A 5-member Israeli team, including 2 MOSSAD members, has arrived in New Delhi to help in the investigations following a deadly attack near the Israeli embassy in which Ms Tal Yehoshua-Koren, a staffer of the Israeli embassy’s accounts department, was seriously injured. She was on her way from office to the American Embassy School to pick up her children.
Tal Yehoshua’s condition is stable after having undergone two surgeries at a hospital in New Delhi’s diplomatic enclave, Chanakyapuri. She has been partially paralysed due to injury to her spine but is expected to recover following the removal of the shrapnel causing the compression of the spine. In an operation that lasted 2.5 hours, shrapnel were also removed from her liver.
Update: Ms Tal Yehoshua-Koren, hurt badly in a car bomb blast on Monday, is likely to be flown back to her country once her condition stabilizes. More here…
Israeli Ambassador to India Alon Ushpiz told NDTV, “Iran has been openly calling for the destruction of Israel. This was planned in Tehran.”
Iran has firmly denied the allegations. Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said, “We categorically reject the accusations made by the Zionist regime. They are part of a propaganda war… Iran condemns all acts of terrorism.”
India, which will have to walk the diplomatic tightrope, has assured Israel of a serious and thorough investigation. More here…
After an Israeli diplomat’s car exploded in New Delhi, just a few feet from Prime Minister of India’s residence, Israel has blamed Iran for what it describes as a terror attack. Israel has given list of suspects to India.
Here are 10 big developments in the case: Investigators believe the bomb was planted on the car by a man on a motorcycle when the SUV paused at a traffic signal.
Sources who are familiar with India’s investigation into the blast said the explosive device that was attached to the Israeli vehicle was manufactured on the lines of “Limpet Mines” and that these types of bombs were initially used to by naval forces in World War Two. See here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.