Goans hand over Nigerian with cannabis to police
Panaji: A Nigerian national was handed over to police here by residents on Friday after the scooter he was riding met with an accident and packets of ‘ganja’ (cannabis) tumbled out of the two-wheeler’s glove-box, a ruling legislator said. The Nigerian, who has not been identified by police yet, was arrested by the officials from Mapusa police station, 15 km from here, and was taken to a medical facility because of the injuries he suffered in the accident. “The Nigerian fell from his scooter after meeting with an accident. He was injured, but immediately tried to hide the drug packets which had fallen from his bike in the bushes by the road,” Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Calangute Michael Lobo said, adding that residents informed police. “Police, who arrived here after being informed, have taken him away in a van…,” Lobo said. Lobo accused police of being hand-in-glove with the drug mafia, claiming that police were scared to act against Nigerians, several of whom, he said, continued to be living in Goa illegally, despite a crackdown last year. The murder of a Nigerian last year allegedly by a rival drug-running gang, and the arson which followed next, had also triggered a diplomatic row between India and Nigeria. Police have not offered any comment on the incident yet. (IANS)
Harassed by molesters, woman attempts suicide in Bengal
Kolkata: Continuously threatened and harassed for lodging a police complaint against her molesters, a 20-year-old woman is battling for life after attempting suicide in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, police said on Friday. The woman, a resident of Habra in the district, some 50 km from Kolkata, was hospitalised in a critical condition Thursday after she consumed poison, unable to bear the constant threats. “We arrested two people after the family lodged a complaint that the duo had been harassing and threatening the girl,” an officer of Habra police station said. The incident occurred in the area within this police station’s jurisdiction. The two men have been presented before a court. Following the complaint by the woman, a man was also arrested earlier. After he was released on bail, his associates began threatening the girl with dire consequences. “They have been threatening my daughter, so much so that she had stopped even coming out of the house, in fear,” her mother said. The incident comes days after a minor victim of gangrape succumbed to severe burn injuries after she reportedly tried to immolate herself. The girl, in her dying declaration, however, said other people had set her on fire. (IANS)
Goa buildings cleared by tainted engineers to be re-examined
Panaji: All buildings and constructions certified by engineers and technicians who endorsed the ill-fated five-storey building in Goa’s Canacona sub-district will be re-examined, an official said on Friday. The decision was taken by Chief Town Planner Puttu Raju Friday, nearly a week after Ruby Residency, a five-storeyed building under construction collapsed. Twenty-five labourers who were working at the site were killed and rescue workers are still digging out bodies from the debris. “All buildings passed by the engineers, which are in the construction stage or even already developed, will be checked,” Puttu Raju told reporters in Panaji. Puttu Raju also said that the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department has formed a special committee to probe how they granted permission to Ruby Residency, despite a range of irregularities which have come to the fore now. Both TCP officials and municipal engineers had confirmed the fitness of the construction before the accident occurred. According to the chief minister, who has “ruled out political corruption” as the cause of the accident, prima facie bad construction material and planning led to the accident. While one deputy town planner has been arrested, police have been unable to nab the builder or the promoters of the real estate firm that undertook the building construction. (IANS)
Delhi HC refuses to suspend new nursery admission norms
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to suspend a government notification on the criteria for nursery admissions in the capital on a plea filed by the city’s unaided private schools. Justice Manmohan, issuing notice to the Delhi government, asked it to file its reply within three weeks. The matter was posted for hearing next March 11. However, he declined to suspend the new norms for nursery admissions this year. The plea, filed by the Action Committee of Unaided Private Schools, challenged the Dec 18 notification of Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung and claimed it was “absolutely illegal, arbitrary and without jurisdiction”. The court said the matter requires detailed hearing and it cannot be decided in such short time after the schools’ counsel asked the court to suspend the notification as the admission process for nursery is set to begin Jan 15. The court, however, said: “This academic session you can go on with this notification, we can see for next year.” (IANS)
Eight die of cold in Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow: At least eight people fell prey to the biting cold in Uttar Pradesh, officials said Friday. The deaths were reported from Varanasi, Ballia, Jaunpur, Bhadohi, Azamgarh and Ghazipur. All schools up to class 8 were closed here on Friday as the weather worsened over the last few days. Lucknow District Magistrate Anurag Yadav said the schools would re-open Jan 15 only if the weather conditions improve. The coldest place in the state was Unnao, near Lucknow, where the night temperature dropped to 3 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature in the state capital was 13.8 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 6.2 degrees Celsius, which is one degree below normal. At many places in the state, rain and hailstorm brought down the mercury. At least five people died due to lightning in some parts of Uttar Pradesh, a home department official said. Many trains were running hours behind schedule. Visibility on highways also came down to 300 metres. The official forecast similar weather this week. (IANS)