Archives for September 2024

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A man was assaulted in Maharashta’s Beed city in the early hours of Friday allegedly by five persons who suspected he was a cattle transporter, a police official said.

At around 12:15am, victim Mohammad Hazek (28) took the photograph of a cow that was hit and injured by a four-wheeler and sent it to his fiancée over phone, the official said.

“While walking back home, five men hit him with sticks after accusing him of being a cattle transporter. They thought so because he had taken a photograph of the injured cow. On his complaint, four persons identified as Mandar Deshpande (30), Omkar Lande (23), Anil Ghodke (26) and Rohit Lolge were arrested,” the Beed city police station official said.

They have been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt and other offences, the official added.

An 11-year-old student of a government school was allegedly sexually assaulted in her classroom by a self-defence trainer on Friday in Sultanpuri area of outer Delhi, triggering protests, police said.

The police have arrested the accused, Satish (45), who was conducting self defence classes for free of cost through an NGO, they said. He was not a regular teacher at the school.

Education minister Atishi has ordered an “immediate comprehensive and detailed inquiry” into the matter, said a statement from the Delhi government.

“The most stringent and decisive actions will be be taken based on the findings. The government remains firmly committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all students,” it said.

A senior police officer said the family members and their neighbours gathered outside the police station and demanded action against the accused.

According to the victim’s father, his daughter called him in the afternoon stating that her sports teacher touched her inappropriately during the class and threatened her during the act.

He further said that they approached the school principal and also informed the local police about the matter.

On Friday at 12.12 pm, information was received regarding sexual harassment by school teacher, police said.

A case under sections 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered at Sultanpuri police station. Her counselling and medical examination is being conducted, police said.

Further investigation is underway, police added.

Two coaches of Indore-Jabalpur Express train derailed on Saturday morning when it was approaching the Jabalpur station in Madhya Pradesh, railway officials said.

No passenger was injured in the derailment that occurred around 5.40 am, they said.

Restoration work is underway and a committee has been formed to probe the incident, according to them.

Jabalpur station falls under the West Central Railway (WCR) zone.

“Two coaches of the Indore-Jabalpur Superfast Express (22191) derailed when the train was approaching platform number 6 of the Jabalpur station,” an official said.

The derailed coaches were positioned just behind the engine, he said, adding that the derailment took place around 50 metres away from the platform.

Madhur Verma, senior Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM) of WCR’s Jabalpur Rail Division, “The train’s scheduled arrival time is 5.35 am. The derailment occurred at 5.38 am when the train was about to enter the Jabalpur station. The loco pilot immediately stopped the train and saved other coaches from getting dragged.”

“Two coaches adjoining the engine got derailed, but fortunately, no passenger was injured in the incident,” he said.

The passengers got off the train and traffic on the adjoining tracks was stopped for around half an hour, Verma said.

“A multi-departmental inquiry committee has been constituted to carry out a probe,” he said.

There was no major impact on the railway traffic as only platform number six of the station was closed for operations, he said.

Harshit Shrivastava, chief public relations officer of the West Central Railway said, “The train was running at the dead-stop speed of 5 kmph when the incident occurred.”

The cause behind the derailment will be known after a probe, he said, adding that railway traffic on the route was normal and efforts to re-rail the derailed coaches were on.

Vistara on Saturday said it is dispatching an alternative aircraft along with a fresh set of crew to fly the passengers of its Mumbai-Frankfurt flight to their destination after it was diverted to Erzurum Airport in Turkey due to an alleged bomb threat on Friday.

The substitute aircraft is expected to arrive at the Turkish airport by 12.25 (local time) and depart for Frankfurt with all passengers by 14.30 hours (Local time), Vistara said in an updated statement of X (formerly Twitter).

The flight UK 27, operating on Mumbai-Frankfurt route, departed from Mumbai at 1.01 pm on Friday after a delay of an hour and was scheduled to arrive in Frankfurt (Germany) at 5.30 pm (local time).

The Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft was, however, diverted to Turkey after the airline’s crew on-board found a paper note stating that there was a bomb on the aircraft, Vistara sources had said.

According to an AP report, the aircraft had 247 passengers and crew on board.

The flight landed safely at Erzurum Airport at 1905 (local time) on Friday, the airline had said.

“Since the crew have exceeded their duty time limitation, we are sending an alternate aircraft, with a fresh set of crew, to Erzurum Airport, Turkey, which is expected to arrive there by 1225 hours (local time) and depart for Frankfurt, with all customers, by 1430 hours(local time),” Vistara said in its updated statement.

It said that all the necessary checks have been conducted and the customers, along with the crew and aircraft, have been cleared by the security agencies.

In the meantime, all efforts are being made to minimize inconvenience to customers, including offering them refreshments and meals, Vistara said in the statement.

On Friday the airline had said its Flight UK27 from Mumbai to Frankfurt, “has been diverted to Turkey (Erzurum airport) due to security reasons and has landed safely at 1905 hours”, without divulging the number of passengers and crew on board the aircraft.

New Delhi: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir was a “massive booster dose” for the party and heralded a change in the country’s politics.

“Today is the 2nd anniversary of the start of the truly transformational Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra. Over 200 Bharat Yatris led by Rahul Gandhi completed the 4000 km long yatra, overwhelmingly on foot, over a period of 145 days and covering 12 states and 2 UTs,” Ramesh said.

“This yatra led to unprecedented connectivity and collectivity and was a massive booster dose for the Indian National Congress. It heralded a change in the politics of our country as well,” he said.

It provided the impetus for the Manipur to Mumbai Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra during Jan-March 2024, Ramesh added.

Rahul Gandhi launched the yatra from Kanyakumari on September 7, 2022. It culminated on January 30, 2023 as Gandhi capped his ambitious 145-day journey in Srinagar.

During the course of the yatra, he addressed 12 public meetings, more than 100 street corner meetings and 13 press conferences. He had over 275 planned walking interactions and more than 100 sitting interactions.

With over 4,000 kilometres under his belt, Gandhi had managed to catch the attention of his supporters as well as detractors. The march saw participation from a cross-section of society, including film and TV celebrities such as Kamal Haasan, Pooja Bhatt, Riya Sen, Swara Bhasker, Rashami Desai, Akanksha Puri and Amol Palekar.

Besides, writers and military veterans, including former Army chief Gen (Retd) Deepak Kapoor and ex-Navy chief Admiral (Retd) L Ramdas, and noted people such as former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and ex-finance secretary Arvind Mayaram had also participated in the yatra.

Opposition leaders such as National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Sanjay Raut and the NCP’s Supriya Sule, had also walked alongside Gandhi at various points in time during the march.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court, on Thursday, issued a notice in response to a contempt plea filed by ANI Media Private Limited against Wikipedia. ANI alleged non-compliance with a judicial order directing Wikipedia to disclose the identities of individuals who edited ANI’s Wikipedia page.

Justice Navin Chawla expressed strong disapproval of Wikipedia’s counsel’s argument that it took time for the entity to appear before the court as it is not based in India. The judge remarked, “If you don’t like India, don’t work here,” and issued the notice on ANI’s contempt plea.

defamation lawsuit against Wikipedia stems from allegedly defamatory content published on its Wikipedia page. The court had earlier directed Wikipedia to disclose the subscriber details of three individuals involved within two weeks.

Justice Chawla also hinted at the possibility of asking Wikipedia to cease its business operations in India and requesting the government to block the platform if non-compliance continues.

The court has summoned Wikipedia’s authorized representative to appear in person at the next hearing.

Lucknow: A neurology patient died after an ambulance driver and his aide allegedly molested his wife, forcibly removed his oxygen mask, and threw him out of the vehicle, according to a complaint filed by the victim’s wife.

The incident occurred while the woman was transporting her husband from a hospital in Indiranagar, Lucknow, to their home in Siddharth Nagar district on August 29. The couple had hired the ambulance from the Ghazipur (Indiranagar) police station area after being unable to meet the hospital expenses.

During the journey, the driver allegedly coerced the woman to sit in the front seat to avoid police checks. Once seated, the driver and his companion reportedly began molesting her. Despite the victim’s protests and her husband’s attempts to intervene, the assailants continued their actions.

As the situation escalated, the driver and his aide stopped the ambulance near Chhawani police station, removed the patient’s oxygen mask, and threw him out of the vehicle. The woman’s brother, who was accompanying them, was held hostage in the driver’s cabin.

The assailants allegedly looted Rs 10,000 in cash, the woman’s jewelry, and other belongings before fleeing the scene. The woman managed to contact emergency services, and her husband was later admitted to Basti district hospital by a 108 ambulance. He was subsequently referred to the Medical College in Gorakhpur, where he succumbed to his condition.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s separate pleas seeking bail and challenging his arrest by the CBI in the alleged excise policy scam.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard arguments put forward by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal. Thank you for the assistance. Judgment reserved the bench said after the lawyers concluded their arguments.

Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the the corruption case filed by the central agency.

The AAP chief was arrested by the CBI on June 26.

The Delhi High Court had on August 5 upheld the arrest of the chief minister as legal, and said there was no malice in the acts done by the CBI which was able to demonstrate how the AAP supremo could influence witnesses who could muster the courage to depose only after his arrest.

The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.

According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.