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The bleeding Jesus Christ in church! Yes, surprising but it is true. The framed picture of Jesus Christ in the St Michael’s Church in Mumbai on Friday started ‘bleeding’ a dark red liquid resembling blood. Thousands of people gathered to catch a glimpse of this miracle.

On June 27, a portion of the picture around the heart of Jesus got dark red stains which deepened with time and the believers said it is the blood of Jesus.

Crowds keep flocking in till about 1 a.m. on the day and it was a hard time for the church authorities to handle the crowd. The Catholic Church, however, said it is not regarding this as a miracle.

Father Antony Charanghat said, “People are drawn to God in different ways and this could be one of them. The Catholic Church has a lengthy and vigorous process of inquiry before it declares any incident a miracle.”

Fr Donat D’Souza of St Michael parish said the darkening of the stain was noticed soon after the last service in the Church on Friday at around 8.45 pm. “It could be caused by moisture,” he said.

On Saturday the devotees were only allowed in single file into the church compound. Some touched the picture; others kissed it and said brief prayers.

Sandeep Piedade, one of the Church attendants, said “I think it is a miracle, what else it can be,” he said. P Moses another usher exclaimed,” Can it be anything other than a miracle.”

Police said worshipers claimed the heart of Christ in the picture first appeared to get darker and then a red liquid resembling blood began flowing from it. This resulted in at least 3,000 people from different faiths flocking to church till the wee hours of this morning.

Do you people believe this as a miracle or there can be some scientific reason behind it?

Tags: Bleeding Christ, Bleeding Jesus, Christ, Jesus, Mumbai, St Michael Church

Rabbi Shergill, the “Bulla ki Janna main kaun” fame singer has come out with his new album which he claims to be dedicated to the girl child and the social issues associated with it. Titled Avengi Ja Nahin, the complete album has been focused on the issues like female feticide, racism etc.

The album is a nine song venture which is Rabbi’s first attempt to work for a noble cause. The title track Avengi Ja Nahin, which is already on air and doing the rounds of various music channels focuses the issues of a girl child while through another one titled

Ballo, Shergill puts light on the illegal act of pre natal determination of sex. Known for his Sufi style of singing, the Punjabi Sufi singer has not deviated from his style of singing and presents his concerns and expresses his grief over the manipulation and exploitation of females in such an advanced era.

Another song, Pagri Sambhal Jatta deals with the brewing problem of racism, which he shares, is also influenced by the Billy Joel song We Didn’t Start The Fire. Explaining how he had to face problems while he was in London, where people seeing him wearing a turban thought small of him, the singer claimed that it affected his thoughts a lot which led him to the song which has been shot in Brazil, Mumbai and Italy.

The famous singer also has a bollywood release in the near future, Delhi Heights for which he has sung and composed songs but marks that bollywood music is repetitive and one cannot soar very high in it. Routing back to his recently released album, Rabbi describes the songs very straight forward and is hopeful that people would connect to the songs. Wishing him all the luck for his work, we hope that his concerns towards the social issues create some difference.

Tags: Bollywood, Bulla ki Janna, Italy, Mumbai, Rabbi Shergill

The very irresponsible action by two pilots of Air India came into light when it was reported that both the pilots fast sleep while the flight destined to reach Mumbai from Jaipur flew past its destination towards Goa.

The incident happened about a fortnight ago on the domestic leg of a Dubai-Jaipur-Mumbai flight — IC 612 — which had about 100 passengers on board.

The plane took off from Dubai at 1.35am IST and then from Jaipur at 7am. After operating an overnight flight, fatigue levels peak, and it is supposed that the pilots dozed off after taking off from Jaipur leaving the plane at Auto-pilot mode.

The plane was supposed to reach Mumbai by taking the A 474 South route and since it was on autopilot, it headed in that direction. The pilots were finally woken up by anxious Mumbai air traffic controllers when the plane was about half way to Goa.

“It was only after the aircraft reached Mumbai airspace that air traffic controllers realized it was not responding to any instructions and was carrying on its own course,” said the source.

“The aircraft should have begun its descent about 100 miles from Mumbai, but here it was still at cruising altitude. We checked for hijack and when there was no response we made a SELCAL (selective calling),” said an air traffic controller.

The Buzzer (SELCAL) sound in the cockpit give a jolt to the pilots and they woke up. However the General Manager, Mumbai aerodrome, M G Junghare, denied such happening and claimed that communication failure was the reason behind it.

“The aircraft had a radio communications failure and so could not be contacted. It had gone only 10 or 15 miles off Mumbai and after we ascertained that it was not hijacked we made the SELCAL,” he said.

Tags: Air India, Flight, India, Mumbai

Got feared of Mumbai road traffic?  Then Traffic police have the solution to your problem. A month later, SMS service is going to be started in the city which will give updates on traffic situation on the roads at different spots across the city.

A convenient five-digit number will help you to navigate the traffic of the city.  Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sanjay Barve said, “We have already applied for the number with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and expect to start the service in a month’s time.”

Citing an example, Barve said, “Suppose you wish to travel from Chembur to Dadar and are doubtful about the traffic situation at Everard Nagar junction. You just SMS ‘LOC REP’, which stands for location report, to the five-digit number and immediately get a reply.”

He said that support infrastructure like integrating of the traffic control room with the SMS service by the way of which users will be able to get the updates is already being created. He told that sponsoring companies for the project are yet to be selected. Talks are going so that the cost to the end user is minimized.

“The user will have to pay higher SMS charges to get the elicited reply as per the regulations but he can at least plan out his trip in a better way and take another route to complete the journey,” Barve added.

He told that the service will also help the private companies to advertise as the reply message will also include a small message from the sponsor.

Tags: Mumbai, Mumbai Trafic, SMS, Sponsor, Traffic, TRAI

The alleged killing of a protester by the Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s bodyguard in a mall in Mumbai has disrupted peace in the city and after the incident the Sikh organizations threatened to arrest the Dera chief Baba Ram Rahim by June 24.

The Sikh organization has warned that if the chief is not arrested then they will disrupt the railway routes. They gathered and disturbed the rail traffic in Punjab.

Baba Harnam Singh Dhuma, chief of Damdami Taksal in the meeting of Sikh religious organizations at Jalandhar stated that no train would be allowed to move from Amritsar to Delhi on Wednesday (June 25) if Baba Ram Rahim is not arrested by Tuesday.

“The rail traffic would be interrupted on June 25 from morning eight am to seven pm and further line of action would be announced in the evening on same day on Wednesday (June 25) against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.” He added.

The chief minister of Punjab also termed the incident as shocking and said that the responsible persons should be immediately arrested.

The dera Cheif visited Mumbai to attend a function and when he reached Nirmal Shopping Complex in Mulund in Mumbai, some sikh protesters objected his visit which made the safeguards to fire killing one person and two injured. The killed person was identified as Balkar Singh.

The Shiromani Gurudwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) president, Avtar Singh Makkar has announced Rs 5 lakh for the family of Balkar Singh and Rs one lakh to the injured.  Makkar is coming to Mumbai on June 23 to hand over the cheque to the family of the victims.

It is also reported that Makkar will meet the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to discuss the issue of Dera Sacha Sauda as he saught an appointment with the PM.

The chief of Dera Sacha Sauda has been surrounded by controversies since last e few months for one or the other reason. He enjoys Z-plus security cover, mostly from the Haryana police. In May last year, a long debate started when he dressed himself like Sikh Guru Gobind Singh during his sect’s religious ceremony. Sikh community protested this action and violence speeded particularly in Punjab and Haryana region. Punjab remained on the boil for over two weeks last year as the anti-sect protests intensified.

The controversial Dera chief is also facing two cases of conspiracy to murder and one case of rape in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ambala.

Tags: Anti Dera, Baba Ram Rahim, Dera Sacha Sauda, Mumbai, Protest, Protests, Ram Rahim, Sikhs

A day after clashes between Sikh protesters and bodyguards of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief in a Mumbai shopping mall leading one person dead and 2 injured, Sikh people blocked railway tracks in Mumbai and a shutdown was observed in Sikh dominated areas making the matter worse.

The community member’s squatted railway tracks and halted train services since morning near Mulund station.  All schools and colleges run by the Sikh community also remained closed. A shutdown was observed in place in Sikh majority areas in Thane district like Kalyan and Ulhasnagar.

A Central Railway spokesman said that the agitators blocked all the four lines and damaged the Mulund railway station. He added that two suburban lines were later cleared with police help and the other two would be cleared soon.

Groups of Sikhs were seen walking the streets, brandishing swords. Hence security has been beefed up in Sikh-dominated localities of Mumbai, Thane, and Nanded in northeast Maharashta.

On Friday night when the leader of Dera Sachcha Sauda reached in Nirmal Lifestyle Mall in Mulund along with his safe gaurds, some sikh people protedted his visit and during the clash, the safeguard opened fire which killed one person and left two injured.

The victim who was killed in the firing was identified as Malkar Singh, while two passers-by suffered injuries. The Dera chief was said to be present near the mall when the violent incident took place. When asked about the incident he refused that his safeguards fired on the crowd.

Stray incidents of violence and stone pelting were reported from different parts of Mulund on Saturday morning but there were no reports of casualties, a police official said.

After the incident, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal called his Maharashtra counterpart Vilasrao Deshmukh and demanded that those responsible for the firing be arrested. Moving swiftly, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Tags: Baba Ram Rahim, Dera Sacha Sauda, Mumbai, Protest, Ram Rahim, Sikhs

Five persons were injured in a minor blast in the parking lot of a Gadkari Rangaytan auditorium in Thane in Maharashtra on Wednesday.

It was reported that the blast occurred just before the Marathi play Aamhi Paachpute was about to begin. the entire place has been cordoned off, said the police.

Incidentally, Aamhi Pachpute was also targeted earlier in an incident in Vashi, the satellite town of Mumbai.

On June 1, an alert citizen called the police after he saw an unidentified bag kept in an auditorium just before the play was about to begin. The bomb squad diffused the bomb before it could cause any damage.

It was claimed by some right wing organisations that Hindus are targeting the play as it ridicules the Hindu religion.

Further investigation about the cause of the blast is going on. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil got in touch with the Thane police officials, who informed him that a police team has already reached the site to ascertain the nature of the blast, sources in the state home department said.

Tags: Bomb, bomb blast, Maharashtra, Marathi, Mumbai

The Maharashtra government has planned to build its very own Statue of Liberty of Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji, off the coast of Mumbai in the Arabian Sea. The statue of the Maratha warrior king will mirror (Statue of Liberty) another global icon, the statue of liberty in New York.

“We are also planning a light and sound show and a museum so that people get to know Shivaji, the king and the administrator,” said Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra.

The statue will be 93 meters tall- the same height that of Statue of Liberty in New York. But the supposed statue of 17th century Maratha king at 309 feet and cast in bronze, rising 1.8 km from the Arabian Sea, has already created lots of controversies. It is a sudden proposal woken up to four years after being in power by the congress led Maharashtra government. Questions are being raised on the proposal as elections are coming next year.

“What’s the need? It will be a problem whether aesthetically, environmentally or economically,” said Nayana Kathpalia, convener, Citispace.

Not what the chief minister and his deputy were thinking during a site inspection, an island measuring 30,000 square meters and a ferry service to be built along the city’s coast, a coastline that also happens to host one of Mumbai’s most coveted promenades. It is among the country’s most well-known landmarks.

“I think this is nothing but an attempt by the government to garner some votes keeping in mind next year’s elections,” said R N Somani, Walkers Association of Marine Drive.

The project is expected to cost nearly five million dollars.

Tags: Maharashtra, Mumbai, New York, Statue of Liberty, Vilasrao Deshmukh

Just before the grand final of the ongoing DLF IPL tournament, there was a live bomb found in a theater near to the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.

The theater is in the Navi Mumbai area and high alert has been issued after this incident. The police commissioner has confirmed the news.

There are around 300 people in the theater that time, when one viewer saw the bomb and reported to police, then police removed the people from there and disposed the bomb.

As we all know that Mumbai is going to host the IPL final tonight and this incident can bring a bit of fear in the public. A few day’s back Jaipur faced the terror attack and if the bomb was not disposed Mumbai would have also seen such type of incident. More details are awaiting for the incident.

Tags: Bomb scare, Fear, Mumbai, Terror

Sachin Tendulkar’s groin injury put him away from the upcoming cricket tri-series in Bangladesh, and subsequent Asia Cup. He was ruled out of the series on Thursday.

He was declared unfit by Mumbai Indians’ physiotherapist, Nitin Patel, for the June 8 to 14 tri-series, also involving Pakistan.

“Tendulkar is not available for the tri-series as well as the Asia Cup on the advice of Mumbai Indians physiotherapist Nitin Patel. He has not recovered sufficiently from his groin injury,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah informed in Mumbai on Thursday.

Tendulkar will also skip the Asia Cup, to be held in Pakistan from June 24 to July 6, he added.

Tendulkar has also missed the first seven matches of the Indian Premier League because of the injury. A few day’s back Sachin requested the selectors to keep him away from the selection of the team for Bangladesh.

Tags: Aisa Cup, Bangladesh, Indians, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians, Pakistan, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Tendulkar