Category: National

District Magistrate hails the nonagenarian’s recovery as ‘ray of hope’

PTI

A nonagenarian man from Agra has recovered from COVID-19, with the local authorities saying the recuperation has come as a “ray of hope” for the novel coronavirus patients.

The 1923-born man (name withheld) was discharged on Wednesday from a private hospital.

He is one of the oldest COVID-19 patients in the country to recover successfully.

Agra District Magistrate Prabhu N Singh, on Thursday, hailed the recovery as a “matter of pride” for the historic city.

“Our team was keeping an eye on his condition daily, and the day his coronavirus test came negative after recovering, we felt so delighted. We hear of people trying to take their lives sometimes when they contract COVID-19, but not this 97-year-old man. His recovery has come as a ray of hope,” he said.

He also tweeted on Thursday about his recovery, saying, it will lend hope, especially to people of the older age, and wrote, “Salute to #CoronaWarrior”.

The man was admitted on April 29 to Nayati Hospital, a level-2 hospital for COVID-19 care in Agra, sources said.

He has hypertension and initially needed a bit of oxygen supply, but recovered fine, they said.

IANS

An educational institution in Indore has reportedly forced the Muslim students to write the exam sitting outside the exam hall.

Congress MLA Arif Masood has written to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressing concern over the matter.

Masood, an MLA from the Central region of Bhopal, wrote that a Bengali school located at Naulakha in Indore has been made a centre for the 12th class examination

This examination centre is also for the students of Islamia Karimiya School. In the examination held on June 9, students of Islamia Karimiya School were not allowed to enter the examination centre.

When the students protested the administration made them sit outside the exam hall.

“Where communal harmony should be taught, hatred is being spread. Action should be taken against those who are found guilty,” the letter read.

PTI

New Delhi: India on Thursday rejected a US government report that raised concerns over alleged attacks and discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities in the country.

“Our principled position remains that we see no locus standi for a foreign entity to pronounce on the state of our citizens’ constitutionally protected rights,” Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said.

He was replying to a question on the report at an online media briefing.

Mandated by the US Congress, the ‘2019 International Religious Freedom Report’ that documents major instances of the violation of religious freedom across the world was released by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday.

“India’s vibrant democratic traditions and practices are evident to the world. The people and government of India are proud of our country’s democratic traditions,” the spokesperson said.

“We have a robust public discourse in India and constitutionally mandated institutions that guarantee protection of religious freedom and rule of law,” he added.

The India section of the report said that the US government officials underscored the importance of respecting religious freedom, promoting tolerance and mutual respect with the ruling and opposition parties and religious leaders belonging to various communities.

In their engagement with government officials, media, interfaith harmony organizations and NGOs, US officials emphasised the need to address the legitimate concerns of the country’s religious minorities, condemn communal rhetoric, and ensure full protection of minorities, it said.

The report also referred to the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir last August and the parliament passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December as major highlights for India last year.

“The report is published annually by the department of state as part of its legal requirement to the US Congress and is an internal document of the US government,” Srivastava said.

Both were related to each other

IANS

Chennai: What was supposed to have been a blissful first night for a newlywed couple finally turned out to be tragic.

The newly married husband on his first night killed his wife and later committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in Tiruvallur district.

According to police, Neethivasan and Sandhya, both related to each other, got married on Wednesday morning.

During the night, the couple’s relatives heard Sandhya screaming and on entering the room they saw the girl lying in a pool of blood.

She was attacked by a crowbar on the head.

Neethivasan had run away from the house. Later he was found hanging from a tree nearby.

The police are probing the reason for the murder and suicide.

PTI

Amethi (UP): One person was killed and about 10 others were injured in a clash between two parties in Raghaipur village under Sangrampur police station here, police said.

The incident took place on Wednesday when women belonging to rival groups involved in a land dispute had a tiff over a minor issue. It resulted in a clash in which about 11 people were injured of which one, Ram Anand Varma (57), succumbed to his injuries later in hospital, SP Khyati Garg said.

After the incident, the SP and deputy SP Piyush Kant Rai visited the spot.

Appropriate action will be taken against the accused, the SP said.

An FIR has been lodged by Sangrampur police in this regard and extra police force has been deployed in the village, she said.

The Congress on Wednesday asked the government in the spirit of parliamentary democracy to brief political parties on the dispute over the Kalapani-Lipulekh area.

In a statement, Rajya Sabha member and chairperson of the Congress’s foreign affairs department Anand Sharma said the new map published by the Nepalese government, depicting the Kalapani-Lipulekh area as their own territory, was a matter of national concern.

“It is regrettable that the present impasse has reached a stage, which has strained the friendly relationship. This needs to be addressed urgently”, he said.

India has always respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nepal. Both countries have successfully settled 98 per cent of common border issues, Mr. Sharma noted. “The Congress party is of the considered view that diplomacy and negotiations must be given a chance to resolve the present issue”, he added.

With inputs from The Hindu

The Prime Minister was addressing the 95th annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata over video conference

PTI

Insisting that the COVID-19 crisis should be turned into an opportunity to create an Atmanirbhar Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said steps have to be taken to ensure that products imported from abroad are manufactured in the country.

Addressing the 95th annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata over video conference, the Prime Minister said this is the time to make bold decisions and investments for the country to scale new heights.

“India’s goal of self-reliance has been paramount in the policy and practice of the country. The COVID-19 crisis gave us lessons on how to speed up efforts in that direction,” Mr. Modi said.

The Prime Minister also said that people-centric, people-driven and planet-friendly development has become part of the BJP-led Central government’s governance.

“India is fighting multiple challenges along with COVID-19, including floods, locust attack, earthquakes…We have to turn crisis into an opportunity for creating Atmanirbhar Bharat and take steps to ensure that products which we import from elsewhere are manufactured in India,” Mr. Modi added.

PTI

Muzaffarnagar: Three persons have been arrested for allegedly using plastic scrap to make jaggery at Bhokaheri village under Bhopa police station here, as official said on Thursday.

Police raided a jaggery manufacturing unite (kolhu) and arrested three persons on Wednesday, SHO, Bhopa police station Sanjive Kumar said.

Police have registered a case against five persons including the trio that was arrested while two of them managed to escape, he said, adding that two loaded tractor trolleys of plastic scrap have been seized.

This is 5th straight daily increase in rates

PTI

Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday were hiked by 60 paise per litre each — the fifth straight daily increase in rates since oil PSUs ended an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

This is the fifth daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on Sunday restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus.

In five hikes, petrol price has gone up by ₹2.74 per litre and diesel by ₹2.83

PTI

Nagpur: Locust swarms descended in the

Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra on Tuesday, a forest official said.

The swarms flew in from the Koltimara area in the west and descended over Borban, Chor Bahuli, Silari and Pipriya forest areas in the east, said Field director of Pench Tiger Reserve Ravikiran Govekar.

The reserve is spread across the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

The Maharashtra forest and agriculture departments were keeping a vigil on the movement of locusts, but no spraying of pesticide was conducted as the reserve is a protected area, he added.

After it rained on Tuesday afternoon, swarms moved towards Mansar, and no major damage to crops or trees was seen, Govekar said.