Archives for 2024

Mohania (Bihar): RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had “begged for forgiveness for past betrayals” before his parents, party supremo Lalu Prasad and ex-CM Rabri Devi, before they allied with the JD(U) president in 2022.

Yadav, who lost the Deputy CM’s chair last month when Kumar abruptly went back to the BJP-led NDA, made the claim at a rally in Mohania, in the state’s Kaimur district, which was organised as part of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

Breaking into the local dialect Bhojpuri, the young RJD leader said, “Nitish ji had, after begging for forgiveness, told my parents that the BJP was trying to split his party and wean away his MLAs”.

Kumar dumped the BJP and joined the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in 2022.

The RJD leader added: “We were initially not very inclined towards trusting him again. But there were talks with leaders across the country, all of whom were of the opinion that in the larger interest of the fight against BJP, we should agree. So we made a sacrifice”.

Calling his ex-boss “a tired Chief Minister”, the RJD leader said he is proud that in just 17 months the Mahagathbandhan made him give government jobs on an unprecedented scale.

“He (Kumar) had earlier mocked me by asking whether I would use my father’s money to pay them salary. But I had told him that our support to his government would require him to help us fulfil the promise of 10 lakh government jobs that I had promised to the people ahead of the 2020 assembly polls,” Yadav said.

Yadav claimed the Mahagathbandhan would have won the assembly polls, but for manipulations by the administration, which worked overtime to ensure that its candidates were shown defeated by margins of as low as 12 votes.

Fishing in troubled waters of the NDA, which Kumar has joined claiming he was there “for ever” even as the BJP has made it clear that it will not give up its ambition to form its own government in Bihar, Yadav said, “Now that Nitish ji is back with the BJP, there is no guarantee that he will not make a flip-flop again”.

Cries of “palturam (Mr turncoat)” emanated from the crowds, even as the RJD leader added that he had said in the assembly that Prime Minister Narendra Modi prides himself on his guarantees, but even he cannot guarantee that Nitish Kumar will not do another volte-face”.

Yadav’s averment came close on the heels of his father making it clear that the RJD’s “doors were always open” for Kumar, causing an indignant JD(U) to retort: “The famed padlock of Aligarh has now been placed on the doors”.

The young RJD leader added: “We asked the chief minister to at least explain why he was turning his back on us. But he could give no reason. We wonder if he is afraid of ED and CBI”.

Earlier, at a farmers’ congregation (Kisan Mahapanchayat) in the adjoining district of Rohtas, Yadav took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for paying no heed to the demands of cultivators who were staging a protest in Delhi.

“He does not have even two minutes to spare for the farmers. But he has time for Priyanka Chopra”, said Yadav, in an apparent reference to the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Bollywood star a few years ago.

Yadav also referred to his inability to join Gandhi in the first phase of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’s journey through Bihar last month.

“On one day, my father was made to appear before the ED and on the next day it was my turn. But we are not the ones who will be cowed down by such things,” he said.

Yadav had also joined Gandhi for a roadshow in Sasaram where, upon the former Congress president’s beckoning, he took to the wheel of the car for a brief while.

The Congress hailed the presence of the young RJD leader, sharing the video of Yadav behind the steering wheel with the slogan “Hum INDIA waale”, borrowed from a Bollywood song to signify that the opposition bloc was in high spirits, recent setbacks notwithstanding.

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA on Friday issued a show cause notice to Air India regarding the incident of an 80-year-old passenger who collapsed and later died after walking from a plane to the terminal at the Mumbai airport as he did not get a wheelchair.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had sought a report from Air India on the incident.

On Friday, DGCA said it has issued a show cause notice to Air India for not complying with the provisions of the relevant Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR). The airline has been asked to give its response in seven days.

In the wake of the incident, the regulator has also directed all airlines to ensure that an adequate number of wheelchairs are available for passengers who require assistance during embarking or disembarking from the aircraft during their journey.

Chandigarh, Feb 16: Haryana Police on Friday fired tear gas shells to disperse protesting farmers when they moved towards the barricades at the Shambhu border near Ambala, a day after talks between Union ministers and farmer leaders remained inconclusive.

The fresh confrontation comes on the fourth day of the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, to press the government to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Amid the impasse, the Union ministers and farmer leaders will meet on February 18 for the fourth round of talks. The two sides met on February 8, 12 and 15 as well but those talks remained inconclusive.

The Haryana Police on Friday released a series of video clips of several farmers purportedly pelting stones and attempting to provoke the security personnel at the Shambhu border.

In its post on X, the police asserted that “ruckus” cannot be allowed under the guise of the farmers’ movement. They said that 25 security personnel — 18 of Haryana Police and seven paramilitary force jawans — were injured in these clashes.

In one of the videos shared by the Haryana Police on X, many young protesters with faces covered could be seen hurling stones at the security personnel. In another video, protesters could be seen collecting stones to throw at the security personnel.

Meanwhile, farmer leaders spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ call claimed that the Haryana security personnel used “force” against protesters by hurling tear gas shells and firing rubber bullets at them, leaving many injured.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher accused the Centre of trying to “suppress” the voices of the protesters, claiming social media accounts of farmers and YouTubers have been suspended.

The farmers from Punjab began their march to Delhi on Tuesday but were stopped by security personnel at Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab’s border with Haryana. The protesters have stayed put at the two border points since then.

On the fourth day of the protest, a 63-year-old farmer, who was among the protesters at the Shambhu border, died of a heart attack on Friday.

According to officials, Gian Singh, from Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, complained of chest pain in the morning and was taken to the Civil Hospital in Punjab’s Rajpura. From there, he was rushed to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala where doctors declared him brought dead.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Pandher said that during the meeting with Union ministers a day ago, “we raised the issue of the suspension of Internet and Twitter (now X) handles of farmer leaders”.

Also alleging that the government has suspended the accounts of around 70 YouTubers who were showing the farmers’ protest, he said it appears “the government wants to suppress our voice.”

Pandher said that during the talks, they raised the issue of the use of “force” against farmers by the paramilitary personnel who fired tear gas shells at the protesters. He claimed that around 70 farmers have sustained serious injuries.

The farmer leader said the talks with the Union ministers were held in a positive atmosphere and various demands of the protesters, including a law on MSP and debt waiver, were discussed.

The government said they wanted to continue talks, Pandher said, adding that their ‘Delhi Chalo’ call still stands and the protesters were staying put at the Punjab-Haryana border so that a solution emerges through talks.

On Thursday, Pandher said during the meeting with ministers they raised the issue of tear gas shelling by the paramilitary forces on farmers at the Shambhu and Khanuri border points. He said they showed the shells to the ministers during the meeting.

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal demanded the release of farmers who were either arrested or detained by the Haryana police.

Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai represented the Centre at Thursday’s meeting. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema also joined the meeting.

After the five-hour-long talks on Thursday night, Munda said, “We will find a solution by sitting together.”

Meanwhile, farmers owing allegiance to different factions held demonstrations at several places in Punjab and Haryana in response to a call for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ by a farmers’ body, causing inconvenience to commuters.

Though there was a partial response to the bandh in Haryana, markets and commercial establishments at several places in Punjab remained shut. Protesters blocked national highways in Punjab’s Pathankot, Tarn Taran, Bathinda and Jalandhar. They also laid siege to several toll plazas in both the states.

In Haryana’s Hisar, bus services of the state roadways remained paralysed as the Haryana Roadways staff supported the call for ‘Bharat Bandh’. Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers’ Union also supported the bandh call while private operators did not ply buses.

Besides a legal guarantee of MSP, the farmers are demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.

Kota (Rajasthan): A Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) aspirant from Jharkhand was brought dead to a city hospital after he suddenly fell ill while chatting with friends at his paying guest accommodation, police on Friday said.

The 18-year-old boy, a student of class 12, appeared in the JEE-Mains exam held recently and scored good marks, Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhawani Singh said.

Parneet Roy, a resident of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, was chatting with his friends in their room at the paying guest accommodation facility here late Thursday night when he fell ill, the police officer said.

The friends made him rest for a bit and called his family members but when his condition worsened, they called an ambulance and took him to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead, he said.

According to DSP Singh, the boy was reportedly not suffering from any major disease, however, he had a cold and cough.

An autopsy was underway at the city’s MBS hospital and the report was awaited, he said.

The DSP said that the boy’s father, who reached Kota on Friday morning, requested for delay in the post-mortem until the other members of his family arrive.

The exact reason of the death would be clear only after the autopsy report, he added.

Speaking to the media outside the mortuary on Friday afternoon, the boy’s father Rajiv Ranjan Roy said that his son was a brilliant student and qualified the recent JEE-Mains exam with 98 percentile, and was sure of admission in IIT Mumbai.

The boy’s father said that his son never suffered from any disease and he would speak to him daily. He added that he, however, didn’t speak to his son on Thursday.

The boy’s father said that his son would some times speak of pressure of studies in the coaching institute but he was very strong and could never commit suicide.

He added that he demanded an impartial investigation to ascertain the actual cause of his son’ death.

The boy’s father said that his son was in Kota for two years and was promoted to the upper batch for outstanding performance in his test in the coaching institute in class 11.