Woman smothers 2 kids, attempts suicide
Akola (MAHARASHTRA): A woman allegedly smothered her two children to death and then attempted suicide by hanging herself at their home in Akola city, police said on Thursday. The 28-year-old Swati Jain smothered to death her two children – Tanwi (6) and Tanish (3) – with a pillow at their home in Shastri Nagar area of the city on Wednesday night, they said. She then inflicted several injuries on herself suspectedly with a sharp blade and later attempted suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan. However, she could not tie the noose properly and fell down. When Swati’s husband Ashok Jain (35), who works with a private company here, returned from work and did not get any response on ringing the door bell, he broke it open and found his wife lying in a pool of blood. The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital where she is battling for life, while the bodies have been sent for autopsy. A case has been registered in this regard, police said. Though the exact reason behind the incident was yet to be ascertained, sources said the couple had a quarrel on January 14. (PTI)
Priest axed to death by sadhu
Mathura (UP): The priest of a temple in Shahpur village here was allegedly axed to death by a sadhu, police said on Thursday. The incident took place Wednesday evening. “The accused, Baba Lal Giri, has been arrested and an axe along with a lathi used for the killing has been recovered,” Deputy Superintendent of Police RK Gautam said. Giri had gone to the temple, where priest Pariyal Baba, who was in an inebriated state, abused him. When Giri protested, the priest started beating him, police said. When a visitor at the temple saw the clash, he tried to intervene. However, unable to stop the fight, the man informed people in the village, they said. When around a dozen villagers reached the temple, they found the priest lying in a pool of blood while Giri was missing, they said. Some villagers took the priest to the Kosi Kalan police station, while the others searched for Giri. The police rushed the priest to a hospital where he was declared dead. On being found, Giri too was brought to the police station. (PTI)
Train rams into truck, three killed
Kanpur: Three persons were killed at an unmanned railway crossing in Chaubepur when a container truck in which they were travelling was hit by a train, police said on Thursday. The incident took place Wednesday evening when the container truck was hit by the Chhapra Mathura Express train enroute to Kasganj while the former was crossing the tracks, said SP Anil Mishra. While Amit (28) and Arvind (22) died on the spot, Sudhir (20) died on his way to a hospital, he said. The collision also damaged a part of train’s engine due to which it remained halted for two hours until the engine was replaced, he said. Following the incident, an irate mob blocked the Grand Trunk Road demanding construction of a level crossing gate and deployment of a security guard at the crossing. Police officials went to the spot and convinced the locals to lift the blockade. (PTI)
Guddu, India’s oldest surviving tiger dies
Lucknow: The oldest tiger living in a captive environment, 26-year-old Guddu, died at the Kanpur zoo in Uttar Pradesh late on Wednesday night, officials said. The death of the royal Bengal tiger came as a shock to the Kanpur zoo management, which was planning to seek Guddu’s entry in the Guinness World Records, as the male tiger was said to be the oldest surviving wild cat in the world. Confirming the death, Kanpur zoo director K Thomas told IANS that Guddu had stopped eating since January 9. Veterinarians at the zoo had put him on vitamins and boneless meat, as he had lost all his teeth. While the average life span of a tiger varies between 14 to 16 years, Guddu had lived on for over 26 years, according to records available with the zoo, Thomas said. The fine feline came to the Kanpur zoo from the Chandigarh zoo in 2001. He was later shifted to the Lucknow zoo. Records at the time of his entry into the Kanpur zoo put his age at 13. He was brought back to Kanpur from Lucknow in 2008. The longest surviving tiger earlier was 24-year-old Ramu, a male tiger at the Jaipur zoo, who died of cardiac arrest in September 2010. The record for the longest living royal Bengal/Siberian tiger currently is held by 25-year-old Flavio, which retired to “Big Cat Rescue” in Tampa, Florida, in 2002. Kanpur zoo officials said an autopsy has been conducted on Guddu, who will be cremated within the zoo premises. (IANS)
K’kulam 2nd unit to go critical by June
Chennai: The 1,000 MW second unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) is likely to attain criticality by June, nearly a year after the first reactor crossed the milestone, according to a top Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) official. “The second unit of the Kudankulam plant will attain criticality by May or June this year,” AEC Chairman Ratan Kumar Sinha told reporters at the airport here on Thursday. The country’s first 1,000 MW pressurised water reactor of the Indo-Russian joint venture project attained criticality (start of nuclear fission process) in July last year and commenced electricity generation in October. Presently it is producing over 400 MW. Stating that the generation in the first unit will reach its full capacity soon, Sinha said Tamil Nadu would get “all of its share.” Referring to the anti-nuclear protests against KNPP in the last two years, he said the intensity had come down following efforts by authorities to educate people about the safety of the plant. The commissioning of the plant was delayed considerably due to the protest spearheaded by the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE). Union Minister V Narayanasamy had last week said the second unit of the KKNPP would start generating electricity from September. (PTI)
Aluminium proj land losers threaten stir
Koraput (Odisha): The land losers in the project for the setting up of the National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) unit here have threatened to block the water supply to the PSU and damage its conveyor belt if their demand for jobs with the company is not fulfilled at the earliest. Although those who lost both their homes and land were given jobs with the company’s Damanjodi unit, no permanent employment was made available for the 428 families who lost only their land during the setting up of the project in the early 80s, said Bhimadhar Khillo, the President of the Nalco Land Affected Persons’ Association (NLAPA), which is spearheading the agitation. “Due to illiteracy, the tribals misused the paltry compensation they received from the company and now are struggling to make ends meet. We demand permanent employment for one person each of the 428 families,” Khillo said. “Many times have we placed our demand before the administration and company officials, but to no avail.,” he added. (PTI)