Patna, June 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) One person was killed while two others got critically injured in a massive bomb explosion in Bihar's Bhagalpur district on Saturday.

The deceased has been identified as Mohammad Taushif (17), a resident of Qurashi locality in Babarganj police station of the district. The bomb exploded in his house at around 6 p.m. His mother Sultana Khatoon and uncle Abdul Mannan were injured in the incident.

Mohammad Abdul Gani, the father of the deceased, said that after hearing the loud sound of the explosion, he rushed to his house. "I found my wife and my brother badly injured while my son was under the debri and he died," Gani said.

Following the incident, a team of Bhagalpur police headed by DSP city Ajay Kumar Chaudhary reached the spot and investigated the incident. Dog and bomb squads were also called at the site to investigate the incident.

"We are investigating how and why the bomb was kept inside the house. We are also searching for more bombs that could be placed inside the house and the debris," Chaudhary said.

"The injured persons were admitted to Mayaganj medical college and hospital for treatment. Their statements are awaited," he said.

This is the second such incident in Bhagalpur. Earlier, two boys got injured when a bomb was exploded in a village under Madhusudanpur police station in the district.

Source: IANS

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Shillong, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Another round of tripartite talks between the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), and the Meghalaya and Central governments began on Saturday to take forward the dialogue with the outlawed militant outfit, peace process interlocutor Sadon K. Blah said.

Blah, terming the first day's talks as "positive", said that the HNLC has demanded the withdrawal of all charges against the cadres of the outfit to pave the way for successful talks.

HNLC Vice Chairman Manbha Rynjah said that the general amnesty, if granted, would build a trust between its cadres and the governments.

"We want peace. Government would come forward with an open mind to achieve the desired goal of peace," the HNLC leader said after Saturday's meeting, which was held at the guest house of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd at Umiam here.

Centre's interlocutor A.K. Mishra, state government's representatives Ronnie Wahlang and Peter Dkhar attended the meeting, where seven HNLC leaders took part headed by their interlocutor Blah.

Saturday's meeting was a follow-up to the last discussion held last month. Both the state government and the HNLC observed that the charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against four HNLC cadres would not disturb the ongoing peace talks.

The NIA in August 2022 filed a charge sheet against four, including its Chairman-cum-Commander-in-Chief Bobby Marwein in connection with the bomb blast at the staff quarters of Star Cement Factory Colony Lane in East Jaintia Hills on December 12, 2020.

The latest development has taken place after the government had in July last year allowed "safe passage", facilitating the leaders of the Khasi insurgent outfit to come to the negotiating process.

Following the HNLC's offer to hold peace talks without any preconditions, the Centre had given its nod to the peace process leading to the Meghalaya government initiating formal talks with the outfit earlier last year.

The state government also appointed Dkhar, who has vast knowledge of ethnic issues of Meghalaya, and is a former Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills and West Jaintia Hills districts, as interlocutor.

Retired IPS officer Mishra, who is the advisor of the Union Home Ministry, will coordinate between the Centre and the state government on the talks with the HNLC.

While militancy is on the decline in Meghalaya over the last several years, since 2020, the HNLC has been behind a few low-intensity IED blasts in the state.

The HNLC, which has been demanding a sovereign Khasi tribal homeland in Meghalaya, is a breakaway faction of the Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation Council, the first tribal militant outfit of the mountainous state, formed in the mid-1980s.

Source: IANS

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Guwahati, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Assam will get its first underwater tunnel between Gohpur and Numaligarh at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Saturday.

Speaking at a public function, he said, "We have planned to build an underwater tunnel between Gohpur and Numaligarh through Brahmaputra. The estimated cost of the tunnel will be around Rs 6,000 crores."

The Chief Minister said that the tunnel will have facilities of both rail and vehicular movement.

"When the tunnel will be built, it will further connect the north and south banks of Brahmaputra River," he added.

According to Sarma, the initial process to build the tunnel will begin in the first week of July.

"Once I dreamt of making such an underwater tunnel in Assam, however, I could not think whether it could be possible or not. But now Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the green signal to build the tunnel," the Chief Minister mentioned.

He also said that the state government was looking for a best possible place to build the underwater tunnel and finally Gohpur and Numaligarh were selected for it.

Source: IANS

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Mainpuri, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) A man allegedly killed five of his family members with an axe before shooting himself dead in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri district, the police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred at 3 a.m. on Saturday at Gokulpura village under the Kishni police station area of the district.

The deceased killer has been identified as Shiv Veer, who operated a computer centre in Noida.

Mainpuri SP Vinod Kumar said, "Shiv Veer's brother got married on Friday and the wedding procession returned to Gokulpura from Etawah."

"After dinner, the accused killed his brother Bhullan, the groom Sonu and his wife Soni with an axe while they were sleeping. He then killed his brother-in-law Saurabh and his brother's friend Deepak," Kumar said.

The SP said that after killing his five relatives, the accused also injured his wife Dolly, his father Subhash Chandra and his maternal aunt Sushma before shooting himself dead.

"The reason for committing this heinous crime is not known yet. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem," Kumar said.

The injured have been admitted to the district hospital.

Source: IANS

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By Vikas Datta

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Amid continuing violence in the run-up to the July 8 panchayat elections in West Bengal, one person died in a blast in Beldanga in Murshidabad district on Saturday, taking the death toll of 10 since the announcement of poll date on June 8.

This was the third death reported from Murshidabad district, which also witnessed the first casualty in poll-related violence on the very first day of nomination filing on June 9.

The latest victim has been identified as Alim Sheikh, a resident of Kapasdanga village under Beldanga constituency. Initial police findings indicate that he died after a crude bomb he was manufacturing exploded.

The police have recovered 20 crude bombs from the spot of the incident.

The Congress has claimed that the deceased and his associates, all having affiliation with the ruling Trinamool Congress, had assembled there to manufacture crude bombs for use in creating poll-related terror, a charge which has been denied by the ruling party.

Murshidabad district has been the epicentre of poll-related violence ever since the announcement of poll date 16 days back.

Even at the time of filing this repport, inter-party clashes were reported from the Raninagar area in the same district.

On June 19, five children were severely injured in Jangipur following the explosion of a crude bomb, which the kids were playing with, mistaking it for a ball.

The matter was reported to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which has sought a report from the state government in this matter.

Source: IANS

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Shimla, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) The southwest monsoon has advanced in Himachal Pradesh with most of the hill state likely to experience heavy rainfall from Sunday, the local meteorological office said on Saturday.

"Widespread rainfall with heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in districts of Sirmaur, Solan, Shimla, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur, Mandi, Kangra, and Mandi and their adjoining areas," an meteorological department official told IANS.

"The state is likely to receive rainfall with its peak intensity between June 25 and 26," he added.

The monsoon normally hits Himachal Pradesh, whose agriculture and horticulture-based economy is highly dependent on the rains, by June 27.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) An all-party meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the situation in the violence-hit Manipur started here on Saturday.

The meeting is being attended by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, BJP President J.P. Nadda, former Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, RJD's Manoj Jha, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, CPI(M) MP John Brittas, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien, Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and several officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to sources, the Centre will brief the opposition leaders about the actions it had taken in the last 50 days to maintain calm in Manipur and also seek their support for restorating normalcy in the violence-hit state.

The Congress and other opposition parties have been critical of the Centre and the Manipur government for failing to control the situation since the ethnic violence first erupted on May 3.

The Congress has also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence over issue.

At least 120 people have died,over 400 others injured and some 50,650 men, women and children have been displaced in Manipur so far.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Ahead of an organisational reshuffle, the Congress has asked the party secretaies to submit reports of the work carried out in their respective departments in the last six months, a source said on Saturday.

The party source said Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is also reviewing the works of all the secretaries since December 2022 till May this year.

The reports pertain to the the number of days the secretaries have spent in the field for organisational work in their respective states or on any assignment given by the party from Delhi in the last six months, the source said.

The source further said that a format was shared with all the secretaries on June 20 and they were instructed to fill in the details and submit to the Congress headquarters.

The party leadership asking the secretaries to furnish the details will decide the future of many leaders, the source added.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) A conglomerate of 40 organisations on Saturday held a peaceful protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, demanding restoration of peace in violence-hit Manipur.

The speakers from each of these civil society groups conveyed their heartfelt condolences and sorrow over the ethnic violence that has so far killed 120 people, injured over 400 others and displaced some 50,650 men, women and children since it first broke out on May 3.

The groups also expressed their anguish over hundreds of churches being burnt down in parts of the state.

"There has been an absolute breakdown of law and order in our state where armed mobs rule the day. The properties built and developed over many decades by the people of Manipur have been burnt down to ashes in a matter of hours. However, sadly, the local authorities have proved ineffective in diffusing the situation, and the victims continue to be displaced. The state government deplorably failed in its duty to protect the life and property of the people of Manipur," the groups said in a joint statement.

Currently, more than 1,000 individuals, including women and children, have sought refuge in relief camps in the neighbouring regions of Assam and Mizoram.

It is crucial to emphasise that those seeking shelter in relief facilities are enduring extremely challenging circumstances, lacking essential provisions like food, clothing, and clean water.

"Though we appreciate the initiatives undertaken by the Home Ministry for appointing a three-member Judicial Commission offering compensation to the families of the deceased, but the organisers of the protest at Jantar Mantar felt that the current rehabilitation package falls short in adequately addressing the needs of individuals who have suffered physical violence, the loss of their homes, livestock, and in some instances, their entire means of livelihood," said Meenkashi Singh from Unity in compassion organisation.

"Furthermore, the displacement of children from schools has also exacerbated the situation," said another protester.

Source: IANS

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Bhopal, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) A day after RJD supremo and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad advised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to get married, the subject seems to have assumed a centre stage in the political gallery.

Joining the bandwagon, veteran politician and Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Saturday said though several people have advised Rahul Gandhi to get married, it is a personal issue.

Kamal Nath, who shares close ties with the Nehru-Gandhi family, being friends and schoolmate of Sanjay Gandhi at the Doon School, said, "Many people have advised Rahul Gandhi to get married, but the marriage is a personal subject and he has to decide on it."

He made the statement while responding to a query during a press conference in Dindori district. "Others' advice does not matter in subjects like marriage," he said on a lighter note.

Notably, during a meeting of Opposition leaders in Bihar on Friday, Lalu Prasad, while addressing a press conference, said, "In dino Rahul ji ne accha kaam kiya aur dari bhi bada liya.. Abhi bhi deri nahi hua hain, shaadi kar lijiye. (Rahul Gandhi performed exceedingly well during Bharat jodo yatra. Also, he spoke very well on the Adani group row in Parliament and has even grown a beard. It's not yet late.. Please get married)."

Source: IANS

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Bhopal, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former Chief Minister and Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Saturday extended his support to a symbolic protest of the state's police over the transfer of an IPS officer and a police station in-charge for lathi-charge on the Bajrang Dal activists in Indore last week.

Several Police officers posted in Indore have updated their social media status with a similar tagline - "Khaki ka bhi to maan hai na" (the khaki also owes respect). Sources in the police told IANS that a resentment has emerged among the police department over the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government's alleged biased action on this matter.

After the incident, the BJP government ordered an ADG-level inquiry into alleged violation of protocol, and a senior IPS officer along with in-charge of the particular police station were transferred.

The cops took it as a setback to the police and have launched a symbolic protest through their social media accounts.

Responding to the matter, Kamal Nath on Saturday said, "This is a very unfortunate incident. Our police deserve respect, and the police department itself should respect its uniform. They (police) serve to protect the rights of the people and the Constitution of India."

Notably, on June 15, scores of Bajrang Dal activists had gone to Palasia police station in Indore to stage a protest against 'night culture and drug abuse'.

During the protest, a scuffle broke out between the police and the protesters, following which, the police had lathi-charged the right wing members to disperse them and to control the situation.

Several members of Bajrang Dal were arrested after the incident but were released the very next day after the issue was politicised.

On June 16, DCP Dharmendra Bhadoria, a 2010- batch IPS officer, was transferred and Palasia police station in-charge Sanjay Bais was shunted to the police line.

Source: IANS

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Guwahati, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) With at least 19 districts still affected, the flood situation in Assam continued to remain critical on Saturday.

According to the latest report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), a total of 4,88,525 persons across 1,538 villages and two urban areas are affected.

On Friday, a person died in Nalbari district in a flood-related incident.

Nikhilesh Malla Bujorbaruah was reported missing after he accidentally fell into floodwaters near his house. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) later recovered his body.

This was the second fatality in the state from this year's first spell of floods.

The first deaths was reported on Thursday in Tamulpur district.

State government officials said that the victims' families will receive compensation under the Ex-gratia scheme.

The 19 flood-affected districts are Bajali, Chirang, Darrang, Baksa, Barpeta, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, Tamulpur, Udalguri, according to the ASDMA.

Bajali district remains the worst hit by the floods with 267,253 affected people, followed in the second place by Barpeta (73,233).

At least 35,142 flood-affected people have taken shelter in 225 relief camps operated by the state administration across 14 districts.

The highest number of camps were opened in Bajali where 15,841 people have taken shelter in 73 relief camps.

According to a senior official of the state government, the district administrators have been providing necessary food, medicine, and other essentials to the flood-affected people.

SDRF and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been placed on high alert in all the flood-prone districts.

Meanwhile, over 10,782 hectares of cropland are submerged by the flood water which may result in the damage of large amounts of agricultural products, according to the farmers.

Apart from humans, 427,474 animals have also been affected. According to ASDMA data, more than 200 animals, domestic and wild, have been washed away.

Erosions and damage to important infrastructures like bridges, schools, and houses were reported from several districts.

At least 14 river embankments have suffered damage in three districts. Other infrastructure damages were reported in 213 areas in 14 districts.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted 'heavy rainfall' and issued a 'Yellow Alert' till Sunday.

The Brahmaputra, Manas, Puthimari and Pagladiya rivers are all flowing above the danger level.

Due to the torrential rain, urban floods were reported in Kokrajhar and Darang districts.

Source: IANS

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Kochi, June 24 ( IANS) The Crime Branch of Kerala Police on Friday night arrested state Congress chief and Kannur Lok Sabha member K. Sudhakaran in connection with a cheating case involving now-jailed fake antique dealer Monson Mavunkal. Sudhakaran was later released on bail.

The Congress reacted to the development by saying that the day will go down as a black day in the history of Kerala's democratic traditions as "this is nothing but an act of vengeance arising out of a deep-rooted conspiracy".

Sudhakaran is the second accused in the case.

Earlier this week, the Kerala High Court had ruled that no action should be taken against Sudhakaran in the case as it granted him two weeks' interim anticipatory bail on his plea.

The court, while granting his request, asked him to cooperate with the probe and also ruled that in case an arrest is made, he should be given bail on a surety bond of Rs 50,000.

Sudhakaran is facing charges in a cheating case involving Monson Mavunkal. It is alleged that a person named Anoop had paid Rs 25 lakh to Mavunkal at the Congress leader's Kochi office in 2018.

When the money was being handed over, Sudhakaran was also present and he allegedly took Rs 10 lakh, promising to do a favour to the person.

The Crime Branch named Sudhakaran as the second accused in the case and asked him to appear before the probe team on June 14, but he expressed his unavailability and said that he will appear before them on June 23.

He was arrested after seven hours of interrogation before being released on bail.

After his release, Sudhakaran told reporters that he has full confidence in the judiciary.

"I know I have not done anything wrong, and there is no evidence to make me an accused. I will fight this case in the court now," he said.

Incidentally, the arrest took place after the police had informed the court that at the moment, they have no plans to arrest Sudhakaran.

All along, Sudhakaran had contended that there was no allegation against him in the FIR, which was registered in 2021 based on a complaint received in 2018, and it was only much later that his name was included.

"The arrest of Sudhakaran was part of a deep-rooted conspiracy and will go down as a black day in the history of Kerala's democratic traditions. The state government cannot tolerate criticism, so all the critiques are dealt in this manner. But we are not going to get cowed down. The Pinarayi Vijayan government is now living in perpetual fear," said leader of opposition V.D. Satheesan.

Source: IANS

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Bhopal, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) BJP's veteran Madhya Pradesh leader Dhruv Pratap Singh, who was associated with the party since its inception, on Friday joined the Congress ahead of the Assembly polls slated for later this year, while raising questions over state BJP leadership's functioning

He ended nearly four decades of association with the party last week, stating that the BJP has now derailed from its principles. While joining hands with the Congress in the presence of its senior leaders Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, and Govind Singh, Dhruv Pratap Singh, the ex-MLA from Vijayraghogarh in Katni district, claimed the present leadership has destroyed the BJP's organisation.

Dhruv Pratap Singh was sidelined for the last few years and had been raising his voice time and again but the party leadership paid him no heed. The reason, as he claimed, was Sanjay Pathak's shifting into the BJP in 2016. Singh had defeated Sanjay Pathak's father (late) Satyendra Pathak in the 1993 elections.

The political rivalry between Dhruv Pratap Singh and the Pathak family had been going on for the last several decades as both were in different parties. However, after Sanjay Pathak joined the BJP in 2016, he strengthened his position not only in Katni district but among the top leaders of the BJP as well and since then, Dhruv Pratap Singh was sidelined.

Pathak is also considered close to the state Home Minister Narottam Mishra and the duo had played a key role against the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, which was toppled due to the defection of 22 MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia in March 2020.

Dhruv Pratap Singh, while joining the Congress, called Sanjay Pathak "Duryodhan" and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan "Dhritarashtra".

Talking to the press at Congress headquarters, Singh said: " You all know Mahabharata's characters. Sanjay Pathak is Duryodhan and CM Chouhan acted like Dhritarashtra, while the state BJP head V. D. Sharma is busy living a lavish life, he has nothing to do with the organisation."

Sources told IANS that the Congress was lacking a strong candidate against Sanjay Pathak, which is why his long political rival was inducted into the party ahead of the assembly elections. Singh is likely to be fielded against Pathak.

However, MP BJP President Sharma told IANS that Dhruv Pratap Singh's joining the Congress would not affect the BJP as he has lost ground in Katni. "The Congress has inducted him in an attempt to build psychological pressure, but it's not going to help them in the upcoming Assembly elections."

Source: IANS

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London, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Stock markets in Europe and Asia fell Friday as investors became increasingly worried that more interest rate hikes by central banks would tip major economies into a prolonged recession, a media report said.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index led the losses, closing 1.7 per cent down. Japan's Nikkei 225 ended the day 1.5 per cent lower and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.3 per cent, CNN reported.

Stock exchanges in mainland China were closed for a public holiday.

US stock futures are pointing lower, putting Wall Street on track for a losing week, the report said.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that further rises in interest rates were likely necessary this year to bring US inflation down to the central bank's 2 per cent target.

This was followed by a sharper than expected hike in UK borrowing costs by the Bank of England Thursday, which opted for an increase of half a percentage point after data earlier this week revealed surprisingly stubborn inflation, CNN reported.

And earlier on Friday, data showed that Japanese inflation excluding fresh food and energy costs hit a 42-year high of 4.3 per cent, fueling speculation the Bank of Japan might rethink its loose monetary policy and start tightening.

"The re-acceleration of global monetary policy tightening dampened markets' sentiment across regions," said Ken Cheung, chief foreign exchange strategist for Asia at Mizuho Bank, CNN reported.

Europe's benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was flat after dipping earlier in the day. The CAC 40 in France was down 0.3 per cent and Germany's DAX was 0.7 per cent lower.

London's FTSE 100 index slipped 0.2 per cent, adding to losses earlier in the week. It is now on track for its worst week since the US banking turmoil in March, the report said.

The Bank of England's fight against inflation "comes at a potentially high cost to the UK economy, which may slip into recession later this or next year", said Axel Rudolph, a senior market analyst at online trading provider IG, CNN reported.

Source: IANS

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Bhopal, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) With about five months left for the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, political rivalry between the cadres of the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress has escalated, often taking an ugly shape.

On Friday morning, 'objectionable' posters targeting veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath were put up at a market in Bhopal. The Congress leaders claimed the posters were put up at the behest of the BJP and demanded action in the matter.

Later, a Congress deligation led by ex-minister P.C. Sharma reached a police station to lodge a complaint. However, the complain wasn't registered, which prompted the Congress workers to sit in dharna inside the police station.

Responding to Congress' accusation, Home Minister Narottam Mishra and state BJP chief V.D. Sharma claimed that the BJP has nothing to do with the objectionable posters of Kamal Nath.

"The posters are the result of internal rift in the Congress, and the party should handle the matter. BJP has nothing to do it. It may be that the youth who are feeling suffocated in the Congress are behind this act," the BJP leaders said.

Later in the day, similar objectionable posters of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan surfaced at several locations in Bhopal.

Posters were put up even on the walls of the state's secretariat buildings -- Vallabh Bahwan and Satpura Bhawan -- apart from shoping malls.

However, both the Congress and the BJP are claiming to have nothing to do with the poster war. The police are likely to swing into action and find out the persons responsible for putting them up.

Source: IANS

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Imphal, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Friday visited Kwakta areas in Bishnupur district, where prefabricated houses would be constructed to provide temporary shelter to the people displaced in the ongoing ethnic violence.

After visiting the areas, Singh tweeted: "Inspected the site for construction of prefabricated houses at Kwakta, Bishnupur district to address the housing needs for the people displaced by the unfortunate violence in the state. This site is one of the many temporary facilities which is being developed by the state govt to accommodate people displaced by the violence at both the hills and the valley. In these difficult times, let us take all possible steps to bring peace in Manipur for good."

The Chief Minister has asked the officials to speed up the construction of the prefabricated temporary houses for the displaced people.

Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi, several other leaders and senior officials accompanied the Chief Minister.

Singh had earlier said that 4,000 prefabricated temporary homes would be constructed within two months for the people displaced in the ethnic violence, which broke out since May 3, and had so far has claimed 120 lives and injured around 400 people of different communities.

"Collection of construction materials and process to construct the temporary houses have already started to build the prefabricated temporary houses for the displaced people. After completion of the temporary houses, the inmates of the relief camps would be shifted there for a brief period before their permanent settlement at their original places," Singh had told the media.

In view of the ethnic strife in Manipur since May 3, approximately 50,650 men, women and children, displaced in the violence, are sheltered in 350 camps. Over 13,000 displaced people from Manipur so far also took shelter in Mizoram, Nagaland, and Assam.

An official statement said that the Manipur government has been running relief camps since May 3 for the displaced people in view of the prevailing law and order situation in various violence affected districts. The semi-permanent relief camps for the affected people have been set up in line with the basic minimum requirements as per the provisions of National Disaster Management Act's (NDMA) prescribed minimum standard in respect of shelter in relief camps.

Certain conditions were fulfilled while setting up a relief camp. These camps preferably opened in the existing government structures having basic minimum facilities and the buildings are well protected and secured, preferably by security personnel and Army, the statement said.

The building or site of these camps have easy access for fire tenders and have differently-abled friendly facilities and special care arrangements for pregnant and lactating mothers, children and elderly people. The district administrations have been arranging basic one time facilities and consumables like mattresses, cooking utensils, water tanks, toilet, food items, drinking water etc. for the inhabitants in the relief camps.

For these camps, a three level Relief Camp Management structure was set up to ensure effective functioning and monitoring of the camps in all the violence-affected districts.

The relief camps are supported by the district administration, which appointed one nodal officer for each camp who are responsible to provide support to the relief camp, in close coordination with the available Civil Society Organisations and local clubs, the statement added.

Source: IANS

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Shimla, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Fourteen years ago, then main opposition BJP had held a brainstorming session in Shimla over the state of affairs in the party against the backdrop of the Lok Sabha defeat in 2009 and internal bickering.

At that time, the split within the BJP was wide open with the expulsion of its own MP Jaswant Singh over alleged ideological transgressions related to his remarks on Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah and senior leaders like Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha, demanding soul-searching in the party after its poll debacle.

Now the opposition parties of the present day, including the Congress, which assembled in Patna on Friday for the grand opposition unity meeting aimed at forging a united face to take on the BJP in next year's Lok Sabha polls, have again decided to meet in Shimla for a brainstorming session from July 10-12.

The venue for the opposition brainstorming session is likely to the state-run guest house-cum-hotel Peterhoff, officials told IANS.

In August 2009, this entire hotel was booked when the BJP hosted its three-day 'Chintan Baithak' or introspection meet that saw the attendance of top party leaders like L.K. Advani, then Leader of Opposition Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh and Sushma Swaraj, among others.

At that time, the BJP government in the state was led by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, the father of Union minister Anurag Thakur.

Currently, the Congress is in power in Himachal led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, who rose from the ranks without any dynasty background but has wide organisational experience.

A senior Congress leader told IANS that special arrangements will be made for the opposition leaders to visit the other imperial buildings in the state capital which were once institutions of power when the hill town was the summer capital of British India.

Over 25 senior BJP leaders, including then Chief Ministers Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Ramesh Pokhriyal (Uttarakhand) and B.S. Yeddyurappa (Karnataka), had participated in the 2009 introspection session.

Among other issues, former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh's remarks on Jinnah in his book 'Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence' were subjected to detailed discussions during the Shimla session.

On the opening day of the brainstorming session, the decision to expel Jaswant Singh, who passed away in September 2020, was taken by the Parliamentary Board of the party which met here.

Within hours of his expulsion, Jaswant Singh, who was in Shimla then but had been instructed by Rajnath Singh to stay away from the 'Chintan Baithak' as "tempers were running high", met the media and said with tears in his eyes: "I have committed no sin."

Jaswant Singh had said he had been expelled "for merely writing a book" without even the courtesy of a show-cause notice.

As someone who had been associated with the party for 30 years, he said the decision had left him saddened but he will not appeal against the move.

"I do not want to compromise on my self-respect for the path I have chosen for myself," he had said, stressing that his political career was far from over in spite of the setback.

Lauding Jinnah as a "great man" in his book, Jaswant Singh had said Jinnah was "demonised" in India, while it was actually India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel whose belief in a centralised polity had led to the Partition of the subcontinent.

The BJP was then facing a rebellion by Vasundhara Raje, who had defied the party high command and refused to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly despite being asked to do so.

At that time, the BJP had admitted that hate speeches were among the reasons for its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

The closed-door meetings had also discussed threadbare a report of a committee headed by the party's Vice President Bal Apte.

However, senior party leader Arun Jaitley had denied that such a report (by the Apte Committee) existed or was discussed at the session.

Not many people might be aware that Shimla, the erstwhile summer capital of British India, had witnessed the trial of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathu Ram Godse.

The trial was carried out from 1948-49 in the British-era Peterhoff building. At that time, it housed the Punjab High Court and this town was part of united Punjab.

Shimla, which served as the summer capital of British India between 1864 and 1939, currently has 91 British-era heritage buildings.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at gulatiians@gmail.com)

Source: IANS

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Patna, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) All opposition parties in the country are united and will fight together against the BJP in the next Lok Sabha election, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Friday.

The leaders of the opposition parties, after the mega meeting here, jointly held a press conference where they said that they also decided to hold another meeting in Shimla on July 10 or 12 to decide the seats on which they would contest in the Lok Sabha election.

"We have a good and positive meeting today where we have decided to contest the Lok Sabha election together. The next meeting will take place under the chairmanship of (Congress President) Mallikarjun Kharge in Shimla where we will decide on seats... If we stand together, we will reduce the BJP to under 100 seats," Nitish Kumar said.

"Those who are in power are not working in the interest of the country. They want to change the history and constitution of the country. If they come again to power in the country, they will change the constitution," he added.

On his part, Kharge said: "We are trying to come up with a common agenda to fight together in the Lok Sabha election. The next meeting will take place in Shimla. We have to make a separate strategy for every state for fighting the Lok Sabha election."

NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that his party has been working against the party of Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena) in Maharashtra for the last 25 years but now come together to save the Constitution and the country.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said: "The people's movement started from the soil of Patna. We will fight together. The Modi government has become a dictatorship in the country. The BJP and the RSS are attacking the democratic base of our country. This is a fight of ideology and we are standing by the opposition parties to fight against the BJP. We will work together and save our common ideology."

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) A fresh political slugfest has erupted in West Bengal after a BJP office at Dabgram under the Siliguri Municipal Corporation in Darjeeling district was set ablaze by unknown miscreants late on Thursday night.

The BJP leadership has alleged that goons backed by the ruling Trinamool Congress were behind the incident. They claimed that the impact of the fire was such that everything inside the office area was totally gutted.

The local BJP leaders have also alleged that the office was set on fire with the intention to ensure that not a single opposition office exists in the area.

According to the leader of opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, such violence will continue as long as Trinamool Congress is in power in the state with Mamata Banerjee as the Chief Minister.

"The only solution to such a menace is 'no vote to Mamata' and 'no vote to Trinamool Congress'," Adhikari said.

On the other hand, Trinamool's Darjeeling district president Bablu Pal said that it has become a habit of the BJP to level baseless allegations and do politics on everything.

"I personally went to the spot and informed the fire department," Pal said.

Source: IANS

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Chennai, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) After Russia in 1984, it is now the US to fly Indian astronauts to space.

But this time the US will fly Indian astronauts to the International Space Station next year -- much ahead of India's own human space mission -- Gaganyaan.

According to the joint statement issued by the US White House, the US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a course to reach new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation.

The leaders applauded our growing cooperation on earth and space science, and space technologies.

"They welcomed the decision of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) to develop a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation by the end of 2023," the statement said.

"The leaders hailed the announcement by NASA to provide advanced training to Indian astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, with a goal of mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024," the statement notes.

It may be recalled that it was Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma who had travelled to space in a Russian rocket in 1984.

It will be interesting to know who from India will be travelling to the International Space Station on an American rocket.

Already four Indian Air Force (IAF) officials have undergone astronaut training in Russia as a part of India's Gaganyaan programme.

Whether the same four will be considered for the US-Indo space programme or a different set of people is not known.

Be that as it may, the other Indo-US joint space programme NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) -- an earth observation satellite -- will be orbited by an Indian rocket next year from the Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra Pradesh.

The NISAR is an earth observation satellite jointly built by NASA and ISRO.

The satellite has already reached India from the US.

Modi and Biden called for enhanced commercial collaboration between the US and Indian private sectors in the entire value chain of the space economy and to address export controls and facilitate technology transfer.

"President Biden deeply appreciated India's signing of the Artemis Accords, which advance a common vision of space exploration for the benefit of all humankind," the White House statement said.

Source: IANS

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Bhopal, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Madhya Pradesh Minister for Home Affairs Narottam Mishra on Friday hit out at the Opposition meeting in Bihar saying that it is not a 'Gathbandhan' but a 'Thagbandhan' meeting.

Mishra said that the heads of each of these political parties do not like each other personally but they are meeting only to corner the BJP. "It's nothing but a showgame and it will not succeed," Mishra said.

Talking to media persons in Bhopal, Mishra said that the people of the country have already accepted their leader -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that Rahul Gandhi was instrumental in bringing together the Opposition leaders from across the country.

"Congress ideology can never be separated from Bihar. If we win Bihar, we will win India," Kharge said while addressing party workers at the Congress office in Patna, ahead of the joint Opposition meeting.

Leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, AAP MP Raghav Chaddha, besides Left parties leaders, D. Raja and Dipankar Bhattacharya, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have reached Patna for the opposition meeting.

Source: IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Cracks have appeared in the Nair Service Society (NSS)- the powerful body of the Kerala Hindu's Nair community - with discontentment

brewing against its general secretary Sukumaran Nair.

Incidentally, the Hindu community in Kerala accounts for more than 50 per cent of the nearly 3.30 crore state population, of which Nairs come a close second after the Ezhava.

Over the years, NSS has been maintaining an equi-distant policy when it comes to supporting the CPI(M)-led Left or the Congress-led UDF. When the BJP also joined the political bandwagon in the state, many thought that NSS would partially shift towards it, which did not happen.

But after the Sabarimala temple issue surfaced, the NSS was a bit upset and at times they nearly took an open stand favouring the Congress-led UDF.

Since long, Sukumaran Nair has been at the helm of affairs and on Friday things took a turn for the worse when the internal strife surfaced in the open when Kalanjoor Madhu -- who has been a close confidant of the former -- walked out at their annual general body meeting which consists of 300 elected members from various NSS units.

Madhu is the elder brother of State Finance Minister K.N.Balagopal and Sukumaran Nair in his speech said that a section is trying to scuttle things and termed them "traitors".

Angered by this, Madhu and six of his close associates walked out of the meeting.

"Whatever little democracy that was there in the NSS has disappeared and I decided not to contest this time because of this. Things are not the same in the NSS as it was before and I cannot adjust to that and hence took this step and came out," said Madhu.

Another reason for things not all that well in the otherwise disciplined NSS is on account of finding a successor to Sukumaran Nair, who has been at the helm of affairs for a long time.

NSS had their own political outfit- National Democratic Party (NDP), but the legendary Congress veteran K.Karunakaran who was the be-all and end-all in Kerala politics in the eighties in one stroke finished off both NDP and the political arm of the Hindu Ezhavas' Socialist Republican Party.

Both these political outfits were allies of the Congress-led UDF and Karunakaran felt that if given more exposure, it could turn wary for the Congress in general.

Now all eyes are on how the present rift in the NSS will be capitalized by the three political combinations as the Lok Sabha election is round the corner.

Source: IANS

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By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) A pall of gloom had descended on the family of actress Chrisann Pereira after the Sharjah Central Jail declined to release her passport and is not contemplating 'deporting' her to India, her mother said here on Friday.

Nearly two weeks ago, the Sharjah Court had not only cleared Chrisann of all the charges in the fake drugs-framing case but also directed that her passport be handed over and she be permitted to return home.

"Since then, we have been eagerly awaiting her return. Yesterday, when she went to the Sharjah Central Jail, they said that it might take another one or two months to release her passport," a distraught Premila Pereira told IANS.

She claimed that the jail officials have even indicated that Chrisann may be 'deported' to India - something that has shocked the family - especially since the trauma of the past few months is now taking a toll on her mental and physical health.

"The Court orders were very clear. Then why are the jail authorities not honouring the Court verdict? Why should they withhold her passport and now talk of 'deportation' when her record has been cleared both in Sharjah and even in Mumbai," Premila demanded.

She is deeply worried that the scars of the past nearly three months in a foreign land without resources has started affecting Chrisann's health.

"We have already sent her psychiatric medicines... She is alone and unable to bear all these 'tortures' any more. If anything happens to her, will the Sharjah government take responsibility for it...?" Premila demanded.

The family also rued that neither the Indian Embassy nor the Ministry of External Affairs is ready to help out in the matter despite repeated pleas.

Concerned about mounting expenses and bills, Premila is now preparing to go to UAE for the third time in three months to take care of her daughter's health issues and try to appeal to the Sharjah authorities for help.

The Pereiras said it's "shocking" that the Sharjah jail is not honouring directives of the Sharjah Court and the police investigators who had probed the sensitive matter very thoroughly and professionally.

On April 1, Chrisann got unwittingly trapped in a fake drugs case and was arrested by the Sharjah (UAE) Police after which she spent around 25 days in the prison there.

As her family moved heaven and earth with the Mumbai Police for assistance, she secured bail on April 26 and the investigations finally helped her emerge untainted, said Premila.

Chrisann was all prepared to get back her passport, and hoped to fly back to India last week putting the long ordeal behind her. (IANS report - June 14).

Now, again Chrisann is stuck in a rut - the family terms it as 'travesty of justice' by the Sharjah jail authorities - they are unsure when she will return home and the nightmare will end.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)

Source: IANS

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Guwahati, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said a total of 4,95,799 people have been affected by floods in the state, with one death recorded so far.

In its latest bulletin, the ASDMA said the fatality was reported on Thursday in the flood-hit Tamulpur district.

The other affected areas include Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Hojai, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Nagaon, Nalbari and Sonitpur.

The majority of those impacted by the floods were in Bajali, followed by Darang.

In the two districts, there are about 1,350 villages throughout 58 revenue circles that are experiencing flooding.

At least 162 relief camps have been set up by the state government to house 14,035 people.

According to state government officials, food, medicine and other essentials are being provided the people.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are on high alert in all the areas across Assam that are prone to floods.

According to farmers, the flood water has inundated over 4,091 hectares of lands, which would cause significant agricultural damage.

Apart from this, erosion and damage of important infrastructures including bridges, schools and houses have been reported from various districts.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a 'yellow' alert for the next two days and also forecast heavy rain in numerous regions.

The Brahmaputra, Manas, and Puthimari rivers are all flowing above the danger level.

Meanwhile, flash floods were reported in Bajali, Darrang, Jorhat, Kamrup (Metro) and Kokrajhar districts.

Source: IANS

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New York, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, one of the five passengers killed after an "instantaneous implosion" of the Titan submersible tour to the Titanic, once said that he has "broken some rules" to make the deep-sea submarine.

In comments to Mexican travel vlogger Alan Estrada in 2021, Rush evoked US General Douglas MacArthur as saying, "You're remembered for the rules you break."

"I've broken some rules to make this (Titan). I think I've broken them with logic and good engineering behind me," Rush was quoted as saying in the video that has now surfaced on social media after the tragedy.

Rush said that deep-sea submersibles "as a rule" should not be made with carbon fibre and titanium but he did anyway, reports Fox Business.

"It's picking the rules that you break that are the ones that will add value to others and add value to society," Rush said in the video.

In another old clip of Rush, he is seen explaining that he preferred not to hire "50-year-old White guys" with military experience to pilot his company's vessels.

Rush valued captains who were "inspirational" over experience, noting that "anybody can drive the sub," which is controlled with a $30 video game controller.

"When I started the business, one of the things you'll find, there are other sub operators out there, but they typically have gentlemen who are ex-military submariners, and you'll see a whole bunch of 50-year-old White guys," Rush told Teledyne Marine in a 2020 interview over Zoom.

Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard has announced that a debris field found by searchers near the Titanic is wreckage from the missing Titan submersible, with all the five people on board declared dead.

US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said that a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) discovered the tail cone of the Titan submersible about half a kilometre from the bow of the Titanic on the seafloor.

"I offer my deepest condolences to the families," he said.

Shortly before the announcement, OceanGate Expeditions, the US-based company that owned and operated the submersible, said in a statement that it believed the five passengers of the Titanic-bound submersible have "sadly been lost".

The five passengers included Hamish Harding, a billionaire and explorer; Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a French explorer; Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood, members of a prominent Pakistani family; and OceanGate CEO Rush.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Before leaving for the meeting of the opposition parties in Patna, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said that he wanted all parties to fight unitedly to remove the BJP government from the Centre.

He also said that the Congress will decide on the ordinance issue of Delhi before the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Speaking to the media before leaving for the first meeting of like-minded parties in Patna, Kharge said, "We all want to fight together against the BJP and our agenda is to remove the BJP government by fighting unitedly.

"We want everyone to fight united and after going there we will get the opinion of everyone and a consensus will be reached. Rahul Gandhi has been trying for opposition unity and this meeting in Patna is part of that," Kharge asserted.

To a question about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's AAP threatening to walkout of the opposition meeting if they don't get support of Congress over ordinance, Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said, "I am not aware of this and he also knows that ordinance is not opposed outside. It is done in Parliament.

"When the Parliament session begins then several parties decide on agenda on which issues they need to take up and what to leave. Even their party leaders attend the all-party meeting in Parliament. I don't know why they are publicizing this. Around 18 to 20 parties take decisions on what to oppose and support in Parliament. And we will take a decision on this (on supporting AAP against the Centre's ordinance) before the Parliament session," the Congress president added.

The first meeting of the opposition parties is scheduled in Patna to bring the like-minded parties together ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The meeting will be attended by several top opposition parties, including Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal(United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, DMK, JMM, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and others.

Besides Kharge, former Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi is also attending the meeting.

Source: IANS

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Srinagar, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) A busy schedule awaits Union Home Minister Amit Shah as he will begin his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.

Shah will arrive in Jammu at around 10.30 a.m., following which he pay tribute to Syama Prasad Mukherjee on his death anniversary and then address a public rally in the city's Bhagwati Nagar area.

Later, he will meet BJP leaders and take their feedback on the ground situation in Jammu.

Shah is also likely to visit Shri Tirupati Balaji Temple on the outskirts of the city.

On Friday afternoon, Shah will fly to Srinagar where he will attend the Vitasta festival, meet members of political parties and the civil society.

In the evening, he will chair a high-level security meeting with Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and senior officers of the police, intelligence, paramilitary forces and the army to review the security preparation for the Amaranth Yatra that begins on July 1 and will end after 62 days on August 31.

On Saturday, the Union Home Minister will lay the foundation of 'Balidan Stambh' in Pratap Park adjacent to the Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Thursday held State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha responsible for the bloodshed in the state in the run up to the July 8 panchayat elections.

"I appointed the State Election Commissioner. I had faith in him that he will ensure free and fair polls. But I feel that the common people are disappointed. There has been so much bloodshed," the Governor said while speaking to mediapersons here.

The Governor's remarks came after the division bench of Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam on Wednesday advised Sinha to step down from his chair if he is unable to perform his duty.

"In that case, the Governor will appoint someone else," Justice Sivagnanam had said.

So far, nine people have died in panchayat poll-related violence in West Bengal.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress spokesman Kunal Ghosh attacked the Governor and asked him to leave Bengal.

"No matter how much respect we might give to the Governor, ultimately he is a BJP-appointed man. The opposition parties are trying to create tension in certain pockets of the state and the Governor is trying to fuel it. He is not making spot visits to places where the victims are from Trinamool. If the Governor tries to defer the panchayat elections, we will be forced to ask him to leave West Bengal," Ghosh said.

Source: IANS

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Guwahati, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday apologised to a person on Twitter after the latter complained of receiving inflated electricity bill.

A Twitter user tagged the Chief Minister and posted, "We have received a staggering bill of Rs 44,000 from @apdclsocial despite 1 KW load in June."

The consumer has been named as Golap Borah, a resident of Gohpur area in the state.

Responding to the complaint, Sarma tweeted, "We have examined the matter. It was found that the meter reading is correct and done in Esuvidha. However, it is a case of accumulated reading, as the consumer was under billed by meter reader named Dilip Rajkhowa."

He added, "The matter came to light that the meter reader didn't prepare the bill on actual consumption. As a result, you received an enhanced bill. My apology for the inconvenience caused."

In Assam, the power department has installed smart pre-paid meters mostly in the urban areas. However, consumers have been complaining of receiving inflated power bills after the installation of the pre-paid metres.

Source: IANS

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Srinagar, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday terminated the services of two senior doctors for manipulating post-mortem reports and propagating false narrative regarding the deaths of two women in Shopian district on May, 29, 2009.

The doctors have been identified as Nighat Chiloo, a consultant gynaecologist, and Bilal Ahmad Dalal.

Sources said that both the doctors had played a crucial role in falsifying facts and creating a narrative against India by preparing four false post-mortem reports indicating rape and murder of both the women.

The false news about the rape and murder of Asiya Jan (17) and Neelofar Jan (22) set Kashmir on fire. Mobs also clashed with the security forces in several places.

The indefinite strike called by separatists crippled education and local economy in the Valley.

Following the unrest, the then state government suspended four policemen - including the then Superintendent of Police of Shopian district - and arrested them.

A messed-up investigation could not confirm rape, murder or death due to drowning.

The case was finally handed over to CBI which unearthed details about the involvement of two doctors who had been acting hand-in-glove with the separatists to vilify the country.

The charges finally prepared against the two doctors reveal even more startling details.

Sources said that the investigation into the role of Nighat revealed that she had prepared falsified post-mortem reports.

"Not one, but four different post-mortem were prepared each full of intra and inter inconsistency and contradictions. Things that did not exist were artificially added while things that existed were deliberately omitted. Biological samples belonging to unknown persons (not of the deceased) were fraudulently obtained and placed on record," the sources said.

"Had Nighat done the wrong under duress she had an opportunity to reveal the truth during the CBI interview. She negated any theory of duress. She admitted to the wrongs only after CBI confronted her with incontrovertible scientific forensic evidence that the body fluids did not belong to the deceased.

"Nighat on being cornered with unimpeachable evidence of her falsehood, resorted to another round of falsehood that the vaginal fluid belonged to her and the spermatozoa to her husband. The CBI did another round of complex, time taking and expensive DNA test only to find that she is lying," the sources said.

About the involvement of Bilal Ahmad, sources said: "Dr. Bilal Ahmad Dalal maliciously prepared post-mortem reports incorporating false elements to support the false theory of rape and murder that had come to be mischievously floated and propagated by the Pakistan proxies within the terrorist-secessionist networks.

"The falsehood of such bogus post-mortem reports came to fore and was conclusively proved on the basis of the findings of AIIMS/CFSL, New Delhi that the victims had died due to ante-mortem drowning," they added.

According to sources, Bilal Ahmad had wrongly mentioned the lacerated wound on the frontal portion of Asiya's head as an incised wound. He also falsely opined on the cause of death as hemorrhagic shock and bleeding from multiple injuries in case of Asiya and neurogenic shock in case of Neelofar. "CBI exposed this falsehood with the help of incontrovertible forensic evidence that found the death to be asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem drowning in both the cases."

Source: IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former Students Federation of India (SFI) leader K. Vidya, who was arrested for allegedly forging documents for a guest lecturer's job in a government college in Kerala, was on Thursday sent to judicial custody till July 6th.

A court in Palakkad, however, allowed the police to take her into custody for the next two days.

Meanwhile, her anticipatory bail will come up on Saturday, when her police custody ends.

Claiming innocence, Vidya said that her arrest on Wednesday night was a "trap" against her and the state CPI(M) leadership by the Congress.

Vidya is accused of forging her experience certificate to secure the post of a guest lecturer at a state-run college in Palakkad.

She learned to have told the police that she has done no wrong and that she is a victim of a "deep-rooted" conspiracy hatched by the Congress-backed teachers' organisation.

A Kasargod resident, Vidya was taken into police custody from her friend's house in Kozhikode on Wednesday night.

Reacting to the development, veteran Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala told the media this morning at Kasargod that everything connected to Vidya is "stage-managed".

"Is Kerala Police so inefficient that they cannot catch an absconder?. It's because the CPI(M)-led government does not wish to arrest one of their staunch supporters. It's been more than two weeks since this grave crime done by the SFI has come out and where is Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, why is he silent?" asked Chennithala.

CPI(M) central committee leader A.K.Balan countered the delay in the arrest of Vidya by pointing out that when the country is burning, the Prime Minister is doing yoga in the US.

"The Congress here is not bothered about such things and is busy targeting Vijayan and the SFI for vested interests. In Kerala, the SFI rules in more than 80 per cent of the educational institutions and the support base of the CPI(M) is around 45 per cent, which shows SFI has a huge support base cutting across political parties.

"So SFI is one organisation which has become part and parcel of the state and they are being targeted. Just look at the status of the Congress-led KSU, it's nowhere to be seen," said Balan.

Vidya has been booked under Section 465 (punishment for forgery), 468 (committing forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (fraudulently using forged documents as genuine) of the IPC.

Meanwhile, her counsel said, "We do not know how she was taken into custody when her anticipatory bail plea was pending before the High Court," said her counsel.

Responding to the development, the Congress accused the police of playing a foul game as despite knowing everything, they did not take any action against those
CPI(M) leaders who managed to keep her out of public glare.

Source: IANS

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Patna, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address a gathering of more than 10,000 people, including party supporters, in Sadakat Ashram -- the party's state head office -- before joining the opposition meeting at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's residence on Friday.

After landing at Patna airport, party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will go to Sadakat Ashram where the former will address the gathering.

Confirming the same, former state president and MLC of the party Madan Mohan Jha told IANS: "Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will come to Sadakat Ashram and then proceed to the chief minister's office at 1 Anne marg.

"We have made arrangements to welcome our leaders. They are expected to arrive around 10 a.m. We have put out huge posters of these two leaders inside and around the office premises," Jha said.

"On the occasion, members of our core committee, party in charge, state president, MLAs, MLCs and other leaders will be present. Presence of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will boost our morale. Rahul Gandhi will address us during the event. We are expecting a gathering of more than 10,000 people and party supporters in the ashram," Jha said.

Notably, Sadakat Ashram was constructed by Maulana Majhar-ul-Haq in 1921. It is located on the banks of the Ganga on Ashok Rajpath. The place is 7 KM away from Patna airport.

This is the place where stalwarts like Dr Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Singh, Braj Kishore Prasad often met during the freedom struggle. Post retirement, Dr Prasad stayed in Sadakat Ashram till his death.

The land of Sadakat Ashram belonged to a person named Kharun Mian. He had donated the land to Maulana Mahjar-ul-Haq for the freedom struggle.

Source: IANS

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Bengaluru, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The division bench of Karnataka High Court has issued a notice to the Centre on Xiaomi's petition against the single bench order in connection with seizure of Rs 5,551.27 crore for alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The bench headed by Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice M.G.S. Kamal issued the notice on Wednesday while looking into the appeal petition by Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited seeking remedy under Section 37A of the FEMA Act.

The Karnataka High Court had rejected the plea by the Chinese firm Xiaomi against the seizure of Rs 5,551.27 crore from its bank accounts by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 21. The bench headed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna though dismissed the petition, upheld the maintainability of the petition.

The Chinese technology company is facing charges of violations of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The notice has also been issued to Enforcement Directorate (ED) and directed them to file objections to the appeal petition. The hearing has been adjourned to July 11.

Earlier, the counsel for Xiaomi India had argued before the single bench that the firm was being targeted as it is a Chinese company and other companies are allowed to make payments of technology royalty. They have also brought to the notice of the court that banks are not allowing Xiaomi to make remittances in foreign exchange for imports. They argued that the company is required to make payments for foreign companies in connection with manufacturing and marketing smartphones.

Source: IANS

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