Banda (UP): A Dalit family has left their home in a village here after they were allegedly beaten up and threatened with dire consequences by local strongmen for using a government hand pump, a family member claimed on Monday.

The police have booked three people in connection with the incident. However, they did not comment on the family’s claim of leaving their house.

A member of the Dalit family from Tendura village under Bisanda police station told PTI that on December 25, he along with his father had gone to get water from the hand pump. Some strongmen living in their neighbourhood beat him and his 80-year-old father with sticks for using the hand pump.

He claimed the strongmen also threatened to burn him and his father alive in their home.

The family member said they left their home because of the fear of the strongmen and are now living in a hut in a farm.

In an application to the superintendent of police, the family alleged that though the local police has registered a case, there is no mention of injuries sustained by the octogenarian father.

SHO of Bisanda police station Narendra Pratap Singh told PTI that it is a case of beating that is being investigated by the Baberu circle officer. On the basis of the complaint lodged by the family, a case has been registered against three people.

Mumbai: BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case of 2008, appeared before a special NIA court here on Monday.

Thakur remained in the box reserved for accused persons at the back of the courtroom along with four other co-accused in the case, which is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

On December 19, 2020, Special Judge P R Site had given “last chance” to Thakur to appear before the court.  He had expressed displeasure over her failure to appear before the court twice last month.

Earlier, in 2019, the court had said the seven accused persons in the case, all of whom are out on bail, should appear before it at least once a week.

On Monday, Thakur and four other accused – Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Sameer Kulkarni, Ramesh Upadhyay and Sudhakar Chaturvedi – appeared before the court.

The two other accused – Ajay Rahirkar and Sudhakar Dwivedi – were absent.

One witness was also present in the court, but his cross-examination could not be done as the advocate for accused Dwivedi was not available.

The court posted the trial for hearing on Tuesday.

After the regular functioning of the court resumed in November last year, following easing of the coronavirus- induced restrictions, the court had directed all the seven accused in the case to remain present before it on December 3.

However, most of the accused, including Thakur, skipped the court that day, citing the pandemic situation. The court then asked them to appear before it on December 19.

Thakur again did not appear that day and her lawyer told the court that she was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi for treatment.

The court then directed Thakur to appear before it in January 4, and said this was the last chance given to her.

Thakur, who is the BJP MP from Bhopal, had last appeared before the court in June 2019 after it ordered the seven accused to remain present once a week.

However, she had sought exemption from appearance on various occasions since then.

The trial in the case came to a halt in March last year following the lockdown imposed across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, the special NIA court resumed the trial. So far, around 140 witnesses out of the total 400 have been examined.

On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 others injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went-off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra.

The court framed terror charges against Purohit, Thakur and five other accused in October 2018.

The accused in the case have been charged under Sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

They have also been charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups), and relevant provisions of the Explosive Substances Act.

New Delhi: The seventh round of talks between protesting farmer unions and three central ministers got underway here on Monday afternoon to break the over-a-month-long deadlock on recent farm laws.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, are holding the talks with the representatives of 40 farmer unions at the Vigyan Bhawan.

The meeting began with paying respects to the farmers who lost their lives during the ongoing protest, sources said.

On December 30, the sixth round of talks was held between the government and the farmer unions, where some common ground was reached on two demands — decriminalisation of stubble-burning and continuation of power subsidies.

However, no breakthrough has been reached so far on the two main demands of the protesting farmers — a repeal of the three recent farm laws and a legal guarantee to the MSP procurement system.

On Sunday, Tomar met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed the government strategy to resolve the current crisis at the earliest, sources said.

Tomar discussed with Singh “all possible options” to find a “middle path” to resolve the crisis, they added.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various Delhi borders for over a month against the three laws. They have stayed put despite heavy rains and waterlogging at protest sites over the last couple of days, besides severe cold weather conditions prevailing in and around the national capital.

Enacted in September 2020, the government has presented these laws as major farm reforms and aimed at increasing farmers’ income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the MSP and “mandi” (wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

The government has maintained that these apprehensions are misplaced and has ruled out repealing the laws.

While several opposition parties and people from other walks of life have come out in support of the farmers, some farmer groups have also met the agriculture minister over the last few weeks to extend their support to the three laws.

Last month, the government had sent a draft proposal to the protesting farmer unions, suggesting seven-eight amendments to the new laws and a written assurance on the MSP procurement system. The government has ruled out a repeal of the three agri laws.

Nelyadi: In a tragic incident of suicide, a young woman poured kerosene and set herself on fire at Nelyadi in the district. 

The deceased young woman has been identified as Navya Joseph (21), daughter of V.J Joseph, resident of Nelyadi and owner of Nelyadi Naveen Interlock.

It is learned that Navya had completed her BBA degree from Mangaluru’s St Aloysius College in the previous academic year and was spending her day at home. On Sunday night, around 10.30 pm, she had retired into her room to sleep and the family found that the door to her room remained closed until 8 am on Monday. Alarmed by this, her mother tried calling her mobile phone, which went unanswered. Navya’s father, V.J Joseph then broke open the door and found that she had ended her life. 

It is being said that Navya had allegedly poured kerosene over her body and lit herself on fire. 

Uppinangady police, who visited the site of the accident have undertaken an investigation.

The investors have complained that they have been waiting for their returns for the last five years and the company has not been responding to their pleas.

BENGALURU:  A new Ponzi scam has surfaced with four investors filing separate complaints against Chennai-based Vishwapriya Financial Services, whose seven promoters allegedly siphoned off investors’ funds before absconding. 

The investors have complained that they have been waiting for their returns for the last five years and the company has not been responding to their pleas.

The police said that the company raised money by offering non-secured debentures.

So far, four investors have filed complaints at Girinagar and Siddapura police stations, saying that they have lost a total of Rs 1 crore.

More complaints are expected and the amount involved is likely to go up further, the police said.

DCP South Harish Pandey said that the FIRs name company officials Subramanian R, Narayanan R, Raja Rathnam, Raghavan T S, Srimathi, Rajendra Kumar and Sadananda P as the accused.

He said that the firm collected deposits from several people but did not repay either the interest or principal amounts as promised.

It is not like the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam of 2019, where chain link and commission-based transactions were done, he added.

A senior police officer from Girinagar police station said that two people, including a woman, filed complaints at the police station.

The company had a branch on MG Road, but was shut a few months ago, he added. 

One of the victims, Indira, said, “I did not receive the interest for the deposit. When I enquired, the agents, who had collected the amount, told me that Subramanian and the other accused had swindled the money and had absconded.”

They also allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh for getting a government job for her husband and forced her to leave her job, the official said quoting the woman’s complaint.

THANE: Thane police have registered an FIR against a woman’s husband, in-laws and five other people from Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district for allegedly harassing her, an official said on Monday.

According to the 27-year-old Kalyan-based woman, the accused, including two persons who facilitated her alliance, allegedly harassed her between June 2019 and March 2020 over various domestic issues, including her failure to cook non- vegetarian food and inability to conceive, he said.

They also allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh for getting a government job for her husband and forced her to leave her job, the official said quoting the woman’s complaint.

She also alleged that those who facilitated her alliance did not inform that her husband had an affair with a woman before the marriage and was addicted to liquor, he said.

Based on the woman’s complaint, the Kolshewadi police registered the FIR on Saturday under Indian Penal Code Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 498-A (cruelty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention).

No arrest has been made so far, the official said.

However, the classes will operate only at half the strength of the total students and other protocols of coronavirus have to be followed strictly.

PATNA: Educational institutions including schools, colleges, universities, coaching institutes will reopen in Bihar from Monday after a gap of over nine months since the outbreak of COVID pandemic

Slide in number of coronavirus cases and high recovery rate of 97.61 per cent in the state seem to have boosted the confidence to resume studies physically in the educational institutions.

However, the classes will operate only at half the strength of the total students and other protocols of coronavirus have to be followed strictly, Education Department Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar told PTI on Sunday.

As per the health departments bulletin, the state had till Saturday recorded 2,53,651 COVID-19 cases out of which 2,47,579 people have recovered from the contagion, thus taking its recovery rate to 97.
61 per cent.

The state has 4669 active cases with COVID-19 death toll mounting to 1403, the bulletin said.

The state government has issued a list of COVID-19 safety guidelines for students and staff to follow in the schools, colleges and other education institutions resuming operation from Monday.

Notably, the decision to reopen educational institutions including schools, both government and private, for class IX to XII from January 4, 2021 was taken at a meeting of Crisis Management Group (CMG) on December 18, 2020.

The schools, which will open for class IX to XII, will be run with only 50 per cent strength in order to maintain social distancing in the classrooms besides wearing masks on the campus.

“Wearing mask for all school students on the campus has been made mandatory without which they will not be allowed to enter the premises. Besides, classes from IX to XII will be run with 50 per cent strength in order to ensure that social distancing is maintained inside the classrooms.”

“This means only half the strength of a class will join physical session at a time,” Kumar said.

Two masks each will be distributed among the school children, he said and added that teaching faculty will be made aware about the COVID-19 guidelines to be followed in the classroom.

The institutes management will ensure and maintain cleanliness and sanitation on their campuses, Kumar said while adding that “school authorities will keep a tab on whether any student is suffering from fever or having any symptoms of the virus.” 

The medical examination of students will be conducted on “random” basis in government schools, the Principal Secretary said.

The coaching centres will have to submit a plan on starting physical classes while maintaining social distancing inside the classrooms to the regional officer and seek prior permissions from him, sources said.

The Bihar government had on March 13, 2020 announced the closure of all schools, colleges, coaching institutes, zoos and public parks till March 31 as a precautionary measure against coronavirus pandemic.

The educational institutions remained closed since the state government enforced a statewide lockdown on March 22, 2020 followed by the centres nationwide lockdown announced on March 25, 2020.

The educational centres remained closed following the rising numbers of COVID cases.

Earlier, the state govenrment had announced to reopen schools from classes IX to XII from September 28, 2020 but due to rising COVID-19 cases the schools were remained shut.

After reviewing the situation and obtaining proper feedback on how things went during the past 15 days, the government will take a call on resuming physical classes for the students of class VIII and below on January 18, the Principal Secretary said.

The miscreants indulging in vandalism have been instigated and aided by vested interests and our business rivals, it said

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), through its subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, in a petition mentioned to be filed in Punjab and Haryana High Court today, has sought urgent intervention of Government authorities to bring a complete stop to illegal acts of vandalism by miscreants, said RIL.

These acts of violence have endangered the lives of thousands of its employees and caused damage and disruption to the vital communications infrastructure, sales and service outlets run by its subsidiaries in the two states, RIL said in a media statement.

The miscreants indulging in vandalism have been instigated and aided by vested interests and our business rivals. Taking advantage of the ongoing farmers’ agitation near the national capital, these vested interests have launched an incessant, malicious and motivated vilification campaign against Reliance, which has absolutely no basis in truth, it said.

The falsehood of the campaign becomes crystal clear from the following irrefutable facts, which we have placed before the Honourable High Court. These facts establish that Reliance has nothing whatsoever to do with the three farm laws currently debated in the country, and in no way benefits from them. As such, the sole nefarious purpose of linking the name of Reliance to these laws is to harm our businesses and damage our reputation, said RIL.

“Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), or any other affiliate of our parent company, i.e., Reliance Industries Limited have not done any ‘corporate’ or ‘contract’ farming in the past, and have absolutely no plans to enter this business,” RIL said in its statement.

Neither Reliance nor any of our subsidiaries has purchased any agricultural land, directly or indirectly, in Punjab/Haryana or anywhere else in India, for the purpose of “corporate” or “contract” farming. We have absolutely no plans to do so, it added.

Reliance Retail is an unmatched leader in organised retail business in India. It retailsproducts of all categories including food grains and staples, fruits and vegetables, items of daily use, apparels, medicines, electronic products of various brands belonging to independent manufacturers and suppliers in the country. It does not purchase any food grains directly from farmers, according to RIL.

It has never entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain unfair advantage over farmers or sought that its suppliers buy from farmers at less than remunerative prices, nor will it ever do so.

“We at Reliance have immense gratitude and the greatest respect for India’s kisans, who are the ‘ANNA DATA’ of 1.3 billion Indians. Reliance and its affiliates are committed to doing everything to enrich and empower them. As customers of their services, we believe in building a strong and equal partnership with Indian farmers on the basis of shared prosperity, inclusive development and an equitable New India,” said RIL.

Therefore, Reliance and its affiliates fully share and support the aspiration of Indianfarmers to get a fair and profitable price on a predictable basis for what they produce with exemplary hard work, innovation and dedication. Reliance seeks significant augmentation of their incomes on a sustainable basis, and pledges to work towards this goal.

Indeed, we shall insist on our suppliers to strictly abide by the Minimum Support Price(MSP) mechanism, and/or any other mechanism for a remunerative price for farmproduce, as may be determined and implemented by the government, RIL added.

Far from hurting the interests of Indian farmers, the businesses of Reliance have actually benefited them and the Indian public at large.