Departmental inquiry against Durga Sakhti Nagpal closed
Lucknow: The departmental inquiry against woman IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal has been closed, two days after the Uttar Pradesh government revoked her suspension and reinstated her. “As the state government has revoked the suspension of IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal, there was no point in continuing with the departmental inquiry,” a senior official told PTI. The inquiry was being conducted by Principal Secretary (Home) R M Srivastava into actions of Nagpal as the sub-divisional magistrate (Sadar) in Gautam Buddh Nagar. The government revoked the suspension of Nagpal on September 22, the day after she met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav along with her husband Abhishek Singh and gave clarification over the issue which had led to her suspension. Nagpal was suspended on July 27 ostensibly for taking on the powerful sand mining mafia when she was the SDM of Gautambudh Nagar. The Chief Minister had said she was suspended for arbitrarily ordering the demolition of a wall of an under-construction mosque in Kadalpur village. “Her action threatened to destroy communal peace,” Akhilesh had said. The Chief Minister had on August 29 ordered a fresh probe and appointed Principal Secretary (Home) R M Srivastava as the inquiry officer in the case and called for a report within 15 days. (PTI)
Ganga activist on indefinite fast taken to city hospital
Dehradun: Save Ganga activist G D Aggarwal, who has been on indefinite fast since June to protest hydel projects on the river’s tributaries in Uttarakhand, was brought to a city hospital after his condition worsened. The 81-year-old activist was brought to Doon hospital here at 2 AM Monday night after a team of doctors examined his condition in the presence of senior administrative officials at Haridwar’s Matrisadan Ashram, official sources said on Tuesday. Aggarwal, also called Swami Gyanswaroop Sanand, had stopped consuming water, honey and lime water on September 21 when his fast entered the 101st day. He was brought to the Doon Hospital as his pulse rate and ketone levels in urine were high, a doctor said. The hydel projects being opposed by the activist include 330 MW Srinagar Hydropower project on the Alaknanda, 99 MW Singhol-Bhatwari hyropower project, 70 MW Phata Byom hydrdel project on the Mandakini and the 440 MW Tapovan Vishnughat- Peepalkoti on the Alaknanda. However, Aggarwal expressed determination to go ahead with his ‘Nirjala Vrat’ saying threat to these rivers by the dams being built on them is more important than his own life. “Come what may, I will continue my fast till my demands are conceded,” he said. Aggarwal, who began his indefinite fast on June 13, was surviving on liquid food but on September 21 as his protest entered its 101st day, he decided to stop taking even water. (PTI)
Encephalitis claims four more lives, toll 289
Gorakhpur (UP): The encephalitis menace continues unabated in eastern Uttar Pradesh as four more children succumbed to the disease at BRD Medical College Hospital here, bringing the toll in the disease to 289. “Four children have succumbed to encephalitis in last 48 hours,” the sources in the office of additional director (health) said here on Tuesday. One child each from Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Siddharthanagar and Sant Kabirnagar died, the sources said. 28 persons suffering from the disease were admitted to BRD-MCH yesterday, they said, adding that 160 patients are being treated at BRD-MCH and different government hospitals of the region. This year, 1,436 encephalitis patients have been admitted to hospitals, of which 289 died, they said. This toll also includes 33 patients from Bihar and one from Nepal, who succumbed at BRD-MCH here, the sources said. (PTI)
Bihar’s Mahabodhi temple gets income tax notice
Patna: For the first time, the Income Tax department has issued notice to Bodh Gaya’s Mahabodhi temple, Buddhism’s holiest shrine, over its collections, officials Tuesday said. “The IT department has issued notice to the management committee of the Mahabodhi temple and demanded that they submit details of temple’s income and expenses,” said an official of the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee(BMTC), governing panel of the temple. According to BMTC officials, the IT department has issued notice to the temple for the first time after Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949 was framed 64 years ago. BMTC member secretary N. Dorjee said the committee will discuss the IT notice at its meeting Tuesday. “We will discuss it to submit our reply to the IT notice,” he said. The temple’s income, mainly through donations of devotees across the world, was over Rs.6.29 crore in 2012-13. The committee started an online donation facility to the temple in 2010. The 1,500-year old Mahabodhi temple is a World Heritage Site where the Buddha, who was born at Lumbini in neighbouring Nepal, attained enlightenment around 2,500 years ago. In July this year, the Bihar government amended the Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949, allowing for a non-Hindu to head the temple committee. The BJP vehemently opposed the move. (IANS)
Muzaffarnagar riot toll 49; police outposts set up in 14 areas
Muzaffarnagar: Gearing up security arrangements in the wake of riots here, district authorities have set up 14 police outposts in the worst affected areas, even as they said the toll in the violence has climbed to 49.
Additional District Magistrate Inder Mani Tripathi said 49 persons lost their lives, 12 persons were reported missing and more than eight religious places were damaged in the communal violence in the district.
The district authorities have decided to set up at least 33 more police outposts in areas of the district affected by the communal violence. (PTI)