Imphal: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday called on his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh here and said he will report to Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the ongoing situation in the trouble-torn state.
Sarma flew down from Guwahati earlier this morning for this meeting to discuss the situation in Manipur where sporadic violence continues a month after ethnic clashes began in this northeastern state.
“During my stay here, I met the honourable chief minister, his cabinet colleagues, our party leaders and civil society organisations. For us, peace and stability in Manipur are very very important. Whatever I have learnt during the day, I will report the same to the honourable Union Home Minister for further necessary actions,” Sarma told reporters.
Shah had visited Manipur from May 29 to June 1 to take stock of the situation. A senior BJP leader who was present at the meeting between the two chief ministers said, “We highlighted the issues of the state concerning the violence. Himanta Biswa Sarma assured us he will work at his level best to restore peace in Manipur.”
The leader, who did not want to be quoted, told PTI: “Sarma said the Manipur BJP should not hesitate to ask what is needed and he will make sure those requirements are met.”
Representatives of COCOMI, a civil society organisation, were also present at the meeting.
“The Assam chief minister expressed condolences for the lives lost and said he will do whatever is needed to restore peace,” COCOMI media coordinator Khuraijam Athouba said.
The Centre has constituted a committee in Manipur headed by the governor to facilitate the peace-making process among various ethnic groups and initiate dialogue between conflicting parties, the Union home ministry said on Saturday in New Delhi.
Clashes first broke out on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley.
Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
Today political activist Umar Khalid completes 1000 days in Delhi Tihar jail for ‘conspiring against the Central Government’ in the 2020 North East Delhi riots in which 53 people, mainly Muslims, were killed.
— Free Umar Khalid (@FreeUmarKhalid1) June 9, 2023
Thirty-five-year-old Khalid, who is a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA Act) by the Delhi Police.
Khalid was among the several students and activists who were jailed for protesting against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizenship (NRC).
CAA and NRC
On December 9, 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced an amendment to the Citizenship Act of 1955 that allowed Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled from neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecutions.
However, the bill did not include the Muslim community, leading to widespread nationwide protests where protestors alleged that the bill violated the Right to Equality described in the Indian Constitution.
Khalid along with 18 others was arrested by the Delhi Police on September 13, 2020. Since then, Khalid has been a part of a string of courtroom visits, fighting a case corroded with false narratives and inconsistencies.
Why Umar Khalid
An article by The Wire written in 2020 states, “Picking on Khalid and others serves to represent anti-CAA protests as being purely led by Muslims, rather than acknowledge them as the broad, diverse India-wide phenomenon that they were, comprising of people from all faiths and in several regions. Once you portray a movement as mostly Muslim-led (and involving “radical” leftists), it becomes easier to repress it and prevents others from joining it.”
In his speech (available online) which the Delhi Police used against him, he says, “We will not answer violence with violence, anger with anger, if they spread hatred we will reply with love, if they use batons, we will fly the tricolor, if they fire bullets, we will hold aloft the Constitution, if they put us in jail, we will sing ‘Sare jahan se acha Hindustan hamara‘ and gladly head to prison – but we will not let you destroy this country.”
Thus, the Narendra Modi-led Central Government saw Khalid as a “symbol of resistance” for Muslims in a fast-emerging Hindutva land. He represented a young, fearless, educated, socially aware Indian Muslim, something that the saffron party has unfailingly worked against.
On October 18, 2022, Khalid was denied bail by the Delhi High Court for the following reasons which this Article 14 report:
Khalid was part of a WhatsApp group compromising Indian Muslim students of JNU.
The Delhi High Court denied bail to Khalid based on the fact that he sent messages through the WhatsApp group that could be a “potential threat to national security”. However, Article 14 debunks it by saying there is no crime to be a part of a WhatsApp group adding that the Police were unable to show or produce any message sent by Khalid to the court.
Khalid participated in various meetings at Jantar Mantar, Jangpura office, Shaheen Bagh, Seelampur, Jaffarabad and Indian Social Institute.
There is nothing wrong with attending public meetings. Article 14 states that witnesses who testified against Khalid were brought several months after the alleged meetings. The court was unable to provide a concrete reason as to why bail was denied just for attending a meeting.
Khalid referred to the visit of the President of the USA to India in the Amravati speech
The court was referring to a speech (which is still available online) in which Khalid referred to the then USA President Donald Trump’s visit to India. However, in the 20-minute speech, Khalid does not mention any violent or provocative sentences or words against Trump, as Article 14 stated.
The CDR analysis depicts that there has been a flurry of calls that happened post-riots amongst the appellant and the other co-accused
Article 14 states that Khalid’s lawyer mentioned in the court that it was normal for people gripped in a communal riot to call each other.
Bailed denied again
Khalid was yet again denied bail on June 8 this year. However, a Delhi court, while acquitting three persons charged in the 2020 Delhi riots reprimanded the Delhi Police “for clubbing several complaints with the case without investigation.”
Difficult To Assume 'Mob' From Muslim Community Would Chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’: Court Raps Delhi Police For Clubbing Complaints Without Probe, Acquits 3
Read more: https://t.co/58nVcr09pvpic.twitter.com/9hyt0PKOnO
Scores of students, civil rights activists and media personalities gathered at the Press Club on Friday to express solidarity with Umar Khalid.
They spoke about ‘Democracy, Dissent and Censorship’, saying Khalid’s 1,000 days of imprisonment equal to “1,000 days of resistance”.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said, “This is 1,000 days of imprisonment as well as 1,000 days of resistance. Umar Khalid will be very happy to know that in this scorching heat, hundreds of people gathered to defend democracy.”
“This solidarity is not just for Umar, but for every political prisoner. This is a fight of memory. A dominant memory is mainstream today, while the memories of marginalised communities are ignored,” he said.
Senior journalist Ravish Kumar at the Press Club speaking about jailed student activist Umar Khalid’s 1000 days (Photo: Twitter)
Senior journalist Ravish Kumar said the road to the door of justice has been stretched too far for those like Khalid.
“Remember 1,000 days that have passed. Remember that these are not just 1,000 days since Khalid’s incarceration, but also 1,000 days of shame for the Indian judicial system,” he said.
Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, JNU said the continued detention of Khalid is not just a personal tragedy, but “social waste” of a talent.
“Even in the colonial days, Gandhi was never in jail for more than two years. Nehru was longest in jail at one go for 1,041 days… Umar has now been in jail for 1,000 days,” he said.
“This is against democracy, anyone can be put in jail on flimsiest of pretexts,” he added.
Present at the event was also Khalid’s father S Q R Ilyas who said the confines of the prison walls have not dampened the spirit of his son.
“Has 1,000 days of jail dented Umar’s confidence, has it dampened the spirits of his friends? Absolutely not. When I see all those who have been jailed during their court hearings, I see confidence in their faces, they know that they are in jail for a cause,” he said.
He said his son is fighting for the country and democracy. Khalid had recently got eight days bail to attend his sister’s wedding.
Hyderabad: GITAM Deemed-to-be-University on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT Hyderabad to support 75 innovators to turn their ideas into startups.
The MoU was signed between GITAM’s entrepreneurship and innovation cell, Venture Development Center (VDC) and the iTIC Incubator at IIT Hyderabad, the varsity said in a statement.
The iTIC is a technology business incubator under the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
The MoU comes as a part of iTIC incubator’s collaboration with Greenko Group to launch a new program called Bold and Unique Idea Led Development (BUILD).
Adding on to a financial aid of Rs 1 lakh, innovators selected for the program will be mentored, and provided with prototyping support and a co-working space, GITAM said.
At the end of the 12-month program, innovators could get a chance for preincubation support and further grants at iTIC Incubator at IIT Hyderabad.
The application can be done through the iTIC website, itic.iith.ac.in/build, before July 5.
Lucknow: An SIT set up by the Uttar Pradesh government in the sensational Sanjeev Jeeva murder case will probe into possible security lapses at the court premises where the shoot out took place.
The SIT will focus on finding out if the metal detectors used by the security were working, and if they were, then how the accused managed to enter the court carrying a pistol, a senior police officer told PTI on Thursday.
Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s aide Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva was shot dead on the premises of a Lucknow court on Wednesday.
The assailant, identified as Vijay Yadav, 24, from Jaunpur district, was caught right after the shooting that took place outside a courtroom at around 4 pm.
Eyewitnesses said Yadav was dressed as a lawyer and fired around six shots.
Police are also probing how Vijay Yadav got the foreign pistol he used in the shooting and what was his motive behind killing Jeeva, he said.
The Special Investigation Team on Thursday visited the scene of the crime for an on-spot assessment as part of the investigation. Policemen engaged in Jeeva’s security are also undergoing questioning.
Soon after the murder, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered the setting up of a three-member SIT to probe the incident and give a report within a week.
Two security personnel of the team that brought Jeeva to the court were also injured in the incident, one of whom is still undergoing treatment at King George’s Medical University, while the other has been discharged, police said.
Another officer interrogating Vijay Yadav said the pistol recovered from his possession had each of its cartridges priced at around Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000.
As per inputs from Jaunpur, Vijay Yadav hails from a poor family and police suspect he is unlikely to have arranged the pistol on his own.
Vijay is being interrogated at an unknown location by top police officers, said another officer privy to case developments.
According to Vijay’s father, Shyama Yadav, a farmer, his son used to work at a private company in Mumbai and left his job around 18 months back and returned home.
Shyama Yadav had earlier told police that his son after returning went to Lucknow in search of employment where he used to work as a plumber.
The SIT is headed by Additional Director General of Police (Technical) Mohit Agarwal with IPS officer Neelabja Chowdhary and IGP (Ayodhya range) Praveen Kumar as its other members.
Jeeva, who was from UP’s Muzaffarnagar district, was an accused in the murder cases of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and former state minister Brahm Dutta Dwivedi, in addition to 22 other cases, including those of fraud and criminal conspiracy.
Guntur: Seven people died and 19 others were injured when a tractor trailer in which they were travelling lost control in a narrow road and turned turtle at Vatticherukuru village in the district on Monday, police said.
As many 25 people were travelling in the tractor from Kondepadu village in Prathipadu mandal to Jupudi village in Chebrolu mandal to attend a function, with majority of them being women.
“Actually, the driver lost control in a narrow road and the tractor turned turtle. No collision happened,” Guntur Superintendent of Police Arif Hafeez told PTI.
Guntur South sub-divisional police officer Mehboob Pasha said the tractor driver was speeding, ignoring alerts from the travellers to slow down, resulting in the accident. Due to the impact, seven people died on the spot and 17 others suffered injuries, he said.
The officer further said that the driver did not even have a licence.
Hyderabad: A migrant labourer was arrested by the Rachakonda police on the charges of murdering a co-worker in his sleep after an argument over fried chicken.
In a bizarre incident, the accused, Susheel Goswami and the deceased, Dheeraj Mandal, entered into an argument while drinking, during which Mandal insisted on preparing chicken fry, the police said in a statement.
According to the police, Goswami pounced on Mandal but was pulled back by two co-workers. Goswami, who felt humiliated after the incident waited till all his co-workers were asleep before hitting Mandal on the head with a cement brick leading to his death, the police said.
The police acted on the complaint of Samala Narasimha Reddy, the owner of the cement factory where Goswami worked and caught the accused within a span of eight hours.
Given the attractive spreads and the improving sentiment in the equity market, arbitrage funds are gaining traction from investors, especially among high-networth individuals. These funds offer an opportunity for high returns with moderate risk and investors are preferring them given the tax efficiency compared to liquid funds.
Arbitrage funds have seen an uptick in inflows due to the market volatility and decent post-tax returns as compared to liquid funds. These funds invest a minimum of 65% of the corpus in equity and the balance 35% in debt and cash instruments.
In these funds, the fund manager simultaneously buys shares in the cash market and sells them in futures or derivatives markets and the difference in the cost price and selling price is the return that the investors earns. The current spread is around 63 basis points (bps) as compared with around 40 bps in June last year.
The mechanism of these funds revolves around exploiting the price difference between stocks and their corresponding futures contracts, known as the arbitrage spread. Sonam Srivastava, founder, Wright Research, an investment advisory firm, says this difference tends to be substantial in volatile markets, enabling arbitrage funds to deliver high returns even when the overall market is not performing well. “Their potential to generate consistent returns with lower volatility is likely why these funds have witnessed an inflow of Rs 3,700 crore in April, the highest in the hybrid category,” he adds.
Investors look at arbitrage funds for short-term investments where the returns are closer to liquid funds but the tax implications are of equity. Harshad Chetanwala, co-founder, MyWealthGrowth. com, says, there is a possibility that investors who are seeing the stock market surging at present would like to hold on with their investment decisions at present and prefer going gradually. “Hence, they could be parking such funds in arbitrage funds,” points out Chetanwala.
Arbitrage funds generally run fully-hedged equity positions. In other words, all their long equity / stock positions are hedged by selling the stock futures. They generate returns from the differential in the prices of stock futures and the underlying stock. Funds in other hybrid categories such as dynamic asset allocation, aggressive hybrid and equity savings hold a mix of unhedged equity positions, arbitrage and debt based on their mandate and market views.
Tax efficiency
After the amendments to the Finance Bill, 2023, arbitrage funds are turning out to be more tax efficient than liquid funds. As arbitrage funds maintain a minimum of 65% equity allocation, they are treated as equity funds. Short term gains are taxed 15% if redeemed within one year and 10% for long term if redeemed after one year. On the other hand, liquid funds are taxed as debt funds where all gains are taxed at the marginal rate of the investor. “Arbitrage funds are more tax efficient than liquid funds,” says Hardik Gandhi, chief business Officer, Turtle Wealth.
Similarly, Abhishek Dev, CEO and co-founder, Epsilon Money Mart, says if an investor falls in the highest tax bracket, debt funds can prove to be a tad unattractive when it comes to taxation as the gains are taxed at the investor’s marginal rate. “While tax is an important aspect of the overall financial planning, selecting a product based only on tax is not the right way. Therefore, investors should first understand what they are getting into.”
Investors must keep in mind that returns from arbitrage funds will depend on the arbitrage opportunities. These funds give higher returns during periods of high market volatility. Individuals should look at an investment horizon of six months to one year to ride the different market phases. As these funds take very low risk relative to other hybrid funds, volatility is low and return potential is also lower. However, the market volatility as seen in other equity funds is not witnessed in arbitrage funds.
While investors consider arbitrage funds as an alternative to debt funds, especially liquid funds, they must also keep in mind the interest rate cycle has peaked and returns from debt funds are likely to rise now.
from | The Financial Express https://ift.tt/D7FCJ2S
Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Department of Meteorology forecasted on Sunday that the southwest monsoon is likely to be gradually established across the country during the next few days.
Showers or thundershowers will occur in Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central Provinces as well as in Galle and Matara districts, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the forecast.
According to the forecast, heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Sabaragamuwa Province as well as in Galle, Matara and Kalutara districts.
“General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers,” it said.
The southwest monsoon brings rains mainly in the southwestern part of Sri Lanka between May and September, with flood and landslide warnings often issued during this period.
Gucci presented its Cruise 2024 collection at Gyeongbokgung Palace, in Seoul, last month, celebrating 25 years in Seoul. The choice of location paid homage to the beauty of South Korean cultural heritage. The Gyeongbokgung Palace has been a renowned venue not just for this show but for royal ceremonies and has been receiving foreign dignitaries since the Joseon Dynasty.
“Gyeongbokgung Palace is one of those wonders of the world that made us feel an instant connection with Korean culture and the people who created it,” said Marco Bizzarri, president & CEO, Gucci, on the occasion. The brand has been committed to support the conservation and restoration of the Gyeongbokgung Palace since last year besides being associated with significant landmarks, including the Dia-Art Foundation in New York City; The Cloisters of Westminster Abbey in London; the Capitoline Museums in Rome; Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.
With the expansion of luxury retail globally, brands are increasingly opting for heritage properties for their unique historical charm and regality, and the exotic setups gel well with most brands’ lineage. All this put together makes for a great shopping experience.
Recently, fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee opened his largest-ever flagship store at the majestic neo-classical heritage landmark building at Horniman Circle in Mumbai, which is also home to French fashion house Hermes and shoe couturier Christian Louboutin. Horniman Circle was originally built for the British Bank of the Middle East in 1913, and the building is classified under the Heritage Regulations of Greater Bombay 1995. The new Sabyasachi space houses several antique paintings and historical trinkets—over 100 chandeliers, 275 carpets, 3,000 books and 150 works of art. The space is lined with curiosity cabinets sourced from souks, modernist interpretations of Persian Qajars, 18th-century Venetian handcrafted chairs, rare French Art Nouveau cabinets and brass sculptures made in Kolkata.
Brands also look for clean and creative interiors for elaborate and arty display of ensembles as these places are high in demand and limited in number. Designer Anita Dongre opened her flagship early this year at the historic 200-year-old Sassoon Building that faces the David Sassoon Library and the University of Mumbai. Dongre has kept as much of the original form and blended the momentous past of the 19th with her 21st century designs. The teak staircase in the building has been restored and takes the visitor to the first floor where gold pichwai nature scenes adorn the room in an emerald green base. The floor speaks of craft stories against the 200-year-old restored metal and woodwork frames and recreates the magnificence of Bombay as a city in that era.
Last year in December, Tarun Tahiliani opened a brand new luxury address in Bengaluru in a colonial-era cottage.
Meanwhile, Chanel announced a partnership with historical monument Grand Palais in Paris to contribute over £22 million towards the restoration and renovation of the site. The Grand Palais remains one of Europe’s most beautiful buildings and the brand is expected to build up extraordinary decorations for its haute couture shows here.
Louis Vuitton last month showcased its Cruise 2024 collection at the historic Isola Bella Island, one of the Borromean Islands of Lago Maggiore in north Italy, known as an architectural masterpiece, and a treasure chest of Baroque art suspended over water. The Isola Bella has been in the hands of the Borromeo family for around 400 years.
Other fashion houses are dedicated to restoring heritage buildings and support iconic landmarks. Prada revamped a historic 1918 mansion in Shanghai called Rong Zhai into a flexible site for cultural exhibitions and performances, while Italian luxury shoemaker Tod’s funded 25 million euros for a clean-up of the Colosseum in 2016 to remove crusted dirt and grime caused by traffic pollution. Italian jeweller Bulgari contributed 1.5 million euros to fix the cracked Spanish Steps, and the renovated steps were unveiled in 2016. Fendi donated 2.2 million euros to repair one of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures, the Trevi Fountain.
from | The Financial Express https://ift.tt/1TShzce
New Delhi: Expressing shock and grief at the loss of lives in the train accident in Odisha, opposition leaders on Saturday stressed the importance of prioritising the safety of passengers by railways, while there were also demands to fix accountability and for the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The accident involving two passenger trains and a goods train in Odisha’s Balasore district killed at least 288 people and injured more than 1000, in one of the worst railway tragedies in the country.
VIDEO | Odisha triple train accident: "288 bodies have been recovered so far. Around 800 injured persons are currently admitted in different hospitals. The rescue operation is expected to conclude in the next few hours," says state chief secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena. pic.twitter.com/ZWbOjQLImw
The Congress said the “horrendous” train accident in Odisha reinforces why safety should always be the foremost priority in the functioning of the rail network and asserted that there are many questions to ask of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Vaishnaw but those can wait as the immediate task was of rescue and relief.
RJD chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad claimed that sheer negligence has caused the train tragedy and alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre has “destroyed” the railways.
In a video statement, Kharge said it was the time to stay united and pointed out that several state governments have come forward to help out with the rescue efforts in Odisha, including the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government.
“I want to ask the PM and the Railway Minister that it should be found out how this happened and who is responsible. We always talk about safety but still such an incident happened which had not happened in the history of railways.
ओडिशा में हुई भयावह रेल दुर्घटना एक राष्ट्रीय त्रासदी से कम नहीं है। मैं दिवंगत लोगों के प्रति अपनी श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित करता हूं।
हमारे प्रधानमंत्री और रेल मंत्री से कई सवाल हैं, जिसके लिए प्रतीक्षा की जा सकती है। फिलहाल तात्कालिक जरूरत राहत और बचाव की है। pic.twitter.com/9YB4S0D7gf
“But all this can be discussed later as now it is the time to be united and support the central government and for all leaders to come together to help the people and share their grief,” Kharge said.
Several Congress leaders from different states have either already reached or will soon be reaching Balasore, he said and extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.
“We have many questions to ask of the prime minister and the railway minister but those can wait since the immediate task is of rescue and relief,” Kharge said earlier.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the train accident in Odisha is a matter of the greatest anguish.
“It reinforces why SAFETY should always be the foremost priority in the functioning of the rail network. There are many legitimate questions that need to be raised but that should wait till tomorrow,” Ramesh tweeted.
The rail crash in Odisha is truly horrendous. It is a matter of the greatest anguish. It reinforces why SAFETY should always be the foremost priority in the functioning of the rail network. There are many legitimate questions that need to be raised but that should wait till…
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is a former railway minister, flew to the accident site on Saturday afternoon and demanded a proper investigation.
“Instructions have been given to ensure proper and speedy investigation of the tragedy,” Modi said, adding that more focus will be given to the security of rail passengers.
Meanwhile, TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale said there were serious questions about the accident that needed to be answered and demanded the railway minister’s resignation.
The shocking train crash in Balasore, Odisha, last night could have been prevented by a functioning anti-collision system, he said and alleged that BJP is more focussed on “Modi’s Vande Bharat PR & photo-ops instead of safety”.
“Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw must resign immediately if he has any conscience or sense of responsibility and shame left in him,” Gokhale said.
The railways have said that “Kavach” – the automatic train protection system – was not available on the route where the accident occurred on Friday evening.
The brazen lies of Modi Govt & Railway Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw clearly exposed here.
KAVACH anti-collision mechanism has been deployed on LESS THAN 2% of Indian Railway routes.
The shameless lies & propaganda of the Modi Govt have led to hundreds of deaths. https://t.co/KIezmisOrL
CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya too raised the same question. “Do we no longer have any signalling and safety system in Indian railways? Or will such terrible tragedies become the new normal for rail travel in India? We owe an answer to the victims and to the families who lost their near and dear ones in this mishap,” he said in a tweet.
The CPI and RJD also demanded that Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw resign over the incident.
“Government concentrates only on luxury trains. Trains and tracks of common people are neglected. Orissa deaths are the result of it. Rail minister should resign,” CPI MP Binoy Viswam said in a tweet.
Government concentrate only on luxury trains. Trains and tracks of common people are neglected.Orissa deaths are the result of it. Rail minister should resign.
RJD chief said Lalu Prasad said,”I extend my heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families. A high-level inquiry must be ordered to find out the reason behind the accident, and also fix the responsibilities.”
“The government at the Centre has completely destroyed Indian Railways. They are least bothered about the safety of the passengers. It’s sheer negligence on the part of the railway authorities,” he told reporters.
Tagging a tweet by Vaishnaw on ex-gratia compensation to victims of the accident, Congress’ MP from Odisha Saptagiri Ulaka said, “You should resign first.”
Ask some person to investigate the reason for this mishap and do course corrections, as well as ensure support to the injured, the MP said.
“Avoid such insensitive tweets at times of pain, anger and deep personal loss,” Ulaka said.
The accident highlights the infrastructural deficiencies of the Railways and lapses in passenger safety, Bihar minister and JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha said, noting that Nitish Kumar had resigned as railway minister in August 1999 taking moral responsibility for the Gasel train
Gurdeep Singh Sappal, co-ordinator in the Congress president’s office, said, “Resignation in such cases is expected not just on moral grounds. Resignation is also a means to ensure that those in power and accountable for the accident do not influence such ‘high-level inquiry’.”
“That’s why the norm is that the officers in the chain of command are suspended and the minister resigns!” he said.
Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi said she was most pained and anguished by the terrible train disaster in Odisha.
“I extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to all the bereaved families,” she said in a statement.
I am most pained and anguished by the terrible train disaster in Odisha. I extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to all the bereaved families.
Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday night expressed sadness over the tragedy and urged party workers and leaders to extend all support needed for the rescue efforts.
President of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, JP Nadda, in a tweet said the BJP has decided to postpone all its programmes marking the completion of nine years of its government at the Centre in the wake of the accident.
ओडिशा के बालासोर में कल शुक्रवार शाम को हुआ भयावह रेल हादसा अत्यंत ही दुखद और मन को शोकाकुल कर देने वाला है। मैं इस हृदय विदारक घटना से मर्माहत हूं।
इस भीषण रेल दुर्घटना को देखते हुए भारतीय जनता पार्टी ने केंद्र सरकार के 9 वर्ष पूरे होने के अवसर पर होने वाले कार्यक्रमों के…
The Tamil Nadu government cancelled all official programmes including the centenary celebration of former chief minister and Dravidian stalwart M Karunanidhi on Saturday in view of the train tragedy.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government has derecognised the registration of Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School in Damoh, where a hijab controversy had erupted a couple of days back.
An order in this regard was issued by the district education department on Friday evening.
In its notification, the education department said the decision has been taken on the basis of the findings of a team which carried out an inspection of the school.
During the inspection, several flaws were found in the school, including in potable water, bathrooms for girl students and many more.
“Ganga Jamuna School in Damoh has been found not complying with the norms set by the state education department, and therefore a decision has been taken to derecognise its registration with immediate effect,” read the notification, which, however, did not mention the hijab controversy.
The school landed in a controversy on Tuesday when it pasted on its wall a poster congratulating its board exam toppers.
Using the pictures of the same poster, various right wing outfits, including the VHP and ABVP, alleged that non-Muslim girl students were forced to wear hijab as seen in their pictures.
There were also allegations that the students were made to sing verses penned by Muhammad Iqbal.
Following this, Damoh District Collector Mayank Agrawal constituted a high-powered committee to probe the allegations levelled against the school.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said, “I came to know about our daughters being forced to come to the school with their heads covered. I want to warn everyone that such acts won’t be tolerated in MP. Only the education policy implemented by the Narendra Modi-led government will be applicable in the state. Any school which teaches anything which isn’t in line with the New Education Policy or forces its girl students to wear a scarf or anything else to cover their head will not be allowed to operate in MP.”
Hyderabad: An extra-marital affair between a school teacher named Sujatha, 45, and her supposed lover, Rajesh, 25, an engineering student, is suspected to be the reason behind their suicides that transpired over the past week.
D S Chauhan, Rachakonda police commissioner, told media persons that one year ago Rajesh, who was staying in Chaitanyapuri and is a native of Mulugu district, dialled Sujatha’s phone number by mistake and they began speaking. An innocuous call soon turned into a full-fledged love affair.
Both of them soon got acquainted with each other and started chatting on the phone regularly. Sujatha and Rajesh started meeting and got into a relationship. Slowly Sujatha realized that their relationship was a waste as she was married with three grown up children, and Rajesh was just 25 years old.
Rajesh reportedly also felt the same that he was in a relationship with a woman double his age and thought it was useless too.
“Assuming there is no solution to their problem, both decided to end their lives. On May 24, Sujatha and Rajesh went to a fertilizer shop and purchased one bottle of pesticide from there. On 25 May, Sujatha sent a message on whatsapp to Rajesh telling she was ending her life and consumed it. Family shifted her to hospital and she passed away,” said D S Chauhan.
Rajesh tried to contact Sujatha on phone and when calls went unanswered he went to the residence of Sujatha at Hayathnagar and enquired about her. Srivani, daughter of Sujatha, got suspicious and informed his brother Jaswanth and other two friends.
“The trio caught hold of Rajesh at Kuntloor Hayathnagar and on checking his mobile phone found he was the person who was chatting with their person and she sent a message to him before taking poison,” said the Commissioner.
Jaswanth and others warned Rajesh and left the place. “Rajesh went to a pesticide shop and purchased a bottle of pesticide and liquor. Afterwards, he is suspected to have consumed the pesticide and died. His body was found on 29 May,” said the officer.
The police registered a case of murder initially after noticing the body was naked. After a preliminary autopsy report the police came to know it was a case of consuming poison.
The two Saudi astronauts arrived on Earth on Wednesday morning after completing a successful eight-day AX-2 mission on the International Space Station (ISS).
Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al Qarni made history as the first Saudi citizens to go on a mission to the orbiting outpost.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule, which was carrying two Saudi astronauts and two American astronauts, made a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida at 7:04 a.m. GST.
The AX,2 crew, which also included Americans, Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner.
In a series of tweets, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) published a number of videos of the successful landing of the “Dragon” spacecraft after a 12-hour flight from the ISS.
On Tuesday, Al Al Qarni tweeted, “Thank you @Space_Station team for your hospitality, and hopefully we will come again with more scientific experiments.”
اليوم ننهي رحلتنا العلمية #نحو_الفضاء
شكرًا لكل من كان سبب في إنجازنا
شكرًا لشعبنا العظيم على مشاعركم ودعواتكم 🙏🏽🇸🇦
“Every story comes to an end, and this is only the beginning of a new era for our country and our region.. thanks to everyone who have helped us,” Barnawi tweeted.
كلمات الوداع في نهاية رحلتنا العلمية #نحو_الفضاء 🛰
دموع الفرح والإنجاز هي الختام فالحمدلله على التمام🙏🏼
“Every story comes to an end, and this is only the beginning of a new era for our country and our region.. thanks to everyone who have helped us” 🙏🏼
BYE @Space_Station 🛰… pic.twitter.com/XxQnGB9hXx
The two Saudi astronauts were launched into space towards the International Station on Sunday, May 21, from Launch Complex “39A” at the Kennedy Space Center of the American Space Agency “NASA”, on a journey that took about 15 hours.
This is the first flight that Saudi Arabia has undertaken into space since 1985, when Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, the first Arab Muslim astronaut, made it.
