Hyderabad: A massive fire broke out at the heritage Secunderabad Club building here in the early hours of Sunday damaging most parts of the structure, police said. However, there were no casualties, they said.

A police patrol team noticed the blaze at around 3.15 AM and alerted the Fire department and seven fire engines including one from the Army were rushed to the spot and flames were extinguished by 6 AM, a police official told PTI.

It was a major fire and based on preliminary investigation the cause of the fire is suspected to be a short circuit, the official said.

Visuals on social media showed the building completely engulfed in flames.

According to Secunderabad Club website, the Secunderabad Club was established by the British in 1878 and it is one of the oldest clubs in India. Located on a 22-acre campus, the Club’s century old Main Club House, carefully and aesthetically maintained, has been given Heritage status by the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority.

The club boasts of dining, reading, indoor and outdoor sports with its own cricket field and many recreational facilities. It may be the only members club to have its own dedicated Sailing Annexe, its website says.

BEIJING: The India-China bilateral trade touched a record high of over USD 125 billion in 2021, crossing the USD 100 billion-mark in a year when the relations hit a new low due to the prolonged standoff by the militaries in eastern Ladakh, while India’s trade deficit too mounted to over USD 69 billion, according to official data released on Friday.

The total trade between China and India in 2021 stood at USD 125.66 billion, up 43.3 per cent from 2020, state-run Global Times reported, quoting data from the General Administration of Customs.

China’s exports to India from January to December rose 46.2 per cent to USD 97.52 billion, while India’s exports to China grew by 34.2 per cent to USD 28.14 billion.

The trade deficit for India grew to USD 69.38 billion in 2021.

India has been highlighting its concerns over the growing trade deficit with China for over a decade and calling on Beijing to open its markets for India’s IT and pharmaceutical products.

Observers say much of China’s exports increase this year to India was attributed to the import of medical products and raw materials for India’s burgeoning pharmaceutical industry due to the massive second wave of COVID-19 and recurring bouts of the virus in the country.

The landmark increase of the bilateral trade crossing USD 100 billion went without much fanfare as the relations remained frosty over the lingering military standoff in eastern Ladakh.

The border standoff between the armies of India and China erupted on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides have gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in the Gogra area in August and in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake in February.

The two sides held the 14 round of Corps Commander-level talks on January 12 to resolve the standoff in the remaining areas and agreed to hold a new round of talks soon.

Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the mountainous sector.

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government is likely to cancel a rally to mark legendary freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary on January 23 as well as curtail the Repuplic Day programme on Red Road here, owing to the surge in COVID-19 cases, a state secretariat source said on Saturday.

Discussions regarding the possible measures were held during a meeting of senior officials, including Chief secretary H K Dwivedi and Home Secretary B P Gopalika late on Friday, he said.

“The situation is not favourable for celebrating Netaji’s birthday and Republic Day in a grand manner, as Covid infections are on the rise again and large gatherings cannot be allowed.

The rally on January 23 that was scheduled to be held from Red Road to Shyambazar is likely to be cancelled… The Republic Day programme could also be limited to only 30 minutes,” the source said.

The final call, however, will be taken by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday.

West Bengal had on Friday reported 22,645 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 18,63,697.

The death toll climbed to 20,013 after 28 more fatalities were reported.

CHANDIGARH:  The problems of Punjab Congress do not seem to end. Another controversy is in the making as the draft of the proposed manifesto for the upcoming election, which was sent to party high command by the manifesto committee headed by MP Partap Singh Bajwa, doesn’t contain the announcements made by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The Congress high command had set up the manifesto committee headed by Bajwa. The panel prepared the draft and sent it to the Punjab in-charge Harish Chaudhary.  Sources said the recent announcements made by Channi and Sidhu, including the ‘Punjab Model’ of the latter, are not part of the proposed manifesto.

“Both Channi and Sidhu neither attended the meetings which were called by Bajwa to discuss the manifesto nor did they send any documents of their announcements to the committee, hence their points were not incorporated in the draft manifesto,” said a leader.

Sources said either Chaudhary might send the draft manifesto back to the committee so that the announcements made by Channi and Sidhu could be incorporated or the high command would make the changes accordingly.

SRINAGAR: A fortnight after Kashmir Press Club (KPC) was granted re-registration under the Societies Registration Act 1860 and a day after the management of the top journalists’ body announced elections, the authorities put in abeyance the re-registration of the KPC as a society.

In its January 14, 2022, order to put re-registration of KPC on abeyance, Registrar of Societies, Director Industries and Commerce Kashmir stated that the re-registration granted under number 7427-Sof 2021 dated December 29, 2021, to KPC has hereby been kept in abeyance till the receipt of the final report from the Additional District Magistrate of Srinagar.

The KPC had on December 29, 2021, received a re-registration certificate under the Societies Registration Act 1860 from the Registrar of Societies Kashmir Division, Government of J&K.

After being granted re-registration, the KPC had announced the holding of elections on February 15, 2022.

The KPC elections were scheduled for July 2021 after the end of the two-year term of the first-elected body of journalists. However, the election got delayed due to the pending re-registration process of the Club.

The KPC, which has over 300 journalists as members, held its first election in the erstwhile state of J&K in 2019.

The Kashmir Press Club has called a meeting of its management body as well as the executive Committee members today to discuss the latest development. “The club management was legally bound and also had the mandate of the majority of its members to safeguard the interests of the Kashmir Press Club when it applied for re-registration following due course of law. The management body had been waiting for the official formalities to be put in place and as soon as that was communicated to it last week, the decision to hold the elections was taken and announced. However, with the new unfortunate development, the registration of the society has been put on hold which has advertently also stalled the election process for the new body that was set in motion,” reads a statement issued by KPC.

It stated that the management committee wants to put this on record that during its tenure it has run the KPC with professionalism and integrity. “It hopes that the institution, which has been established after a lot of efforts by the fraternity, continues to be allowed to function in the best interests of its members”.

Meanwhile, three local newspaper editors – Arshid Rasool of Daily Gadyal, Farooq Wani of Brighter Kashmir and Shafat Kira of Kashmir Vision — have written a letter to District Magistrate Srinagar alleging that the journalist fraternity of Kashmir is bereft of the proper and legal executive body of the Kashmir Press Club in the wake of the end of the two-year term of the previous body, which was running the affairs of the club.

The three editors have nominated an interim committee comprising nine people to run affairs of the Kashmir Press Club till elections are held.

Apprehending ‘unlawful activities’ in the district, prohibitory orders under Section 144 were promulgated with immediate effect.

MATHURA: Apprehending “unlawful activities” in the district, prohibitory orders under Section 144 were promulgated here with immediate effect, top district authorities on Friday said.

“Prohibitory orders will remain in force till March 12,” Navneet Singh Chahal, District Magistrate Mathura said.

He said the orders have been imposed under apprehension of unlawful activities during festivals of different communities and few competitive examinations scheduled to take place.

NEW DELHI:  All private vehicles carrying up to eight persons will now have six airbags. Union Minister of Transport Nitin Gadkari has approved a draft gazette notification which will make six airbags compulsory.

The move is aimed at enhanced passenger safety. It is likely to result into cost escalation of vehicles. The new regulation making side curtain airbags mandatory for new vehicles will ensure safety for the occupants in case of side impacts.

This move was under deliberation over a few months. Earlier, two airbags — one for the driver seat and another for the other front seat — were made mandatory in July 2019 and January 2022, respectively. Now, four additional airbags are mandated, including two side and torso airbags and two side curtain or tube airbags covering all outboard passengers. Gadkari informed this via tweets on Friday.

“In order to enhance the safety of the occupants in motor vehicles carrying upto eight passengers, I have now approved a Draft GSR Notification to make a minimum of six Airbags compulsory,” Gadkari said.
Adding a frontal airbag to a car costs between Rs 5,000-8000, while a side and curtain airbag (which is included in the total count) can cost much more. This would translate into an increase of nearly Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 in the prices of small to mid-level segment vehicles.

KOTTAYAM: A court in Kerala on Friday acquitted Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the charges of raping a nun in a convent in the state, citing various reasons including the victim’s inconsistent version of incidents and lack of corroborative evidence to prove the prosecution case.

The complainant is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation under the Jalandhar Diocese.

Acquitting the Bishop, judge of the Additional District and Sessions Court I, Kottayam, in the order said the victim’s claim that she was raped on 13 occasions under duress cannot be taken reliance on the basis of her solitary testimony.

Observing that there was no consistency in the victim’s statement, the court said the grievance projected by her to her companion sisters was that the accused was taking retaliatory steps for not yielding to his sexual desires, whereas her version before the court was that she was forced to do sexual intercourse with the accused on 13 occasions including fingering on the first occasion.

“Prosecution has failed to give proper explanation for the inconsistent version”, it said.

Noting that the victim’s original version to the doctor was that there is no history of penetrative sex, the court referred to various judgments and said in view of the victim’s inconsistent version, it is of the view that she cannot be categorised as a sterling witness and also cannot be categorised as a wholly reliable witness.

The court said apart from the victim’s testimony, “there is no corroborative evidence to prove the prosecution case”.

“The police could not seize the mobile phone used by the victim which would have provided some input into the alleged vulgar messages sent by the accused. The explanation offered for the non-production of the phone is thoroughly dissatisfactory”, the court said.

It said the laptop also was not subjected to scientific analysis, as it is claimed that the hard disk got damaged.

The court said this was a case in which the grain and chaff were inextricably mixed up.

“It is impossible to separate the grain from the chaff. There are exaggerations and embellishments in the version of the victim. She has also made every attempt to hide certain facts”, it said.

The court said it was evident that the victim was swayed under the influence of others who had other vested interests in the matter.

“The in-fight and rivalry and group fights of the nuns, and the desire for power, position and control over the congregation is evident from the demand placed by PW1 (victim) and her supporting nuns who were ready to settle the matter if their demands for a separate region under the diocese of Bihar is accepted by the church,” it said.

“As held by the Hon’ble apex (Supreme) court in Jayaseelan (supra) when it is not feasible to separate truth from falsehood, when grain and chaff are inextricably mixed up, the only available course is to discard the evidence in toto.

“In the said circumstances, this court is unable to place reliance on the solitary testimony of PW1 (victim) and to hold the accused guilty of the offences charged against him,” the court said in its order acquitting Mulakkal of the offences under various IPC sections.

A visibly relieved and emotional Mulakkal, who arrived in the court to hear the verdict, burst into tears, hugged his followers and lawyers, sharing his joy over the verdict.

“Daivathinu Sthuthi (praise the Lord),” he said when reporters repeatedly sought his reaction.

A group of nuns of Kuravilangad Convent here, who were standing with the victim, were on the verge of tears when they said they were yet to believe such a verdict came out from the court and they did not know what had happened.

The survivor and her supporters stay in the Kuravilangad convent in Kottayam.

Sister Anupama, who was the face of the nun’s years-long fight for justice, said they would surely challenge the verdict in the higher court and take forward the fight of their hapless colleague.

“We will continue our stay in the convent and take forward our fight till our sister gets justice. Police and prosecution showed justice to us but we did not get the expected justice from the judiciary,” the nun told reporters.

Criminal lawyer B Raman Pillai, who led the Bishop’s legal team, said they have got the right to file the appeal against the verdict.

“Even if they go for appeal, there is no tension as prosecution charges against the Bishop are false,” Pillai told PTI.

Explaining the factors that contributed to the verdict in his party’s favour, the lawyer said the prosecution case was very weak, investigation was very poor and statements of most of the witnesses came in favour of the accused because they were telling the truth.

Investigators, lawyers and social activists who stood with the nun in her fight against Mulakkal expressed shock over the verdict, saying it was totally unexpected.

Terming the verdict as “very, very unfortunate” and “unnatural’, senior IPS officer S Harishankar, who had led the special investigation team in the rape case, said 100 per cent conviction was expected in the case and the verdict would be an “astonishment” for the entire legal system of the country.

“An appeal will be filed in the higher court challenging this verdict. The state police chief already gave instructions in this regard,” he told reporters.

Mulakkal is the first Indian Bishop arrested in connection with a rape case.

In her complaint to the police in June, 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by Mulakkal between 2014 and 2016.

The SIT arrested the Bishop in September 2018 and charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

Trial in the case, which started in November 2019, had concluded on January 10.

The court had restrained the print and electronic media from publishing any matter relating to the trial in the case without its permission.