Archives for 2023

Mumbai: Students have raised the issue of food discrimination at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) after “vegetarians only” posters were put up on the walls of a canteen in one of the hostels here, a student representative said on Sunday.

Posters stating “vegetarians only are allowed to sit here” were put up on the walls of the canteen of hostel 12 at the prestigious institution last week, and a photograph of the same went viral on social media.

An official from the institute claimed that while they had found out about the posters, they did not know who had put them up in the canteen.

There are no fixed seats for people consuming different categories of food and the institute is unaware about who put up the posters, he said.

Representatives of the student collective Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) condemned the incident and tore the posters.

“Though RTIs and emails to the hostel’s general secretary revealed that there is no policy for food segregation at the institute, some individuals have taken it upon themselves to designate certain mess areas as vegetarians only’ and force other students to leave that area,” the AAPSC said.

Following the incident, the hostel’s general secretary sent an email to all students saying, “There is a counter for Jain distribution in the hostels mess, but there is no designated sitting space for those who consume Jain food.”

There have been reports of individuals forcefully designating certain areas of the mess as “Jain sitting space” and not allowing individuals who bring non-vegetarian food to sit in those areas, the general secretary wrote.

“Such behaviour is unacceptable and no student has the right to remove another student from any area of the mess on the grounds that it is reserved for a particular community. If any such incident is repeated, we will be forced to take strict action against those involved,” he stated in the email.

Mumbai: A Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable on Monday shot dead four persons on board a running train near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra, an official said.

Constable Chetan Kumar Choudhary fired from his automatic weapon, killing an RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and three other passengers of the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express shortly after 5 am, the official said.

According to a senior police official, the accused RPF constable was mentally unstable.

Palghar is around 100 km from Mumbai.

The constable opened fire on his escort duty in-charge ASI Tika Ram Meena in the running train, the official said.

After killing his senior, the constable went to another bogie and shot dead three passengers, the official added.

The accused then tried to escape from the train between Mira Road and Dahisar, but was later nabbed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel and his weapon was also seized, he said.

The accused is in the custody of the Mira Road railway police, the official said.

The bodies were taken out of the train at Borivali railway station, he said.

Aizawl: The Mizoram government is still waiting for financial assistance from the Centre for providing shelter to over 12,600 people from ethnic strife-torn Manipur, a senior official said.

Mizoram Home Commissioner and Secretary H Lalengmawia said that Chief Minister Zoramthanga had, in May, sought Rs 10 crore as an immediate relief package for those displaced people.

“We have not received any assistance from the Centre so far. The state government has raised funds on its own to provide relief to internally displaced people from Manipur,” Lalengmawia told PTI on Sunday.

He hoped that the Centre would soon sanction funds for these people, who have taken shelter in Mizoram after the ethnic violence broke out in the neighbouring state on May 3.

Lalengmawia also said the Mizoram administration has solicited donations from legislators, government employees, bankers and others.

“We have completed the collection and I am yet to receive a report of the total collected amount,” he said.

According to the Mizoram home department, altogether 12,611 people from Manipur have taken shelter in the state till Friday.

Of them, 4,440 took shelter in Kolasib district, 4,265 in Aizawl and 2,951 in Saitual, it said.

The remaining 955 are residing in Champhai, Mamit, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Lunglei, Serchhip, Khawzawl and Hnahthial districts.

The government and village authorities have set up 38 relief camps in Aizawl, Kolasib and Saitual.

The state government, NGOs, churches and villagers provided food and other basic items to the displaced people.

Clashes first broke out in early May in Manipur after a Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

Jaipur: Two teenage sisters were allegedly raped by two co-workers of their father at a brick kiln in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, police said on Monday.

Both the girls are pregnant, they said.

The girls’ father on Friday lodged a complaint in this regard at NEB police station. In the complaint, he alleged that his daughters, aged 15 and 13, were raped by Sappi and Subhan.

The matter came to light when the elder girl complained of abdominal pain and other health problems. Her parents took her to a doctor, who informed them that she was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, the police said.

“When her parents questioned her, the girl told them that Sappi and Subhan had raped her. She disclosed that they had raped her younger sister as well,” the police added.

The victim alleged that the accused had threatened to kill them if they told anyone about the incident.

Superintendent of Police (Alwar) Anand Sharma said an FIR was registered at NEB police station on Friday and the girls’ medical examination conducted. The medical test confirmed that both girls are pregnant.

The younger victim is two-and-a-half months pregnant, the police said.

NEB SHO Anil Jain said the matter is being investigated. No arrests have been made in this regard yet.

The family lives near the brick kiln where the victims’ father works, he said.

In another case, a minor girl was raped by two men in the district’s Bansur area.

Sharma said an FIR was registered in this regard on Friday. The victim alleged that she was abducted by the two accused when she was going to school and raped. The accused also shot a video of the incident and threatened to circulate it on social media if she told anyone about it.

The alleged incident occurred on July 27.

Vidisha: Upset over repeated eve-teasing by a youth, an 18-year-old student of Class 12 allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district, police said on Monday.

The incident took place in Lateri town, located 90 km from the district headquarters, on Sunday following which the victim’s family and other locals staged a protest till late night.

The Lateri police have arrested the accused, identified as Amir, and registered a case against him under Indian Penal Code section 306 (abetment of suicide), said inspector Rakesh Tiwari, who is the police spokesperson.

He said the victim’s family earlier did not file a complaint of eve-teasing.

Talking to reporters, the victim’s father, Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, claimed his daughter was disturbed due to eve-teasing by Amir, which forced her to take the extreme step.

She never told the family about the problem she was facing, he further claimed.

Kushwaha said his daughter committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in a room of their house when his wife was out for a medical check-up.

After the incident, the victim’s family and locals staged a protest with the victim’s body till 10.30 pm on Sunday, as per some locals.

Additional Superintendent of Police Samir Yadav and other officials reached the spot and pacified the protesters, they said.

sharad pawar

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has said if his party, the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) decide, they can usher in a change in Maharashtra.

The NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) are constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state.

Pawar also claimed it was difficult to engage with the present state government.

He was speaking on Sunday at a book launch function where he shared the stage with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat.

Pawar recalled how previous governments helped in the preservation of ancient art and culture, literature and history.

“But it is difficult for us to engage with the present state government. But some solution will come out. If we three (MVA constituents) decide, there can be a change,” he asserted.

It was for the first time since July 2, when the NCP split due to the revolt by Ajit Pawar, that leaders of all the three MVA allies shared the stage.

On July 2, Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in the state.

During the book launch event, Sharad Pawar also said the Yeshwantrao Chavan Pratishthan, which he heads, will give Rs 50 lakh to Rajawade Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, the group which published the books.

JAIPUR:  In an effort to secure farmer votes in the upcoming elections in Rajasthan, the Ashok Gehlot government has proposed the establishment of a commission to streamline the process of waiving farm loans. The government aims to introduce a special bill during the final Assembly session on August 2. If the Bill becomes law, it will greatly benefit farmers as banks and other financial institutions will no longer be able to seize and auction farmlands from those unable to repay their loans on time.

The Congress is facing flak for not being able to waive farmers’ loans in full as it had promised in the 2018 elections. The Gehlot government rolled out a waiver of Rs 14,000 crore for over 20.56 lakh farmers who had received loans from cooperative banks. Though the Congress has repeatedly asked the BJP government at the Centre to take urgent action for waiving the loans from nationalised, commercial and land development banks, the Centre has not allowed it.

While the nationalised banks come under the Centre’s jurisdiction, cooperative banks function under the state government. Once the commission under the new Bill is formed, it will prevent banks and financial institutions from pressuring farmers to recover loans in cases of crop failure due to any reason. Farmers will have the option to apply to this commission for loan waivers in such circumstances.

The State Farmers Debt Relief Commission will comprise five members, including a chairman who will be a retired High Court judge. Once an area is declared distressed by the Farmers’ Debt Waiver Commission, banks will be prohibited from taking any action to recover loans by selling, confiscating, or auctioning farmers’ properties.

LUCKNOW: In an apparent reference to disputes in Varanasi and Mathura, Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya said if the BJP looks for a temple in every mosque then people would start searching for a Buddhist monastery in every temple.

“The Badrinath and Kedarnath temples in Uttarakhand, the Jagannath Temple in Puri, the Ayyappa Temple in Kerala and the Vithoba temple in Pandharpur (Maharashtra) were Buddhist monasteries. These Buddhist monasteries were demolished and then Hindu religious shrines came up there. They were Buddhist monasteries till the eighth century,” he said on Sunday.

The SP national general secretary claimed there is ample historical evidence that all these temples were Buddhist monasteries.Advertisement

He said his intention is not to turn these temples into Buddhist monasteries “but, if you search for a temple in every mosque, then why should a Buddhist monastery not be searched for in every temple?” “BJP people under a conspiracy are raising the mosque-temple issue. They are looking for a temple in every mosque. This will cost them dearly. Because if they look for a temple in every mosque then people will start searching for a Buddhist monastery in every temple,” Maurya told reporters here.

Reacting to the statement, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said “insulting the Sanatan Dharma again and again” has become the habit of the Samajwadi Party and its leaders. He said Maurya’s remarks about “Baba Kedarnath, Baba Badrinath and Shri Jagannath Puri, the main centres of faith of Hindus, are not only controversial but also show his trivial mindset and petty politics”.

He said the statement has hurt the feelings of crores of Hindus of the country and Uttar Pradesh and created hatred in the society. He said Maurya apologise for the statement.

“And, Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party chief, should give his opinion on this subject and clarify if the Samajwadi Party agrees with it,” Chaudhary tweeted.

Maurya made similar remarks on Friday, inviting a strong reaction from BJP leader and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who had termed them “unfortunate” and said they reflect the “anti-national and anti-religious” thinking of the Congress and its allies.

Maurya responded to the criticism on Sunday.

“I had spoken about Badrinath and Kedarnath Dhaam and had said that from the end of the seventh century to the beginning of the eighth century, Badrinath was a Buddhist monastery, after which Shankaracharya had changed it and established it as a religious place for Hindus,” he said.

“I would like to tell the chief minister of Uttarakhand that everyone’s faith (aasthaa) is important. If you are worried about your ‘aasthaa’, then you should be worried about others’ ‘aasthaa’ as well,” he said.

BSP President Mayawati accused Maurya of trying to drive a wedge between communities ahead of the election.

“The latest statement of Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya that many temples including Badrinath were built by demolishing Buddhist monasteries and why a modern survey should be done not only of Gyanvapi Masjid but also of other major temples, is a purely political statement giving rise to new controversies,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.

Mayawati also asked Maurya why he never raised such a demand when was a minister in the BJP government.

“Maurya was a minister in the BJP government for a long time, why did he not put such pressure on his party and the government in this regard? And now creating such a religious controversy at the time of elections. Buddhist and Muslim communities are not going to be misled by them,” she said.

The disputes related to Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Masjid complex and Mathura’s Krishna Janmasthan Temple-Shahi Eidgah Majisd are being heard by courts.

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday alleged that the Narendra Modi government was “indifferent” to the pain and anguish of the people of violence-hit Manipur.

The Congress chief said MPs of the opposition alliance ‘INDIA’ who visited Manipur to assess the situation in the strife-torn state, heard heart-wrenching stories of pain from the people there.

“While Manipur faced turmoil, the Modi government appeared indifferent,” he said on Twitter while asserting that the divide between communities was “deeply concerning.”

“Despite time for poll rallies, self-PR train inaugurations, and attending BJP meetings, PM Modi seems to have no time to address the anguish and suffering of Manipur’s people or work towards resolving inter-community issues,” Kharde tweeted.

He also said, “The Modi government appears clueless and rudderless in handling the Manipur situation, evident in the absence of a comprehensive statement in Parliament.”

Over 50,000 people, including 10,000 children, are in relief camps. The facilities there are inadequate, especially for women, and there are shortages of medicines and food, Kharge said.

“Economic activities have come to a halt, with children unable to attend school, farmers ceasing their farming, and people grappling with both financial losses and psychological hardships,” Kharge said on Twitter.

A delegation of 21 MPs of the INDIA alliance visited Manipur over the weekend and met many people in relief camps set up for those affected by violence in the state.

RANCHI:  Nearly a year after the Congress had suspended three Jharkhand Congress MLAs, for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to topple the JMM-led alliance government, the party on Friday went back on the order against the trio. 

Jharkhand Congress President Rajesh Thakur announced the revoking of their suspension in the state Assembly. Former legislators Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachhap and Naman Bixal Kongari were arrested while they were travelling in their vehicle with 50 lahks in cash in Kolkata’s Howrah. 

The MLAs were arrested by the West Bengal police on July 30 last year. A day later, on July 31, the AICC issued suspension orders against the three. Since then, Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, Khijri legislator Rajesh Kachchap and Kolebira MLA Naman Bixal were under suspension and left no stone unturned for the withdrawal of the suspension orders

Bermo MLA Kumar Jaimangal had also lodged an FIR against the trio for making attempts to topple the Hemant Soren-led government. Jaimangal, in his FIR, also alleged that he was also offered gratification along with a definite ministerial berth to topple the present alliance government of JMM, Congress and RJD.