Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Saturday sought to dispel certain misgivings emanating from a recent statement of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, stressing that it only meant that no one has the right to claim supremacy on the basis of his birth.

Khan said this while replying to a reporter's question on the sidelines of a function organised by the Sir Syed Memorial Society at the Aligarh Habitat Centre here.

He was asked about Bhagwat's comments in an interview published in "Organiser" and "Panchjanya" that "Muslims have nothing to fear in India, but they must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy".

Khan said Bhagwat had, in fact, emphasised that no one has the right to claim supremacy on the basis of his birth.

"Bhagwat only emphasised that our social behaviour should be in resonance with the Constitution, which is based on equality of all sections and does not believe in superiority or inferiority," he added.

"There are social disparities in our society, but equality is our cherished ideal and an aspiration that is deeply reflected in the Constitution and is, in fact, one of the pillars of the Constitution," the Kerala governor said.

In the interview, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief had said, "The simple truth is this -- Hindustan should remain Hindustan. There is no harm to the Muslims living in Bharat today.... Islam has nothing to fear. But at the same time, Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy."

Replying to another question, Khan strongly denied that Bhagwat had in any way implied that "Muslims should be relegated to the status of second-class citizens in the country".

If someone is inferring this from Bhagwat's statement, he is mistaken, Khan said.

Referring to the reported threat of some Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) students planning to stage a black-flag demonstration against his visit to Aligarh, the Kerala governor said, "To the best of my knowledge, there was no such protest against my visit to Aligarh on Saturday. There were some social media posts to this effect on Friday, but that did not take place."

Khan, however, defended the democratic right of any group of people to stage a black-flag demonstration to voice their protest. He said India is a democratic country and every citizen has a right to protest in a peaceful manner.

Earlier, addressing the function to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, Khan said he had a special bond with the late leader since 1977, when he was elected as a Janata Party MLA from Bulandshahr district and Singh was the health minister of Uttar Pradesh in the first Janata Party government in the state.

"Kalyan Singh was not just an important political leader of his time but his main achievement was that he was looked upon as a champion of the downtrodden section of the society who always sought to remove social disparities," Khan said. -- PTI 

Six persons were booked for allegedly putting up a poster of jailed gangster Chhota Rajan at a kabaddi event in the north Mumbai suburb of Malad, a police official said on Saturday.

  

The six persons, including a man and his son, have been booked under provisions related to defacement and were let off after questioning, Deputy Commissioner of Police Smita Patil told PTI.

"However, we are inquiring into the fund collection carried out by the NGO that had allegedly put up the birthday greeting poster. We will take action if we get more details. The poster was removed as it did not have civic permission," the DCP said.

The tournament, which started during the day, will conclude on Sunday.

Rajan, lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail since his deportation from Bali in Indonesia in 2015, is facing trial in several cases. He has been convicted in the journalist J Dey murder case. -- PTI

The AIIMS medical board which conducted autopsy on skeletal remains of Shraddha Walkar has stated that the bones were cut after death using a sharp object, the hospital's head of forensic medicine Dr Sudhir K Gupta said on Saturday.

   

Walkar, 27, was allegedly killed by her live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala in Delhi last year and her body cut into pieces which were scattered across the city.

 

In its report to the Delhi Police, the board confirmed that the bones and human remains, including lower jaw, recovered from a forest area are that of a woman.

 

The age of the individual has been medically confirmed, from skeletal remains, to be above 20 years, Dr Gupta who supervised the medical board told PTI.

 

The bones were cut after death using a sharp object, perhaps to dismember the body, he said.

 

On December 15, the Delhi Police had said the DNA samples extracted from the bones found in a forest area and the blood traces found at the house where Walkar was killed had matched with the samples of her father.

 

It was confirmed by two independent laboratories -- the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics in Hyderabad and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory of the CBI in Delhi.

 

Poonawala, 28, allegedly sawed Walkar's body into 35 pieces and kept them in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days.

 

The killing took place in May last year but came to light months later. Poonawala was arrested on November 12. -- PTI

Selang, a village around 5 km from subsidence-hit Joshimath, is likely to meet a similar fate as cracks and fissures have been appearing in fields and several houses for the past few months. 

 

Located on Badrinath National Highway (NH-58), residents of Selang said they are scared and the Joshimath crisis has only deepened their fears. 

        

The villagers hold the construction of NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project responsible for their plight. 

         

Tunnels of the project are built underneath the village. A hotel situated along the NH near the mouth of one of these tunnels collapsed in July 2021 and petrol pump nearby was also partially damaged, Selang resident Vijendra Lal told PTI. 

         

The houses located near the collapsed hotel are also at risk, he said. 

         

"Nine NTPC tunnels are built underneath the village. A lot of explosives were used to construct the tunnels which has damaged the foundation of the village," Lal claimed. 

        

"A water discharge system is also being built 100 metres down the main settlement area in the village. A few metres from it towards the village cracks have begun to appear," he said, adding that around 15 houses have "developed cracks".  

           

Selang village's van panchayat sarpanch Shishupal Singh Bhandari said the life of residents has become miserable due to the NTPC project. 

 

"Many applications were sent, but no action was taken," Bhandari said. -- PTI

At least one person was killed and 20 others were injured, four of them seriously, in a stampede in Odisha's Cuttack district on Saturday, police said.

          

The incident took place as a large number of people congregated on Badamba-Gopinathpur T-Bridge on the occasion of Makar Mela, a police officer said.

        

Badamba-Narsinghpur MLA and former minister Debi Prasad Mishra confirmed that one woman, identified as 45-year-old Anjana Swain, died in the incident, while four seriously injured people were admitted to SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack city.

        

Mishra said other injured persons were admitted to a community health centre (CHC) in Badamba.

        

Athagarh Sub-collector Hemanta Kumar Swain said the incident took place due to a sudden increase in the number of devotees, including women and children, in the afternoon to visit a fair organised on the occasion and also to pay obeisance to Lord Singhanath.

        

The district administration said the congregation was massive as people were visiting the temple after a gap of two years due to COVID-19 pandemic.

        

Devotees from Cuttack, Khordha, Puri, Angul, Dhenkanal, Boudh and Nayagarh districts had come to the temple in large numbers, the sub-collector said. -- PTI 

The Congress on Saturday slammed the government advisory that asked ISRO and several other state-run organisations and institutes not to interact with the media or share information on social media on the situation in Joshimath without prior approval.

 

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also shared a letter written by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to Indian Space Research Organisation in this regard.  

"After Joshimath, now reports of cracks in the walls of houses in Karnprayag and Tehri Garhwal are also coming.   

"Instead of solving the crisis and finding solutions to the problems of people, Government agencies are putting a ban on ISRO report and stopping its officials from interacting with the media. Narendra Modi ji, 'Do Not Shoot the Messenger'," Kharge tweeted. 

Concerns over land subsidence in Joshimath mounted on Friday as satellite images released by ISRO showed the Himalayan town sank 5.4 cm in 12 days.

AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh also said, "They make one Constitutional institution attack another. Now, National Disaster Management Authority tells ISRO to shut up."  

"But how can satellite images lie? This is New India where only one man knows everything, and will decide who will speak on anything," he said in a veiled attack at the prime minister.

 

The NDMA and the Uttarakhand government have asked over a dozen state-run organisations and institutes and their experts not to make any unauthorised comment or statement on the situation in Joshimath.

 

In its communication to the heads of these organisations and institutes, the NDMA said people associated with them should not interact with the media and share data on social media regarding the ground subsidence in Joshimath, where cracks have developed in buildings and other infrastructure.

The National Disaster Management Authority and the Uttarakhand government have asked over a dozen government-run organisations and institutes and their experts not to make any unauthorised comment or statement on the situation in Joshimath.

 

In its communication to the heads of these organisations and institutes, the NDMA said people associated with them should not interact with the media and share data on social media regarding the ground subsidence in Joshimath, where cracks have developed in buildings and other infrastructure.

 

Official sources said the purpose of the advisory is not to deny information to the media but to avoid confusion because so many institutions are involved in the process and they are giving their own interpretation of the situation.

 

The NDMA said it has observed that various government institutions are releasing data related to the subject on social media platforms and also they are interacting with the media with their own interpretation of the situation.

 

The statements on Joshimath are creating confusion not only among affected residents but also among citizens of the country, the NDMA said.

 

It said the issue was highlighted during a meeting convened by the central government on January 12 and subsequently discussed at a meeting led by the NDMA on the same day.

 

The NDMA said an expert group has been formed for assessment of the ground subsidence in Joshimath in Uttarakhand.

 

The NDMA asked the organisations to sensitise its experts about the matter and added they should refrain from posting anything on media platforms until the final report of the expert group is released by the NDMA.

 

In a similar communication, the Uttarakhand government conveyed to the organisations that some of the institutions and agencies are publishing and uploading the information or reports about Joshimath without taking due permission from the competent authorities that is adversely impacting the ground situation as well as triggering panic among the community.

 

The Uttarakhand government said the ground subsidence around Joshimath has aggravated and the authorities are taking all necessary measures for the safety of habitation in the affected areas.

 

The state government has deployed team of experts from various scientific and technical institutions to assess the situation and providing the mitigation measures of the town.

 

The media is also propagating this blatantly, it said.

 

The communication said the organisations, before publishing or uploading any such reports or information, should obtain prior approval either from the respective central ministries or the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority.

 

The NDMA directive has gone to the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, Geological Survey of India (GSI), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the ISRO, Hyderabad, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), New Delhi, Surveyor General of India, Dehradun and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun.

 

The communication has also been sent to the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi, Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority.

The police have registered a case against the driver of a vehicle after a video of a man clinging to the bonnet of the moving car was widely circulated on social media, officials said on Saturday. 

 

In the video, a person is seen on the bonnet of the white coloured car, they said. 

It is a case of road rage, said a senior police officer. 

A case under section 279 (rash driving), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered, Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Ghanshyam Bansal said, adding that accused has been identified and is being interrogated. -- PTI

China on Saturday reported 59,938 new coronavirus deaths in hospitals across the country over the last 30 days, amid criticism from the World Health Organisation that Beijing was heavily under-reporting the magnitude of the pandemic.

 

The death toll included 59,938 COVID-19 related deaths at hospitals from December 8 to January 12, the National Health Commission said on Saturday, official media here reported.

 

Jiao Yahui, director of the National Health Commission's medical affairs department, said medical institutes recorded 5,503 deaths as a result of respiratory failure triggered by COVID-19 infections and 54,435 fatalities with underlying conditions, such as cancer or cardiovascular diseases, combined with COVID-19.

 

The average age of those who died was 80.3, and 90 per cent of the fatalities were aged 65 or over, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

 

With this, China's official death toll climbed to 65,210 since the coronavirus first broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.

 

China has stopped providing daily Covid statistics since abandoning its strict zero-Covid strategy.

 

China also reopened its borders to international travellers on January 8 after nearly three years.

Virat Kohli was desperate for ODI captaincy in 2016 before then head coach Ravi Shastri asked him to "respect" MS Dhoni's prudence and wait for the mantle to be passed on to him, former fielding coach R Sridhar revealed in his new book.

   

In his book Coaching Beyond: My Days With Indian Cricket Team, co-authored by veteran journalist R Kaushik, Sridhar spoke extensively about communication which he felt was the hallmark of the coaching staff during his time with the Indian team.

 

"As far as the coaching group is concerned, one of the non-negotiables is being honest about developing a culture where you can look each player in the eye and tell him the truth, no matter how bitter or unpalatable that might be," Sridhar wrote in his book.

 

On page 42 of the chapter Cracking The Communication Code, Sridhar recollected an incident from former Kohli's early days when he was already leading the Test squad but was captain-in-waiting as far as white ball squad was concerned.

 

"There was a time in 2016 when Virat was very eager to be the captain of the white-ball team too. He said a few things that showed he was looking for the captaincy," Sridhar narrated. 

 

"One evening, Ravi called him and said, 'Look, Virat, MS gave it (the captaincy) to you in red-ball cricket. You have to respect him. He will give it to you in limited-overs cricket, too, when the time is right. Unless you respect him now, tomorrow when you are the captain, you won't get the respect from your team'," Sridhar said.

 

According to Sridhar, Shastri in no uncertain terms told Kohli to wait till Dhoni hands it over to him in limited overs cricket.

 

"Respect him (Dhoni) now, irrespective of what is going on. It will come to you, you don't have to run behind it.'" Shastri told Kohli.

 

"To his credit, Virat took the advice on board. Eventually, in a year's time, he got the white-ball captaincy too."

 

Terming Shastri as a "fabulous communicator who talks straight and doesn't mince words," Sridhar also wrote that the former head coach did the proverbial dirty job of informing players when they were dropped.

 

"He is (was) the one who passes on the tough messages-calls pertaining to being dropped from the XI to the players concerned."

 

The book was published by Rupa. -- PTI

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday conducted searches at the office of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with alleged irregularities in excise policy.

   

Taking to Twitter, Sisodia claimed the agency did not find anything against him during previous raids and this time too it will be the same as he has done nothing wrong.

 

Delhi government sources said that the CBI team was conducting searches at Sisodia's office at Delhi Secretariat.

 

"The CBI has again reached my office today. They are welcome. They conducted raids at my house, searched the locker, made enquiries against me at my village. Nothing was found then and nothing will be found now because I have done nothing wrong. Have worked honestly for the education of Delhi's children," Sisodia tweeted.

 

The CBI probe into the alleged excise scam was recommended last year by Delhi LG VK Saxena.

 

The agency registered a case against several persons including Sisodia. The CBI had also questioned Sisodia in connection with the case for several hours besides conducting raids at his official residence. -- PTI  

Security was beefed up at Union minister Nitin Gadkari's residence and office in Nagpur after an unidentified person made threat calls, police said.

Three threat calls were received at Gadkari's public relations office in Nagpur's Khamla area between 11.25 am to 12.30 pm, an official said. 

"We are working to identify the caller," the senior police official added. -- PTI 

A woman, who had accused her co-passenger Shankar Mishra of urinating on her on an Air India flight, on Saturday refuted the claims made by him that she seems to have urinated on herself, saying these are "completely false and concocted and by their very nature are disparaging and derogatory".

 

Mishra's counsel, while arguing against a police petition seeking revision of an order passed by a magisterial court refusing his custodial interrogation, on Friday claimed that he did not commit the offence, and that she herself urinated.

"The allegations are completely false and concocted and by their very nature are disparaging and derogatory. The said allegations are also in complete contradiction and a complete volte face of the statements and the pleaded case of the accused in his bail application," advocate Ankur Mahindro, representing the complainant, said in a statement.

He added, "The accused, instead of being remorseful for the utterly disgusting act committed by him, has adopted a campaign of spreading misinformation and falsities with the intent of further harassing the victim."

Mishra's counsel had told the court that the complainant was suffering from some disease related to prostate, which several 'kathak dancers' seem to suffer from.

"I (Mishra) am not the accused. There must be someone else. It seems she herself urinated. She was suffering from some disease related to prostate, which several 'kathak dancers' seem to suffer from. It was not him. The seating system was such that no one could go to her seat. Her seat could only be approached from behind, and in any case the urine could not reach to seat's front area. Also, the passenger sitting behind the complainant did not make any such complain," senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for Mishra, told the judge.

The resettlement and rehabilitation package for the people affected in subsidence-hit Joshimath is being prepared keeping in mind the interests of stakeholders, an official said on Saturday.       

   

Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana who met the affected families staying in relief camps in Joshimath on Friday night said the stakeholders want to be compensated in different ways. 

"Some want cash compensation, some have their land where they want to build houses while others want to be relocated elsewhere within Joshimath," he said.

 

"We have to keep all this in mind while preparing a resettlement or rehabilitation package so that it is in everybody's interest and is sustainable," the DM said, asserting that the arrangements at the relief camps are "good".

 

Khurana said, "I had dinner there and interacted with people. The arrangements are fine and the food being served to them is good."

 

Meanwhile, the evacuation of the affected people continues with 185 families shifted to relief centres so far, Chamoli district disaster management authority said. 

 

The number of houses that have developed cracks stands at 760 out of which 147 are marked unsafe, it said. -- PTI 

A report by the Indian Space Research Organisation on Joshimath's land subsidence has gone missing from ISRO's National Remote Sensing Centre website.

The preliminary study by ISRO's National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) said that the Himalayan town sank at a rapid pace of 5.4 cm in just 12 days, triggered by a possible subsidence event on January 2.

Further, the report claimed that the land subsidence was slow between April and November 2022, during which Joshimath had sunk by 8.9 cm.

The report also contained the images taken from the Cartosat-2S satellite.

Joshimath, the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and international skiing destination Auli, is facing a major challenge due to land subsidence.

Several places in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) are likely witness a cold wave next week with the minimum temperature expected to settle around 3 degree Celsius, the India Meteorological Department said on Saturday.  

The minimum temperature in the national capital on Saturday settled at 10.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, it said. 

 

A partly cloudy sky is expected in the city during the day, they said. 

 

The humidity at 8.30 am was recorded at 88 per cent, the IMD said. 

 

The IMD said that the cold wave will prevail over many places of Delh-NCR between January 16 and 18. The minimum temperature at Ayanagar and Ridge may settle around 3 degree Celsius on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

 

The maximum temperature is expected to settle at 21 degrees Celsius, it said. 

 

According to the data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 9 am stood at 374 (very poor). 

 

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe. -- PTI 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed his condolences over the demise of the Congress' Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, saying he will be remembered for his efforts to serve the people of Punjab.

 

Chaudhary died on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, following which the march was halted. He was 76.

"Pained by the passing away of MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary Ji. He will be remembered for his efforts to serve the people of Punjab," Modi said in a tweet. 

"Condolences to his family and supporters. Om Shanti," he said.

The two-time MP was taking part in the Rahul Gandhi-led march in Phillaur in Jalandhar when he fainted, said senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who was also participating in the march.

Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said there has been a "radical change" in his party which was once known for its aggressive 'sons-of-the-soil' politics.

        

The former Maharashtra minister was speaking at a job fair organised by the Shiv Sena faction led by his father Uddhav Thackeray in Thane.

        

"There has been a radical change in the Shiv Sena which used to launch agitations for the rights of the sons of the soil....now we organise job fairs to address the issues of the sons of the soil, especially the youth," the 32-year-old MLA from Worli said.

         

A new and stronger Shiv Sena was in the making as youths were becoming part of it, the Thackeray family scion added.        

        

The coalition government of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Eknath Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena has done nothing for Maharashtra other than dividing people, Aaditya Thackeray said.

         

This "government of gaddars" (traitors) will collapse in the next two months, he claimed.

                 

Thane, notably, is the home turf of Chief Minister Shinde, whose rebellion led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in June 2022. Shinde then tied up with the BJP to form the government. 

        

Of the 55 Sena MLAs, 40 are with the Shinde camp, while 12 of the party's 18 MPs have deserted the Uddhav Thackeray faction. 

        

"The ones who left us are 'gaddar' and those who remained with us are the real Shiv Sainiks," said Aaditya.

         

Instead of focussing on unemployment and industries going out of the state, the government is busy settling political scores, he said, daring it to hold civic body elections in Maharashtra. 

        

The Opposition had last year blamed the Shinde government over Maharashtra losing two mega industrial projects -- the Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus -- to Gujarat.

        

Even after two sessions of the legislature, not a single woman has been included in the Shinde cabinet, Thackeray further said.

Mumbai Police on Saturday recorded model and social media influencer Uorfi Javed's statement in connection with a complaint filed against her by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chitra Wagh. 

  

Javed visted  Amboli police station to record her statement after police called her for questioning, said a police official.

Wagh, chief of Maharashtra BJP's women's wing, has filed a complaint against Javed for dressing `improperly' in public places.

No First Information Report has been registered over Wagh's complaint yet, the official added. -- PTI 

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen asserted that it "would be a mistake" to think that the 2024 Lok Sabha election would be a one-horse race in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and felt that the role of a number of regional parties would be "clearly important" for the upcoming general election. 

The 90-year-old economist also said that though Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has the ability to be India's next Prime Minister, it is yet to be established whether the West Bengal Chief Minister could be able to pull the forces of public dismay against the BJP.

"I think a number of regional parties are clearly important. I think the DMK is an important party, the TMC is certainly important and the Samajwadi Party has some standing but whether that could be extended I do not know. 

"I think it would be a mistake to take the dismissive view that there is no other party that can take the place of BJP since it has established itself as a party with a vision that is inclined in the direction of Hindus over the rest of the country," he told PTI in an exclusive interview.

Leaders of several parties including the Nationalist Congress Party and the Janata Dal-United have called for a new alliance including the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. 

They have emphasised that a bipolar contest will ensure the BJP's defeat.

"The BJP has substantially reduced the vision of India. It has narrowed the understanding of India as just Hindu India and as a Hindi-speaking India in such a strong way that it would be sad if there is no alternative to the BJP in India today. 

"If the BJP looks strong and powerful, it has a good deal of weakness too. So, I think other political parties will be able to come to a debate if they really try. I do not know enough to be able to dismiss the anti-BJP parties together," he said.

On whether Banerjee could be the country's next PM, Sen said she has the ability. 

"It's not that she does not have the ability to do it. She clearly has the ability. On the other hand, it's yet not established that Mamata can pull the forces of public dismay against the BJP in an integrated way to make it possible for her to have the leadership to put an end to the fractionalisation in India," the economist said. -- PTI

A 34-year-old man was arrested for allegedly firing shots during a birthday celebration and causing injury to a person in south Delhi's Jonapur village area, police said on Saturday. 

   

The accused has been identified as Ranpal alias Shooter, they said. 

 

Police said information regarding the incident was received at 8.24 pm on Friday in which Pramod (37) got injured.

 

According to police, while the birthday party was going on in the house, some people were drinking on the terrace. 

 

Pramod, in his statement, said during celebratory firing by the accused, a bullet hit his face, the officer said. 

 

The victim was rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre and undergoing treatment, a senior police officer said.

 

The accused was arrested from Rani Bagh area and a country-made pistol was also recovered from him, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Chandan Chowdhary said. 

 

A case has been registered against Ranpal under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act was registered in Fatehpur Beri police station and an investigation was initiated, police said.

The accused was also found to be involved in four cases registered in the same police station, they said. -- PTI 

A talk on LGBTQ issues by film-maker and gay rights activist Onir Dhar at the ongoing Bhopal Lit Fest (BLF) was cancelled as a group threatened to stage a protest, a member of the organizing team said on Saturday.

  

They were told by "government sources" that security issues could arise due to Dhar's presence, said writer-journalist Abhilash Khandekar, a member of the organising committee.

"It is obvious that any author should be sad in such a situation, but we were told by government sources that they do not want this kind of author (Dhar) in Bharat Bhawan due to security reasons as it may ruin the event," he told PTI.

The BLF started at Bharat Bhawan, a government-owned arts complex in Bhopal, on Friday. 

Dhar was scheduled to speak on the opening day. 

Earlier, Dhar, the maker of the acclaimed film My Brother...Nikhil, took to Twitter to break the news.

"Shocked and Sad that an event I was really looking forward to speaking at had to drop me. Apparently, there was a group threatening protest and violence and the police told the organisers that they cannot guarantee my safety. So, they cancelled the event. Let me process this...," he said in a tweet.

Khandekar said they thought it better to cancel his session rather than cancelling the entire festival.

 

"We respect freedom of speech. Therefore, we had invited Onir Dhar to the BLF. Even RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has recently spoken on the LGBTQ issue. The Lit Fest organised by the Centre in Shimla last year also had sessions on this subject," he said.

"So, when we were told that a question of his safety and security can arise in Bhopal, we requested Dhar (about agreeing to cancellation). Someone suggested that police can be called, but we believe police should not be there in a literature festival...," Khandekar added.

The organizers want to put Bhopal on the country's literary map, he said.

The Ministry of External Affairs has supported the BLF -- organized by a private group -- officially, Khandekar added. 

Days after two people were arrested over their suspected links with terror organisations, the Delhi Police's Special Cell has recovered two hand grenades from their rented accommodation in Bhalswa Dairy area, officials said on Saturday. 

   

Traces of human blood were also found at their residence, police said. 

 

The accused, Jagjit Singh alias Jagga and Naushad, were arrested by the cell on Thursday over their suspected links with terror organisations and involvement in heinous crimes 

 

Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said the accused were produced in court on Friday and sent to 14-day police custody. 

 

"During the investigation, in pursuance of disclosure, both the accused led the police team to their rented accommodation at Shradhanand Colony in Bhalaswa Dairy area from where two hand grenades were recovered, Nalwa said.

 

She said, Traces of human blood have also been found by the FSL team." 

 

The arrest was made ahead of the Republic Day celebration in the national capital. Three pistols and 22 live cartridges were recovered from the possession of the accused, police had said. 

 

Jagga is suspected to have links with a Canada-based Khalistani terrorist, they had said, adding Naushad had been associated with terror outfit 'Harkat ul-Ansar'. 

 

Jagga is a member of the notorious 'Bambiha' gang and has been getting instructions from anti-national elements based abroad. He is a parole jumper in a case of murder in Uttarakhand, police had said. -- PTI 

The Congress on Saturday suspended its Bharat Jodo Yatra, which was in Punjab, for a day as a mark of respect for party MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary who died following a heart attack during the march.

 

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also postponed his scheduled press conference at Jalandhar on January 15, and it will now take place at Hoshiarpur on January 17.

"Bharat Jodo Yatra will be suspended for 24 hours as a mark of respect for Santokh Singh Choudhary, Congress MP from Jalandhar who passed away this morning. The Yatra will resume tomorrow afternoon from Khalsa College Ground, Jalandhar," AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

"Due to the unexpected and shocking demise of Santokh Singh Chaudhary, Congress MP from Jalandhar, the press conference of Rahul Gandhi originally scheduled in Jalandhar tomorrow will now be held on 17th January in Hoshiarpur," he said in another tweet.

Chaudhary died on Saturday morning after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. He was 76.

The two-time MP was taking part in the Rahul Gandhi-led march in Phillaur in Jalandhar where he fainted, said senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who was also marching with other yatris. -- PTI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed shock over the sudden demise of party MP and senior leader Santokh Singh Chaudhary during the Bharat Jodo Yatra on Saturday.

He described the 76-year-old two-time MP as a hardworking leader and strong pillar of the Congress.

"Shocked by the sudden demise of Shri Santokh Singh Chowdhary. He was a down to earth hardworking leader, a good person and a strong pillar of the Congress family, who dedicated his life to public service from youth Congress to Member of Parliament. I express my condolences to the bereaved family," Gandhi said in a tweet.

 

Chaudhary died after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The two-time MP was taking part in the Rahul Gandhi-led march in Phillaur in Jalandhar where he fainted, said senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who was also marching in the yatra.

 

Chaudhary was rushed to a hospital in Phagwara in an ambulance where he was declared brought dead. -- PTI  

The Lok Sabha Secretariat has issued notification disqualifying Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, who was recently convicted in an attempt to murder case by a court in the union territory.

As per the notification issued on Friday, Faizal stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from January 11, the date of his conviction by a sessions court in Kavaratti.

The decision was taken under the provisions of Article 102 (l) (e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

'Consequent upon his conviction by the Court of Sessions, Kavaratti, Lakshadweep in Sessions case no. 01/2017, Shri Mohammed Faizal P.P., Member of Lok Sabha representing the Lakshadweep Parliamentary Constituency of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 11 January, 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(l)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,' it said.

The court in Lakshadweep had on Wednesday sentenced four people, including Faizal, to 10 years in jail after they were found guilty in an attempt to murder case.

Kavaratti Sessions court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the convicts for attempting to kill Mohammed Salih, son-in-law of late Congress leader and former Union Minister P M Sayeed, during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

All the convicts are relatives.  -- PTI

The last rites of veteran socialist leader and former Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav will take place at his ancestral village in Madhya Pradesh's Narmadapuram district on Saturday.

The former Union minister died on Thursday at a private hospital in Gurugram at the age of 75.

Former JD-U Madhya Pradesh unit head and a close associate of Sharad Yadav, Govind Yadav, told PTI that the veteran politician's last rites will be performed at his ancestral village Ankhmau in Babai tehsil of Narmadapuram (formerly Hoshangabad) district on Saturday afternoon.

"The mortal remains of Yadav will be brought from Delhi to Madhya Pradesh by a chartered plane at 11 am and taken to his ancestral village Ankhmau by road. The last rites will be at 1:30 pm," he said.

The rites will be performed by Sharad Yadav's son Shantanu Bundela, the late politician's nephew Shailesh Yadav informed.   -- PTI

Congress' Jalandhar MP Santokh Chaudhary died on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa said.

Chaudhary was taking part in the Rahul Gandhi-led march in Phillaur where he fainted.

Bajwa, who was also at the yatra, said Chaudhary was taken to a hospital in Phagwara where he died.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed from Ladhowal in Chandigarh on Saturday morning as part of its Punjab leg.   -- PTI

Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi was admitted to the hospital after a corona infection and pneumonia attack and has been placed on external oxygen support.

Modi has given this information on Instagram.

Modi said that he was infected with Covid twice in two weeks and has 'profound pneumonia' after which he is hospitalised.

Along with this, he has also released his picture.

'After 3 weeks in confinement with a double Covid in 2 weeks accompanied by influenza and deep pneumonia - and post trying several times to leave. Finally landed via air ambulance accompanied by two doctors and a superstar super-efficient son who did so much for me back in London. The flight was smooth. Unfortunately, still on 24/7 external oxygen. Thank u to all at @vistajet for going the extra mile. I am extremely grateful to all. Love to all. Big hug,' Modi tweeted on Friday.

Through Instagram, Lalit Modi said he was brought from Mexico to London after three weeks of imprisonment.   -- ANI

A Rajasthan government engineer has been suspended for breaching the security protocol of President Droupadi Murmu and attempting to touch her feet during an event on January 4.

The Public Health Engineering Department suspended the engineer on Friday following the intervention of the home ministry.

'Amba Siyol, a Junior Engineer with the PHED, had violated the protocol during inaugural programme of the Scout Guide Jamboree in Rohet on January 4 by making an attempt to touch the feet of the President, so invoking the powers under Rajasthan Civil Service Rule, she is suspended with immediate effect,' read the order by the chief engineer (administration), PHED.

Siyol was at the venue to take care of the water arrangements. But breaching the security grid of the President, she managed to reach the frontline of officials who were there to welcome the President. In an abrupt move, she stepped forward and tried to touch her feet, but was stopped by the President's security.

The local police had let her off following by a formal inquiry.

The Union Home Ministry took a serious note of the incident considering it to be a serious lapse in her security and sought a report from the Rajasthan Police.  -- PTI

The train will be the eighth Vande Bharat Express to be introduced by the Indian Railways and will be the first one connecting the two Telugu speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, covering a distance of around 700 kilometre, a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said. 

Prime Minister Modi will flag off Vande Bharat Express train connecting Secunderabad with Visakhapatnam on January 15 at 10.30 am via video conferencing, it said. 

The train will have stoppages at Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and Vijayawada stations in Andhra Pradesh and at Khammam, Warangal and Secunderabad stations in Telangana. -- PTI

The saints garlanded the effigy with shoes and slippers and then set it on fire. 

They also demanded the Bihar education minister be sacked for his remark.   

"We want to give the message to Nitish Kumar that the Bihar government should sack the minister as soon as possible and take proper action against him," the protestors shouted.      

They said that they have lodged formal police complaints against the minister. 

"Today we have burnt the effigy, tomorrow we will do something else," the saints said.      

"Insulting Ramcharitmanas is like insulting our mother. We will go to any extent against anyone insulting the Sanatan culture. We will not tolerate this," they said.      

Earlier on Wednesday, Bihar Education Minister sparked off a controversy by saying that the Hindu epic religious book, which is based on Ramayana, "spreads hatred in the society".      

He was addressing the students at the 15th convocation ceremony of Nalanda Open University, he described Ramcharitmanas and Manusmriti as books that divide society.  -- ANI