Shibu Soren resigns as Jharkhand chief minister
RANCHI: An isolated Shibu Soren tonight resigned as Jharkhand chief minister after failing to get the support of Congress and its ally JVM(P) ahead of Monday’s trust vote in the assembly.
Soren met Governor M O H Farooq and submitted his resignation. Soren has been asked to continue as caretaker chief minister till an alternate arrangement is made, Principal Secretary to the Governor Sudhir Tripathi said.
With odds stacked against him, Soren, who has been holding on to his post after reneging on a power-sharing deal with the BJP, made overtures to the Congress which was not forthcoming.
"We appealed to the political parties to support the Soren Government in the interest of the state and to prevent imposition of President's rule. Till tonight, nobody has come forward," Deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahto told reporters at Raj Bhavan after Soren put in his papers.
Mahto said, "We learnt that all these parties have decided to vote against the Government tomorrow during the floor test."
Mahto, leader of JMM ally, AJSU, said in the light of these developments, the two coalition partners met today and decided that the chief minister should resign on "moral grounds".
The JMM, which has 18 MLAs, needs the support of 42 members to sail through the confidence vote in the 82-member assembly. The government has the support of 25 MLAs -- JMM-18, AJSU-5 and Independent 2.
Soren was pinning his hopes of getting the support of Congress with 14 MLAs and its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha(Prajatantric) having 11 legislators to sail through the trust vote.
BJP with 18 MLAs and JD(U) with two had withdrawn support to the Soren government after Soren had backed the UPA government by voting against cut motions sponsored by the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
BJP's decision came after Soren backtracked on a power sharing deal under which Arjun Munda would have led a BJP-led government for 28 months and the JMM would rule for the remaining period.
The Congress chose not to reveal its strategy, saying it would take a decision alongwith JVM(P) only tomorrow, adding to Soren's frustration.
Last week, the JVM-P leadership had said they would vote against the Soren government.
The strength of the other parties in the house is: RJD - 5, CPI (ML-Liberation) - one, Marxist Coordination Committee - one, Jharkhand Party - one, Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch - one and Independents - two, besides a nominated MLA.
The lone CPI-ML-liberation MLA, Vinod Kumar Singh has already announced to vote against the trust vote.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar escapes bid on life as man fires at car
BANGALORE: Art of Living (AOL) founder and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar narrowly escaped a bid on his life when a gunman opened fire on his car soon after a satsang at his sprawling ashram on Kanakapura Road on Sunday evening.
AOL representatives and police told TOI that soon after a satsang at the yagyashaala, a hall in the ashram, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar got into a Toyota Innova. As the van was moving, a man fired a shot. The bullet missed him and hit a devotee in the thigh, causing minor injury.
Ramanagaram deputy superintendent of police Devaraj said: ''One round of ammunition has been recovered. Forensic Science Laboratory officers visited the spot.''
Karnataka home minister V S Acharya confirmed the attack to a news channel. ''I am waiting for more details. He's safe,'' said the minister.
The incident took place around 6.15 PM when Ravishankar was returning to his 'Kutir' by car after addressing a gathering at the 'Satsang', ashram spokesperson Charu said.
"We usually have a satsang from four PM every Sunday till around six where even people from neighbouring villages join us. Sri Sri had addressed those gathered at the Satsang and completed his discourse and was returning to his `kutir' by car when the incident occurred," she said.
Sri Sri Ravishankar, who has a wide following all over the country and abroad, where he has set up centres of his organisation, said he had gone ahead with his discourse even after the incident.
Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya said central range IG Kamal Panth has been sent to the ashram to inquire about the incident. "There is no problem... everything is peaceful there," he said.
The guruji told a TV channel late in the night: "The man fired only one bullet and ran away. He could have fired many rounds. Devotees should maintain calm." He also said that he had not received any threat earlier.
In his message to the followers, he said, "Ahimsa Pratishthayaam Tat Sanidhav Vaira Taygah" (For one who is established in non-violence, all kinds of hostility ceases", spokesperson of the ashram Aswin Nandkumar told PTI.
"The guru has asked his followers not to panic or worry", he said.
On beefing security measures at the ashram, another spokesperson said the spiritual guru generally does not prefer tight security and prefers to mingle and interact with his followers. But after this incident, the issue might have to be looked into, he said.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has popularised 'Sudarshan Kriya', a powerful breathing technique in India and overseas.
Damage-control by Maoists; say won't attack trains
KOLKATA/SARDIHA: The Maoists are in desperate damage-control mode, trying to distance themselves from a rogue unit of the PCPA militia that sabotaged the rails and caused the Gyaneshwari Express crash, killing 148 people. On Sunday, the rebels issued a statement denying their involvement in the massacre and urging the government to resume passenger train services at night that have been halted since the derailment.
Senior intelligence officers believe that the rebels might even murder the leaders of the village militia to repair the damage to their image. "In typical Maoist style, the rebels may execute the men responsible for the derailment, branding them class enemies or traitors," said a police officer, pointing out several recent murders where PCPA men were killed by Maoists. Maoist state committee member Akash issued a second press statement on the sabotage on Sunday, saying that they "never target the common people". "The government can resume train services on the section at night. No harm will be done from our side," he said.
However, it will be very difficult for the red brigade to wash their hands of the incident as it happened in their core zone and the modus operandi has all the hallmarks of a Maoist attack. PCPA, too, has denied any involvement in the sabotage, but police refuse to buy the rebels' claim of innocence.
Like other top state police officers, including state DGP Bhupinder Singh, ADG CID Raj Kanojia on Sunday hinted that the sabotage was the handiwork of Maoists or their local militia group active in the area.
On Sunday, a team of CID officers and forensic experts visited the accident site again and collected samples of the removed pandrol clips and stone chips from the track. The CID report is expected in a week. Kanojia confirmed that the rail track had been cut and did not mention any explosion. The FIR lodged with Jhargram GRP by the driver of Gyaneshwari Express was amended on Sunday to add 'murder', 'attempt to murder' and 'grievous hurt' charges.
Civil society stars to push Sonia's 'inclusive' agenda
NEW DELHI: UPA's 'Planning Commission' for its development agenda - the National Advisory Council - is in place. The Congress high command has chosen a constellation of individuals with formidable reputations to steer the social agenda in UPA's second term.
The watchdog, to be headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, will include Madhab Gadgil, Harsh Mander, M S Swaminathan, Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, N C Saxena, Farha Naqvi, Anu Aga, Narendra Jadhav, Deep Joshi and A K Shivkumar.
The civil society heavyweights are bound to push for an ambitious social sector agenda and bring to the fore several development issues that had receded to the backburner in the first year of the government.
With several advocates for a more inclusive growth policy and a wider social security net on board the NAC, sources said issues like food security, communal harmony, education and public health would move centrestage.
In its last avatar, the NAC had ushered in hugely successful social sector reforms such as introduction of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act.
In its second coming, the council is expected to take up the Food Security Act as its foremost priority. With Mander, Dreze and Saxena on board, the bill, which was being tossed around in the government and being pruned to give it a more minimalist touch, is bound to become more expansive and cover a larger section of society.
The presence of Roy, one of the leading civil society voices on RTI and NREGA, will ensure that dilution of existing social schemes or sidetracking of key elements of these programmes are checked.
The presence of a Muslim woman entrepreneur, Anu Aga, will add another perspective to the discussions and policy-
directing documents that NAC was known for even in its first outing. Farha Naqvi's inclusion along with that of Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav is expected to bring focus on education, with attention being given to gender, caste and minority issues.
The communal violence bill, pending for a while, is now bound to get priority listing besides issues of pubic health, water and sanitation securing greater impetus.
NAC, sources told TOI, is expected to be more aggressive in pursuing social security reforms and providing course correction to routine government lines as was noticed with NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi's three interventions in the Food Security Bill.
With an influential section in government keen to keep FSA to its minimalist best, Sonia had repeatedly stepped in and nudged the debate closer to the agenda that the Congress manifesto as well as other political statements had laid out.
With a mix of individuals credited with out-of-the-box thinking and creative engineering of government policy to provide an inclusive growth regime, the party leadership is now bound to assert a strong 'aam aadmi' image as it had in the last regime.
30 killed, 28 injured in Karna bus mishap
Chitradurga (Karna): At least 30 people, including 10 children, were killed and 28 others injured when a Bangalore-bound bus in which they were travelling overturned and caught fire near Challanakeri area in the district on Sunday.
The bus hit a barricade and turned turtle, police said adding, its diesel tank caught fire. The incident took place at around 2.15 am.
The driver was among those killed.
Twenty-five of the injured have been admitted to Challanakeri hospital and three have been taken to a government hospital here.
The government has announced a compensation of Rs one lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased.
Many of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition, making it difficult to identify them, police said. There were 15 women among the dead, they said.
Ten of the bodies have been sent for DNA testing to help in their identification.
The ill-fated bus belonged to North-East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC).
NEKRTC Managing Director Shankar Patil said according to preliminary information, "the driver wanted to avoid (hitting) one more bus" and took a right turn when the mishap occurred. Due to the fire, the casualties were high, he said.
"The bus left from Surpur in Gulbarga district for Bangalore. As per norms, we had kept two drivers. The name of one driver is Shetty. He has 20 years of experience and always drives on that road. The second is Chipeiyar, having five years of experience," he said.
"A total of 30 passengers have died in the accident," Laboo Ram, Superintendent of Police of Chitradurga, said.
"Three persons got major injuries and they have been shifted to Chitradurga government hospital. The remaining 25 are undergoing treatment in the (other) hospital and have got minor injuries. We have shifted all the injured and bodies from the spot to the hospital and we are calling the relatives to identify the bodies," he said.
District Minister Karunakara Reddy has visited the mishap spot.
Business News
Top execs opting for entrepreneurship: Experts
Keen to cash in on the opportunities galore courtesy the economic recovery more and more top level executives are donning the hat of an entrepreneur, experts say.
"Many senior executives are leaving companies as they want to start something of their own," HR consulting firm Planman HR Director & Managing Partner Deepak Kaistha said.
"If one wants to start up with a venture then recovering markets would be the right time to enter and market support will be there," he added.
For instance, earlier this month, three senior officials of leading private equity firm ICICI Venture -- its President Jayanta Banerjee and two other directors, Anand Vyas and Sunay Mathure, have quit to start their own venture.
Similarly, conglomerate GE's India head Tejpreet Singh Chopra recently resigned after his over a decade long stint with the company to float his own venture.
There is more! Former head of ICICI Venture, Renuka Ramnath, who quit the firm and founded a private equity firm Multiples Alternate Asset Management. The maiden PE fund has successfully garnered USD 250 million in its first close in
April this year.
Wipro Technologies' chief marketing officer (CMO) Jessie Paul quit and started her own venture -- Paul Writer Strategic Advisory, travel portal MakemyTrip co-founder Sachin Bhatia
started his own business and IT major Infosys' co-founder and chairman Narayan Murthy sold some of his stake in the company to set up a venture capital fund for incubating Indian start- ups.
Talking about the success of such endeavours executive search firm, GlobalHunt Director Sunil Goel said, "recovery in the market is definitely going to support new and existing ventures equally."
"Top business executives who are getting into 'entrepreneurship mode' have their own 'to do' and 'not to do list'. The recent up and down experience has brought in maturity and fine balancing act among them," he added.
Reasserting that the economic downturn has forged a new generation of home-grown entrepreneurs,a recent survey by global workforce solutions provider Kelly Services reveals one-in-six respondents in India describe themselves as 'self- employed'while more than a third of the respondents are planning or desire for some form of entrepreneurial activity.
Talking about the reason of an increasing number of executives getting attracted to start their own ventures Kelly Services India MD Kamal Karanth said, "The idea of moving out of traditional employment relationship is appealing to those who want the flexibility of working for themselves."
Govt to resolve SEBI-IRDA spat: Parekh
Mumbai: The government will soon find an out-of-court solution to the turf war between two regulators, SEBI and IRDA, which has made India a 'laughing stock', top banker Deepak Parekh said.
At the same time, he hit out at the government for allowing the capital markets and insurance regulators to go to the courts, saying a rethink on the their fight over jurisdiction on Unit Linked Insurance Products would lead to a solution in the next few days.
Parekh, a key adviser to the government on various policy matters, however, replied in the negative when asked if the settlement was based on his counsel.
"Tell me, where in the world you see two regulators fighting... we have become a laughing stock," the HDFC Chairman told PTI in an interview, adding that the Finance Ministry would find a solution in the next few days and the court cases would be withdrawn.
Following a public spat between capital market regulator SEBI and insurance sector watchdog IRDA on which of the two should regulate ULIPs that invest heavily in stock and bond markets, the Finance Ministry last month announced that the issue should be resolved by an "appropriate court."
The issue has already reached the courts and the Supreme Court late last month posted the matter for hearing on July 8, following a petition filed by SEBI.
"Both SEBI and IRDA have good points in their favour.
(But), both will have to climb down and a solution lies somewhere in between," said Parekh, who has served as a member of various government appointed committees and advisory panels, including those related to financial services.
The spat broke out in early April when SEBI banned 14 life insurance companies from raising funds through ULIPs and with the very next day IRDA asking the companies to ignore the SEBI order and do business as usual.
These insurers included HDFC Standard Life, the life insurance venture of HDFC group, which is already engaged in mutual fund business through HDFC Mutual Fund.
"We are into both insurance and mutual fund business. We're suffering from the both sides and both the regulators have their own points (in this issue)," Parekh said.
"A decision will be taken by the Finance Ministry in the next few days. Probably, the government came to the feeling that the courts would take a long time (to resolve the issue).
The issue should not have gone to the court in the first place," he said.
After the two regulators petitioned Finance Ministry, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said on April 12: "To resolve any ambiguity and to ensure smooth functioning in the market, the regulators have agreed to jointly seek a binding legal mandate from an appropriate court."
Sports News
Rohit hits second successive ton, India crush Lanka
Rohit Sharma hammered his second successive ODI century as India crushed Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their second match to put their campaign back on track in the cricket tri-series here today.
Chasing 243, India made a rather slow start and lost both their openers inside 10 overs before one-down Virat Kohli (82) and Rohit (101 not out) resurrected the innings to help India romp home with 6.3 overs to spare at the Queens Sports Club.
Earlier, the tidy Indian howlers produced a disciplined effort to bundle out Sri Lanka for 242 after captain Suresh
Raina had opted to field. Today's win also marked Raina's first victory as captain.
Coming together in the 10th over, Kohli and Rohit added 154 runs from 168 balls for the third wicket to take the game away from Sri Lanka.
Rohit, who hit 114 against Zimbabwe in India's first match though for a lost cause, hit six fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 100-ball unbeaten innings, his second ODI century in 44th match.
He got a superb support from Kohli whose 82 came from 92 balls with the help of four boundaries.
After opening bowler Nuwan Kulasekara and Ajantha Mendis achieved early success by removing Murali Vijay (14) and Dinesh Karthik (18) respectively, the Sri Lankan bowlers were left high and dry with Kohli and Rohit stamping authority.
The duo initially dealt mostly in singles with occasional boundaries before opening up later on. They also did not allow the asking rate to jump over five.
Rohit took 60 balls to reach his fifty which came of a single off Ajantha Mendis in the 28th over and Kohli reached his seventh half-century an over later with a single off Dilhara Fernando.
Kohli, however, perished in the 38th over while trying to finish the game early. He came down the track to play a lofted shot off a Suraj Randiv delivery only to hole out to long-on fielder Dilhara Fernando.
When Kohli fell, India needed just 42 runs from more than 12 overs and Rohit ensured that they wrapped up the match without any hiccup.
Rohit took a four off Mendis in the 43rd over to reach his second successive ODI century while Raina (24 not out) hit the winning run in the next over.
India, who lost their opening match against Zimbabwe on Friday, play the hosts again in their next match on Thursday at Harare Sports Club.
Venus loses to Petrova at French Open
Venus Williams was beaten in the fourth round of the French Open by Russia's Nadia Petrova, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday.
Williams came into the tournament seeded No 2, behind her sister Serena, but Petrova spoilt the possibility of a sibling showdown in the final.
Petrova has been a nemesis for the Williams family lately -- she beat Serena in the third round at Madrid less than three weeks ago.
Justine Henin rallied in a winner-take-all set that seemed like a final, out-slugging Maria Sharapova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. The two former No 1s returned to centre court following an overnight suspension of the third-round showdown after two sets.
Then came Williams-Petrova, with both players bundled up on a damp, windy day.
Williams' celebrated corset was under wraps with a long-sleeve top over her black lace outfit while Petrova wore long sleeves and tights under a frilly skirt.
The Russian controlled rallies with steady play from the baseline and finished strong, a problem for her in the past.
She swept the final four games and wobbled only once, shanking an overhead shot when leading love-30 in the final game.
She collected herself and won the final two points, closing out the match with an emphatic forehand winner.
Serena wore her playing outfit while watching her sister's defeat from the stands. They were to team up in a doubles match later on Sunday.
Venus converted only one of seven break-point chances. In the second set she lost serve three times after taking a 2-love lead.
Petrova, seeded 19th, is a two-time semifinalist, but she's into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005.
The victory was her first against Williams in their five meetings.
Williams came into the tournament with this year's best record on the women's tour, but tricky footing has always made clay her worst surface. In 14 French Open appearances, she reached the semifinals only once -- in 2002, when she lost to her sister in the final. She has advanced beyond the fourth round just once in the past six years.
Joining Petrova in the quarterfinals were No 3 Caroline Wozniacki, No 5 Elena Dementieva and No 17 Francesca Schiavone.
Wozniacki, enjoying her best run at Roland Garros, needed three hours to beat No 14 Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-2. No 5 Elena Dementieva beat unseeded Chanelle Scheepers 6-1, 6-3. No 17 Francesca Schiavone defeated No 30 Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-4.
Mary Kom, Sarita strike gold at Asian Championship
New Delhi: Four-time world champion M C Mary Kom notched up her third Asian title while L Sarita Devi clinched her fourth, as Indian boxers finished fourth in the event with two gold, a silver and five bronze medals in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Former champion Aswathi Mol settled for silver after losing the light heavy weight (81kg) final 0-5 to China's Wang Yanrui.
Mary Kom, who got a walkover into the finals after her semifinal opponent failed to turn up yesterday, defeated old rival Jong Ok of Korea 8-1 in the summit clash.
Mary Kom had to settle for the silver in the last edition of the event in Guwahati and the diminutive pin weight (46kg) boxer went one better this time.
Leading 2-1 in the opening round, Mary Kom didn't let Ok strike a single scoring blow in the next three rounds.
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