Udhagamandalam : A migrant worker was killed and another sustained injuries after soil caved in on them here on Wednesday while they were constructing a ‘retaining wall’, police said.

The deceased was identified as Rizwan (22).

Chief Minister M K Stalin condoled Rizwan’s death and said the state government would make arrangements to send his body to his native place. He announced Rs two lakh as ex-gratia to the family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the other worker undergoing treatment.

Rizwan and his co-worker were rescued from the spot and rushed to the local government hospital. Doctors, upon examination, declared Rizwan dead.

A total of four workers, all from Jharkhand, were engaged in the construction of the wall meant to prevent landslips, when the incident occurred, officials added.

Personnel from the Fire and Rescue Services and local people rescued the trapped workers after a nearly 90-minute struggle.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

Nahan: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said it’s been 15 months since the people of the state rejected the BJP, but it was still struggling to digest the defeat and trying to capture the reins of power through money power.

Addressing a public meeting in Shillai area of Sirmaur district, the CM blamed the BJP for the ongoing political crisis in the state and alleged that the BJP was trying to murder the democracy.

He made the remarks after inaugurating or laying foundation stones of development projects worth Rs 110 crore in Shillai assembly constituency

Sukhu said such unethical practices were never witnessed in Himachal’s politics and the people will not forgive the forces who were trying to make the state unstable.

“No conspiracy of BJP will be allowed to be succeeded and the Congress government will complete its five-year term comfortably,”he said.

Expressing his resolve to fight the ongoing political crisis in the state Congress, Sukhu said he has 35 years of experience in active politics which were full of struggle.

“I am not a power hungry person. I was offered a ministerial berth in Himachal Pradesh by former chief minister Virbhadra Singh many times, but I chose to be in the organisation and struggle for the improvement of the party throughout my career,” he said.

“For the welfare of the state, I will fight in every situation with my full ability, I won’t give up so easily,” he added.

Sukhu said that the six Congress rebel MLAs are regretting their act of backstabbing the party. They will never be forgiven by the people, he said.

These MLAs broke the trust reposed in them by the thousands of voters and betrayed the values of ‘Devbhumi’ Himachal Pradesh, which is unacceptable to its people, he said.

Accusing the BJP for financial is management, Sukhu said that when he took over the coffers were empty and there was no money to run even the day-to-day expenses of the government.

After struggling for the past 15 months to save the money, plugging all routes of corruption, the state government has earned an additional Rs 2,200 crore which are now being used in giving pension to women, improving health services, and education and running several welfare activities in the state, Sukhu said.

Assam Congress leader Suruj Dehingia joins BJP

Guwahati: Assam Congress leader Suruj Dehingia on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after being denied ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Dehingia wanted to contest the polls from the Jorhat constituency, from where the Congress on Tuesday named its Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi.

The Congress also expelled Dehingia, a state general secretary.

He defected to the saffron party at BJP’s state headquarters here in presence of Rajya Sabha MP Pabitra Margherita, several local ministers and MLAs.

Almost simultaneously, the Assam Congress issued an order expelling Dehingia with immediate effect, but did not cite any reason.

“Hon’ble President Assam PCC, Shri Bhupen Kumar Borah has expelled Shri Suruj Dehingia, General Secretary, APCC from Indian National Congress with immediate effect,” the order signed by APCC General Secretary (Organisation) Bipul Gogoi said.

Gaurav Gogoi is a Lok Sabha MP from Kaliabor, which has been rechristened as Kaziranga after the delimitation exercise last year.

This time, he will contest against incumbent BJP MP Topon Kumar Gogoi in the neighbouring prestigious Jorhat seat.

Out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress announced candidates for 12 seats. It has offered Dibrugarh seat to alliance partner Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), while no decision has been taken yet on Lakhimpur constituency.

The BJP named 11 Lok Sabha candidates from Assam. The remaining three seats are left for allies — two for AGP and one for United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL).

The BJP has nine MPs in the current Lok Sabha from the state, while its allies AGP and UPPL have no representation. The Congress holds three seats and the AIUDF one, while another is an Independent candidate.

New Delhi: The central government has directed states to ban the sale and breeding of 23 breeds of ferocious dogs, including Pitbull Terrier, American Bulldog, Rottweiler and Mastiffs, amid rising instances of people dying due to pet dog attacks.

The directive issued to states and Union Territories bars people from keeping as many as 23 breeds of dogs as pets.

In a letter dated March 12 to chief secretaries of all states and UTs, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying also said that these breeds of dogs, which have already been kept as pets, should be sterilised to prevent further breeding.

Flagging serious recent issues of death of human beings due to dog bites by some ferocious breeds of dogs kept as pets, the department said it has received representations from citizens, citizen forums and Animal Welfare Organisations (AWOs) to ban some of the breeds of dogs from keeping them as pets and other purposes.

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying had set up an expert committee under the chairmanship of the Animal Husbandry Commissioner with members from various stakeholder organisations and experts in view of the representations.

The panel has identified 23 breeds of dogs, including mixed and cross breeds, as ferocious and also dangerous for human lives.

Pitbull Terrier, Tosa Inu, American Staffordshire Terrier, Fila Brasileiro, Dogo Argentino, American Bulldog, Boerboel Kangal, Central Asian Shepherd Dog and Caucasian Shepherd Dog are among the breeds sought to be banned from the Centre.

Other breeds include South Russian Shepherd Dog, Tornjak, Sarplaninac, Japanese Tosa and Akita, Mastiffs, Terriers, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Wolf Dogs, Canario, Akbash Dog, Moscow Guard Dog, Cane Corso and Bandog.

“…the above dog breeds, including crossbreeds, shall be prohibited for import, breedings, selling as pet dogs and other purposes,” the letter said, quoting the recommendations of the expert panel.

The Centre’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying has asked local bodies and state-level departments of animal husbandry not to issue any license or permit for the sale and breeding of banned dog breeds.

The Centre has published the Prevention of Cruelty to the Animal (Dog Breeding and Marketing) rules, 2017 and the Prevent of Cruelty to Animal (pet shop) rules, 2018.

In the letter, Joint Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying O P Chaudhary said implementation of the rules is vested in local bodies and state animal welfare boards as well as the Department of Animal Husbandry.

Mumbai A 27-year-old man allegedly hanged himself from a tree inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) here on Wednesday morning, a police official said.

The deceased, Amir Tawaf Khan, lived at Khindi Pada, which falls within the limits of the Mulund and Bhandup suburbs.

The body was handed over to the man’s family for final rites after post-mortem and other legal formalities, he said.

As the news of the man’s death spread, many morning walkers and nature enthusiasts sought to know if it was the result of an animal attack, said Pawan Sharma, who is the honorary wildlife warden with the state Forest Department.

Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday charged that the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act ahead of the Lok Sabha polls was “dirty vote bank politics” of the BJP and asserted that people want this law to be repealed.

Kejriwal also slammed the CAA implementation charging that the BJP wanted to bring in poor minorities from neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, and settle them in the country giving them jobs and houses that rightfully belonged to local residents.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva hit back at Kejriwal, accusing him of hurting the sentiments of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Christian refugees living in the country.

The Citizenship Amendment Act seeks to grant citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.

At a press conference, Kejriwal said, “With this law, the BJP government at the Centre has opened the floodgates for the arrival of a large number of poor minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh in India.”

Even if 1.5 crore of the minorities in neighbouring countries come to India following the implementation of the CAA, a “dangerous” situation will arise, he claimed.

“It will be a migration bigger than that of 1947… Law and order will go for a toss. There could be an increase in rape and dacoity,” alleged Kejriwal who is also the convener of the Aam Aadmi Party.

There are 3.5 crore minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, he said and alleged, “The BJP wants to spend the money of our people in settling poor migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh by giving them houses and jobs here.”

He claimed that the BJP stands to gain in the coming elections as poor minorities from the neighbouring countries settling in India will become its vote bank. Implementation of the CAA ahead of the Lok Sabha polls was a “dirty vote bank politics” of the BJP, Kejriwal charged.

The country demands scrapping of CAA, he said and asked people to vote against the BJP if the law is not repealed. Kejriwal said that had the BJP government at the Centre done its work in its 10-year rule, there would have been no need for it to implement CAA ahead of the polls.

“People in India are facing back-breaking inflation…and the youth are forced to run from pillar to post for jobs,” the AAP leader said.

“On one hand there is a huge army of unemployed in the country and the BJP government in Haryana is sending youths to die in Israel where a war is going on. On the other hand, the BJP wants to settle Pakistanis in India and provide employment to their children.”

“What kind of nonsense is this to bring people from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to India and give the rightful employment of our children to them,” Kejriwal charged, adding, “In the last 10 years, 11 lakh industrialists and businessmen left India. If the BJP must bring people to the country, it should bring them back to provide jobs.”

Delhi BJP president Sachdeva hit back at Kejriwal and claimed that the Delhi chief minister “doesn’t even understand that CAA is a legislation to provide shelter to all the persecuted minorities (from neighbouring countries) and not to strip anyone of their citizenship”.

Kejriwal needs to understand that “refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan are our own and will remain so”, he added.

Kejriwal in a post on X asked people will they like people from Pakistan living in slums outside their houses.

“With the implementation of CAA law, a large number of people from Pakistan and Bangladesh will come and settle in our country. Where will they be settled? Would you like people from Pakistan to live in a slum in front of your house? Would you feel safe? Law and order will collapse. And who will these people be? What will happen to the security of the country?” he said in the post.

He also alleged that CAA was a “big national threat” and people of the Northeast, especially Assam, are most severely hit by it as their “local language and culture is at stake due to illegal migration from Bangladesh into the state.”

Delhi Cabinet minister Atishi in a press conference slammed BJP asking “whey do they want to bring people from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to India when unemployment is high in our country.” She also asked what will happen if some of these refugees turn to crime and compete for jobs with the local youth.

Ballia (UP :After a video went viral on social media in which a transgender person was being forced to lick slipper after spitting on it, police has registered an FIR against five persons of the same community, officials on Wednesday said.

The video also showed tonsuring of the heads of two trangenders by the accused, they said.

An FIR has been registered at Ubhaon police station against five transgender on the complaint of one Puja (transgender), a resident of Bibipur village, Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohd Faheem Qureishi said.

In the FIR, Puja alleged that they were performing dance in Bahorwa village on March 10 when some persons took Naina and Payal — both transgenders — forcibly on a vehicle.

A video went viral on social media on Wednesday in which a trangender is being made to lick a slipper by spitting on it. Along with this, hair tonsuring of two transgenders was also seen in the video.

The Deputy SP said that the incident was the fallout of a dispute over jurisdiction between two groups of transgenders.

The police is investigating the case, he added.