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W Bengal: 800 fall ill after eating ‘prasad’ served in a ceremony

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Prasad

Barasat: About 800 people have fallen ill after consuming ‘prasad’ distributed in a religious function at Mitpukuria in North-24 parganas district, a health official said today.

The affected people include those from neigbouring villages of Kalikapur, Sardarhati and Mallikpara.

They all complained of stomach pain, loose motion and vomiting after eating ‘prasad’ at the ceremony on Tuesday night, the district’s Chief Medical Officer (Health) Proloy Acharya said.

All 800 of them were admitted to several hospitals and Primary Health Centres on the following day, he added.

About 300 people continued to be under treatment in different health facilities including the Barasat hospital, Acharya said adding, that even today many people are coming for treatment with similar ailments.

The Health department has collected samples of the ‘prasad’ served on Tuesday, he said.

(PTI)

PM attacks Congress, then reaches out to Oppn for support

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modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached out to the opposition, saying he needs their support for ‘improvement’ in his government, even as he attacked the Congress over disruptions in Parliament while skipping the raging issues like JNU and Dalit student’s suicide.

Modi, speaking in the Lok Sabha, used wit and barbs as he responded to the attack by Congress over various initiatives of his government, including ‘Make in India’ and MNREGA.

Slamming the Congress for disrupting Parliament and stalling bills, he said the main opposition party was doing so because of “inferiority complex” of its top leaders. He also invoked the statements made by Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and first President Rajendra Prasad by reading out their statements against stalling of legislative business.

He deploredthe ‘tu tu, mai mai’ (blame game) attitude by political parties for “scoring points”, saying the officialdom rejoices over this and nation suffers.

“This government also needs improvement which cannot happen without your help. I am new, you are experienced. I need the benefit of your experience. Governments will come and go. Let us work shoulder to shoulder,” Modi said while replying to a debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address which was approved later.

He said a democratic country like India cannot be left at the mercy of the bureaucracy as he sought to underline the importance of the Legislature, saying even a single MP of any party should be treated like “Prime Minister”.

In his 75-minute speech, Modi, however, did not respond to the specific issues raised by Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders, like his visit to Pakistan, blackmoney, JNU and Dalit student Rohith Vemula’s suicide.

(PTI)

 

CM Siddaramaiah hands over the controversial watch to Assembly Speaker

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Siddaramaiah-watch

Bengaluru: Mired in a controversy over a luxury watch gifted to him, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday handed it over to the Speaker amid uproar in the state Assembly, declaring it a state asset.

As the Assembly was rocked by the controversy for the second consecutive day, an angry Siddaramaiah gave the watch and a letter to Speaker Kagodu Thimappa as BJP and JDS members continued to stage a dharna in the well of the House.

Siddaramaiah’s dramatic gesture came when the House reassembled after two adjournments with BJP and JDS persisting with their demand for a discussion on the issue. The Chief Minister said in the letter to the Speaker, who read it out, that he had paid “advance tax” for the watch.

He said the pre-owned “HUBLOT BIG BANG-301-M” wrist watch was presented to him by his Dubai-based NRI friend Dr Girish Chandra Varma in July last at Bengaluru as a personal gift. Siddaramiah also said Varma has no official dealings with Government of Karnataka or its organisations.

Opposition BJP leader Jagadish Shettar dismissed Siddaramaiah’s action as “high drama” and said he was doing so thinking that the controversy would end. A high-level probe by a central agency should be conducted, he said.

The Chief Minister is in the eye of a storm over the diamond-studded watch.

As controversy erupted, he declared last week that the watch, claimed to be worth Rs 70 lakh, would be declared as state asset and handed over to the government. As the Assembly met for the day, BJP members entered the well of the House and demanded that a discussion on the issue be allowed and Speaker should reconsider his decision on not allowing an adjournment motion on the issue.

However, Thimmappa, who rejected BJP’s appeal on Tuesday to allow adjournment motion, stuck to his decision. Following this, BJP continued its protest, stating that affidavit, documents and receipt relating to the watch had to be made public by Verma, who is said to have gifted it.

As both opposition and treasury benches were involved in war of words, the House was adjourned by the Speaker who called the floor leaders for a meeting. When the House reassembled, opposition members again entered the well and demanded a discussion.

Amidst sloganeering and protest by opposition, the Speaker even allowed introduction and passage of Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pension and Allowances (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015, aimed at making provision to provide family pension to family members of the member deceased before December 26, 1978 operative from February 22, 2014.

As the protest continued, the Speaker once gain adjourned the House till afternoon.

(PTI)

UN warns of hunger crisis in Central African Republic

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WFP says it only has about half of the funds needed to help 2.5 million people who are facing acute food shortages.

Families have been forced to sell their possessions, pull their children out of school and even resort to begging [AP]

Families have been forced to sell their possessions, pull their children out of school and even resort to begging [AP]

by Al Jazeera

At least half of the population or 2.5 million people in the Central African Republic are facing a hunger crisis, in a situation that has become dire, the World Food Programme said.

Bienvenu Djossa, WFP country director in CAR, said on Tuesday that the number of people battling hunger had doubled from 2015 and serious interventions had to be implemented to ensure the crisis did not deteriorate.

“It is serious. The situation is worse than last year,” Djossa said a statement.

“It is crucial that we continue helping the most vulnerable, who need emergency food assistance to survive. This is the time when people need the maximum help possible as it is also the lean season, when people struggle to have enough food to eat before the next harvest.”

Three years of bloodshed and the displacement of nearly one million people from their homes have disrupted harvests and sent food prices soaring in the volatile country.

The WFP’s call for CAR not to be forgotten comes as the UN revealed that overall crop production in 2015 remained 54 percent below the pre-crisis average.

“Some 75 percent of people in CAR depend on agriculture, and with the planting season starting in less than two months, boosting agriculture now is crucial to revitalising the economy and to stability in the country,” FAO Country Representative Jean-Alexandre Scaglia said in a press release on Monday.

The WFP said that families are so short of food that children receiving school meals under the WFP’s emergency programme put part of their serving in a plastic bag to take home.

Families have been forced to sell their possessions, pull their children out of school and even resort to begging.

The country suffered the worst crisis in its history in early 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters toppled then leader Francois Bozize. Christian militias responded by attacking the Muslim minority.

Killing and looting had almost halved the number of cattle and reduced the number of sheep and goats by almost 60 percent, the UN said. Damage to infrastructure and insecurity had also hit fishing.

An escalation of violence in September helped exacerbate a massive increase in food prices, the agencies said, with the price of beef almost double pre-crisis levels.

WFP said it had only secured about half the $89m it needs until the end of July to respond to the needs of 1.4 million people in CAR and neighbouring countries hosting CAR refugees.

Bishops covered up sex abuse of Pennsylvania children

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Cases of sexual abuse over four-decade period by Roman Catholic priests were covered up by US bishops, jury says.

The report contains explicit details of abuse cases, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died [File: Max Rossi/Reuters]

The report contains explicit details of abuse cases, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died [File: Max Rossi/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Hundreds of children in the US state of Pennsylvania have been sexually abused by about 50 Roman Catholic priests over four decades while bishops covered up their actions, a grand jury report said.

Released on Tuesday, the report found that former Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Bishop James Hogan, who died in 2005, and his successor, Joseph Adamec, who retired in 2011, worked to cover paedophile priests’ tracks.

Some local law enforcement agencies also avoided investigating abuse allegations, said state Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

“The heinous crimes these children endured are absolutely unconscionable,” Kane told reporters in unveiling the report, based on a two-year investigation.

“These predators desecrated a sacred trust and preyed upon their victims in the very places where they should have felt most safe.”

Revelations that some priests had habitually sexually abused children and that bishops had systematically covered up those crimes burst onto the world stage in 2002 when the Boston Globe reported widespread abuse in the Boston Archdiocese.

That report, which won a Pulitzer Prize and was the subject of last year’s Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight,” set off a global wave of investigations that found similar patterns at dioceses around the world. They led to hefty lawsuits and seriously undermined the church’s moral authority.

No charges filed

No criminal charges will be filed because the alleged incidents are too old to be prosecuted, Kane said.

Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York City, said: “Some of the victims… are just too traumatised to testify.”

Advocates for victims of sex assault have long urged lawmakers to give prosecutors more time to bring charges of sex assaults of minors, noting that particularly in the case of assaults by members of the clergy, victims can take years to come forward.

The report contains explicit details of scores of attacks, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died.

Many of the surviving priests were still serving parishes at the time the investigation began, Kane said, but all have since been removed by the current bishop.

“This is a painful and difficult time,” current Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak said in a statement. “I deeply regret any harm that has come to children.”

“We’re saddened but not the least bit surprised,” said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“It proves what we’ve long maintained: that even now, under the guise of ‘reform,’ bishops continue to deceive parishioners and the public about their ongoing efforts to hide abuse.”

India beat Sri Lanka to enter Asia Cup final

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Virat-srilanka

Mirpur: India rode on fine knocks by Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh to defeat Sri Lanka by five wickets in their Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Tuesday and enter the finals.

Coming in after the early fall of opener Shikhar Dhawan, Kohli anchored the innings with an unbeaten half-century as India overhauled the 139-run target with four balls to spare.

The Delhi lad remained not out on 56, with seven well-timed boundaries studding his 85-ball knock.

Yuvraj produced a power-packed innings, hitting 35 runs off 18 balls with three boundaries and an equal number of sixes.

India, who have won all the three matches they have played so far, thus assured themselves a spot in the final.

The men in blue are at the top of the five-team table with six points and even an unlikely defeat in the final group game against minniows United Arab Emirates will see them through to the summit clash.

Nuwan Kulasekara was the most successful among the Sri Lankan bowlers with figures of 2/21.

The Indian run chase was off to a rocky start with openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma departing early.

But Kohli and Suresh Raina came together to bring the innings back on track. While Kohli was the more aggresive of the two, Raina gave him good support from the other end.

The duo batted patiently, finding the gaps for the occasional boundary to add 54 runs between them.

Raina, who scored 25 runs off 26 balls with two hits to the ropes, was dismissed by Dasun Shanaka when he miscued an attempted big hit. The left-hander was surprised by the extra bounce and offered an easy high catch for Kulasekara at mid-off.

Yuvraj strode in and proceeded to plunder the Lankan bowling with some powerful hits. The veteran left-hander carried India within sniffing distance of the target before a bouncer from Perera carried the top edge to Kulasekara at fine leg.

Hardik Pandya followed Yuvraj back to the pavilion in the next over, but by then India were well on the way to victory.

Fittingly, Kohli hit the winning runs with a boundary off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.

Earlier, Sri Lanka produced a competitive total of 138/9 in their 20 overs.

For India, promising all-rounder Pandya (2/26), off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2/26) and young pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2/27) took two wickets each.

Veteran pacer Ashish Nehra (1/22), who bowled an excellent opening spell, also got a wicket.

Chamara Kapugedera (30) was the highest scorer among the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Asked to bat first on a greenish pitch, the Sri Lankan batsmen never really managed to settle down and lost wickets at regular intervals.

Sri Lanka suffered an early setback when opener Dinesh Chandimal was caught behind off Nehra’s bowling while attempting a big hit.

Bumrah piled on the pressure in the next over with a superb delivery which Shehan Jayasuriya edged to Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.

Dhoni’s decision to bring Pandya into the attack in place of Nehra brought immediate results as the all-rounder got rid of the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan with his very first ball.

Angelo Mathews seemed to be in good touch, hitting Pandya for a couple of boundaries. But the right-hander was undone by poor timimg when he got a thick inside edge onto the stumps.

Kapugedera and Milinda Siriwardana (22) tried to steady the innings with a 43-run partnership.

The duo handled the Indian bowling quite well, producing the occassional boundary as the Sri Lankans tried to come back into the game.

But the partnership came to an end when Siriwardana holed out Raina at long-on while trying to hit Ashwin out of the ground.

The Sri Lankans plunged into further trouble when Dasun Shanaka was run out off the last ball of the same over.

Thisara Perera (17) and Kulasekara (13 not out) then came up with a few bit hits in the closing stages of the innings to take their team to a competitive total.

(IANS)

Two JNU videos ‘manipulated’: forensic report

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kanhaiya-kumar-jnu

New Delhi: A Delhi government-ordered forensic probe of a set of video clippings of the controversial JNU event has found that two videos were “manipulated” where voices of persons not present in the clips were added.

Out of seven videos sent by the Delhi government to the Hyderabad-based Truth Labs, two have been found to be tampered with while the rest were authentic, sources said.

“In the manipulated clips, videos have been edited and voices have been added. The main report with a supplementary have been submitted to the Delhi government,” they said.

When asked whether the voices that were added were of persons not seen in the manipulated clips, they said “naturally”.

The Arvind Kejriwal led-government had on February 13 ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged raising of anti-national slogans on the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s campus on February 9.

Earlier, a video showing raising of anti-India slogans allegedly by outsiders at the event had given a fresh twist to the case.

In the video, the youths, whose faces were covered, could be seen raising slogans against India.

Several videos of the event have surfaced since the row broke out leading to the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition, triggering widespread protests.

A Delhi court on Tuesday sent JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, also arrested in connection with the same case, to 14 days judicial custody.

(Agencies)

‘Fair and Lovely’ scheme launched to convert black money into white: Rahul Gandhi

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Rahul-Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress vice president on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, saying it launched a “‘Fair and Lovely Yojana’ to convert black money into white money”.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said: “Nobody who has black money will be jailed under Modi’s ‘Fair and Lovely’ scheme. All those who have black money can make it white under this scheme.”

Gandhi was participating on the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President on his address to the joint sitting of parliament’s two houses, marking the beginning of the budget session.

He hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “Modi ji had promised that he will put people with black money behind bars, now they have come up with way to save those people.”

“I was shocked to see Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launching such scheme.”

He said the prime minister failed to fulfil his poll promise of bringing the black money from foreign countries.

Gandhi also raked up the issue of suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and said the prime minister neither called up his mother nor did he speak on the issue.

Gandhi slammed the prime minister for his silence over the violence done with students and media persons at a Delhi court.

“Why were you silent, Modi ji, when journalists, teachers and students were beaten,” he said.

On the ongoing Jawaharlal Nehru University row, Gandhi said: “I had heard (JNUSU president) Kanhaiya’s whole speech, not a word in his speech was anti-national.”

He said the government could not “crush the JNU” or the “poor people of the country”.

(Agencies)

No holy cows to protect, says Jaitley on Aircel-Maxis

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Aircel-Maxis

New Delhi: With new charges against former minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti surfacing over Aircel-Maxis deal, the government today asserted in Lok Sabha that there are “no holy cows” to protect and action will be taken against those found guilty, “howsoever important” one may be.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Enforcement Directorate (ED) and investigative wing of the Income Tax Department, during recent searches in connection with the Aircel-Maxis deal, have recovered several “incriminating” documents which are being scrutinised and charge sheets will be filed.

Replying to a short duration discussion on Aircel-Maxis deal in the wake of vociferous demand for action by AIADMK which has been disrupting the House since yesterday, Jaitley said the matter is being probed by three investigating agencies and it would be taken to the logical conclusion.

“No one will be spared. We have no holy cows to protect. The government is going to the root of each one of these cases,” said Jaitley, who also holds Corporate Affairs portfolio.

Refuting allegations that the government was going slow in the 2G and Aircel-Maxis cases as “absolutely incorrect”, he said in all these cases, “where CBI has come to a prima facie opinion that an offence has been committed, chargesheets have been filed and the trials are going on”.

Jaitley said, “Whatever was the stand of the earlier government, we have not been influenced by that stand at all. The investigative agencies have absolute freedom to professionally record the entire evidence and if they come to an opinion that some people prima facie guilty, the investigating agencies are free to take actions.”

For the second day today, Parliament proceedings have been disrupted by AIADMK members who were demanding action against Karti Chidambaram following reports that he has invested huge sums of money in various countries based on searches conducted at his premises and other related companies.

(PTI)

Priest gets 40-year jail term for molesting minor in Church

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Sanil K James

Kasaragod: Thrissur First Class Additional District and Sessions Court on Tuesday sentenced Sanil K. James, a pastor, to 40 years of rigorous imprisonment under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act) Act for molesting a minor girl.

The judge K.P. Sudheer also slapped a fine of Rs.20,000 on the pastor with Salvation Army Church, Peechi. According to the prosecution, the pastor hailing from Karukachal, Kottayam district, molested the 12-year-old girl, a seventh standard student, in April 2014, at his quarters on the church premises at Peechi.

The court found him guilty under IPC Section 376 (2) (rape) and POCSO Section 5 (S).The judge observed that the accused deserved maximum punishment for his most cruel act against a minor girl.

This is the biggest ever jail term given to an accused under the POCSO Act in the state, according to legal experts. Peechi police investigated the case on a complaint received by the Child Welfare Committee, Thrissur.

Umesh, circle inspector, Ollur, registered the FIR. Special Prosecutor Pius Mathew appeared for the prosecution. Child Welfare Committee Chairman P.O. George said there are more than 300 cases registered under the POCSO Act in Thrissur district alone.

Incidentally, another case has also been registered against the pastor with the Peechi police for molesting another girl belonging to SC/ST community. The trial in the case is yet to begin. The convict has been sent to Viyyur Central Prison.

(Agencies)

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