Stalker stabs girl in Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur: A stalker in this Uttar Pradesh city stabbed a young girl on Thursday for protesting his stalking and harassment, the police said. She escaped with minor injuries. Keeping up with her daily routine, the girl was on her way to coaching classes in this city, part of the parliamentary constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, when a group of boys intercepted her at the Vijay roundabout. They started harassing her. When she objected to their behaviour and raised an alarm, one of the boys, identified as Rahul Sonkar, stabbed her, the police said. Passersby quickly overpowered the assailant, although his friends managed to flee the scene. The girl evaded any serious injury as she ducked at the time of the attack. The knife aimed at her stomach slit her hand and arm, the police added. The girl was rushed to a nearby medical facility and was said to be out of danger. (IANS)
TN CM flags off new vehicles for pregnant women
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday flagged off 25 new ‘108’ ambulances and ten ‘102 vehicles for women and newborn children at the State Secretariat. An official release here said close to 855 ‘108’ ambulances were being operated and has helped 12.13 lakh pregnant women and 48.19 lakh people in the past six years. In an effort to boost the services, the Chief Minister launched the new ‘108’ ambulances at a cost of Rs 3.55 crore and ten ‘102’ vehicles at a cost of Rs 86.89 lakh. He inspected the emergency and safety measures in the ambulances and the vehicles. All the 25 ambulances were fitted with GPS to make it easier to locate them,’ the release said. The ‘102’ vehicle service was launched by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2013 and had 61 vehicles across the State. The ten new ‘102’ vehicles would be deployed in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai, Ariyalur, Villuppuram, Krishnagiri, Perambalur and Dharmapuri districts for the benefit of pregnant women. (UNI)
Laptops, tabs banned in American centres
New Delhi: Starting on Thursday, visitors carrying laptops or tablets at the American centres in the national capital, Mumbai and Kolkata will not be allowed entry. The restriction on ‘personal electronics’ will apply to all models of laptops and tablets, including netbooks, chromebooks, iPads, Kindles, and MacBooks, a US embassy statement said. The embassy did not cite any reason behind the decision. However, barring the Chennai centre where all kinds of electronic devices are already banned, the visitors will be allowed to carry mobile phones in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The statement also emphasised that there will be no facility for visitors to store these devices. (PTI)
Shortage of over 7,000 doctors in UP govt hospitals: Minister
Lucknow: There is a shortage of over 7,000 doctors in Uttar Pradesh government hospitals and steps are being taken to fill up the vacancies, state Health minister Sidhartha Nath Singh told the Legislative Council on Thursday. ‘In the state, 18,382 posts have been created of which 11,034 have been filled. This way, there is a shortage of 7,348 doctors,’ he said while replying to a question raised by SP MLA Shashank Yadav. Singh said doctors for government hospitals are recruited through the state Public Service Commission. “If the Public Service Commission was not able to recruit doctors in such a large number, then why were there no change in the policy,” the minister asked. On this, Leader of Opposition Ahmed Hasan intervened saying that the minister is giving the right information, but he is also hiding something. “During Akhilesh Yadav’s rule, to tackle the shortage, the retirement age of the doctors was raised from 60 to 65. But, the problem persists and more needs to be done in this regard,” Hasan said. (PTI)
Ayyappa shrine nets Rs 243.7 cr total revenue collection
Thiruvananthapuram: The total revenue collection of the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala for the 2016-17 festival season stood at Rs.243.69 crore, State Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran told the Assembly on Thursday. Hundi collection alone comes to around Rs.89.70 crore and sale of ‘appam’ was Rs.17.29 crore, Surendran said in a written reply. Steps to built ropeway in Sabrimala to transport goods to the top of the hillshrine are progressing, he said, adding, getting permission from the Centre is the most important one. Work of the ropeway could be started once central approval is secured, he said. (PTI)