West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi Friday said he called up Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss the issue of junior doctors' strike but got no response from her.

 

Tripathi paid a visit to injured junior doctor Paribaha Mukhopadhyay at the hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

"I have tried to contact the chief minister. I have called her up. Till this moment there is no response from her. If she calls me, we will discuss the matter," he told

reporters after visiting Mukhopadhyay at the hospital.

Mukhopadhyay is one of the two junior doctors attacked by relatives of a patient, who died at the NRS Medical College and Hospital here on Monday night, triggering the ongoing agitation by medicos across the state.

Tripathi had met representatives of the doctors on Thursday. -- PTI 

Three persons have died in incidents of tree collapse in Mumbai since Thursday, a civic official said.

Mumbai and surrounding areas have been receiving spells of rain amid strong winds in the last couple of days.

A little after 4 pm Friday, a tree fell on Nitin Shirvalkar (43) in Anushakti Nagar in suburban Govandi, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's disaster management unit said.

Shirvalkar was rushed to BARC Hospital nearby and was declared dead on arrival by doctors there, he added.

Earlier in the day, two persons were injured when a tree branch fell on them near Vijaykar Wadi on SV Road in Malad around 6.30 am Friday, the official said.

Shailesh Mohanlal Rathod (38) was declared 'brought dead' at Shatabdi Hospital while the other person was undergoing treatment, he said.

On Thursday, Anil Ghosalkar (48) was critically injured when a tree collapsed at Takshashila Cooperative Housing Society in suburban Jogeshwari. He succumbed to the injuries at Holy Spirit Hospital Friday, the official said.

A notice had been issued to the housing society on April 24 to get the overgrown trees on its premises trimmed, the official added.

A BMC official said it had informed societies in all its wards well in advance to trim trees before the arrival of monsoon. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for home after the conclusion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in which he discussed the global security situation, multilateral economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and topical issues of international and regional importance. 

 

On the sidelines of the summit on Thursday, Modi held bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. 

He also met Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov ahead of the SCO Council of Heads of State meeting on Friday. Jeenbekov was the Chair of the SCO Summit 2019.

"Thank You Bishkek. After a successful visit to Kyrgyzstan, PM @narendramodi emplanes for New Delhi," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. 

Modi also exchanged usual pleasantries with his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on Friday in the Leaders' Lounge at the venue of the summit. 

The prime minister arrived in the Kyrgyz capital on Thursday for the SCO summit, the first multilateral engagement post his re-election. 

The SCO is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc with India and Pakistan being admitted to the grouping in 2017. -- PTI

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday invited the agitating junior doctors for a meeting at the state secretariat, which they declined saying it is a ploy to break their stir.

 

She convened the meeting to find a solution to the ongoing impasse disrupting normal services at all state-run medical college and hospitals for four days.

After the protesting doctors did not turn up on Friday, Banerjee gave them time again at 5 pm on Saturday for the meeting at state secretariat Nabanna, senior physician Sukumar Mukherjee said.

Mukherjee along with other senior doctors, who were not part of the agitating medicos, went to meet Banerjee and held a two-hour-long meeting with the chief minister at the secretariat to find out a solution.

Banerjee then asked Director of Medical Education Pradip Mitra to invite three or four junior doctors to the secretariat for the meeting.

They, however, refused to go the meeting.

"This is a ploy to break our unity, our agitation. We will not attend any meeting at the state secretariat. The chief minister has to come here (NRS Medical College and Hospital) and deliver an unconditional apology for the manner in which she had addressed us during her visit to SSKM Hospital yesterday," a spokesperson of the joint forum of junior doctors said.

While visiting the SSKM Hospital on Thursday, Banerjee had contended that outsiders had entered medical colleges to create disturbances and the agitation is a conspiracy by the CPI-M and the BJP.

Mukherjee said the chief minister waited for the junior doctors to come to the state secretariat on Friday night and when they did not turn up, gave them another time for a meeting on Saturday evening.

"We hope some junior doctors will turn up," he said.

"We had come to meet the chief minister on our own to find a solution to the impasse. She has briefed us about the steps her government has decided to take in fulfilling the demands of the junior doctors," Mukherjee said. -- PTI

Image: A medical student in Bengaluru during a demonstration protest to show solidarity with their counterparts against the assault in Kolkata. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan exchanged pleasantries on Friday during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, official sources said.

 

Modi exchanged usual pleasantries with Khan in the Leaders' Lounge at venue of the SCO summit, they said.

Both Modi and Khan were here to attend the annual summit of the SCO.

The exchange of pleasantries came over two weeks after Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi wrote separate letters to their Indian counterparts, pushing for restarting the bilateral talks.

India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by a Pakistan-based terror group, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together. 

Khan had also made a telephone call to Modi on May 26 and expressed his desire to work together for the betterment of people of the two countries.

On his part, Modi said creating trust and an environment free of violence and terrorism was essential for fostering peace and prosperity in the region. -- PTI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a meeting with top brass of the Army and reviewed the overall security challenges facing the country including situation along borders with Pakistan and China, official sources said.

 

The meeting was attended by Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat, Vice Chief of the Army Staff Lieutenant General Devraj Anbu and all the General Officer Commanding-in-Chiefs (GOC-in-C).

The security challenges along borders with Pakistan and China were discussed at the meeting, sources said.

According to a defence ministry statement, Singh said, "It is matter of great pride that Indian Army is ready for full spectrum of challenges and it will be ensured that their capabilities keep getting continuously enhanced." 

"Jointmanship of the Indian armed forces will be a key area and due endeavours towards the same will be ensured," he added. 

Singh said defence ministry will remain fully committed to speedily enhance the capabilities of the armed forces, adding ensuring high morale and motivation of all ranks will be a priority.

     

The ministry said Singh complimented the Indian Army for ensuring the "highest level" of professionalism and showing continuous readiness against external and internal challenges. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday could not hold a bilateral meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the SCO summit here due to scheduling issues, official sources said.

 

According to a schedule put out by the External Affairs Ministry, Modi was to meet Rouhani at 3:35 PM (local time). As banquet for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders got extended, the two leaders could not meet, sources said.

 

Modi arrived Bishkek onThursday on a two-day visit to attend the annual summit of the SCO. He held bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

 

It was expected that Modi and Rouhani would discuss a range of issues including the US sanctions on import of Iranian oil and implementation of the Chabahar port project.

 

The meeting was keenly awaited as it was to take place amid escalating face-off between Iran and the United States on Tehran's nuclear programme.

 

The six-month-long exemptions from US sanctions to India and seven other countries to buy oil from Iran expired on May 2 as Washington did not extend it.

Early last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif visited India in the wake of the US decision to not continue the exemptions to India and other countries. -- PTI

The MeT department and private weather forecaster Skymet Weather had made forecast of rain in the national capital on June 12 but the prediction did not turn out true.

   

The India Meteorological Department had predicted dust storm, thunder storm with light rain, while the Skymet weather had made a forecast of "heavy rains" over Delhi and NCR on June 12. 

 

The IMD said it did rain in a few areas in the national capital, while the Skymet Weather   said the trough approaching Delhi fizzled out before it could reach the national capital. 

 

The IMD's Safdurjung observatory recorded two squalls -- one from 6.48 pm to 6.49 pm and second at 6.58 pm to 7 pm. However, no rainfall activity was recorded. 

Several parts of Delhi witnessed dust storm. It also resulted in the Delhi airport suspending its operations. 

Kuldeep Srivastava, the regional forecasting chief of IMD, however, said rainfall did take place at a few places.

 

"We don't have observatories at every place. We have five main observatories, which did not record any rainfall. Light rain had occurred at a few places. Since the observatories did not record any rainfall, there's no record of precipitation," Srivastava said.

 

The IMD has observatories at Safdurjung, Palam, Ayanagar, Ridge and Delhi University 

 

Private weather forecaster Symet Weather also predicted "intense rains" in Delhi NCR with strong winds. 

 

"Delhi has remained mostly dry this season so far. On June 10 and 11, a trough south of Delhi moved upwards, but that too didn't lead to any major rain activity. The problem is even if there is intense rainfall at any isolated place, if there's no observatory, it won't reflect in data," Mahesh Palawat of Skymet said. -- PTI 

Five police personnel were shot dead by Maoists on Friday while they were patrolling the area here, officials said. 

 

According to Sub-Divisional Police Officer Avinash Kumar, the five police personnel -- two assistant sub-inspectors and three constables -- came under attack while patrolling the Tiruldih police station area of the district along the Jharkhand-Bengal border.

Additional Director General of Police Murari Lal Meena said the Maoists gheraoed the policemen and shot them dead. -- PTI 

Cyclone Vayu is likely to recurve and hit the Kutch coast of Gujarat, a top official of the ministry of earth sciences said on Friday.

 

"Vayu is likely to recurve on June 16 and hit Kutch between June 17-18," M Rajeevan, Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, told PTI.

The intensity of the cyclone is likely to get reduced, Rajeevan said, adding that it may hit the coast as a cyclonic storm or a deep depression.

He said the Gujarat government has been alerted about the possible recurvature of the cyclonic storm.

Cyclone Vayu was to hit the Gujarat coast on Thursday, but it changed course on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. 

It skirted the Gujarat coast affecting Gir, Somnath, Diu, Junagarh and Porbandar. 

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy Friday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and requested him to "soften PM's heart" on the issue of granting special category status to the Rs 2.58 lakh crore debt-ridden state.

   

Reddy also said he would raise the demand in the first meeting of the governing council of the NITI Aayog, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Saturday.

 

"I met Home Minister to try and prevail upon him and also soften PM's heart on special category status...," Reddy told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Shah.

 

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief also urged the Centre to fulfil all commitments made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

 

Reddy, just before swearing in as chief minister, had met both Modi and Shah on the special category status issue. He had said his party could only request the BJP-led central government and not "demand or command".

 

"Today, we might not get it (special category status). We have to be at somebody's mercy but I will remind him (Modi) again and again and someday things will change," Reddy had told the media after his first meeting with Modi.

 

Asked if the post of deputy speaker in Lok Sabha was offered to YSRCP, Reddy said, "Please don't speculate on all these things. First of all, there is no offer... We have not asked and we have not spoken. And neither any such proposal has come from any quarter. As of now, there is no conversation or talk on that."

The YSRCP won 22 parliamentary seats in the 17th Lok Sabha elections and also swept the assembly polls. The party's  parliamentary board meeting is likely to be held on Saturday. -- PTI 

Over 100 senior doctors of various state-run hospitals across West Bengal resigned from their services Friday amid the ongoing agitation by the medical fraternity against the violence at NRS Medical College and Hospital here.

 

The doctors, including heads of departments of medical colleges and other hospitals in Kolkata, Burdwan, Darjeeling and North 24 Parganas districts, sent their resignation letters to the state director of medical education, a senior health department official told PTI.

"We express fullest solidarity to the current movement of NRS Medical College and Hosptial and other government hospitals agitating to protest the brutal attack on them while on duty," Dr P Kundu, director of the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, said in the resignation letter.

"We strongly stand by the demands of security and protection for all healthcare personnel and we have tried our best to continue life saving services in the interest of our patients till now," Prof (Dr) Dipanjan Bandyopadhyay, Head of Medicine department at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, wrote in the resignation letter which contained the signature of 34 other senior doctors.

"Under the present circumstances, it is not possible for us to continue our services indefinitely without minimum manpower resources. In the absence of any constructive development to end this crisis, we are pained to offer our resignation and request you to relieve us of our responsibilities," the resignation letter read.

The principal and the medical superintendent of the NRS Medical College and Hospital submitted their resignations on Thursday night.

Two junior doctors of the NRS Medical College and Hospital were seriously injured in an attack by family members of a patient who died on Monday night, triggering the agitation. -- PTI

Asserting that chief minister Mamata Banerjee should have been humble in her approach at the SSKM hospital, actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen on Friday insisted that the TMC supremo should apologise to the agitating doctors for the alleged threats she issued to them.

   

Sen urged the chief minister to listen to the grievances of the junior doctors patiently.

    

"Mamata Banerjee has done so much for Bengal, but I am sorry to say that I do not support the way she spoke to the doctors. She must have spoken to them humbly because threats do not get anything done.

    

"There is no harm or no shame in saying sorry... That will not hamper her popularity," Sen said.

    

The filmmaker appealed to Banerjee to talk to the junior doctors face-to-face and end the impasse.

    

"The chief minister is the guardian of the state. She is not just the guardian of the patients waiting outside, but also of those young brilliant doctors who are working day in day out throughout the year.

    

"I think, all she needs to do is to sit and talk face-to-face with the protesters to solve the crisis," she said at the state-run Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, where an assault on two interns by the relatives of

a patient sparked the protests by the doctors.

    

The Padma Shri awardee also maintained that the state government should look into the demand for adequate security by the doctors.

    

"She (Banerjee) has to understand that she needs to listen to them rather than doing all the talking... There must be a two-way dialogue. She must understand that the junior doctors are hurt.

    

"What they have asked is not much... The state government has the responsibility to look into the security of the doctors. If doctors need to think about their security, how will they work," Sen said.

    

The chief minister should realize that the situation might change for worse if the doctors start resigning enmasse, the filmmaker said.

    

"If they start resigning then what will be the situation here ... It is very important to understand the gravity of the situation," Sen said.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya with 18 newly elected party MPs Sunday, making a fresh pitch for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site there.

   

Thackeray will offer prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla temple at the site.

 

This will be Thackeray's first visit to Ayodhya after the Lok Sabha results last month. He had visited Ayodhya in November last year.

 

The Shiv Sena had earlier announced that Thackeray and the newly elected MPs would visit Ayodhya before the beginning of the Parliament session on Monday.

 

However, the party's state unit chief Anil Singh said the visit should not been seen from the electoral lens and it was "a matter of devotion and faith".

 

Maharashtra will be going to the polls later in the year.

 

When asked about the purpose of the visit, Singh said, "Before the Lok Sabha elections, Uddhavji went to a number of religious places for darshan. Now, after the party performed well in the polls and is a part of the NDA government, he is going there to offer prayers."

 

Singh termed Thackeray's proposed visit as "thanksgiving to Lord Ram" for the party's performance in the Lok Sabha elections and to affirm its "commitment" for a Ram temple in Ayodhya".

 

"The newly elected Shiv Sena MPs will be reaching Ayodhya Saturday while party chief Uddhav Thackeray is likely to be there the next day," Anil Singh told PTI here Friday.

 

A party statement said Thackeray will offer prayers to Ram Lalla Sunday, a day before the Parliament session begins.

The Calcutta high court on Friday adjourned hearing in a plea seeking its intervention on alleged prevention of and penal action against those who are chanting "Jai Shri Ram" in West Bengal.

 

Moving the PIL before a division bench presided by Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan, the petitioner prayed that chanting of "Jai Shri Ram" be declared a fundamental right of the citizens.

Citing media reports, the petitioner, lawyer Partha Ghosh, sought that no obstruction be created or no penal action be taken against those who chant the name or perform puja of Lord Ram.

Refusing an immediate intervention, the division bench adjourned hearing in the matter for four weeks.

The bench, also comprising Justice Suvra Ghosh, observed that it would have understood if the voice of the masses were crushed, but would not do so at the drop of a hat.

It said that if anyone is aggrieved by any action of the administration or the police, he or she may take recourse of legal action. -- PTI  

Agitating doctors on Friday demanded West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's unconditional apology and set six conditions for the state government to withdraw their four-day-long stir that disrupted healthcare services across the state.

   

"We want unconditional apology of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the manner in which she had addressed us at the SSKM Hospital yesterday. She should not have said what she had," a spokesperson of the joint forum of junior doctors, Dr Arindam Dutta, said.

 

While visiting the SSKM Hospital on Thursday, Banerjee had contended that "outsiders" had entered medical colleges to create disturbances and the agitation was a conspiracy by the CPI-M and the BJP.

 

Listing the six conditions, the agitators said the chief minister will have to visit the injured doctors at the hospital and her office should release a statement condemning the attack on them.

 

"We also want immediate intervention of the chief minister. Documentary evidence of judicial enquiry against the inactivity of the police to provide protection to the doctors at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital on Monday night should also be provided," he said.

Two junior doctors were assaulted on Monday night by family members of a patient who died in the NRS Hospital.

 

"We demand documentary evidence and details of action taken against those who had attacked us," Dutta said.

 

They also demanded unconditional withdrawal of all "false cases and charges" which were imposed on junior doctors and medical students across West Bengal in the wake of their strike.

 

They also stressed on their demand for improvement of infrastructure in all health facilities as well as posting of armed police personnel there. -- PTI

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Friday dismissed a writ petition of BJP leader Jayaprada challenging the election of Azam Khan from the Rampur parliamentary constituency in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election.

 

A bench comprising Justice Rajan Roy and Justice N K Jauhari dismissed the writ petition of BJP leader Jayaprada on the grounds of lack of territorial jurisdiction.

The bench said Rampur falls under the jurisdiction of the Allahabad high court and hence, a petition in the Lucknow bench is not maintainable.

The court also said that the writ petition itself is not maintainable and only an election petition can be moved in such circumstances.

The petition was filed by Jayaprada and argued by her lawyer Amar Singh. --  PTI

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi would give issue-based support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government, a senior leader of the ruling party in Telangana said on Friday, ahead of the commencement of the Lok Sabha session next week.

   

"No animosity, no friendship", K Keshava Rao, who was retained as Parliamentary Party leader on Thursday said, when asked about the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led outfit's policy towards the National Democratic Alliance government.

 

"Absolutely issue-based support; same thing (the stand adopted by TRS towards the previous NDA regime) will continue," the Rajya Sabha member added.

 

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti had backed the NDA on demonetisation, GST and in the elections to the post of President and Vice-President during its last term.

 

Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday shared his thoughts on the strategy to be adopted by party MPs in the Parliament session beginning Monday.

 

The TRS had aimed to sweep the recent Lok Sabha elections in the newly formed state, repeatedly asserting it would win 16 seats and its ally AIMIM one out of the total 17.

 

The TRS won nine Lok Sabha seats.

 

The BJP, which had a lone member from Telangana in the previous Lok Sabha, sprang a huge surprise winning four seats, while the Congress picked up three. -- PTI

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday insisted that those living in West Bengal will have to learn to speak in Bengali.

 

The TMC supremo also reiterated that outsiders instigated the doctors' agitation in the state and accused the BJP of targeting the Bengalis and the minorities.

"Outsiders are instigating the doctors. I had rightly said that they were involved in yesterday's protest. I had seen some outsiders raising slogans (at SSKM hospital)," she said, while addressing a rally here.

Alleging that EVMs in the recently held Lok Sabha elections were "programmed", Banerjee also said that ballot papers should be brought back for conducting polls.

"Just because they (BJP) won a few seats by programming the EVMs, it doesn't mean that they can beat up Bengalis and minorities. We will not tolerate this," the chief minister said.

"The police will take action against the hooligans. If someone is living in Bengal, he or she has to learn Bengali," she added. -- PTI 

A rescue team has recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of Russian-origin An-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force at the crash site in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, an Indian Air Force spokesman said.

Shillong-based IAF spokesman Ratnakar Singh said that despite inclement weather and treacherous terrain, the rescue team of Indian Air Force (IAF), Army and locals are trying their best to retrieve the bodies of the air warriors.

The Indian Air Force had said Thursday that all 13 people on board the aircraft have died.

The Russian-origin An-32 aircraft was going from Jorhat in Assam to Menchuka advanced landing ground near the border with China on June 3 when it lost contact around half-an-hour after taking off.   -- PTI

A 53-year-old man was arrested on the charges of sedition for allegedly spreading rumours over power cuts on a social media platform in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

The accused, identified as Mangelal Agarwal, was arrested on Thursday evening under Indian Penal Code Sections 124 A (sedition) and 505 (1) (2), following a complaint filed by Chhattisgarh State Power Holding Company Limited (CSPHCL), a local police official said.

On June 12, the power company had lodged a complaint with City Kotwali police station in Rajnandgaon town that a video had gone viral on social media in which an unidentified man was deliberately spreading rumours and false information in a bid to tarnish the image of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

In the video allegedly posted by Mangelal, a native of Musra village under Dongargarh police station area, on his Facebook account, he is heard saying, "The Bhupesh Baghel-led government and Madhya Pradesh government had allegedly colluded with inverter manufacturing companies to increase its sales by doing frequent power cuts in the respective states."

"Inverter companies had allegedly given money to the state government to cut power supply for every 2 hours or after 10 to 15 minutes. As the frequency of power cuts will increase so will the sales of the inverter. This news is true because in Delhi there was a meeting of inverter companies with the state government...," he purportedly said in the video.

The CSPHCL in its complaint has said that an attempt was made to spread hatred against the state government and disrespect it through the video.

The mobile through which video was recorded has been seized, the official said.

Agarwal will be produced in a local court on Friday, he added.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the Congress government and accused it of trying to suppress freedom of expression.

"While the Congress had promised to repeal the sedition law, the party itself is now misusing it to implicate and threaten common men. If spreading rumours is such a big offence, then so far several Congressmen should have been put behind bars.

"Congress was elected to power through false campaign only," said Santosh Pandey, BJP MP from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat.

"The people of the state have been bearing the brunt of frequent power cuts. It is a failure of the Congress. When people are opposing it, then in frustration, the Congress government has taken such action," Pandey added.

Chairman of the state power companies, Shailendra Kumar Shukla, has appealed to the people not to believe in such false propaganda over power cuts.

"Personnel of the state's power generation, transmission and distribution companies have been engaged to ensure regular power supply to consumers.

"People should not believe in such false news and rumors regarding the power cuts which can be due to natural phenomenon like storms or other local reasons," he said.

Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board was restructured into five companies - distribution, generation, holding, transmission and trading, in 2008. Shukla is chairman of all five companies.  -- PTI

"South-west monsoons will be affected by the very severe cyclonic storm Vayu and as a result, they will be delayed in Maharashtra by at least a week if the effects don't wane off in the days to come," said Bishwombhar, director of Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC), IMD. 

He added that the intensity of cyclone Vayu will become negligible completely by June 16. 

"The intensity of cyclone Vayu will go down by June 16 and it will change to a cyclonic storm by then. The cyclone will decrease in strength without affecting the Gujarat coast. It is not going to land on the Saurashtra coast as it has turned westwards," Bishwombhar said. 

Earlier, the IMD said cyclone Vayu lay centred over the northeast and adjoining East Central Arabian Sea at 3.30 am on Friday.  

"It remains practically stationary in the last one hour about 240 km west of Diu (Gujarat) and 130 km nearly South-West of Porbandar (Gujarat)," a statement from IMD said.

The Calcutta high court on Friday refused to pass any interim order on the strike by junior doctors at state-run hospitals in protest against the attack on two of their colleagues by family members of a patient.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan and Justice Suvra Ghosh asked the state government to persuade the striking doctors to resume work and provide usual services to patients.

The court also directed the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to apprise it of the steps taken following the attack on the junior doctors at a city hospital on Monday night.

The Chief Justice, during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation, reminded the striking doctors of the 'Hippocratic Oath' they take to ensure the welfare of all patients.

The bench fixed June 21 for further hearing of the petition. Junior doctors across all state-run hospitals in West Bengal have called for a strike, demanding adequate security in medical colleges and hospitals, after two of their colleagues were brutally beaten up at NRS Medical College and Hospital in the city.

Emergency wards, outdoor facilities, pathological units of many state-run medical colleges and hospitals and a number of private medical facilities in the state have remained closed over the past three days in the wake of the protest.  --  PTI

Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey on Friday said that as many as 57 children have died due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Muzaffarpur.

"In the last 20-22 days, 57 children have died due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES)," Pandey told media in Muzaffarpur.

Out of the total number, 47 children have died in Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) while 10 succumbed at the private Kejriwal Hospital, Pandey said.

"We are monitoring all this. The Health Ministry in the state held a meeting on this and decided to make people aware of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES)," the health minister shared.

"A team comprising of one professor, three associate professors, four assistant professors, nine senior residents and 15 junior residents are seeing this matter and looking after the children. We are providing more beds in both the hospitals for treatment," he added.

Encephalitis is a viral infection which causes mild flu-like symptoms such as high fever, convulsions, and headaches. -- ANI

IMAGE: A man takes care of a child suffering from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) at a hospital in Muzaffarpur, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

As many as 43 doctors submitted their resignation in Kolkata on Friday amidst the ongoing strike by the junior doctors in West Bengal.

While 27 doctors of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Darjeeling resigned over the violence against doctors in the state, a total of 16 doctors of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata also submitted their resignation.

"We the following doctors of R. G.Kar Medical College have so far been trying our level best to run the hospital service smoothly. You are aware that the present situation is not ideal for patient care service.

"In response to the prevailing situation as we are unable to provide service, we would like to resign from our duty," the doctors said in a mass resignation submitted before the Director of Medical Education and Ex. Officio Secretary of the West Bengal government.

Various medical bodies called doctors' strike across the country to protest over rising violence against the medical fraternity after a junior doctor of Nil Ratan Sarkar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata was allegedly attacked by the relative of a patient who died on June 10.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to protesting doctors in the state to get back to work and ensure that hospitals can run 'smoothly and peacefully'.

However, the protesting doctors have not called off the strike yet and are demanding adequate security in every medical college and hospital. -- ANI

IMAGE: Members of Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of AIIMS wearing bandages on their heads protest to show solidarity with their counterparts in West Bengal, who stopped work on Tuesday protesting against the assault on their colleagues, in New Delhi, on Friday. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo

'It is nobody's case that the BJP won the 2019 election because of the media. India is larger, its democracy more layered, and the media mosaic vastly heterogeneous for such a glib conclusion. But a closer examination of the last five years will reveal the insidious role some in the media played in conditioning minds, building myths, deflecting attention, normalising the abnormal, and poisoning the pool,' writes Krishna Prasad in The Hindu, here.

Additional sessions judge Anil Antil sent the three accused to judicial custody till July 12 after the National Investigation Agency did not seek their custody.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday expanded his cabinet by inducting two Independent MLAs into the ministry in an apparent move to give stability to his 13-month-old wobbly government.

In the much-awaited expansion, R Shankar and H Nagesh were sworn in as cabinet-rank ministers by Governor Vajubhai Vala who administered them the oath of office and secrecy at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.

Shankar had served as minister during the initial days of the Kumaraswamy government but was dropped from the cabinet during the rejig in December last year.

He and Nagesh had sided with the Bharatiya Janata Party and written to the governor withdrawing support to the government.

As the BJP failed in its alleged attempts to topple the coalition government, the two lawmakers made a U-turn and moved closer to the coalition.

The two were inducted from the JD-S and Congress' share in the ministry, in an attempt to block chances of their switching over to the BJP whom the ruling coalition has accused of trying to dislodge the Kumaraswamy government.  -- PTI

Five suspects linked to the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka have been repatriated from the United Arab Emirates, police said on Friday.

The suspects also include Mohamed Milhan, a prominent member of the banned terror outfit National Thawheed Jamath (NTJ) that was responsible for the attacks.

Milhan was also listed as a terror suspect in the Intelligence warnings issued before the Easter Sunday terror attacks, the Times Online reported.

A team comprising officials of the Criminal Investigations Department took the suspects in its custody in Dubai and brought them back for further questioning.

"Officers of the Criminal Investigations Department brought the suspects back to Sri Lanka this morning," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said in a statement.

A series of coordinated blasts on April 21 targeted three churches and high-end hotels, killing 258 people and injuring over 500 others.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan government banned the NTJ after the deadly attacks and arrested over 100 people in connection with the blasts.

A parliament official was among six people arrested last month for their alleged links to the banned Islamic extremist group.  -- PTI

Based on specific inputs, Anupam Paul, who had been on the run since April 26, was arrested by the crime branch of the Tripura police on Wednesday. 

After the arrest he was produced before a Delhi court on Thursday seeking a transit remand for interrogation and investigation into the case. And, the plea was granted by the court. 

"He will be taken back to Tripura for interrogation as the court has already granted his transit remand," the police officer said on Friday. 

The police registered an FIR against Paul for forgery, cheating and conspiracy after the April 25 Facebook post went viral on social media. 

Earlier, the Tripura police had arrested a journalist, Saikat Talapatra, in connection with a similar post on Facebook. He is now out on bail, the police officer said. 

Recently, six people, including journalists, were arrested in Uttar Pradesh for posting or sharing on social media alleged objectionable remarks on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

While on the subject, do read this Rediff article, Prashant Kanojia and 9 other cases that should worry you.

A newborn died on Thursday in Agarpara, North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, due to alleged medical negligence amid doctors' strike across the state.

"It is my bad luck. My child died due to lack of treatment. He was not attended by any doctor because of their strike," baby's father Abhijit Mallik told reporters.

Various medical bodies called doctors' strike across the country to protest over rising violence against the medical fraternity after a junior doctor of Nil Ratan Sarkar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital was allegedly attacked by the relative of a patient who died on June 10.

According to Mallik, the child was born on June 11 and was ailing with a breathing problem.

His condition deteriorated on June 12, the doctors of the hospital asked him to go to the child-specialist hospital.

Mallik claimed that he went to several hospitals but they did not attend the ailing child after which the child died on June 13 in the morning.

The deceased child's father also alleged that the state's health department did not respond to his call.  -- ANI

In a veiled attack on Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that countries sponsoring, aiding and funding terrorism must be held accountable as he called for a global conference to combat the menace.

Addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek, Modi highlighted the spirit and ideals of the SCO to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

India stood for a terrorism-free society, he said.

To combat the menace of terrorism, countries will have to come out of their narrow purview to unite against it, Modi said in the presence of his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan.

Prime Minister Modi also called on the SCO member states to cooperate under the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) against terrorism.

He also urged the SCO leaders to organise a global conference on terrorism. Modi arrived in the Kyrgyz capital on Thursday for the two-day SCO summit.

The SCO is a China-led 8-member economic and security bloc with India and Pakistan being admitted to the grouping in 2017.  -- PTI

A division bench of Justices I A Mahanty and A M Badar granted bail to Dhan Singh, Lokesh Sharma, Manohar Narwaria and Rajendra Chaudhary. 

"The petitions are allowed. The applicants shall be released on cash bail of Rs 50,000. They shall attend the special court on each day during the trial and shall not tamper with evidence or contact witnesses," the bench said.

'Now more than ever, the Chinese leader will need to solidify ties with allies amid an escalating trade war with President Donald Trump's administration and a slowing domestic economy,' Westcott writes, here.

Readers may like to read this Rediff article from August 2017 to know more about what Mr Dean -- who  also served as the US ambassador to India -- said about Israel and Zia's death in a mysterious plane crash in August 1988. 

A huge boulder fell on the track near Lonavala around 8.15 pm on Thursday, which held up the Mumbai-Kolhapur Sahyadri Express for over two hours.  

But an accident was averted as CCTV monitoring staff noticed the boulder in time, a railway official said on Friday. 

"The monitoring staff not only alerted higher authorities, but also ensured that power supply to the overhead equipment was switched off and oncoming trains were stopped well in time," said Sunil Udasi, chief spokesperson, Central Railway.  

The Sahyadri Express was reversed to Thakurwadi station and then it resumed its journey towards Kolhapur about 10.30 pm, he said. 

"Passengers were provided water at Thakurwadi and snacks when the train reached Lonavala around 11 pm," Udasi added.  

The boulder, 2.3 metres long, 1.6 metres high and 2.2 metres wide, was big enough to cause serious damage if a train were to hit it, he said.  

The traffic on the route was restored in the "shortest possible time", Udasi added. 

Doctors are on strike and staging protest in several cities and districts across the country against the incidents in West Bengal's NRS Medical College and Hospital.

Resident Doctors' Association of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi held a protest over violence against doctors in Bengal.

Protests were also held in Nagpur, Raipur and Hyderabad.

Patients and their relatives waited outside the OPD at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences as the Resident Doctors Association went on strike today morning.

An encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Friday morning, police said.

Security forces have launched a cordon and search operation in Brobunduna area of Awantipora in the district in south Kashmir after receiving intelligence input about presence of terrorists in the area, a police official said.

As the forces were conducting searches in the area, the terrorists fired upon them and the forces retaliated, the official said.

He said exchange of firing was going on.  -- PTI

Striking junior doctors across West Bengal on Thursday refused to end their stir till they are provided adequate security in government hospitals and defied a deadline set by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who alleged that opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India-Marxist were instigating the protesters as part of a 'conspiracy' and giving communal colour to the issue.

Meanwhile, Resident Doctors Association of All India Institute of Medical Sciences is on strike today over violence against doctors in West Bengal.

Relative of a patient visiting AIIMS said, "My mother's dialysis was scheduled for today, we were told to go and get it done from somewhere else."

Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) is also announced strike today over violence against doctors in Bengal.

'We are shutting down our OPD, ward and academic services from 8 am to 5 pm today. Emergency services will not be hampered,' official statement from MARD said.

Prashant Choudhary, president of MARD at Sion Hospital in Mumbai said, "A mob assaulted doctors on duty at a hospital in West Bengal, when a targeted attack like this happens it becomes a law and order issue. Today, we are doing a silent protest over the incident."

In Hyderabad, doctors at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences held a protest march over violence against doctors at West Bengal.

Brazilian police questioned Neymar for five hours on Thursday over allegations he raped a woman he met through social media in a Paris hotel last month -- charges he has denied.

"The truth appears sooner or later," the world's most expensive footballer, who walked on crutches after injuring his right ankle in a pre-Copa America friendly against Qatar last week that forced him out of South America's showcase tournament, told reporters.

The footballer, aged 27, arrived at the police station shortly before 4 pm local time (1900 GMT) and left at around 9 pm.

Neymar's appearance comes after Brazilian police said on Thursday that they had filed a defamation suit against his rape accuser for insinuating the force was corrupt.

Neymar, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, previously gave a statement to Rio de Janeiro police over WhatsApp messages posted on his Instagram account that featured intimate photos of the woman.

He told police that an assistant and a technician were responsible for sharing the messages and photos, TV Globo reported previously.

More than 60 percent of Brazilians believe Neymar is innocent, according to a recent poll of 2,071 people last week.   -- Agencies

Two local Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders were shot at by unknown assailants in Kanti area in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district on Thursday.

Both the injured -- Surendra Yadav and Umashankar Prasad -- have been admitted to a hospital and are said to be in critical condition.

"A firing took place in which two people are injured. One person was hit two bullets and the other one was hit four. Both of them are out of danger. We are trying to find out the reason behind this firing. Those involved in this will be arrested soon," said Deputy Superintendent of Police Mukul Ranjan.

Further investigation is underway, Ranjan added. -- ANI

Airports Authority of India on Thursday said that airports that were shut as a precautionary step due to Cyclone Vayu will resume normal flight operations at their respective times.

"Kandla and Keshod airports will resume normal flight operations from 12 midnight today. Normal flight operations will resume at Bhavnagar airport from 6 am on Friday. Normal flight operations to resume at Diu and Porbandar airports (Gujarat) from 10 am tomorrow," AAI said after reviewing the status of its airport in the state.

Earlier in the day, the AAI said that no damage to airport infrastructure or facilities has been reported in Gujarat and the 'effect of Cyclone Vayu is milder at most of the airports'.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) tweeted, 'VSCS 'VAYU' moved northwestwards with a speed of about 9 kmph located near latitude 20.9degN and longitude 69.0degE over northeast and adjoining eastcentral Arabian Sea, about 100 km south-southwest of Porbandar. It will move west-northwestwards skirting Saurashtra coast.'   -- ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek and discussed the role being played by India towards an inclusive peace process in the conflict-hit nation.

 

"Late night meeting between trusted friends. PM @narendramodi met with Afghan President @ashrafghani on sidelines of #SCOsummit in Bishkek," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted after the meeting.

The two leaders "shared perspectives on situation in Afghanistan, including the role played by India towards an inclusive peace process", he said. 

Modi arrived in the Kyrgyz capital on Thursday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, the first multilateral engagement post his re-election. 

The SCO is a China-led 8-member economic and security bloc with India and Pakistan being admitted to the grouping in 2017. -- PTI