Youth held in Hyderabad for ‘links’ with IS sympathisers
Hyderabad, June 23 (IANS): Hyderabad police on Friday arrested a youth for allegedly having links with Islamic State sympathisers. Personnel of Special Investigation Team (SIT) found in his possession one mobile phone, which contained incriminating conversation with IS sympathisers. Police filed a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy against the 22-year-old accused, who has been remanded to judicial custody. According to the police, he has been in regular conversation with one Abu Qahafa Al-Hindi, IS sympathiser and resident of Mumbai. Police claimed that Omer wanted to carry out subversive activities in the country with the instigation of Abu Qahafa Al-Hindi.
Sixth farmer commits suicide in MP CM’s home district
Sehore (Madhya Pradesh), June 23 (IANS): Amid the Madhya Pradesh government’s claims of providing all possible relief to peasants, one more farmer was on Thursday reported to have committed suicide in Sehore, the home district of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. With the latest incident, the number of peasants ending their lives under debt stress and pressure from moneylenders in the Chief Minister’s home district has reached six in the last 12 days. According to reports, deceased Kisan Babu Lal (40) of Palkheri village, in Ichhawar tehsil, consumed poison due to the stress from mounting debt.
Punjab boy tops NEET entrance exam
Chandigarh, June 23 (IANS): A student from Punjab’s Muktsar town has topped in the NEET entrance examination for admission to medical colleges. Navdeep Singh, son of the principal of a government school in a village near Muktsar, secured first rank in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). Reports said that five students from Punjab and Haryana are ranked in the top 25 positions in the NEET results.
SC sets up doctors panel on plea to abort six month pregnancy
New Delhi, June 23 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Friday set up a panel of seven doctors to examine and ascertain the medical condition of a Kolkata-based expectant mother seeking the termination of her 24-week-old pregnancy. The parents have moved the top court seeking to abort the pregnancy on the grounds that foetus suffers from such abnormalities which may endanger the health of the mother. The parents have also challenged the constitutional validity of Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 that prohibits termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks, contending that restriction could have been reasonable in 1971 when the law was enacted but today with technological advancement, it was perfectly safe to undergo MTP even up to 26 weeks.
Indian passports to be bilingual: Govt
New Delhi, June 23 (IANS): All Indian passports will henceforth be in both English and Hindi and 10 per cent discount will be offered in passport fees to applicants below the age of eight and above 60, the government announced on Friday. Ration cards can be submitted while applying for Tatkal passports. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was addressing an event to commemorate 50 years of the Passport Act. She said countries like Russia and Germany had passports in their languages.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) today told the Delhi High Court that if any student who wrote the class XII exams feels that his or her answer sheets were not correctly evaluated, he or she can now approach the board under its verification scheme. On the submission made by the CBSE, the bench disposed of the petitions. The ASG further said that though the CBSE has done away with re-evaluation, however, under the verification policy the students marking issues will be looked into.
Child victims of cyber crime can now lodge complaints at the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ (NCPCR) ‘POCSO e-box’ online platform. The initiative, which was launched last year, aims at encouraging children to register complaints of sexual abuse, cyber bullying and stalking, morphing of images and child pornography. The child victims or their friends, parents, relatives or guardians can report cyber crime by pressing the e-box button available at the Commission’s website www.ncpcr.gov.in. If a child is not comfortable sharing the same, he/she can directly contact the NCPCR through the phone number 9868235077 or through the email id: pocsoebox-ncpcr@gov.in.
Dialysis will be free of charge for all people at government hospitals and medical colleges in Punjab, cabinet minister Brahm Mohindra said here today. Asserting that the state government is committed to providing free health services to the needy and poor people of Punjab, he said, “This decision has come to force with immediate effect.” All district hospitals, medical colleges and some sub- divisional hospitals in Abohar, Batala and Dahuya would provide the free dialysis facility, Mohindra said. The state government will also provide more dialysis units as per requirement, he said.
As many as 649 government schools in remote areas of Chhattisgarh have been electrified through solar energy. Of the 649 schools, CREDA has set up solar power plants in 490 while ensured supply connectivity in 159 schools where solar power plants were already established, an energy department official said. The total cost to supply power in 1,561 schools through solar energy has been estimated at around Rs 45.98 crore of which so far Rs 8.18 crore have been spent by CREDA, he said.
The Indian Coast Guard rescued 15 fishermen today after their boat was stranded in high seas off Andhra Pradesh coast. MFB Mohan Raj, a fishing boat registered in Tamil Nadu, had ventured into the sea from Nagapatnam on June 16 with 15 crew onboard, a Coast Guard release said here. After the boat got stranded in a rough sea due to a mechanical failure, Kakinada-based Coast Guard ship ICGS Rajdhwaj, under the command of commandant (JG) Vivek Sharma, sailed last night for its help. The CG ship reached the stranded boat at around 4 am.
