At least five persons were injured, two of them critically, when a 17-year-old boy lost control of the car he was trying to park in Venkatesh Nagar locality in Nagpur on Saturday afternoon, the police said, reported the PTI. The boy worked at a garage, and his employer had asked him to park the car, said an official of Nandanvan police station in Nagpur. The car belongs to a local political leader and did not have insurance, the police official said without disclosing the car owner's name. Instead of engaging the clutch, the minor accidentally pressed the accelerator, causing the vehicle to surge forward, he said. It struck several parked vehicles and ran into three fruit-and-vegetable vendors and two bystanders, the official said. Mahendra Badridas Aggarwal (55) and Vandana Aggarwal (54), Basanti Netam (40), Golu Gupta (23) and Vikram Bhosale (27) were injured and are undergoing treatment at hospital, the news agency reported on Saturday. A case was registered for rash driving under the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act, and the minor was detained. Further probe was on, the official said. Pune car crash: Panel probing two JJB members over minor's bail finds procedural lapses, misconduct Meanwhile, a committee formed to probe the conduct of two Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) members in connection with the bail given to the minor in the Pune car crash case has found "procedural lapses", "misconduct" and "non compliance of norms", a senior official said on Saturday, according to the PTI. On May 19, two IT professionals were killed in Kalyani Nagar in Pune after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche car allegedly driven by a minor in an inebriated condition. The accident had hit national headlines due to efforts made to get the juvenile off the hook, resulting in the arrest of several persons, including his father and grandfather. The case caused a national uproar after the JJB gave bail to the accused on very lenient terms, including writing a 300-word essay on road safety. "The five-member committee submitted its report on Friday to the Women and Child Development department commissioner. The WCD department, after receipt of the report, has issued notices to two JJB members who were appointed by the department," the official told PTI on the condition of anonymity. "The report has found glaring lapses and mistakes while issuing the bail order by a single member of the JJB on May 19. Though the order granting bail was issued by one member, the other member gave consent the next day. Misconduct and non compliance of norms has been found on the part of the two members and they have been apprised about it," the official said, reported the PTI. As part of its probe, the committee appointed by the WCD department had recorded the statement of the two JJB members, he added. (with PTI inputs)
15 June,2024 10:26 PM IST | Nagpur | mid-day online correspondentA core committee meeting of the West Bengal BJP unit was held on Saturday where the performance of the party in the recent Lok Sabha elections 2024 and post-poll "attack" on party workers were discussed, a party leader said. BJP state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar, Union minister Shantanu Thakur, party state general secretary Agnimitra Paul and former MP Locket Chatterjee attended the closed door meeting in the presence of two central observers. The BJP won 12 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal while the Trinamool Congress got 29 and the Congress 1. The strategy to be adopted by the party to thwart TMC's rigging and intimidation in the coming by-polls in four assembly seats was also discussed, the party leader said. "Our priority remains to stand by the hundreds of party supporters rendered homeless in TMC terror in different parts of the state, including Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency and the party will stand by its workers with all its might. A booth-by-booth analysis has already shown that BJP was leading in several booths in urban areas across the state including Kolkata and south Bengal. We need to consolidate our strength and reach out to people," one of the participants at the meeting, told PTI. Notable among the absentees at the meeting were Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and former MP Dilip Ghosh. While Adhikari was away in Coochbehar to be on the side of party workers and defeated party candidate, former union minister Nisith Pramanik, Ghosh went to Amtala in South 24 Parganas district to meet party workers allegedly rendered homeless in post-poll violence following the victory of Abhishek Banerjee in Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat. A senior party leader attending the meeting said both Ghosh and Adhikari were supposed to come but they could not as they had previous schedules to visit attacked party men and supporters across the state. Asked about the core committee meeting on Saturday, Ghosh, however, had said that such meetings "take place once in a while". This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
15 June,2024 08:50 PM IST | Kolkata | PTIThere was no relief from the searing heat in Delhi on Saturday as the maximum temperature settled six notches above the season's average at 44.6 degrees Celsius, officials said. Of its several weather stations, Aya Nagar recorded 46 degrees Celsius while Palam recorded 45 degrees Celsius, they said. Similar weather is likely on Sunday with mainly clear skies and heatwave conditions in several parts of Delhi. The capital will be on "orange" alert for the next three days, which stands for "Be prepared" in the India Meteorological Department colour codes. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 45 and 32 degrees Celsius. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
15 June,2024 08:45 PM IST | New Delhi | PTIMaharashtra Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that wherever Lord Ram had laid his foot, BJP lost from that place in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the ANI reported. Vijay Wadettiwar was reacting to the controversy over Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Indresh Kumar's remark calling BJP arrogant, which restricted it to 240 seats and later retracting from his statement and saying that he used the term for Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. According to the ANI, Vijay Wadettiwar said, "Indresh Kumar said what came into his heart. He may have been under pressure, so he retracted his statement. Everyone in the county knows who is arrogant and who said that we will cross 400 seats in Lok Sabha polls. They said to give votes to those who brought Lord Ram but can anyone bring Lord Ram? They are so arrogant that they feel that they themselves are gods and even bigger than god." Wadettiwar further said that god felt that if they had to be taught a lesson, it should be from Ayodhya and they lost in places like Ayodhya and Rameswaram. "Wherever Lord Ram laid his foot, the BJP lost from there. It is a crushing defeat for them. They faced defeat, which is a verdict against their policies and gimmicks," he added, as per the ANI. Earlier, RSS leader Indresh Kumar whipped up a political storm for stating that the BJP was restricted to 240 seats, well below the majority mark, in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, due to its "arrogance". "The country will make progress under his leadership - there is this trust among the people. We hope that this trust thrives (The mood of the country is very clear at present. Those who opposed Lord Ram are not in power, those who set the goal to respect Lord Ram are in power and the government has been formed for the third time under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi)," Kumar said, the news agency reported on Saturday. (with ANI inputs)
15 June,2024 07:31 PM IST | Nagpur | mid-day online correspondentA committee formed to probe the conduct of two Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) members in connection with the bail given to the minor in the Pune car crash case has found "procedural lapses", "misconduct" and "non compliance of norms", a senior official said on Saturday, according to the PTI. On May 19, two IT professionals were killed in Kalyani Nagar in Pune after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche car allegedly driven by a minor in an inebriated condition. The accident had hit national headlines due to efforts made to get the juvenile off the hook, resulting in the arrest of several persons, including his father and grandfather. The case caused a national uproar after the JJB gave bail to the accused on very lenient terms, including writing a 300-word essay on road safety. "The five-member committee submitted its report on Friday to the Women and Child Development department commissioner. The WCD department, after receipt of the report, has issued notices to two JJB members who were appointed by the department," the official told PTI on the condition of anonymity. "The report has found glaring lapses and mistakes while issuing the bail order by a single member of the JJB on May 19. Though the order granting bail was issued by one member, the other member gave consent the next day. Misconduct and non compliance of norms has been found on the part of the two members and they have been apprised about it," the official said, reported the PTI. As part of its probe, the committee appointed by the WCD department had recorded the statement of the two JJB members, he added. The JJB comprises two members appointed by the WCD department and one member from the judiciary. The committee's mandate was to probe the two members appointed by the state government, the official pointed out. WCD commissioner Dr Prashant Narnavare confirmed that the report had been submitted by the probe committee and said show cause notices had been issued to both JJB members, as per the PTI. The two members have been asked to furnish their replies in the next four to five days, he said. (with PTI inputs)
15 June,2024 07:13 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondentOver 100 packets of drugs have washed up on the shores of Kutch and Devbhumi Dwarka districts in Gujarat in the last few days, the police said on Saturday, reported the PTI. According to the police, while some packets of charas were recovered in Devbhumi Dwarka on Saturday, others were found in Kutch in the last few days. The packets containing charas were found near Gorinja village of Devbhumi Dwarka district on Saturday, Superintendent of Police (SP) Nitesh Pandey said, according to the PTI. "We have so far recovered more than 50 such packets, and we will continue to sweep the area," Pandey said, adding that samples from the packets have been sent for forensic examination. Similarly, the police recovered 29 packets containing charas and methamphetamine from the coast of Kutch in the last few days, said PP Gohil, a special operations group (SOG) official of Kutch (West) police. The official said that of these packets, 20 contained charas, and nine had methamphetamine. According to the police, smugglers dumped these packets in the sea for fear of being caught, and they got washed ashore due to favourable wind conditions. As many as 21 packets of charas were similarly washed up in Devbhumi Dwarka on Wednesday, while 30 were found in operations in the last few days, police said. With this, the number of packets seized in the last few days has crossed the 100 mark, they said. Delhi Police arrest 4 drug peddlers with 245.5 kg cannabis Meanwhile, the Delhi Police' Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) arrested four drug peddlers and recovered 245.500 kg of fine-quality cannabis (ganja) on Saturday, the ANI reported. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) East Delhi, Apoorva Gupta said, "Anti-narcotics squad East District has recovered nearly 250 kg ganja under the leadership of Inspector Arun. A few days ago, we received information that, on the pretext of shifting the household items of Army jawans, drugs were being supplied in Delhi in large quantities. Developing the information further, we got a tip-off that a truck was coming to Ghazipur Sabzi Mandi to supply the drugs," according to the ANI. "We conducted a raid and recovered nearly 215 kg of ganja from the truck. Based on disclosure by truck driver Inderpal and his helper Manish, we reached one Lublu Choudhary. Further, based on the disclosure of Lublu Choudhary, we arrested one Mohd. Fayaz alias Hafiz, who is also a resident of Ghaziabad. The total recovery made in the case is 245.5 kg ganja and 4 arrests along with the truck," DCP Gupta added, the news agency reported on Saturday. (with PTI nd ANI inputs)
15 June,2024 05:38 PM IST | Ahmedabad | mid-day online correspondentAt least 10 people were reportedly killed and 13 injured after the tempo traveller in which they were travelling fell into a deep gorge on Badrinath Highway in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand on Saturday, reported the ANI. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police officials immediately rushed to the spot following the accident and launched a massive rescue operation. Officials said that four of the injured have sustained serious injuries and were undergoing treatment. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed condolences over the loss of lives in the accident and said the seriously injured passengers are being airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh. "Instructions have been given to the concerned officials for better treatment of the injured," he said. The tempo was heading to Rudraprayag from Noida in Uttar Pradesh when it fell into the 150-meter-deep gorge, as per the ANI. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Garhwal IG KS Nagnyal told ANI that the local administration, residents, and SDRF are engaged in a rescue and relief operation. "The tempo traveller was heading towards Rudraprayag from Noida when it fell down into the 150-meter-deep ditch. The number of tourists travelling is not clear yet. We have recovered eight bodies and nine persons have been rushed to the hospital. The driver has also sustained severe injuries," he said, the news agency reported. He added the exact details of passengers can be ascertained only after the completion of the rescue operation. Dhami in a post on X expressed his condolences on the loss of lives in the accident and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured. "The local administration and SDRF teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations. The injured have been sent to the nearest medical centre for treatment," he said. SDRF teams are engaged in rescue work: Amit Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed condolences over the loss of lives in the accident and said that local administration and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are engaged in rescue operation. "Received the sad news of the road accident in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand. My condolences are with the families of those who lost their lives in this accident. The local administration and SDRF teams are engaged in relief and rescue work and all possible help is being provided to the injured. I pray to God for the speedy recovery of the injured," Amit Shah wrote on X. (with ANI inputs)
15 June,2024 05:28 PM IST | Rudraprayag | mid-day online correspondentSenior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader B S Yediyurappa on Saturday said he will appear before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on June 17 for inquiry in connection with the POCSO case registered against him. On his arrival in the city, the former CM said people would teach a lesson to those "indulging in conspiracies" against him. The Karnataka High Court on Friday restrained CID from arresting Yediyurappa in connection with the POCSO case. It also directed the veteran BJP leader to appear before CID, which is probing the case, on June 17. "I had gone to Delhi for a pre scheduled programme. I had informed in advance in writing that I will appear for an inquiry on June 17. The High Court has given an order restraining CID (from arresting). I'm appearing for an inquiry on Monday. Unnecessarily some tried to create confusion, I don't want to blame anyone, everyone knows the fact," Yediyurappa. While speaking to reporters here, he said, "... people will teach a lesson to those indulging in conspiracies." A court here on Thursday had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Yediyurappa in the case registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on March 14 this year. The Special Investigation Team of the CID had moved the First Fast Track Court seeking an arrest warrant against him since he failed to appear for questioning on Wednesday. According to police, Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act and Section 354 A (Sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he molested her daughter during a meeting on February two this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony here. Yediyurappa, who has denied the charge, said he would fight the case legally. He has filed two separate petitions in the High Court, seeking anticipatory bail and quashing the FIR. The victim's mother, who had leveled the charge against Yediyurappa, died at a private hospital here last month, due to lung cancer. Earlier this week, the victim's brother had moved the court alleging that though the case was registered on March 14, no progress has been made in the investigation. The petitioner prayed the court for a direction to the police to arrest Yediyurappa and interrogate him. After the Sadashivanagar police registered the case in March, the Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan had issued an order transferring it to the CID for further investigation. In April, the CID collected the voice sample of Yediyurappa after summoning him to the office. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
15 June,2024 05:18 PM IST | Bengaluru | PTIAmid the controversies surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG) exams, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday launched a fierce attack the central government ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that whether the BJP is in power at Centre or in state, paper leaks are "inevitable", reported ANI. "Whether the BJP is in power at the centre or in the state, paper leaks are inevitable. A NEET paper leak is a very serious matter. The accused in custody is admitting that the paper has been leaked. Candidates, parents, students, and youth, all worried. The entire system is suspicious but the NDA government is so immersed in arrogance that it is completely ignoring the credibility of examinations in the country and even after the evidence of the paper leak has been made public, investigations and arrests have been made, and the conspirators have confessed to the crime of #NEET", Yadav said in a post on 'X'. "It is not ready to accept that there has been some rigging in the examination. All the evidence is in front of us but the Union Education Minister is so ignorant that he is not ready to accept that something is wrong. The arrogant Modi government is sleeping in such a deep slumber that it does not care even if the dreams of lakhs of candidates are shattered. They have created tremendous chaos in the country", he added. Earlier today, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan affirmed to the students that the government would ensure transparency while conducting a probe into the alleged irregularities and re-conducting exams. He also urged the students "not to worry". In a conversation with ANI, Pradhan said, "The government ensures the students that full transparency will be adopted in the probe into alleged irregularties and re-conducting the NEET exams. The students do not need to worry". He also held a meeting with some of the candidates who appeared for the NEET exams, along with their parents and addressed their concerns and issues. However, the education minister on Thursday ruled out the possibility of any irregularities in the NEET-UG examination, stating that there has been "no paper leak" in the NEET-UG paper and government is ready to give answers to the Supreme Court which is hearing the petitions related to the exam, reported ANI. "I want to assure the students and their parents that the Government of India and NTA are committed to providing justice to them. Twenty-four lakh students have successfully taken the NEET examination. There is no paper leak, no proof has been found yet. A court-recommended model was adopted for around 1560 students and a panel of academicians has been formed for the same...We will accept the verdict of the Court," he said, reported ANI. Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency (NTA) told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the scorecards of 1563 candidates who got "grace marks" in the 2024 National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (undergraduate) exam will be cancelled and the candidates will have a chance to reappear for the exam. The NTA told a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that a committee has been constituted to review the results of over 1,563 candidates who were awarded "grace marks" to compensate for the loss of time suffered while appearing for NEET-UG. "The Committee has decided to cancel the scorecards of 1563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates who were given grace marks and these students will be given the option to take a re-test," NTA said." The exam will be conducted on June 23 and the results will be declared before June 30," it added. The Apex Court reiterated that it will not continue the counselling of NEET-UG, 2024, reported ANI. "Counselling will go on and we will not stop it. If the exam goes, then everything goes in totality, so there is nothing to fear," said the Supreme Court, reported ANI. The Supreme Court will hear the petitions on July 8 Several petitions were filed in the apex court seeking direction to recall NEET-UG 2024 results and to conduct the examination afresh, alleging paper leakage and malpractices in the test held on May 5. The May 5 exam, conducted by NTA across 4,750 centres for nearly 24 lakh students, has been put in the docks over allegations relating to paper leaks and questionable grace marks, reported ANI. An unprecedented 67 students have achieved a perfect score of 720, which has added to the concerns. Meanwhile, the opposition has also been questioning the central government over the alleged "scam" in conducting the NEET-UG examinations. Several students in different parts of the country also organised protests demanding a probe into the reported irregularities. Earlier on Thursday, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge took a swipe at the centre over reported irregularities in the NEET-UG exams. "Grace marks were not the only problem in NEET exam. There has been rigging, papers have been leaked, and corruption has taken place. The future of 24 lakh students appearing in the NEET examination is at stake due to the actions of the Modi government. A nexus of exam centres and coaching centres has been formed, where the game of 'pay money, get paper' is being played", Kharge wrote in a post on 'X'. "The Modi government cannot escape its responsibility by placing the responsibility of its actions on the shoulders of the NTA. The Congress Party demands a fair investigation, under the supervision of the Supreme Court, into the entire NEET scam. After investigation, the culprits should be given the harshest punishment and lakhs of students should be given compensation to save their year from being wasted. In the last 10 years, the Modi government has ruined the future of crores of youth through paper leaks and rigging," he added. The NEET-UG examination, conducted by the NTA, paves the way for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. (With inputs from ANI)
15 June,2024 02:53 PM IST | Patna (Bihar) | mid-day online correspondentDelhi's Tis Hazari court on Saturday extended till June 22 the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with the Swati Maliwal assault case, reported news agency PTI. Bibhav Kumar is accused of assaulting AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on May 13 at the chief minister's official residence. Bibhav Kumar was produced through video conferencing before the duty metropolitan magistrate, who extended the custody and directed the Delhi Police to produce him on June 22, reported PTI. Earlier on Friday, the court had extended Kumar's custody by one day after noting that the investigating officer (IO) was not present. Kumar was arrested on May 18 in connection with the Swati Maliwal assault case. He was sent to police custody for five days the same day by a magisterial court, which observed that his anticipatory bail plea had become infructuous because of his arrest, reported PTI. On May 24, he was sent to four days judicial custody, following which he was again remanded in police custody for three days. An FIR was registered against Kumar on May 16 under various Indian Penal Code provisions, including those related to criminal intimidation, assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to disrobe and attempt to commit culpable homicide, reported PTI. Recently, Delhi's Tis Hazari Court dismissed the regular bail plea of Bibhav Kumar. The court dismissed the bail application in view of threats received by the victim, Swati Maliwal and apprehension of influencing the witnesses by the accused. While dismissing the bail application, the court observed, "In view of the fact that investigation is at an initial stage and there is a fear in the mind of the victim regarding her security as well as the security of her family members.... There is also apprehension that the accused Bibhav Kumar would influence the witnesses, if at liberty," reported ANI. "So I do not find any merit in the bail application of accused Bibhav Kumar. Hence, the present regular bail application of accused Bibhav Kumar is hereby dismissed," Special Judge Ekta Gauba Mann ordered on June 7, reported ANI. This was the second bail plea which has been dismissed by the court. Previously Kumar's first regular bail plea was dismissed on May 27. (With inputs from PTI and ANI)
15 June,2024 02:29 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondentAn official said that the death toll in the blast at an explosives factory in Maharashtra's Nagpur district reached eight on Saturday after another worker succumbed to her injuries at a private hospital, reported news agency PTI. Dr Pinak Dande, director of Dande Hospital, told PTI that Shraddha Vanraj Patil (22), who was undergoing treatment in Nagpur city, succumbed to her injuries. Another injured worker, Pramod Chavare, is undergoing treatment. According to PTI report, with this, eight workers, including six women and two men, have lost their lives due to the Nagpur explosives factory blast that occurred on Thursday. The Nagpur explosives factory blast occurred around 1 pm on Thursday at the factory in Dhamna village under Hingna police station limits, around 25 km from the city. Nine injured persons were admitted to two private hospitals in the city. According to the police, most of the victims were working in the factory's packaging unit when the Nagpur explosives factory blast took place. On Friday, the police arrested Jay Shivshankar Khemka (49), the factory's director of the factory, and manager Sagar Deshmukh. They were produced before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Hingna, who granted them cash bail of Rs 50,000 each, reported PTI. The police said that a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 304 (a) (causing the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by doing any rash or negligent act) was registered against the director and manager. (With inputs from PTI)
15 June,2024 02:20 PM IST | Nagpur | mid-day online correspondentADVERTISEMENT
