Bridge on Mumbai-Goa highway collapses, 22 people and 2 buses missing August 03, 2016 10:45
At least 22 people and two Mumbai-bound buses are believed to be missing after a British-era bridge across the Savitri River on the Mumbai-Goa highway collapsed on the wee hours of Wednesday, the local deputy superintendent, Pranjali Sonawane said. Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) comprising with officials of the district administration and police, 80 personnel including divers have been pressed into rescue operations. However, the rescue operations are being slow down due to heavy rain in the area. According to the local officials, approximately 80 per cent of the bridge had collapsed. No survivors or vehicles have been found so far. Soon after the bridge collapsed, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted, “Spoke to Raigad SP & Collector about bridge collapse on Mumbai-Goa highway. Administration has rushed to spot for rescue&immediate measures.” “There were 2 parallel bridges : one is a new bridge and one constructed during the British era.The old one got collapsed.” “The primary reason seems to be the high pressure caused due to flooding of river Savitri due to heavy rains in catchment of Mahabaleshwar. “ “There is no confirmed assessment about casualties since the area is very dark. Administration will ensure speedy rescue & relief operations.” Also Read: Over 20 killed in Assam floods, Rajnath to assess flood damage Nandini
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VK Singh to leave for Saudi Arabia to help laid-off Indians! August 02, 2016 11:45
Union Minster of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh is all set to travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia today to seek a solution to the problems of thousands of laid-off Indians and make an “on-the-spot assessment of the ground situation” for a possible evacuation of them, officials said. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that, “If any Indian worker abroad is unemployed, he will not sleep hungry.” “The government takes full responsibility to feed them. If they get another job, that is fine, but if they want to return home, then I assure you we will bring them home,” Ms. Swaraj said. Swaraj said in a series of tweets, that, "Large number of Indians have lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The employers have not paid wages closed down their factories. As a result our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are facing extreme hardship." "While situation in Kuwait is manageable, matters are much worse in Saudi Arabia. We have asked the Indian Embassy in Riyadh to provide free ration to the unemployed Indian workers in Saudi Arabia," she added. Also Read: India to evacuate10,000 jobless Indians in Saudi Arabia amid food crisis! Nandini
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I am personally monitoring Saudi Arabia crisis: Sushma Swaraj August 01, 2016 17:28
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said that, the government has taken the issue of food shortage faced by around 10,000 Indians rendered jobless in Saudi Arabia very seriously and she is personally monitoring the crisis. Adding to this, the minister of state for external affairs VK Singh will visit Saudi Arabia to start the process, she said. Sushma Swaraj said that, "I assure you that no Indian worker rendered unemployed in Saudi Arabia will go without food. I am monitoring the situation on hourly basis. I am satisfied to say this in the Parliament that ration (food packets) has been distributed to all the five camps for the next 10 days." "But this is not a permanent solution to the problem. The companies have shut their factories and left. We can't leave our workers there. I contacted their foreign office and labour office. We have asked the foreign office to authorize us to bring them from Saudi Arabia," she added. Sushma said while elaborating on the situation, that, "But their payments are also due. So, I have aked the labour office that each one of them will sign a contract. Before the company pays the government's (Saudi Arabia) dues, they should first pay these workers." "Not even a single worker will stay hungry. Everyone will get food this is my assurance to the country through the Parliament," said Sushma Swaraj. "Indian Consulate (Jeddah) and Indian community's food stuff distribution mission accomplished at 2:45am today morning. Kudos to all," the Indian Consulate in Jeddah tweeted. All 5 camps, Shumaisi, Sisten/Macrona, Sojex, Highway, Taif taken care with supply of food materials. An effort of last four days succeeded well," it said. Also Read: India to evacuate10,000 jobless Indians in Saudi Arabia amid food crisis! Nandini
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SC rejects plea against clean chit to Amit Shah in Sohrabuddin case! August 01, 2016 17:24
The Supreme Court has rejected a petition challenging the discharge of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. A bench including Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan rejected the plea filed by former bureaucrat and social activist Harsh Mander after nearly a half-an-hour hearing. The Bench, while giving relief to Mr.Shah, said that, “When the person is genuinely aggrieved, then the issue takes a different color but when the person is not remotely connected and wants to revive the case then its a different matter.” “Public must get the feeling that nobody is above the law,” Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mr.Mander, said. Mr.Sibal said, “CBI has filed the charge sheet but I am unable to understand why did they turn turtle. Even his (Sohrabuddin) brother who filed the case against Shah withdrew his case later.” He said, “CBI has filed a charge sheet and had made Shah accused number 16. It is a case of murder.” Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Mr. Shah, cited various judgments of the apex court and questioned the locus of Mr. Mander in the case. He said, “This court has already held that if one is not connected with the case, he cannot interfere with anyone’s trial.” “It cannot be a case that if State is not going to file an appeal, I will file the appeal,” Mr. Salve further said. Also Read: ‘Modi can get me killed’: Arvind Kejriwal Nandini
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Over 20 killed in Assam floods, Rajnath to assess flood damage July 30, 2016 17:40
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh accessed the flood-affected areas in Assam, which left more than 20 people killed. Singh reached the state earlier during the day to review the flood situation. He took an aerial survey of the areas along with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Home Minister's office (HMO) tweeted, "Home Minister accompanied by CM Assam Sarbananda Sonwal and Jitendra Singh (DONER minister) conducting aerial survey of flood hit areas (in Assam)." Sonowal who visited Dhubri and Chirang districts said that, "The situation is very grim. The erosion problem has also turned serious. We need to have a master-plan but the detailed study can be carried out only after the flood waters recede. It is impossible to have any study now as the entire land is under water." Also Read: Rajnath Singh to visit Islamabad next week to attend Saarc summit! Nandini
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Legendary writer-activist, Mahasweta Devi, dies at 90 July 28, 2016 17:42
Eminent Bengali author and activist Mahasweta Devi has passed away at a Kolkata hospital following prolonged illness. "She passed away at 3.16 p.m. following a cardiac arrest and multi-organ failure," the doctor said. The 90-year-old Jnanpith and Magsaysay awardee was undergoing treatment at south Kolkata’s Belle Vue Clinic. An eight-member team of doctors was treating the author. She was suffering from various ailments and was put on non-invasive ventilation on Thursday after her condition worsened. She was honored with the Jnanpith Award in 1996. The Padma Vibhushan winner is survived by her daughter-in-law and grandchild. Mahasweta Devi's son pre-deceased her two years ago. The renowned writer was born in Dhaka in 1926. She did her graduation and MA from Calcutta University. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid respect to the legendary writer and tweeted, “Mahashweta Devi wonderfully illustrated the might of the pen. A voice of compassion,equality& justice, she leaves us deeply saddened. RIP.” “India has lost a great writer. Bengal has lost a glorious mother. I have lost a personal guide. Mahasheta Di rest in peace,” tweeted West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Nandini
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‘Modi can get me killed’: Arvind Kejriwal July 28, 2016 12:28
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah could stoop so low that they could get him and his party members killed in political vendetta. Mr. Kejriwal asked all his MLAs in a video uploaded on his Facebook account, that, be prepared as every one of them would eventually be sent to jail by Mr. Modi. “But going to jail is a small sacrifice that you (MLAs) will have to make, as a much bigger conspiracy is at play.” The Delhi Chief Minister said that, “You have unleashed your machinery CBI, Delhi Police, ACB and now Income Tax after our MLAs. But Mr. Modi, we aren’t scared of you anymore.” “All of you discuss it with your families. They can go to any extent and may kill us. They can kill me as well. They are capable of doing anything,” the CM said. Also Read: Two AAP MLAs arrested, party blames PM Modi for it Nandini
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Rajnath Singh to visit Islamabad next week to attend Saarc summit! July 28, 2016 11:48
Amid searing tension with Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh is all set to fly to Islamabad to attend the meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (Saarc) home/interior ministers on August 3 and 4. Saarc has eight South Asian countries as members. According to the sources, the home minister will raise the issue of cross-border terrorism at the meeting. India has accused Pakistan of instigating the violence in Kashmir over the last few weeks after terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter. More than 45 people have died and nearly 3,000 left injured in clashes since Wani was shot on the night of July 8. India retaliated Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by warning that his “dream of Kashnir becoming Pakistan” will not be realized even "to the end of eternity". Pakistan's "unabashed embrace of terrorism" and its use of "dirty money" were highlighted by Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj as she stressed, "All of Kashmir belongs to India." Pakistani leaders have criticized India over the Kashmir unrest, and the country observed on July 20 a “black day” to protest against the killings. Also Read: Kashmir violence: Modi chairs high-level meeting, Rajnath cancels US visit Nandini
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Activist Bezwada Wilson, Carnatic singer T M Krishna earn Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016! July 27, 2016 12:58
Two Indian, Karnataka-born human rights activist Bezwada Wilson and classical musician TM Krishna has been selected for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2016. Excluding the two Indians, four others have been nominated for the award including, Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia, Conchita Carpio-Morales of the Philippines, ‘Vientiane Rescue’ of Laos and Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. Wilson, the national convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) was chosen for the award for “asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity” while Krishna has been named as an awardee under the ‘Emergent Leadership’ category for bringing “social inclusiveness in culture”. “Manual scavenging is blight on humanity in India. Consigned by structural inequality to the dalits, India’s ‘untouchables’, manual scavenging is the work of removing by hand human excrement from dry latrines and carrying on the head the baskets of excrement to designated disposal sites,” states Wilson’s citation. The citation said that, “A hereditary occupation, manual scavenging involves 180,000 dalit households cleaning the 790,000 public and private dry latrines across India; 98 per cent of scavengers are meagerly paid women and girls. While the Constitution and other laws prohibit dry latrines and the employment of manual scavengers, these have not been strictly enforced since government itself is the biggest violator.” “Treated as an outcast in school and acutely aware of his family’s lot, Bezwada was filled with great anger; but he would later channel this anger to a crusade to eradicate manual scavenging,” the citation added. “Wilson has spent 32 years on his “crusade, leading not only with a sense of moral outrage but also with remarkable skills in mass organizing, and working within India’s complex legal system.” “In electing Bezwada Wilson to receive the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes his moral energy and prodigious skill in leading a grassroots movement to eradicate the degrading servitude of manual scavenging in India, reclaiming for the dalits the human dignity that is their natural birthright,” the citation said. On the other hand, 40-year-old Krishna has been hailed in the citation as “showing that music can indeed be a deeply transformative force in personal lives and society itself.” “Though he earned a degree in economics, Krishna chose to be an artist and quickly rose to become a highly-admired concert performer of Carnatic classical music,” his citation said. “An ancient vocal and instrumental musical system,”An ancient vocal and instrumental musical system, Carnatic music started centuries ago in temples and courts but was subsequently ‘classicised’ to become the almost exclusive cultural preserve of the Brahmin caste performed, organized, and enjoyed by the elite who have access to it,” the citation said. “While grateful for how Carnatic music has shaped his artistry, Krishna would question the social basis of his art.” “He saw that his was a caste-dominated art that fostered an unjust, hierarchic order by effectively excluding the lower classes from sharing in a vital part of India’s cultural legacy,” it said. “While much of his work is still ahead of him, he is embarked on an important path. Krishna is resolved to break barriers of caste, class or creed by democratizing music, cultivating thought-processes and sensibilities that unite people rather than divide them,” the citation said. “In electing Thodur Madabusi Krishna to receive the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership, the board of trustees recognizes his forceful commitment as artist and advocate to art’s power to heal India’s deep social divisions, breaking barriers of caste and class to unleash what music has to offer not just for some but for all,” it said. Also Read: 17th Kargil Vijay Diwas: The Nation pays tribute to the Kargil Heroes Nandini
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Irom Sharmila to end 16-year fast, wants to marry, contest Manipur elections July 27, 2016 11:17
The iconic activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on hunger strike for last 16 years demanding the repeal of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, has decided to end her fast on August 9. She also said that, she wants to marry and fight the Manipur Assembly elections as an Independent candidate. The 44-year-old Manipuri rights activist said she would join politics to the repeal of the “draconian” Act. "I will break my fast on August 9 as the government has failed to give any positive response. I will fight elections to resolve the issues." “I will join politics and my fight will continue,” said Ms. Sharmila. She has refused to eat or drink anything since November 2000, and is force-fed through a nasal tube in Imphal’s Jawahar Lal Nehru Hospital. The government had arrested, released and then re-arrested her from time to time on the charge of making an attempt to commit suicide. "Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, had resorted to fasts while making certain demands," she has said. Her elder brother Singhajit, who has been with her throughout her struggle, said that, “I haven’t spoken to her in the last few days because of my bad health. I heard it from others.” Babloo Loitongbam, her long-time associate and Director of Human Rights Alert Manipur, said that, "We are trying to speak to her to get a sense of how she wants to take struggle forward. Of course if she wants to end her fast, it is totally her prerogative but it is also important to carry the struggle forward." “If AFSPA has not been repealed in 15 years of her fast, it won’t happen in another 30 years,” he said. Nandini
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France Church Attack: 2 Attackers Killed, 1 Hostage Killed July 26, 2016 17:15
French police shot dead two attackers who killed a priest with a blade and seriously wounded another hostage in a church in northern France. The incidents are investigating by the anti-terrorist unit of the Paris prosecutor's office, but still there were no immediate information about the identity or motives of the two assailants. Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet, said that, "At one point, the two assailants came out of the church and that's when they were killed by the BRI elite force." The attack was branded as "barbaric" by the Prime Minister Manuel Valls and said it was a blow to all Catholics and the whole of France. "We will stand together," Valls said on Twitter. According to the Interior Ministry spokesman Brandet, the attackers launched their assault by taking five people hostage inside the church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, south of Rouen. He confirmed that, one of the hostages had been killed and said another was critical. French President Francois Hollande was on his way to the site of the attack. "Horror. Everything is being done to trigger a war of religions," tweeted Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a former conservative prime minister who now heads the Senate's foreign affairs committee. Also Read: Brutal knife attack in Japan, 19 killed, 20 injured Nandini
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Kupwara encounter: Four terrorists killed, one captured alive July 26, 2016 13:14
The Indian security forces killed four terrorists and caught alive one in the ongoing encounter near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). An Army official said that, "Four terrorists have been killed while one has been apprehended alive during an operation in Naugam sector." All terrorists were foreign nationals. The operation was still going on. "We have got one of them alive and expect some vital information from him," he added. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said while congratulating the security forces, that, “It’s a big achievement to catch a terrorist alive. The truth of Pakistan will come to the fore.” Also Read: ashmir violence: Death toll reaches 23, life paralyzed for third day Nandini
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