing to worry,” he said.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said he continued with his programme after the attack and attended meetings. He said he could not say who the gunman was but insisted there was “no chance” that it could be one of his devotees.

According to a press statement issued by the Art of Living International Centre, the gunman opened fire asSri Sri Ravi Shankar left after delivering a discourse at his ashram.

"While leaving from public satsang (discourse) this evening in Bangalore, an unidentified gunman shot at Sri Sri's convoy. It hit one the devotee's thigh, causing a minor injury," the statement said.

Swami Sadyojatha, director of international affairs of the Art of Living Foundation, told CNN-IBN he was inside in the car when it was shot at but couldn’t comment who was to blame for the attack. Sadyojatha said the injured disciple, Vinay, was discharged from a hospital after treatment.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation. The NGO and its international counterpart -- the International Association for Human Values -- are involved in relief work and rural development across the globe. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is also a strong advocate of yoga as a tool to ward of stress and also solve societal problems. The foundation also runs several schools, Ayurvedic research centres and art schools.

Ranchi/ New Delhi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren resigned on Sunday night after failing to muster enough support for his government in a test of strength in the Assembly tomorrow.

Soren gave his resignation letter to Governor M O H Farooq, said his son Hemant Soren in Ranchi. The Governor has asked Soren to continue as caretaker Chief Minister till further arrangement, said an official. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief was counting on the support of the Congress and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantric (JVM-P) but the parties kept him in suspense about what stand would they take in the trust vote.

In a last ditch attempt, JMM asked legislators to listen "to their inner voice" and vote for Soren to avoid President's rule or mid-term polls in the state.

The BJP with 18 MLAs and the Janata Dal-United with two legislators withdrew support to the Soren government after he backed the UPA government at the Centre and voted against cut motions sponsored by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha on April 27.

Soren, who continued to be Chief Minister while being a Lok Sabha member, later a struck a power-sharing deal according to which Arjun Munda would have led a BJP-led government for 28 months and the JMM would rule for the remaining period.

Soren, however, refused to resign as Chief Minister and the BJP on May 24 announced it was withdrawing support to his government.

The JMM has 18 MLAs in the 82-member House and needed the support of 42 members to save its government, reports PTI.

Soren, 66, resigned after he and his deputy Sudesh Mahto, leader of the All Jharkhand Students' Union, failed to woo back the BJP.

"We appealed to all parties and MLAs to rise above party lines and vote in favour of guruji (Soren) and avert President's rule or mid-term polls. But when we learnt that all the parties have resolved to vote against the government, we decided that guruji should put in his papers," said Mahto.

Hemant, who is the JMM legislative party leader, said the party is considering its options. "We tried our best and appealed to all parties. If guruji’s remaining as Chief Minister was a hurdle (in government formation), that has been removed now," he said.

With no party in the Assembly having enough MLAs to form a government, the state may come under President's rule and continue to suffer political uncertainty.

Kolkata: A senior Trinamool Congress MP on Sunday called West Bengal’s police chief a “very foolish person” for blaming Naxals for the Jhargram train tragedy in which over 140 people died on Friday.

Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh has said people who derailed the Gyaneshwari Express passenger train were “all members of Maoist squads.”Kalyan Banerjee, Trinamool MP from Serampore, lashed out the police officer and said his party has no reason to believe him. “Basically this is a very foolish person and I don't believe his statement at all. He is a hopeless person. He has not done anything (for West Bengal),” said Banerjee.The Serampore MP’s outburst follows his party chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banarjee’s statement that there was a "political conspiracy" behind the train crash.

Banerjee on Saturday said she did not know who caused the train crash behind it, but "whoever did it, it was a political conspiracy. The accident has happened two days before (state municipal) elections. One may be politically against us, but I feel bad the way the incident was engineered to fulfill one's political interest.”

"Those who have done this sabotage and played with so many lives should not be pardoned," she said on Saturday.

The Railway Minister insists that a blast caused the derailment, but Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has called it sabotage.

The Communist Party of India-Marxists, which has blamed Naxals for the train tragedy, has accused the Railway Minister of "cynically using" the incident for "petty partisan interests".

Jhargram, West Bengal: Deaths caused by the derailment of Gyaneshwari Express increased to 148 on Sunday after the authorities pulled out more bodies from the train’s wreckage.

West Midnapore District Magistrate N S Nigam put the death toll at 148. "All bodies from the spot have been recovered. Train services along the route resumed at 2.50 am early this morning," said Anil Handa, South Eastern Railway's Kharagpur Divisional Railway Manager.

Around 145 passengers are being treated in hospitals in Midnapore, Kharagpur and Kolkata, he said.

All trains on the Sardiha and Khemasuli route in Jhargram in West Midnapore district will now have a speed limit of 15 kmph at night, Handa said. Trains on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section of the South Eastern Railway (SER) resumed this morning.

A six-member Criminal Investigation Department team led by CID Additional Director General Raj Kanojia and accompanied by forensic experts visited the derailment site and inspected the 400-metre stretch of the damaged railway track.

The forensic experts collected samples from the spot, including pandrol clips, which were found to be dislodged at many places.

"It is a case of sabotage. Planned attacks on the railways have been going on in this area for quite some time. The railway line was cut and the pandrol clips were opened but without a forensic report we cannot say whether there was an explosion or not," Kanojia told reporters.

The passenger train went off the track between Sardiha and Khemasuli railway stations at 1.30 a.m. on Friday, allegedly after sabotage by Naxals.