Archives for 2022

Guna : A Dalit family was allegedly stopped by some people from performing the last rites of a relative on an elevated platform at a cremation ground in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district, following which police arrested three persons, an official said on Monday.

The family later performed the funeral on a land near the platform.

The incident took place on Friday in Chandpura village under Kumbhraj police station area, 62 km from the Guna district headquarters, and a video of it also surfaced on social media.

In the clip, a person was purportedly heard saying the family was not allowed to use the cremation ground’s platform for the funeral.

After the death of local resident Kanhaiya Ahirwar (70), his family members took the body to the cremation ground, but three persons from the village allegedly stopped them from performing the last rites on the facility’s platform, Kumbhraj police station in-charge Sanjeet Mawai said.

The family then performed the man’s last rites on a land near the crematorium’s platform, he said.

After getting information about the matter, the police reached the spot.

The police later arrested three persons, identified as Narayan Singh Meena, Rambharose Meena and Dilip Meena, and registered a case against them under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the official said.

The accused were on Saturday produced in a court which sent them to jail, he added.

Mumbai: Launching a full-blown attack on the Shiv Sena on the issue of Hindutva, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said he was present in Ayodhya when the Babri structure was brought down, and claimed that no Sena leader was there when it happened.

Needling the Sena on the issue of Hanuman Chalisa and the arrest of MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana, Fadnavis asked whether the Uddhav Thackeray-led party was on the side of Lord Ram or Ravana.

Addressing a BJP rally here, Fadnavis also claimed that he was lodged in Badaun central jail for 18 days for doing ‘kar seva’ for the Ram temple construction purpose.

The former Maharashtra chief minister’s attack on the Shiv Sena comes in the wake of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party asking where BJP leaders were when parts of the mosque were razed in the early 1990s in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya.

“They asked the other day where were we hiding when the Babri structure was brought down they got scared like hell when they were asked to remove loudspeakers from mosques and are now claiming that they brought down the Babri mosque structure,” Fadnavis said.

He said he did not consider Babri a mosque, but a “dhancha” (structure) as “no Hindu can ever pull down a mosque”.

“I want to ask you where you were when the structure was brought down? I am saying with pride that, yes, I was there to bring the structure down. This Devendra Fadnavis was there to bring the structure down. Also, this Devendra Fadnavis spent 18 days in Badaun central jail before that for doing kar seva for the Ram temple,” he added.

Fadnavis asked which leader from Maharashtra had gone to Ayodhya when the structure was brought down.

“No Shiv Sena leader was present there at that time,” he said, adding that one of the 32 accused of the incident was present on the stage as he delivered his speech.

Fadnavis also heaped praises on late BJP leader Kalyan Singh, who was Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister when the demolition took place, for not allowing bullets to be fired at ‘kar sevaks’ and sacrificing the then state government there instead.

“And you (Shiv Sena) formed a government with those who opposed Lord Ram and questioned whether Lord Ram had actually been born,” Fadnavis alleged.

Attacking the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, Fadnavis also said that reciting Hanuman Chalisa amounted to sedition in Maharashtra on the alliance’s watch.

He was referring to the action taken against the Rana couple recently after they insisted on reciting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ outside ‘Matoshree’ – Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence in suburban Bandra here.

“What is said in their (Ranas’) charge sheet? That because of their announcement of reciting Hanuman Chalisa outside CM’s residence, they were toppling the government and hence, they were jailed,” Fadnavis said.

He also asked the Shiv Sena whether it was on the side of Lord Ram or Ravana.

Further attacking the Shiv Sena, Fadnavis also said the party alone does not mean Maharashtra or Hindutva and its insult does not mean the insult of the state.

The BJP is asked by its opponents in Maharashtra to talk about the alleged intrusion by Chinese troops into the Indian territory, he said while alleging that 50,000 hectares of Indian land was “donated to China” during the Congress’s regime.

Fadnavis said Indian soldiers showed valour in Galwan Valley against the Chinese troops.

“When you say China is intruding, whose insult is it? It is the insult of those jawans who killed Chinese soldiers without weapons risking their lives and forced the Chinese troops to withdraw from the valley,” he added.

Fadnavis praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

He hit out at NCP chief Sharad Pawar for saying whether reciting Hanuman Chalisa will resolve unemployment issues in the state.

“The unemployment issue also cannot be addressed by attending iftar party as well. Don’t you need investment if you want to address the unemployment issue?” he asked.

Fadnavis questioned who will invest in Maharashtra which is facing load shedding.

“You sent a deputy secretary to attend to the Mauritius prime minister when he landed in Maharashtra (recently). You did not respect him. Who will bring industries here then?” he asked.

Fadnavis accused the MVA government of indulging in corruption and scam during the pandemic, and also alleged that it was working to keep interests of developers and bar owners instead of the common people.

New Delhi: 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.

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.