Archives for May 2022

New Delhi(PTI): At least 12 passengers on SpiceJet’s Mumbai-Durgapur flight were injured on Sunday when it faced severe turbulence during descent, sources said.

The injured passengers have been taken to hospital, they said.

A SpiceJet spokesperson said, “On May 1, SpiceJet Boeing B737 aircraft operating flight SG-945 from Mumbai to Durgapur encountered severe turbulence during descent which unfortunately resulted in injuries to a few passengers.”

Immediate medical assistance was provided upon the aircraft’s arrival in Durgapur, the spokesperson said.

“SpiceJet expresses its regret at this unfortunate incident and is providing all possible medical help to the injured,” the spokesperson added.

Kasargod: A 16-year-old student died while five others are being treated in critical condition after allegedly eating Shawarma from a local eatery here in the city.

The deceased teenager has been identified as Dev Anand (16). Fiver others who ate Shawarma from the same eatery are reportedly said to be critical.

According to the reports, at least 14 people fell sick after eating the Shawarma from the “Coal Bar” restaurant here and complained of fever, vomiting, stomach ache, and others. They were admitted to District and other hospitals for treatment.

Reports further added that the hospitalized people ate the Shawarma on April 29 and 30 and fell sick. Dev Anand who was also hospitalized passed away on Sunday evening at the hospital.

Lucknow : Nearly 54,000 unauthorised loudspeakers were removed from religious places and the volume of over 60,000 was set to permissible limits across Uttar Pradesh following a government order, a senior police official said on Sunday.

A statewide drive undertaken to remove unauthorized loudspeakers from religious places and set the volume of others within permissible limits began on April 25.

Under this exercise, a total of 53,942 loudspeakers were removed and volume of 60,295 loudspeakers was set within permissible limits till Sunday morning, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.

The drive will continue in the coming days, confirmed a senior home department official. The ADGP said that the loudspeakers are being removed from all religious places without any discrimination.

Explaining further about the action, Kumar said, “The loudspeakers which are being removed are unauthorised.”

Those loudspeakers which have been placed without taking due permission from the district administration or the ones which are placed in excess of the permitted numbers are categorised as unauthorised, he added.

He said, “Orders of the high court regarding loudspeakers are also being considered during the exercise.”

As per the said 2017 order, the High court had asked the UP government if the loudspeakers at religious and public places were installed after taking permission in writing from authorities referring to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.

The recent drive against loudspeakers followed after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during a review meeting, in April, said that people have the freedom to perform their religious practices according to their faith.

“Though microphones can be used, it should be ensured that the sound does not come out of any premises. People should not face any problem,” he had said.

In the wake of the soaring fuel prices in India, the commercial LPG prices were once again hiked on Sunday , with a 19kg cylinder Rs 102.50 dearer at Rs 2,355.50 while the price of a 5kg cylinder increased to Rs 655.

The price of 19kg cylinders soared by Rs 105 earlier on 1 March and by Rs 250 on 1 April, making it the third hike in the last three months. 

Aurangabad: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said BJP leaders talk about bringing a Uniform Civil Code, but the country does not require it as of now, and focus should be on the growth of economy and generating employment.

The Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad was talking to reporters here on Saturday after attending an Iftar party organised by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM) Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel.

“Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP leaders are saying that they will bring a Uniform Civil Code, but it is not the country’s need today. The economy has gone down…passenger trains in the country are being cancelled to transport coal (in the wake of electricity crisis). The unemployment is growing which requires focus,” Owaisi said.

The Law commission has also said that the Uniform Civil Code is not needed, he added.

On MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s rally scheduled in Aurangabad on Sunday evening, Owaisi said as the government has now given permission for it and it is their responsibility to maintain law and order.

“We feel the environment in Maharashtra should be peaceful,” he said.

The state has been witnessing a political slugfest between the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, and the opposition BJP.

Recently, Raj Thackeray sought to corner the Shiv Sena, which swears by ‘Hindutva’, by demanding that loudspeakers on mosques be removed.

The state also witnessed another political row playing out when independent MP Navneet Rana and her husband and MLA Ravi Rana announced that they would recite the Hanuman Chalisa in front of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence `Matoshree’ in Bandra area of Mumbai.

The couple dropped the plan eventually, but were arrested for ‘sedition’ and ‘promoting enmity between different groups’.

Rampurhat (WB): A woman, who suffered burn injuries in the Rampurhat massacre in West Bengal’s Birbhum district in March, died on Sunday morning while undergoing treatment, police said.

With this, 10 people have died of burn injuries after their houses in Bogtui village were allegedly firebombed following the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

The woman was admitted to the hospital with 27 per cent burn injuries, a police officer said

“She was discharged after her condition improved. But, she was again admitted to the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital after her health condition started deteriorating. She died early Sunday morning,” he said.

The CBI took over the investigation of the incident, which happened on March 20, from the state police on the direction of the Calcutta High Court.

Ballia (UP): Charges under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) have been slapped against the principal of a school in the Uttar Pradesh Board of Secondary Education’s English question paper leak case, police said on Sunday.

The NSA has been invoked against Akshay Lal Yadav, the principal of Ma Lachhiyamurat Yadav Higher Secondary School, Ubhaon police station SHO Avinash Singh said.

Earlier, the NSA was invoked against three other accused in the paper leak case — mastermind Nirbhay Narain Singh, Bhimpura Maharaji Devi Memorial Inter College manager Raju Prajapati and Ravindra Singh.

Police have so far arrested over 52 people, including three journalists, six school managers and five school principals, in connection with the leak of Class 12 English question paper on March 30.

Ballia District Inspector Of Schools (DIOS) Brijesh Mishra is also among those arrested in the case.

The three journalists arrested in the case were recently released on bail.

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Kerala politician P C George was taken into custody by police on Sunday for his alleged controversial remarks against Muslims.

Police said cops from the Fort police station here took George into custody from his residence in Erattupetta in Kottayam district in the early hours on Sunday.

Police on Saturday had registered a case against George alleging that his speech at a conclave here promoted religious hatred. Police at the Fort police station took suo motu action against the former legislator on the directions of the state police chief Anil Kant.

George, who was booked under section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code, is being brought to Thiruvananthapuram, police said.

The former Kerala Congress politician had sparked off a controversy by asking non-Muslims in Kerala to avoid restaurants run by the community.

Addressing a programme organised as part of the ongoing Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelan here on Friday, he had alleged that tea laced with drops causing impotence were sold in Muslim-run restaurants to turn people infertile in a bid to seize control of the country.

The 70-year-old politician, who represented the Poonjar constituency in the state Assembly for 33 years, had also urged non-Muslims to boycott businesses run by Muslims.

The ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress had condemned his remarks.