SP MLA threatens to go on fast if EC ban on Azam not lifted
Sultanpur (UP): An MLA of Samajwadi Party has threatened to go on a fast unto death if the ban imposed by Election Commission on Uttar Pradesh minister Mohammad Azam Khan’s rallies in the state was not lifted. MLA from Isauli seat Abrar Ahmad on Monday sent a memorandum to the EC through the district magistrate demanding that the ban imposed on Khan to be lifted. Ahmed threatened to go on a hunger strike and stage a protest if the ban was not lifted within 48 hours. The SP MLA alleged that when the poll panel could lift the ban on Narendra Modi’s aide Amit Shah who is accused of spreading communal hatred then why can’t it remove the restriction on Khan. The EC on April 23 issued a fresh show-cause notice to Khan for reportedly making objectionable remarks against it and circumventing a ban imposed on him from campaigning in UP. The show-cause notice was issued to the senior SP leader days after the EC banned him from campaigning in the state following his controversial ‘Kargil’ remarks. (PTI)
INA soldier, freedom fighter dies in penury
Purnia (Bihar): A faded but spotless INA uniform was all he left behind when he died today in a hospital, where he was admitted by local people as he could not afford his medical expenses. The 94-year-old Ram Milan Sah, a bachelor, was a member of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army and fought against the British in Myanmar during World War II. “The man was full of grace amids poverty. He could not get freedom fighter’s pension despite several recommendations from ministers and district magistrates over the last 35 years. This shows how much we care about our heroes,” said social activist Ganga Prasad Chaudhary. “In fact Captain Lakshmi Sahgal also took up his case for pension, but the Union government did not bother to look into it. Neither we nor other associations could help him because of a funds crunch,” said Vijay Kumar Srivastava, secretary of Shaheed Smarak Town Hall Trust Committee, an organisation related to freedom fighters in Purnia. Sah survived all these decades after Independence selling ‘paan’ (betel) at the Purnia court campus. Sah fell ill around two months ago but could not afford medicine. A few local people admitted him to hospital when his condition deteriorated three days ago. “He used to tell us that the soil of the country will take care of him. He should have got pension. He had a right to it,” said Satish Kumar Singh, a Purnia resident. (PTI)
Three killed in building collapse
Surat: At least three persons, including two children, were on Tuesday killed and five others seriously injured when slabs of six floors of a multi-storey residential building collapsed here. The mishap took place in the 17-year-old ‘Kaniya Palace’ building having nine floors each in two blocks on Ghod-daud road, which houses 90 families. According to Surat fire brigade, drawing room floors of ‘A’ block, starting from 6th floor till 1st floor, collapsed this afternoon. Creating a hollow, debris of all the slabs came crashing down on parked vehicles on ground floor, claimed an eye witness. Investigation revealed that Meet and Pooja used to live in the ill-fated building with their families, while Darshan came with his grandmother, who works as maid in that building. As the word spread about the collapse, Surat Municipal Commissioner MK Das and Mayor Niranjan Zanzmera along with police officials rushed to the spot. (PTI)