UP simmers at 48 degrees, no respite in sight
Lucknow, June 5 (IANS): There is no respite in sight from the gruelling heatwave in Uttar Pradesh as the day temperatures are likely to scale to new highs, the weatherman said on Monday. With temperatures touching 45 degrees Celsius in the state capital here on Sunday, the heat wave in the state was setting new records. Banda remained the hottest at 48 degrees Celsius while Mahoba was the second hottest on Sunday with the mercury touching 47 degrees Celsius. Lucknow simmered at 45.3 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature was four notches above normal.
AAP to launch programme for farmers from June 10
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS): The AAP on Sunday said that they will launch a programme to fight for farmers all over the country from June 10. “Just like the government has written off loans of corporates, they should write off loans of farmers,” Senior party leader Sanjay Singh said. On the allegations of corruption made by sacked minister Kapil Mishra, Singh quipped that they had compared it to Kapil Sharma’s comedy show. About allegations made by Mishra, party leader Kumar Vishwas said that people make allegations about anyone who is in politics but said that he’s away from all the allegations.
Goa lawyer demands ban on Zakir Naik, IRF Facebook pages
Panaji, June 5 (IANS): A lawyer filed a complaint with Goa Police on Monday, demanding a ban on the Facebook pages of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik and his organisation Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). The Goa-based lawyer said the pages are active despite a ban on the foundation. The lawyer asked for his complaint be registered under the Information and Technology Act, 2008, and Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The complainant also says that the respective Facebook pages were posting objectionable content and encouraging followers to “promote disharmony between different religious communities and groups”.
22 charred to death in UP bus accident
Lucknow, June 5 (IANS): At least 22 persons on Monday were charred to death in Uttar Pradesh after their bus caught fire following a massive collision with a truck on a national highway in Bareilly, police said. The accident occurred at around 2.30 a.m. near the inverted University turn when the bus from New Delhi heading towards Gonda collided head on with a speeding truck coming from the direction of Lucknow. An explosion followed and fire broke out in the bus. A district official told IANS that the truck driver has escaped. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.
Three drown in Ganga in UP
Lucknow, June 5 (IANS): Three persons drowned in the Ganga in Chandauli on Monday morning while bathing in the river, police said. The deceased have been identified as Kundan Sharma, 20, Rajiv Singh, 38 and Rakesh Singh, 35. The incident took place at the Ganga Ghat in Budhepur village. The victims belonged to Hingutargarh village. Police divers were pressed into service after the villagers and passerbys raised an alarm.
Farmers in Madhya Pradesh were back on the streets to protest on Monday, despite the assurance by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that the government would purchase onions at Rs 8/kg and moong dal at an agreed price. Farmers stopped trucks and vehicles carrying milk and vegetables from village at several places. In the state capital, full cream milk of Sanchi Dairy was unavailable. Indore is also facing a milk crisis. The farmers in Harda shaved their heads as a sign of protest. Though the farmers union postponed the strike, the other organisations continued with the stir. Framers in Ratlam pelted stones and damaged property on Sunday, due to which police lathi charged them.
A 46-year-old journalist working with a reputed national daily died after being hit by a speeding bike driven by a youth in south Delhi, the police said on Monday. The police said the youth identified as Dalip, 18, was arrested from his residence in Tuglakabad area. The accident occurred on Sunday around 5.30 p.m in a market located in Govindpuri locality. Journalist Raj Kumar was a business correspondent with Hindustan Times and stayed with his family in Greenfield Colony at Faridabad. Dalip is a school dropout and was not involved in any previous criminal case, the police officer said.
Bharat Biotech on Monday said the Phase I human clinical trials of the indigenously developed Chikungunya (CHIKV) vaccine is underway in India to evaluate its safety, tolerability and immunogenicity. The placebo-controlled study involving 60 healthy volunteers would test escalating doses of the vaccine in prime-boost regimen, the Hyderabad-based company said in a statement. CHIKV vaccine has been developed using an isolate of the virus from the Indian epidemic. The inactivated virus vaccine was found to be safe and immunogenic in pre-clinical animal testing. It is a viral disease (genus Alphavirus) which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
Maoists have issued a threat to government employees in Basaguda region of Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, asking them to hand over one month of their salary or face dire consequences. The government employees in Basaguda region are living in fear after this threat. Bijapur Superintendent of Police K.L. Dhruv said they have received information in this regard but no one has come forward to lodge a formal written complaint. “Nobody has given a written complaint yet. Action will be taken against the Naxals on the basis of the FIR only after a written complaint,” he added.
