Kedarnath tragedy 12 more bodies found, task force set up for
Dehradun: As the first anniversary of the flash floods which claimed thousands of lives in Uttarakhand approaching fast, authorities recovered 12 more skeletal remains and cremated them in Kedar valley on Saturday. “Twelve skeletal remains were recovered from Junglechatti area on way to Kedarnath shrine last night which were cremated today after DNA sampling and other formalities,” Rudraprayag District Magistrate Raghav Langar said. Now, the total number of skeletal remains found and disposed of in the area this season has gone up to 21, he said adding the combing operations resumed in search of bodies in the middle of March this year will continue. Five bodies were found in Junglechatti on June 11 while four more were recovered earlier after the resumption of combing operations in areas close to Kedarnat, the DM said. With just two days to go for the first anniversary of the horrific tragedy, the Uttarakhand government constituted a special task force to conduct intensive combing operations in the forests adjoining Kedarnath in search of bodies. IGP Sanjay Gunjyal will be in-charge of the task force which will conduct combing operations over the next 20 days, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar said. (PTI)
Blood banks in each dist in 2-3 years: Vardhan
New Delhi: Expressing concern over the high rate of maternal mortality in the country due to want of safe blood during pregnancy, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that the government will work to ensure that each district soon has a blood bank. “Almost 88 per cent of pregnant women in this country suffer from anaemia, which is a major contributor to the high maternal mortality rate in India. “Of these, 13.5 per cent women come under the grip of acute anaemia, often leading to death,” Vardhan said here at an event organised to mark World Blood Donor Day. He said that as many as 80,000 women die in the country due to want of safe blood during pregnancy. About 87 per cent of pregnant women suffer from anaemia of which 13.5 per cent suffer from acute anaemia, which can be life threatening. If there are more safe blood banks in the country, the number of women dying during pregnancy due to loss of blood can be significantly reduced, Vardhan said. “We will see that each district in the country has a safe blood bank in the coming one-two years. I will talk to the states and civil society organisations about this. The Centre will do all it can to see that this is implemented soon,” said the Health Minister. (PTI)
Five-day-a-week schedule to continue
New Delhi: Government will not extend the five-days-a-week working schedule to six days for Central government employees, All India Railwaymen’s Federation General Secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra claimed here on Saturday. He made the claim after discussing the issue with Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth. “I discussed the matter with Cabinet Secretary yesterday and he assured me that no such proposal is under consideration with the government at present,” Mishra told. (PTI)
HC confirms lifer awarded to hubby who killed wife
Mumbai: Relying on the testimony of two eyewitnesses, the Bombay High Court has confirmed the life imprisonment awarded to a 46-year-old man who assaulted his wife and threw her into a well thereby causing her death. The eyewitnesses were the daughter and son of the convict who saw their father assaulting the mother and throwing her into a well on December 16, 2009 at village Chikhale in Palghar taluka of Thane district. Both the children told the court that their father was a habitual drunkard and used to beat their mother very often. Daughter Shraddha and son Satej said they had seen him throwing their mother into a well located in front of their house. A bench headed by Justice Vijaya Tahilramani upheld the life sentence awarded to Pandhari Sukhdeo Mothe by a Palghar sessions court on July 20, 2011, saying the evidence tendered by the two children inspires confidence in the court to show that Pramila Mothe was killed by her husband. The court also took into account the evidence given by the doctor in the post mortem report of the victim that she died due to asphyxia after drowning. The other two witnesses were Gangubai and Chandrakant, mother-in-law and brother-in-law of the convict. Both stayed at two minutes walking distance from the house of the convict. The duo too corroborated the version of the eyewitnesses that Pandhari killed his wife and that the former was a habitual drunkard and beat her often. Four years prior to the incident, the appellant had caused injuries to his wife and mother-in-law. On account of this, he was prosecuted. Ultimately, the case was compounded. (PTI)
Impostors posing as govt officials take bribe, held
New Delhi: Two impostors who posed as government officials and took bribe from a medical practitioner in Karawal Nagar in Delhi few days back, have been arrested. The anti-corruption branch of Delhi government arrested Taimur Ali and Akhlaq Ahmad, of Shahibabad, and registered a case against them at Seelampur police station. According to the Additional Commissioner of Police, Anti-Corruption Branch, V Renganathan, the complainant, a registered medical practitioner in Mukundpur, Karawal Nagar area, had approached them on June 12. “On June 10, one person went to the complainant’s clinic and introduced himself as Dr Nafees Ahmed, a government employee of Delhi Bhartiya Chikitsa Parishad, and asked him to produce documents regarding his qualifications, clinic etc. “The complainant could not produce the same at that time. The person then demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the complainant in lieu of allowing him to run his clinic. When the complainant expressed his inability to pay Rs 20,000, the matter was settled at Rs 12,000,” Renganathan said. Later, a trap was laid by officials near traffic signal Jaffrabad Road under Seelampur flyover yesterday and the accused were caught red-handed while accepting bribe from the complainant, he said. (PTI)
700 cadets pass out of IMA
Dehradun: A colourful ceremony was held at the sprawling ground in front of the Indian Military Academy’s historic Chetwode Building here on Saturday as 700 cadets passed out from the prestigious institution to become Army officers. Out of these, 64 are foreign cadets, the maximum (50) from Afghanistan, who passed out from the esteemed institution to join the armies of their respective countries. (PTI)