3 tourists drown in Bay of Bengal
Kolkata, June 25 (IANS): Three tourists, including a seven-year-old girl, were drowned while bathing in the sea in South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, police said on Sunday. The incident took place at Henry’s Island sea beach, about 130 km from Kolkata. According to police, a total of six members of two families from Kolkata had gone on a pleasure trip to the Henry’s Island. The three got pulled into the sea by the tidal waves. The bodies have been recovered.
Toddler found dead in borewell after three-day rescue operation
Hyderabad, June 25 (IANS): After three days of operation to rescue an 18-month-old girl from a borewell in Telangana’s Rangareddy district, she was found dead at a depth of 180 feet. Rescue workers pulled out the body early on Sunday, dashing all hopes of her parents, relatives and hundreds of people who had been waiting at the site, many fervently praying for her safety. Chinnari fell into the 450-feet deep borewell in a field on Thursday evening while playing with her elder sister and other children in Chenvel village in Rangareddy district, about 55 km from Hyderabad.
Police seizes 48 kg charas in Bihar
Bettiah, June 25 (PTI): The police today seized 48 kg charas worth Rs 4.80 crore from a village near the Indo-Nepal border in Bihar’s West Champaran district. Bhangha police station in-charge Mukesh Singh said police seized three sacks of charas, weighing 48 kg, lying abandoned in a field in Parsauni village. The contraband consignment has been valued at Rs 4.80 crore in international market, he said.
Naxal killed, 4 security personnel hurt in separate incidents
Raipur, June 25 (PTI): A Naxalite was today killed and four security personnel, including three CoBRA commandos, were injured in separate incidents in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, police said. All the incidents took place under the Basaguda police station limits. A joint team of security forces was carrying out an anti-Maoist operation in the forest of Basaguda, around 450 kms away from here, since yesterday.
Vijayan flags fake news, photographs on social media
Thiruvananthapuram, June 25 (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today criticised the “increasing trend” of circulation of fake news and photographs on social media and said the state government was committed to regulate it. In a Facebook post, he said persons in the cyber world should become “responsible netizens”. The government is committed to take serious steps to regulate fake news spreading via social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Twitter, he said. The trend of using social media platforms for character assassination, trigger communal tension and post anti-women comments is on a rise, Vijayan said, adding even ‘responsible persons’ of the society indulge in such actions.
A local BJD leader was seriously injured when unidentified assailants fired at him in his village Badapur in Odisha’s Ganjam district today, police said. Subash Sahu (48), a former samiti member of Kulagada panchayat, was returning home after taking bath in a pond, when motor-cycle borne gunmen shot at him before attacking him with sharp weapons. Police suspected previous enmity might be the cause of the incident.
A worker was killed and four others were injured in a mishap at a private stainless steel plant at Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex area in Jajpur district today. The mishap occurred as a gas tank in the plant burst when at least five workers were on duty at the site, police said. While one of the workers died, four others sustained injuries. All the injured were admitted to the local hospital for treatment. Following the mishap, tension mounted at the mill.
The steering committee of farmer leaders today rejected the Maharashtra government’s mega loan waiver scheme, saying there should be no upper limit for the waiver. The BJP-led government had yesterday unveiled a Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver scheme, under which debts of up to Rs 1.5 lakh would be written off, giving relief to some 89 lakh farmers. However, the committee of farmer leaders, which met at the office of Communist Party of India (M) here, demanded that the entire outstanding loan be waived.
Aadhaar is not a valid identification document for Indians travelling to Nepal and Bhutan, the Union home ministry has said. Indians can travel to Nepal and Bhutan--both countries for which they don’t need visas--if they possess a valid national passport or election ID card issued by the Election Commission. Moreover, to ease travel, persons over 65 and below 15 years can show documents with photographs to confirm their age and identity. These include PAN card, driving licence, Central Government Health Service (CGHS) card and ration card but not Aadhaar.
