Japanese encephalitis case on city’s doorstep
Kolkata: A teenaged boy from the outskirts of the city was admitted to the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine with Japanese Encephalitis while another suspected victim was taken to a city hospital, a health official said on Sunday. The 16-year-old boy from Uchhepota village in the Sonarpur police station area of South 24-Parganas district was taken to the CSTM after his condition deteriorated at a local hospital where he was admitted for seven days, West Bengal Health Services Director Biswaranjan Satpathy told PTI. Another woman, a suspected JE case, has been admitted to the Calcutta Medical Research Institute, he said. “We do not have the details of her travel history. We are waiting for her blood test report to confirm whether it is a JE case or not,” Satpathy said, adding that the woman hailed from Murshidabad and was residing at the Kolkata Police Bodyguards. Apart from this there were no fresh deaths or new cases due reported from anywhere in the state, he said. (PTI)
Goods train derails; several trains’ schedule hit
Mumbai: Seven wagons of a Calicut-bound goods train from Kota carrying food-grains on Sunday derailed on the Konkan Railway’s main line at Karanjadi station in Maharashtra’s Raigad district. The derailment led to cancellation, rescheduling and diversion of a large number of long distance rains, authorities said. The derailment occurred at around 6.30 AM today and Konkan Railway officials immediately rushed to the site for an early clearance of the line, a Konkan Rail statement said. The cause of the derailment was yet to be ascertained. The Accident Relief Trains (ART) and Accident Relief Medical Van (ARMV) also left for the site, it said. Due to the derailment, several trains were cancelled, including 02003 CSTM-Karmali Shatabdi Premium special, 10215 Madgaon-Ernakulam Express and 02006 Karmali-LTT Double Decker premium special and 1205 Dadar-Madgaon Janshatabdi Express. Besides, 22150 Pune-Ernakulam Express and some other trains have also been rescheduled, the statement said. Some of the trains have also been diverted through other routes, it said. (PTI)
‘Bhagwat’s Hindu nation comment made in social context’
New Delhi: BJP Minority Morcha on Sunday said RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s ‘Hindu nation’ comments were made in the social context and not a religious one. “In my opinion, whatever Bhagwat said was in a social context. He did not mean to say that the people of other religions are Hindus in a religious manner. His comments should only be seen in a social light and there should not be any objection to it,” National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Minority Morcha Abdul Rasheed Ansari said Sunday. Citing the example of the poet Iqbal’s composition ‘Sare Jahan se Accha’, Ansari said the song refers to the country as Hindustan and people of the country as Hindi. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, in a rally in Cuttack had questioned why people of Hindustan could not be called Hindus, when people of Germany, England and America are called Germans, English and Americans respectively. Ansari also dismissed the Congress party’s contention that communal incidents in the country had increased after Modi became the Prime Minister. “Nothing of that sort has happened for which my party can be blamed. Wherever incidents have occurred, the respective state governments should take responsibility,” he said. “The highest number of incidents have taken place in Uttar Pradesh where the Samajwadi Party is in power. Similarly incidents have also taken place in Maharashtra and a few other places where our party is not in power,” Ansari said. “Law and order machinery is the responsibility of the state and the BJP cannot be held responsible for these incidents,” he reiterated. (PTI)
J-K Assembly session begins today
Srinagar: The last session of the 11th Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir will begin here today as elections in the state are due later this year. The six-day session is expected to be a stormy affair as opposition groups like Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP are expected to highlight the shortcomings of the National Conference-Congress coalition government over the past six years. The ruling coalition will seek to highlight the development works carried out by it during its tenure which began on January 5, 2009. An opposition MLA said issues like alleged backdoor appointments, empty state treasuries, corruption, mis-governance and unkempt promises from the election manifestos of National Conference and Congress will be raised during the session. (PTI)