Indian news and history: January 2023

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Parrot Owner Fined Rs 74 Lakh After Bird Injures Doctor In Taiwan

After a pet parrot wounded a doctor, a Taiwanese man was fined $91,350 (Rs 74 lakh) along with a two-month prison sentence, according to a report in the BBC. Dr Lin fractured his pelvis and dislocated his hip after a fall caused due to the bird.

As per Taiwan's Central News Agency, the macaw shocked the doctor after landing on his back and flapping its wings frantically.

The owner had brought the bird and another macaw for a jog close to where Dr Lin was running, according to testimony in court. Dr Lin also filed a civil claim for damages for his financial losses against the macaw's owner, Huang, as per the outlet. He said in court that he spent a week in the hospital after suffering injuries and was unable to work for six months due to recovery including three months of special care.

The doctor in question is a plastic surgeon and needs to stand for long hours to perform surgery, therefore, the injury led to heavy financial loss. His lawyer said, "He can now walk, but if he stands for long periods, there is still numbness."

According to a media spokesperson for the Tainan District Court's administrative division, the case is "rare" and different from any that has been heard in a civil court in the previous decade.

As per the BBC, the court concluded that Huang's negligence led to Dr Lin's fall. The judge reportedly stated that the macaw's size, 40 cm tall with a 60 cm wing span meant that the owner of such a huge animal should have taken "protective measures."

Huang stated that he accepts the court's ruling but plans to appeal, claiming that macaws are not violent birds and that the payout is "too high."

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Elon Musk Seeks To End Lawsuit Over 'Inadvertent' Late Disclosure Of Twitter Stake

Elon Musk asked a U.S. judge to throw out a lawsuit claiming that his delayed disclosure of a large stake in Twitter Inc defrauded shareholders who sold Twitter stock at artificially low prices because they were kept in the dark.

In the federal court case in Manhattan, investors accused Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, of waiting 11 days past a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission deadline the previous March to disclose he had bought 5% of its stock.

The shareholders said Musk saved more than $200 million by adding to his holdings - while quietly meeting with Twitter executives about his plans for the social media company - before finally revealing a 9.2% stake, cheating stock sellers and options traders out of the "true value" of their securities.

But in a Monday night filing, Musk said investors in the proposed class action had no independent right to obtain damages under the SEC disclosure rule, and could not show that all class members actually relied on his silence before trading.

Musk also noted, as had the shareholders, that he had properly disclosed his stakes in electric car maker Tesla Inc and the former SolarCity Corp at least 20 times, and even mentioned the SEC rule to Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund in 2018 when negotiating a possible investment in Tesla.

Despite a "laundry list" of accusations suggesting an intent to defraud, "the most compelling inference is that any failure to disclose was inadvertent," the world's second-richest person said.

The shareholders are led by the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System. Katie Sinderson, one of their lawyers, declined to comment on Tuesday.

Under the SEC rule, investors must disclose within 10 days when they have acquired 5% of a company, which for Musk's Twitter investment would have been last March 24.

Twitter shares rose 27% on April 4, to $49.97 from $39.31, after Musk disclosed his 9.2% stake, which investors viewed as his vote of confidence in San Francisco-based Twitter.

The case is Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System v Musk et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-03026.

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Hungary Most Corrupt EU Member In 2022: Report

Hungary slid to bottom place among EU nations in a corruption index, with graft watchdog Transparency International on Tuesday alleging misuse by "political elites" of state and bloc funds.

Hungary has been embroiled in a long running spat with Brussels over corruption and rule of law concerns that have led to the freezing of billions of euros of bloc funding.

In a bid to unlock the funds, Budapest committed to a range of legal and anti-corruption reforms, including the set-up of a watchdog that includes a Transparency International staff member.

Hungary replaced Bulgaria as the last among EU and western European countries in the group's "Corruption Perceptions Index" report for 2022 launched on Tuesday.

The report noted "a decade of democratic backsliding and systemic deterioration of the rule of law at the hands of the ruling party".

"Evidence is mounting against political elites on their misuse of both state and EU funds," it said.

Budapest hit back at Transparency, pointing to a corruption scandal in Brussels that emerged last month with one of the assembly's vice presidents charged in connection with allegations of bribery.

"It is interesting that Transparency International did not investigate either the Brussels bureaucracy or the European Parliament," a government statement said.

The statement accused the watchdog of "belonging to the Soros network" referring to the 92-year-old Hungarian-born US financier George Soros who Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accuses of meddling in Hungarian and global politics.

The annual Transparency report ranks 180 countries around the world and territories on a corruption scale since 1995 based on surveys with experts and businesspeople.

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CBI Searches 50 Locations In 7 States In Constable Recruitment Paper Leak Cases

The CBI on Tuesday conducted searches at 50 locations in seven states as part of its probe in two cases related to the leak of constable recruitment exam papers in Himachal Pradesh, officials said.

The agency had registered two FIRs on November 30, 2022 on a request from the state government to take over the investigation of cases probed by the state police.

Question papers of written examinations for the post of Constables in Himachal Pradesh Police, held on March 27, 2022 were leaked ahead of the date by several middlemen spread across states.

The leak was detected on May 5, 2022 and the examination was cancelled the next day followed by the constitution of a Special Investigation Team by the HP Police on May 7.

Searches on Tuesday were conducted in Kangra, Una, Mandi, Hamirpur, Kullu, Shimla, Sirmour districts in Himachal Pradesh, Nalanda, Samastipur, Munger, Lakhisarai, Patna, and Navada in Bihar, Haridwar and Dehradun in Uttrakhand, Pathankot in Punjab, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Gazipur, and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Rewari in Haryana, and in Delhi, a spokesperson of the CBI said in a statement.

Middlemen based in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab were operating in an organised manner to leak the exam papers, it has been alleged.

Earlier, three cases were registered by the state police in connection with the leak in Gaggal (Kangra), Arki (Solan), and at CID Police Station in Bharari (Shimla).

As many as 1,87,476 applications were received for 1,334 posts of constable.

75,803 candidates qualified the physical test out of which 26,346 candidates had cleared the written examination held at 81 centres across 11 districts on March 27.

About 253 persons including the owner of the printing press, staff, owners of coaching centres, kingpins, agents, family members of candidates, and candidates were arrested during the course of investigation by the SIT, and chargesheets against more than 150 accused were filed in the court.

According to the state police investigation, multiple gangs were involved in the leak and habitual offenders, engineers and people working in the government department of Railways and income tax were among the kingpins and agents who leaked the papers.

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Expectations High As Nirmala Sitharaman Preps To Present Her 5th Budget

With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman getting ready to present the last full budget of the Modi 2.0 government, expectations are high that she will meet the demands of all stakeholders, including the common man who is reeling under the price rise.

The finance minister has held several rounds of discussions with various stakeholders, and final touches are being given to the Union Budget for 2023-24 which will be unveiled in the Lok Sabha on February 1.

"The Budget to be announced will be an exercise of managing several objectives: movement to fiscal prudence, stimulating growth without accompanying inflation, garnering more resources through non-tax measures and providing sops where necessary.

"As all these objectives would run in different directions, the FM will exercise considerable dexterity to move ahead decisively on all counts," said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda.

Since this will be the last full Budget before the 2024 general elections, Sitharaman may also announce income tax relief for salary earners, and people in small businesses.

Shailendra Kumar, the Chairman of TIOL Knowledge Foundation, said the government should enhance various deductions limits.

"Given the precipitous drop in the national gross savings from 37 per cent to 27 per cent, the perimeter of Section 80C of the I-T Act needs to be expanded to Rs 2.5 lakh. This will put more money in the hands of the government to bankroll the infrastructure sector or higher capex," he said.

There is also a demand for raising exemption limits for home loans with a view to encouraging more people to buy residential properties, and give a boost to the real estate sector, which is the second largest job creator after agriculture.

"With the Union Budget 2023 around the corner, the government may introduce conducive measures to provide relief to borrowers. Hopefully, the government will consider the long-pending demand to enhance the deduction limit against home loan interest from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh," said V Swaminathan, executive chairman, Andromeda Loans and Apnapaisa.

Deepak Kapoor, Director, Gulshan Group, said the Budget should mirror the aspirations of the realty sector and support growth-inducing factors.

The Budget should offer a premise of agents of development and progress and stamp out hindrances impeding the growth of the sector," Kapoor said.

India's GDP growth in the current fiscal is estimated to decline to 7 per cent from 8.7 per cent in the previous year requiring the government to take action to boost the economy amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.

With regards to relief to salary earners, Vivek Jalan, Partner, Tax Connect Advisory opined that it has become an urgent necessity to reduce the personal tax rates for individuals so that there is a degree of equity and fairness in relation to structuring decisions as well as being competitive with other countries.

Meanwhile, the electronics components makers body ELCINA has requested the government to allocate USD 10 billion (about Rs 80,000 crore) for eight years to boost the manufacturing of electronic components and key modules other than semiconductors.

It has sought a four-year extension to the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), with an increased outlay of Rs 16,000 crore in the Union Budget for 2023-24.

The startup segment too has high hopes from Sitharaman who would be presenting her fifth Budget.

Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Cofounder and Managing Director of Venture Catalysts said the anticipation around the approaching Budget has been palpable.

"The union government will need to address various demands that will aid the growth of the world's third-largest startup ecosystem. To begin with, there is a crucial need for a simple and separate tax framework for Private Equity and Venture Capital investors, along with startups," Sharma said.

Ravi Annavarapu, President, FMC India said 2022 was a challenging year for agriculture and food industry globally with factors such as climate change, supply chain, inflation and geopolitical issues disrupting every economy and triggering a possible global slowdown, apart from the food crisis.

This year's budget outlay must be directed towards not only cushioning but also adding resilience to Indian agriculture, he said.

Arun Agarwal, Vice President, Kotak Securities said that given the government's focus towards clean energy, some measures can be expected to facilitate further electric vehicle (EV) adoption and to support the development of EV ecosystem in the country.

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German Woman Kills "Instagram Lookalike" To Fake Own Death

A 23-year-old German woman has been accused of seeking out a lookalike of herself on social media and killing her in an attempt to fake her own death, reported Telegraph. The brutal and bizarre case has been dubbed "the doppelganger murder."

The police referred to the German woman as Shahraban K, 24, residing in Munich, who had set up a fake Instagram account and tried contacting women who resembled her. After scouting many profiles, she found a cosmetics blogger, Algerian citizen Khadidja O, 23, who lived about 100 miles away, police said.

Both the women had long dark hair and similar complexion.

According to police, Shahraban K and her boyfriend named Sheqir K, 24, reached out to Khadidja and offered beauty products and went to pick her up.

While going back, they stopped in a forest and stabbed the victim over 50 times, police said.

Shahraban K had told her husband that she was going to meet her ex-husband.

When Shahraban didn't return, her parents went looking for her in Ingolstadt and found her Mercedes near the Danube.

On the back seat of the car, the body of a dark-haired young woman brutally murdered was found and they believed it was their daughter, the Telegraph reported.

According to police, several knives were reportedly found nearby and the car was reportedly discovered not far from Sheqir K's flat.

After doing autopsy and DNA tests, it was found that the body was actually Khadidja O.

Shahraban K and Sheqir K were then arrested.

The police were baffled by the resemblance between the owner of the car and the dead.

Veronika Grieser, an Ingolstadt prosecutor, told the Bild newspaper: "It has been confirmed that the accused had contacted several women via Instagram before the act who seemed to look similar to her.

"It can be assumed that the suspect wanted to go into hiding, due to internal disputes with her family, and fake her own death."

A police spokesman said the killing was done for "base motives."

The spokesman said: "During the return journey, the victim was lured out of the vehicle as planned under a pretext and killed in a wooded area with a large number of stabs in the body.

"The accused then continued their journey to Ingolstadt, where the body was found on the evening of Aug 16th. It was found lying in the vehicle."

Another police spokesman told Bild: "The murder weapon has still not been found but the burden of proof is overwhelming.

"The victim was killed with more than 50 stab wounds and her face was badly injured. That was brutal in the extreme.

"It was an extraordinary case that required all the investigators' skills. We don't have a case like this every day, especially with such a spectacular twist. On the day we found the body, we did not expect it to develop like this."

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Monday, January 30, 2023

Stones Thrown At My Convoy, Says Nitish Kumar's Sulking Aide

Disgruntled JD(U) leader Upendra Kushwaha, who recently raised a banner of revolt against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Monday alleged that his car was pelted with stones in Bhojpur district of the state.

Mr Kushwaha, who is also a member of the state legislative council, made the allegation on his official Twitter handle, tagging Nitish Kumar and the Bihar Police.

"Some anti-social elements attacked my car at Nayka Tola, Jagdishpur (Bhojpur). They ran away when security personnel tried to chase them," Mr Kushwaha tweeted in Hindi.

The district police said it was investigating the matter and trying to identify the culprits. No injuries have been reported in the incident.

Mr Kushwaha, upon return to the state capital, claimed he was clueless about the identity and motive of the attackers.

The former Union minister has been in a sulk ever since Mr Kumar rebuffed speculations of his induction as deputy CM, making it clear that only RJD's Tejashwi Yadav will hold the post.

Mr Kushwaha, who returned to the JD(U) in 2021, merging his Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, has since been demanding that terms of the alleged deal struck with the RJD while forging alliance in August last year be made public.

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Gorakhnath Temple Attacker Sentenced To Death In UP

A special court here on Monday awarded the death penalty to a man who was booked for waging war against the government after he assaulted a Uttar Pradesh armed police force's jawan at the Gorakhnath temple.

Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi, special judge of the ATS court, also imposed a fine of Rs 44,000 on Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi.

According to an FIR lodged at the Gorakhnath police station on April 4, 2022 on the basis of a complaint from Vinay Kumar Mishra, Abbasi, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduate, tried to forcibly enter the Gorakhnath temple premises the day before and attacked the security personnel deployed there with a sickle, injuring two Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) constables.

He was overpowered by the security personnel, and subsequently arrested.

The investigation was conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).

He had also tried to snatch a rifle.

While being arrested, he was chanting religious slogans and was found in possession of a book in Urdu. He was said to have been connected with a terror outfit.

The court had earlier convicted him under section 121 (waging or abetting war against the government of India), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of his public functions), 307 (attempt to murder), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the Indian Penal Code.

He was also booked for offences under the Arms Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act.

The court heard his counsel on the quantum of sentence and awarded him capital sentence.

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22-Year-Old Medical Aspirant Dies By Suicide In Kota Hostel Room

A 22-year-old NEET aspirant allegedly hanged himself in his hostel room under the Kunhari police station area here, police said on Monday.

The dead was identified as Ranjeet Singh (22), a resident of Rajrooppur village in the Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh.

According to police, he arrived in Kota and enrolled himself at a coaching institute in August, last year.

According to a 4 to 5 pages of handwritten note recovered from Singh's room, he was disturbed, circle officer of the area DSP Shankar Lal said.

He had written on spiritualism, depression and gods and goddesses, he added.

While talking with Singh over a call on Sunday, his family had got a hint of their son's condition. They had even left for Kota to meet him. However, by the time they reached the hostel, Singh had ended his life, the official said.

He was also skipping classes since mid-December last year, the CO said.

The body was handed over to the father after postmortem later in the evening and further investigation into the matter is underway.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Mamata Banerjee Hands Over Land Documents To Amartya Sen Amid Visva-Bharati Land Row

Amid allegations of "unauthorised occupation" against Nobel laureate Amartya Sen by Visva-Bharati, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday handed over land-related documents to him, asserting that "no one can question him" in future.

The chief minister, who reached Bolpur in the second half of the day, visited Mr Sen at his residence and dubbed the accusations made against him as "baseless".

The chief minister also announced that the Nobel laureate would be accorded 'Z category' security in future.

"Allegations of land grabbing against him (Amartya Sen) are baseless. It is an attempt to tarnish his reputation. No one has the right to insult him. We won't tolerate it," the chief minister said as the economist sat beside her.

The CM said her government would decide on the next course of legal action once she was back in Kolkata.

Visva-Bharati, in a missive last week, asked Mr Sen to immediately hand over parts of a plot he was allegedly occupying in an "unauthorised manner" at Santiniketan.

The varsity also gave Sen two options -- "intervention of the court of law or discussion with Visva-Bharati authority".

The CM said, "I have been hearing baseless allegations against him for a long time... I waited as I went through the records and also asked officials to do the same. We have dug out the original land records. I will direct the district magistrate to do what is needed," she said.

She also ordered the setting up a police camp outside Sen's residence in Birbhum.

Lashing out at varsity authorities for "trying to saffronise" the institution, the TMC boss said she has immense "respect for Visva-Bharati" but was "pained to see the central university function like an island disconnected from the rest of Bengal".

She urged the BJP and its associates to "stop humiliating the Nobel laureate, who has not just made Bengal but the entire country proud".

Hitting out at Visva-Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty over his allegations against Mr Sen, the chief minister wondered whether he is worthy of holding the position.

"He (Chakraborty) is attempting to saffronise the university. He has no right to insult someone. Is he even worthy of being the V-C of Visva-Bharati?" she said.

Later in the evening, the state government released a press note, which said that officials, after checking records, have found that Mr Sen had not illegally occupied any land as alleged by Visva-Bharati.

"The state government has checked all old land records. It was found that Ashutosh Sen, father of Professor Sen, has been given a long-term lease of 1.3 acres and not 1.25 acres as alleged by Visva-Bharati," the release added.

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Resignations Of 81 MLAs Stand Withdrawn: Rajasthan High Court Told

The 81 MLAs who had submitted resignation letters to Rajasthan assembly speaker CP Joshi during the last September crisis have withdrawn them, the assembly secretary told the high court on Monday.

The Rajasthan high court was informed in a reply to a writ petition that the resignations given to the assembly speaker on September 25 were not voluntary and have been withdrawn.

On September 25 last year, 81 MLAs had submitted their resignations to the assembly speaker to scuttle a Congress Legislature Party meeting called to determine Mr Gehlot's successor as chief minister as Mr Gehlot was the frontrunner for the post of Congress president then.

"The MLAs have voluntarily withdrawn their resignations as per Rule 173 (4) of the procedure and conduct of business of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, in such a situation the resignations of the MLAs have become non est in the eye of law," the reply stated.

In the wake of the September crisis, deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore had filed a petition in the high court seeking direction to the Speaker of the legislative assembly to decide on the resignations, leading to their withdrawal after some time.

The reply stated that the resignations were presented by six MLAs -- Chief whip Mahesh Joshi, deputy whip Mahendra Choudhary, Independent MLA Sanyam Lodha, Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Ram Lal Jat, and Rafiq Khan.

"Only 81 MLAs submitted resignation letters out of which five were photocopies," it said.

It also said that according to the business conduct rules of the assembly, resignations cannot be accepted until they are found "genuine and voluntary".

The next hearing in the matter will take place on February 13.

Rathore, who presented the argument, said, "In the 90-page reply, a sensational thing has surfaced. The MLAs did not resign of their own will. It means it was done under pressure."

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Ex Google Employee Found Out He Was Fired While Feeding Newborn At 2 AM

A former Google employee has revealed that he found out about his layoff at 2 am while he was feeding his newborn daughter. Nicholas Dufau said he felt "acutely expendable" when he received the email days after the birth of his first child.

The Los Angeles-based lawyer was working as the Associate Product Counsel for Google for the last six months. Mr Dufau was on parental leave after his daughter was born in the early hours of January 17.

Mr Dufau took to LinkedIn to share the same. He said, "Last Tuesday morning at 2am, I became a father. The next day, my Google teammates showered me with heart emojis and virtual confetti, wishing me well on my paternity leave. On Friday morning at 2am while feeding my infant, I received a notification that I had lost access to my Google corporate accounts. I had been laid off via automated email." He also shared a picture of himself feeding his little one on his company's Slack channel.

He stated that his colleagues said that Google was a company "that treasured its employees" and encouraged him to take the full extent of his parental leave. "And so last week marked the end of my 6 month stint at Google where I worked on a team packed with intelligent, driven, and kind folks who welcomed me into their Google family. They reassured me that the company was one that treasured its employees and encouraged me to take the full extent of my parental leave to cherish this precious time with my family," he stated.

Mr Dufau said that he has been thankful to his team who valued him as a person.

"Every layoff hurts-the timing of this experience, however, not only made me feel acutely expendable, it made me feel naive. Fortunately, many of my former colleagues have reached out with warmest wishes and sympathies, all while they continue to navigate what I'm sure are tumultuous times at Google," the former Google employee added.

He added that his wife and newborn daughter are giving him comfort and are trying to lift his spirits. Concluding the post, he said, "They have shown me that whatever difficulties I may be facing, I still have so much more to be thankful for. #google,"

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Sunday, January 29, 2023

Woman Gets Child's Custody After Ex-Husband Fails To Appear In High Court

The High Court of Karnataka has allowed a 34-year-old woman to take her child to Australia and settle down there without her former husband's consent.

Justice M Nagaprasanna allowed the plea of the mother under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 after the biological father failed to attend the court proceedings. Rakshitha sought legal sanction to obtain permanent residence for her child in Australia.

The petitioner, who is residing in Australia, moved the High Court against her first husband CC Shashikumar, a farmer from Kunigal.

The couple was married in 2006 and after the birth of the daughter their relationship turned sour, leading to divorce. Both, had filed a compromise divorce petition with certain conditions.

One of the conditions of the petition was that the former husband would have visitation rights to the only child.

The woman filed an application before the Family Court in 2022 for relaxation of this clause as her former husband had not even once visited the child in the last 8 years.

As the father of the child did not respond to the court's summons, the court cancelled the visitation rights.

The mother and child were living in Australia on Tourist visa, which is set to expire. Hence, she sought to secure a permanent visa to settle down permanently in Australia.

As per the terms of Migration Rules of the Australian Government, the woman was required to produce a legal custody document of the child and written permission of the local court to take the minor child out of the jurisdiction of India.

Subsequently, the woman had filed a plea in the Family Court seeking permission to take the child to Australia, under Section 26 of the Act.

However, the court rejected the application saying a fresh petition has to be filed seeking custody of the child "as the Court becomes functus officio once the proceedings are closed." The woman then approached the high court, which delivered the judgement on January 19, 2023.

Allowing the plea, the bench said it was appropriate to grant the permission "to take the child beyond the shores of this nation as was prayed for in the application only to avoid multiplicity of litigation which eventually will result in an order of this kind as the husband has not been contesting the matter in any of the proceedings and the child in terms of the compromise is already in the custody of the mother/wife/petitioner."

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Arvind Kejriwal To Launch Mechanism To Collect Real-Time Delhi Pollution Data

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be launching the Supersite and Mobile (AQM) Van for the real-time source apportionment study today.

A press release informed that this supersite is situated in Delhi's Rouse Avenue, within the Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya premises.

The study on real-time source apportionment will assist in determining the causes of the rise in air pollution at any specific location in Delhi. The project has been initiated by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and TERI, the release stated.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said in a statement that the supersite will also assist in forecasting air pollution levels.

"As already stated by CM Arvind Kejriwal, the launch of the supersite is one of the most important aspects of Delhi's campaign to combat pollution. It is also one of the most crucial elements covered in the Winter Action Plan. Based on the data, this supersite will also assist in forecasting air pollution levels," he said.

The AAP leader further said that Delhi would become the first city to get real-time source segmentation of air pollution

"The Delhi government would be able to deploy resources and take proactive measures to control pollution as a result of these forecasts. Now Delhi would become the first city to get real-time source segmentation of air pollution. The initiative for real-time source apportionment will assist in determining the causes of the rise in air pollution at any specific location in Delhi," he added.

Gopal Rai said that it will also assist in locating and eliminating the numerous causes of Delhi's pollution.

"It will also aid in comprehending the immediate effects of numerous pollution sources, including industrial emissions, biomass burning, stubble burning, emissions from moving vehicles etc. The Delhi government would be able to control the sources of pollution based on the findings of this study. This will assist in locating and eliminating the numerous causes of Delhi's pollution. The government will also benefit from these pollution forecasts while making policy decisions" Gopal Rai further said.

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Not Going To Be "Cheated Again": BJP On Realignment With Nitish Kumar

BJP workers from across Bihar have been categorically told that there was no question of a realignment with "unpopular" Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the party's state unit chief Sanjay Jaiswal said on Sunday.

He made the averment upon the conclusion of the party's two-day state executive meeting in North Bihar district of Darbhanga.

"We have sought to stamp out rumours among our party cadre about such a realignment. Of course, the CM has the proclivity to oscillate like a pendulum. But we are not going to be cheated by him again", said the BJP leader whose party lost power in Bihar when Kumar and JD(U) walked out of an alliance with the saffron party to stitch together a new one with RJD and Congress.

"Nitish Kumar has grown hugely unpopular. It was his unpopularity that had caused his JD(U) to perform badly in assembly polls of 2020, when we did much better", said Mr Jaiswal.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed magnanimity (udaarta) in deciding to stick to the promise made before elections and Kumar ended up enjoying another term in office. But, the habitual betrayer that he is, Kumar abused the trust reposed in him by PM", alleged the Bihar BJP chief.

Mr Kumar had junked the BJP accusing it of trying to split the JD(U) with the help of his former close aide RCP Singh.

The party has also accused the BJP of an attempted sabotage in the assembly polls when many saffron party rebels were fielded by Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party against JD(U) candidates.

Mr Jaiswal reiterated that the BJP was now aiming at forming its own government in Bihar after winning the next assembly polls and claimed that the tone will be set in the Lok Sabha elections next year in which "we have set for ourselves a target of more than 35 out 40 seats in the state".

Mr Jaiswal also said, tongue in cheek, "today is the birth anniversary of George Fernandes who was a mentor to Nitish. When Nitish did not shy away from betraying him, he can ditch anyone else".

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Tripura Assembly Polls: Trinamool Congress Releases 1st List Of Candidates

The Trinamool Congress released its first list of 22 candidates on Sunday for the upcoming Tripura assembly polls. TMC state in-charge Rajib Banerjee said that the party is "fully prepared" for the elections.

"We have sent names of 129 people after consulting with state leaders. We have held meeting with the leaders before sending the names. We are fully prepared for the upcoming Tripura assembly polls and hopeful that our party will emerge victorious" Rajib Banerjee said. He added that the final list would be declared soon.

Sources said that TMC will play a crucial role in the Tripura polls this time by dividing votes of the major parties.

The Tripura BJP has finalised the seat-sharing deal with old ally IPFT for the assembly election, giving the junior partner in the coalition five constituencies, four less than what it got in the 2018 polls.

The BJP's first list of 48 candidates was released yesterday, fielding 11 women including Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik. Chief Minister Manik Saha said that the BJP will contest in 55 constituencies

The last date for filing nominations is January 30. The polling will be held on February 16 and counting will take place on March 2.

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Maharashtra Man Kills Mother After Being Denied Money For Alcohol: Cops

A 60-year-old woman was killed on Sunday allegedly by her son after she refused to give him money for alcohol, a Nagpur police station official said.

The incident took place in Vandevi Nagar and the 28-year-old accused has been arrested, he said.

The accused is an alcoholic who did odd jobs and would routinely pester his mother for money for his addiction, the official said.

"On Sunday morning, he killed his mother with a sickle and then surrendered after wandering in the area for some hours," the official said.

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Hundreds In Mumbai March Against 'Love Jihad', Demand Anti-Conversion Laws

Activists of right-wing organisations took out a massive rally in Mumbai on Sunday against 'love jihad' and demanded anti-conversion laws and a crackdown on land grabbing in the name of religion.

Leaders and workers of right-wing outfits such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) marched in the rally.

Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha, organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj, began from Shivaji Park in Dadar in central Mumbai and culminated at Kamgar Maidan in Parel, covering a distance of more than 4 km.

Activists shouted slogans against "love jihad", and demanded anti-conversion laws and a crackdown on land grabbing in the name of religion.

Several leaders and MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and those of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction also participated in the rally.

Police personnel were deployed along the route of the march to prevent any untoward incident.

"Love jihad" is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said last December that the government would study laws on "love jihad" framed by other states and take an appropriate decision.

He had also spoken about a "feeling" in the legislature regarding the Shraddha Walkar case that instances of "love jihad" are seen at a large scale in the state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Saturday, January 28, 2023

5.6 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Turkey-Iran Border: Report

An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck the Turkey-Iran border region on Saturday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported on Saturday.

The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), EMSC said.

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Uncontrolled Construction Caused Joshimath's Land Subsidence, Say Experts

Unplanned and uncontrolled construction in the name of development in Uttarakhand has brought Joshimath on the brink of sinking, experts said on Saturday and demanded that Himalayas be declared an eco-sensitive zone.

In a resolution passed at the roundtable organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), experts termed as "inadequate" the steps taken to deal with the prevailing situation in subsidence-hit Joshimath.

They also asked the government to consider taking long-term measures to address the problem, saying a similar situation may arise in Nainital, Mussoorie and other areas of Garhwal as well if the "so-called development driven by human greed" is not checked in the hill state.

"Declare Himalayas as an eco-sensitive zone. Regulate big projects causing devastation," the resolution said. While the width of the road under the Char Dham road widening project must be regulated to intermediate standard to minimize the damage to the terrain, Char Dham railways project should be reassessed and re-looked at, it added.

"Chardham railways is an over ambitious project that will cause much devastation and will further overburden the tourist centric state of Uttarakhand. This project should be reassessed and re-looked at," the resolution said.

A detailed carrying capacity assessment of Uttarakhand should be done to ensure that the number of tourists visiting these places is accounted for and also to ensure that tourist flow doesn't cause environmental overburdening, it added.

The roundtable, organised to deliberate on the topic 'Imminent Himalayan Crisis', was attended by former chairperson of a Supreme Court-appointed committee on the Centre's Char Dham project Ravi Chopra, its former member Hemant Dhyani and others, SJM co-convenor Awshwani Mahajan told PTI.

"Sri Adi Shankaracharya founded the city in the eighth century, where the holy Jyotirlinga is located, which is known as Joshimath (Jyotir Math). Today, this math is at the brink of collapse. The news of the sinking of Joshimath has shaken the whole country," Mr Mahajan said.

"Even though some steps have been taken in view of the current crisis, experts believe that the sinking of this first Jyotir Math established by Adi Shankaracharya cannot be stopped," he added.

Terming the steps taken by the government to deal with the prevailing situation as "inadequate", the resolution noted that while on one hand a large number of people are going to be displaced due to the sinking of Joshimath, on the other, the solution is being sought only by way of rehabilitation of affected residents. "Currently the work on mega projects in this area - the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) hydropower project, Helang bypass road construction which is part of Chardham road widening project and ropeways project, has been stopped by the district administration succumbing to the local protests," it noted.

It can be seen that areas such as Bhagirathi ESZ, where large scale mega projects have not been implemented and the local ecology has not been tampered with, land subsidence, landslide incidents and devastating disaster events are minimum to none, it underlined.

"This is proof enough that the indiscriminate, unplanned robust construction everywhere else in Uttarakhand has directly or indirectly impacted and aggravated the disaster like situation," it added.

It is worth mentioning that the way the mountain was cut at the foothills of Joshimath for the construction of Chardham Marg and how without a proper hydrogeological study, the NTPC dug a tunnel in the middle of the mountain, this fragile mountain was destroyed," the resolution noted.

"It is also noticed that due to robust and unplanned construction of high-rise hotels and buildings, there is inadequate arrangement for sanitation, which makes Joshimath more unstable and burdened," it said.

"Due to all this, today the entire area of Joshimath is sinking and there is no way we can save the same," it added.

In the name of development, the resolution noted, construction work and tampering with nature is going on continuously all over Uttarakhand. Due to the massive deforestation, there is hardly any greenery left on the mountains; and due to this, landslides have become a common feature in these youngest fold mountains, it claimed.

"Disastrous construction in the name of development without assessing the expected impact is becoming the cause of today's and earlier tragedies. This crisis can be avoided only by curbing this indiscriminate construction," the resolution said.

"In view of this type of rapid destruction in the past, it has become necessary to consider that the so-called development driven by human greed cannot be allowed to continue. It is necessary that long-term measures are taken to deal with this problem," it demanded.

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Watch: PM Modi Releases Special Rs 75 Coins At Delhi NCC Event

India's time has come, and the driving force of the country's development journey is its Yuva Shakti, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the NCC rally on Saturday.

The NCC rally was held on the occasion of the commemoration of 75 years at the Cariappa Ground in Delhi. Notably, 196 officers and cadets from 19 foreign countries also participated in the rally.

Addressing the event, PM Modi said, "NCC is celebrating 75 years of its formation. Those who have represented NCC over the last 75 years have been a part of it. I appreciate their contribution to nation-building. India is proud of the determination and spirit of service of the NCC cadets."

Addressing the NCC rally in Delhi. We are proud of the determination of the cadets. https://t.co/9QkgIrXELa
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 28, 2023

"Both as NCC cadets, and as a youth, you are representing an 'Amrit Pidhi' (Amrit generation), which will help in making the country developed and Atmanirbhar. We all witnessed the role, NCC is playing in our lives," he added.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi released a special day cover and a commemorative specially minted coins of Rs 75 denomination on the occasion of the commemoration of 75 successful years of NCC.

He appreciated the increase in the number of girls in the police and paramilitary forces over the years.

"The youth of the country are benefiting from India's defense sector reforms. In the last eight years, the number of our daughters in the police and paramilitary forces has doubled. Today, we see the deployment of women in all three wings of the armed force," he said.

Praising the enthusiasm of the youth, PM Modi said the youth would always be the priority of the country.

"The youth of a country whose youth are full of enthusiasm and youth will always be the priority of that country. Today's India is also trying to give that platform to all its young friends who can fulfill their dreams," he said.

PM Modi pointed out the opportunities in front of youth, because of the startup and digital revolution.

"The youth are the biggest beneficiaries of the Digital revolution, Startup revolution, or innovation revolution. The country opened the doors of the space sector for the youth. In no time, the first private satellite was launched. Similarly, the animation and gaming sector is a pool of opportunities for the youth," he further said.

He further said that India's time has come and the country's development is being driven by the youth.

"India's time has arrived. Today the whole world is looking towards India and the biggest reason for this is the youth of India. 'Yuva Shakti' is the driving force of India's development journey, said PM Modi," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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UN General Assembly President's 3-Day India Visit Begins Tomorrow

President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Csaba Korosi will arrive in India on a three-day visit on Sunday, during which he is expected to discuss with his Indian interlocutors ways to deal with various challenges facing the globe.

It will be Csaba Korosi's first bilateral visit to any country since he assumed the UNGA presidency in September 2022, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing his trip.

Csaba Korosi is scheduled to witness the "Beating the Retreat" ceremony at the historic Vijay Chowk in the heart of New Delhi.

The president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (PGA) will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on key multilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.

"The PGA's visit to India will be an opportunity to exchange views on global challenges that the United Nations is currently seized with," the MEA said in a statement.

"It would help reinforce India's abiding commitment to multilateralism, including through its ongoing G20 Presidency, and how it would address these global challenges meaningfully for a better future for the Global South," it added.

Csaba Korosi has already outlined five priorities for his UNGA presidency, which include standing firm on basic principles of the UN charter, making significant and measurable progress in sustainability transformation, enhancing the role of science in decision making and increasing solidarity to better endure new chapters of crises facing the world.

"Given the PGA's strong interest in India's expertise in water management and experience in SDGs (sustainable development goals), he would also be interacting with senior officials of NITI Aayog and India's G20 Presidency team to explore the scaling up of India's best practices," the MEA said.

On January 30, Csaba Korosi will deliver a public address at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on his presidency theme of "Solutions through Solidarity, Sustainability and Science in the UN".

The UNGA president will travel to Bengaluru on January 31, where his engagements include an interaction with scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a field visit to an IISc-led water conservation project.

Csaba Korosi is also expected to visit development projects in and around Bengaluru and interact with the UN-India country team, the MEA said.

The governor of Karnataka would be hosting a dinner in his honour, it added.

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Friday, January 27, 2023

Iran Executes More Than 50 People So Far This Year: Report

Iranian authorities have executed 55 people in 2023, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Friday, adding that the surging use of the death penalty aims to create fear as protests shake the country.

Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International said three young people sentenced to death over protests -- the youngest aged just 18 -- had been subjected to "gruesome torture" in detention.

IHR said it has confirmed at least 55 executions in the first 26 days of this year.

Four people have been executed on charges related to the protests, while the majority of those hanged -- 37 convicts -- were executed for drug-related offences, IHR said.

At least 107 people are still at risk of execution over the demonstrations after being sentenced to death or charged with capital crimes, the group added.

With Iran's use of the death penalty surging in recent years, IHR argued that "every execution by the Islamic Republic is political" as the main purpose "is to create societal fear and terror".

"To stop the state execution machine, no execution should be tolerated, whether they be political or non-political," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

He added that a lack of reaction from the international community risked lowering "the political cost of executing protesters".

- 'State-sanctioned killing' -

Activists have accused Iran of using the death penalty as an instrument of intimidation to quell the protests which erupted in September following the death of the Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country's dress code for women.

UN rights chief Volker Turk has said Iran's "weaponisation of criminal procedures" to punish demonstrators "amounts to state-sanctioned killing".

On Friday, Amnesty said three men sentenced to death in December had been subjected to torture "including floggings, electric shocks, being hung upside down and death threats at gunpoint".

They were convicted of inciting arson and vandalism during protests in September in Mazandaran province in Iran's north, Amnesty said in a statement.

Javad Rouhi, 31, suffered torture that included being "sexually assaulted by having ice put on his testicles", Amnesty said.

Mehdi Mohammadifard, 19, was kept for one week in solitary confinement in a mice-infested cell and was raped, leading to "anal injuries and rectal bleeding, which required hospitalisation", it said.

Arshia Takdastan, 18, "was subjected to beatings and death threats, including having a gun pointed at his head if he did not 'confess' in front of a video camera".

- Surging executions -

IHR and other rights groups have yet to publish figures on executions in Iran for 2022.

But IHR said in early December that more than 500 people had been hanged by then -- the highest figure in five years -- while according to its data, at least 333 people were executed in 2021, a 25 percent increase compared to 267 in 2020.

As well as arresting thousands of people, Iranian security forces have also used what campaigners describe as lethal force to crack down on the protests.

IHR said that according to its latest count, security forces have killed at least 488 people, including 64 aged under 18, in the nationwide protests.

Of the 64 children, 10 were girls, it added.

Mohsen Shekari, 23, was executed in Tehran on December 8 for wounding a member of the security forces, while Majidreza Rahnavard, also 23, was hanged in public in Mashhad on December 12 on charges of killing two members of the security forces with a knife.

On January 7, Iran executed Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini for killing a paramilitary force member in November.

In another high-profile execution, Iran said on January 14 that it had executed British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari after he was sentenced to death on charges of spying for Britain. He had been arrested more than two years earlier.

Analysts say demonstrations have subsided since November, but the protest movement still remains a challenge to the Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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Zelensky's Party Sacks Lawmaker For Wartime Trip To Thailand

Ukraine's ruling party has kicked out a lawmaker from its parliamentary faction after reports he had travelled to Thailand during Ukraine's grinding war with Russia sparked a public outcry.

Party spokesperson Yulia Paliychuk said on Friday that Mykola Tyshchenko was expelled from Servant of the People's voting bloc after an announcement appeared briefly on the website of the Ukrainian embassy in Thailand saying Mr Tyshchenko would meet members of the Ukrainian population at a hotel there.

Mr Tyshchenko said on Facebook he had been on a business trip in Asia with approval of party leaders, "acting exclusively in the interests of Ukraine". Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said he had approved no such trip.

The winter visit to sun-soaked Southeast Asia comes amid a crackdown by President Volodymyr Zelensky aimed at projecting an image of greater accountability for officials.

More than a dozen senior officials were fired or resigned this week, including a deputy prosecutor who had come under fire in the press for a holiday in Spain, in the biggest shakeup of the Kyiv leadership since the war began.

President Zelensky has announced a ban this week on private trips abroad by officials. Most Ukrainian men aged 18-60 have already been barred from leaving the country under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in Februrary last year.

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18 Exotic Animals Seized From 3 Passengers At Bengaluru Airport

Revenue intelligence officers have intercepted 3 passengers arriving from Bangkok at the Bengaluru airport and recovered 18 non-indigenous animals.

"Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officers intercepted three passengers, including a lady passenger, arriving from Bangkok at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru on 22-01-2023," the finance ministry said in a statement.

Upon examination of their checked-in baggage resulted in the recovery of non-indigenous 18 animals (4 primates and 14 reptiles) with the assistance of Karnataka Forest Department officials, it added.

The quick follow-up action with the assistance of Karnataka Forest Department officials resulted in the recovery of another 139 animals belonging to 48 different species.

The recovered animals include extremely rare and threatened species like the yellow and green anaconda, yellow headed amazon parrot, nile monitor, red foot tortoise, iguanas, ball pythons, alligator gar, yaki monkey, veiled chameleon, racoon dog, white headed piones etc. were handed over to Bannerghatta Biological Park.

Four persons involved in the smuggling into India have also been placed under arrest, so far, it added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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PM Modi To Campaign For Meghalaya BJP Ahead Of Election

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign for BJP in Meghalaya in the second week of February for the coming assembly election in the northeastern state, party state unit president Ernest Mawrie said on Friday.

Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani and Nitin Gadkari will be among the 20 star campaigners for the saffron party in the state for the February 27 poll, he said.

Chief ministers of other BJP-ruled states will also be campaigning in the state, Mr Mawrie said.

"The date for the PM's visit has not been fixed. But just after February 10, maybe February 11-12, the prime minister will address several election rallies in all Khasi, Jaintia and Garo hill regions of the state," Mr Mawrie said.

The BJP is looking at increasing its presence in the 60-member of House from just two at present so as to lead the next government.

The state party president said BJP will announce its candidate's list in February after the Election Commission notifies the poll.

"We have prepared the list today and we are going to send it to Delhi. We are likely to declare the names of candidates within February 2," he said, after chairing a meeting of BJP's state election committee.

According to Mr Mawrie, the party will field about 10 women candidates.

Expressing confidence that the party will win more seats in the coming poll than last time, he said, "Last time we had projected wins in 25 seats. This time we have projected 35 seats and we expect to win more seats so that we can lead the government." Asked, Mr Mawrie said "We are not planning for a coalition with any party. Let us wait till after the results to find out like-minded parties who are willing to follow our agenda of corruption-free government," he added.

BJP is a partner of the current ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance in the state led by the National People's Party of Chief Minister Conrad P Sangma.

Mr Mawrie said the party will focus on development in its manifesto. "We don't have good infrastructure in terms of roads (in Meghalaya). People always complain about traffic congestion. We don't have medical or engineering colleges. All these issues will be solved if we have a double engine government - a government by the same party here in Meghalaya and at the Centre," he said.

Indicating the progress in Assam, the state BJP president said "Look at the neighbouring state. Development has taken place there at a faster pace in terms of roads, colleges and medical colleges. The people of Meghalaya have the same aspirations for development. We will take it up if we get a chance to form the next government (in Meghalaya)." On fielding candidates with criminal backgrounds, he said the party is yet to receive any information on them.

"Maybe some candidates have some cases against them but it has not come to our notice. We will follow the Election Commission's guidelines if and when we receive such information," he added.

Asked about the party's stand on the Inner Line Permit issue, Mawrie said the state government has passed an official resolution in the Assembly on it and it is now with the Centre. "We will wait for the Centre''s decision." The Meghalaya Assembly passed a resolution in December 2019 urging Centre to implement ILP in the state under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, to safeguard the interests of the citizens of the state.

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"Website Hacked, Democracy Stifled": Kamal Haasan's Party

The website of Makkal Needhi Maiam, a party floated by actor-politician Kamal Haasan has been hacked, the party said on Friday.

Hours after the website was hacked, MNM's Twitter handle announced that the "official website of the party has been hacked by some miscreants" and that the party would not be cowed down by such threat and would give a befitting reply.

The official website of Makkal Needhi Maiam has been hacked by miscreants who thrive on stifling the voice of Democracy !

Unruffled, we will react appropriately and continue to stand tall !
— Makkal Needhi Maiam | மக்கள் நீதி மய்யம் (@maiamofficial) January 27, 2023

Many eyebrows were raised and the party workers were surprised over a statement posted on the website proclaiming to merge MNM with the Congress on January 30.

The statement has since been withdrawn and a party spokesperson said, "no such decision was made (on the merger) and that it was the handiwork of the hackers."

MNM had announced to support the Congress candidate in the Erode East by-election scheduled for February 27. It may be recalled that Haasan had joined the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo yatra last month.

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"Hope For All Women": Shoaib Malik After Sania Mirza's Aus Open Heroics

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza capped off her glorious Grand Slam career with a runners-up finish, alongside Rohan Bopanna in the Australian Open mixed doubles final on Friday. The he unseeded Indian duo went down 6-7(2) 2-6 to the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Mataos in the final at the Rod Laver Arena. After Sania's final Grand Slam match, veteran Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik, who is her husband, took to Twitter and shared a heartwarming post for the 36-year-old.

Malik congratulated his wife, Sania, on what has been an amazing career, adding that "you're an inspiration for many".

- You are the much needed hope for all the women in sports. Super proud of you for all you have achieved in your career. You're an inspiration for many, keep going strong. Many congratulations on an unbelievable career... pic.twitter.com/N6ziDeUGmV
— Shoaib Malik (@realshoaibmalik) January 27, 2023

Sania, who earlier announced that the WTA event in Dubai next month will be her swansong, is India's most accomplished woman tennis player, having won six Grand Slam title, including three mixed doubles trophies.

She had won the the mixed doubles titles at the 2009 Australian Open and the 2012 French Open with Mahesh Bhupathi and the 2014 US Open with Brazillian Bruno Soares.

The Rod Laver Arena has been a happy hunting ground for the Hyderabadi. She has a women's doubles and mixed doubles title each and has finished runner up four times at the Australian Open.

"It started in 2005 when I played Serena Williams in the third round as an 18-year-old and that was scarily enough 18 years ago. I have had the privilege to come back here again and again, win some tournaments here and play some great finals amongst you all.

"Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life and I coudn't think of a better arena to finish my career at in a Grand Slam," Sania said.

(With PTI Inputs)

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Thursday, January 26, 2023

Amazon Staff In UK Claims Their Toilet Breaks Were Timed

Staff at Amazon's Coventry warehouse in the UK has claimed that they have to go without toilet breaks. The workers further claimed that they work in "severe" conditions and are constantly monitored, a BBC report said. The workers of the Coventry warehouse recently signed up to join the GMB union and held their first-ever strike on Wednesday over wages and severe working conditions.

The staff are upbraided for "ideal time" lasting just a few minutes. Amazon has a system that recognises great performance," BBC reported.

Two Amazon workers told BBC that the robots in the warehouse "are treated better than us".

Darren Westwood and Garfield Hilton said that the managers asked questions if they took a toilet break.

"The thing with stopping work is that they want to know why," said Mr Hilton. "So if the time is beyond a couple of minutes they can see it on the system."

Mr Hilton shared that he has diabetes and it is not always possible to find toilets close by in the building and the process of locating one and returning can sometimes take upwards of 15 minutes. "They will then question you, 'what were you doing?'"

That's not all, the managers also track staff performance and time.

However, a spokesman for Amazon said: "Performance is only measured when an employee is at their station and logged in to do their job.

"If an employee logs out, which they can do at any time, the performance management tool is paused."

Amazon said 178 of its 2,000 workers at the warehouse had voted to strike, reported Reuters.

The walk-out is just the latest in Britain, which is facing its worst industrial unrest since Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, with staff from key sectors, including nurses and ambulance workers as well as from the railways and the legal profession staging strikes in fights for better pay.

Amazon, which employs 75,000 people across the UK, increased starting pay by 50 pence to a minimum of between 10.50 and 11.45 pounds ($12.95 to $14.12) per hour last year, compared with a minimum wage in Britain that is set to rise to 10.42 in April.

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US Launches Probe Against Southwest Airlines Over Holiday Season Chaos

The United States Department of Transportation is investigating Southwest airlines after it scrubbed more than 16,000 flights during a busy week of holiday travel last month. The mass flight cancellation left travellers stranded last month.

A spokesperson told BBC that the department is in the initial phase of a 'comprehensive investigation into Southwest Airlines' holiday debacle that stranded millions."

According to media reports, the airline is said to be cooperating with the investigation.

CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC, "I can't say it enough. We messed up".

He added, "We took goodwill out of the bank. We know that. We have work to do to repair trust, but our customers are very loyal and we're seeing that loyalty."

The transport department is investigating if the airlines intentionally scheduled more flights in late December than the carrier could handle. It said doing so would be considered a deceptive practice under federal law, BBC report said.

The department has also communicated to the airlines that it should provide timely reimbursements and refunds to the affected passengers.

Several airlines had to cancel flights due to a huge winter storm that hit the US and Canada.

Southwest Airlines in a statement said that the travel chaos had cost it $800m.

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Video: Supermodel Kristen McMenamy Ditches Heels After She Falls On Runway

A video has surfaced on the internet which shows supermodel Kristen McMenamy tripping and falling in stilettos at Valentino's spring 2023 haute couture show in Paris.

The video shows a supermodel struggling to walk in sky-high stilettos on the runway, she soon falls down and ditches the heels. The supermodel visibly annoyed take off her heels.

However, Ms McMenamy is unable to walk back after the tumble, maybe because of a possible foot injury. The supermodel was able to finish her walk.

The caption of the video reads, "it's like every season Valentino have an issue with their heels?"

Watch the video here:

it's like every season valentino have an issue with their heels? pic.twitter.com/xtdw84YT3x
— michealla✨ (@PRADAXBBY) January 25, 2023

The video has collected nearly 6 million views on Twitter. A user commented, "by the look on her face I can tell she probably already told them the shoes didn't fit and they made her wear them anyway only for this to be the moment. y'all have no idea how the fashion shows can be hell backstage."

Another user wrote, "I don't understand how literal VALENTINO still makes models walk in shoes that are too small???"

The third user commented, "I fear they just aren't giving the correct sizes or their shoes are just that bad to walk in because if you have a Nineties legend tripping like that? Hmm."

Ms McMenamy's walk after the fall also left concerned some social media users.

A user wrote, "The shoes messed her up so bad she forgot how to walk on her own feet."

Another user wrote, "Look at how her feet were still wobbly after she took them off. I don't have Valentino shoes but from my experience wearing other brands like Balenciaga, YSL, etc, I find that luxury shoes are mostly not comfortable."

Poking fun at the incident Ms McMenamy also posted a picture of her and captioned it, "Before the fall."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kristen McMenamy (@kristen_mcmenamy)

For the show, the supermodel wore a net-embellished white off-shoulder cocktail dress. She teamed it with bright pink gloves.

Valentino's unwalkable shoes also made headlines last year. The models tripped or fell while showcasing Spring/Summer 2023 collection.

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Man Dies By Suicide; Note Accuses Lenders, Ex Colleagues Of Harassment

A 35-year-old man allegedly died by suicide by jumping in front of a suburban train in Maharashtra's Thane district, a police official said on Thursday.

The incident took place on Wednesday night between Ambernath and Badlapur stations on Central Railway's main line, the official added.

"The man was identified as Girish Nandlal Chube. A note found from the spot has named some people due to which he had to take this extreme step," Kalyan Railway police station senior inspector Mukesh Dhage said.

Police sources said the man also made a clip in which he has narrated that he lost his job after two colleagues complained to the firm's owner.

He said he had to take Rs 1 lakh from some people as he was out of a job and these lenders were harassing him, these sources said.

These persons and two colleagues have been named in the video clip, which has gone viral on social media.

No one has been arrested in this case, he added.

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