26-year-old lioness dies in MP’s Van Vihar National Park
Bhopal: Jamuna, a 26-year-old lioness, Sunday died at the Van Vihar National Park in Bhopal due to old age, an official said. He said that Jamuna was not suffering from any ailment and died a natural death due to weakness from old age. He added that, at 26 years of age, the lioness lived a longer life than that of the average big cat as she was well looked after at the Animal Rescue Centre of the Van Vihar National Park. Jamuna was brought here from Kanan Pendari Zoo in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur in 2010. The lioness was, earlier, rescued from Rajmahal Circus in Bhilai, the official said. “A post mortem by two Van Vihar doctors has revealed that her internal organs were not functioning normally,” he said. (PTI)
Odisha’s first transgender civil servant now plans marriage
Kendrapara: Bolstered by the Supreme court ruling that consensual gay sex is not a crime, Odisha’s first gazetted government officer from the transgender community plans to marry her live-in partner. The Supreme Court judgement on September 6 struck down IPC 377 Section and has paved the way for dignified living for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community. The court should now stamp its seal of approval on same-sex marriage, inheritance of property in accordance with right to equality, said Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan, whom the Odisha government has conferred transgender identity through a gazette notification on 2017. “Now marriage is confined to male and female only. The court needs to empower citizens like us to legally marry the man whom we love, adore and respect. Its a matter of time only. The apex court would be kind enough to confer these rights to us,” she said. Aishwarya (34) had laid claim to fame for being Odishas first state civil servant from transgender community. Aishwarya, formerly named as Ratikanta Pradhan, had come out successful in Odisha Public Service Commission conducted Odisha Financial Service examination in 2010. (PTI)
Explosives haul case: Two remanded in custody till Sep 17
Mumbai: A court on Sunday remanded two men, arrested in connection with the seizure of explosives and alleged conspiracy to carry out blasts in Maharashtra, in police custody till September 17. Vasudev Suryawanshi (29) and Liladhar, alias Vijay alias Bhaiyya Lodhi, (32) were arrested by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Sakri in the state’s Jalgaon district on Saturday, a day after their detention. They were produced before Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Padalkar on Sunday afternoon. Seeking their remand, the ATS told the court that the accused had conducted a recce in Jalgaon and Nashik. People opposing the Hindutva ideology and making anti-Hindu films were on their radar, it said. The ATS said it also needs to find out whether the accused had conducted the recce along with the five arrested in the case earlier. Three crude bombs, two mobile phones, pen drives and two number plates were recovered from Lodhi’s residence, while five mini pocket diaries, a pen drive and three mobile phones were seized from Suryawanshi’s house, the agency said. (PTI)
Doorstep delivery of 40 Delhi govt services from today
New Delhi: People in Delhi will get doorstep delivery of 40 government services, including obtaining a marriage certificate, driving license and new water connection, from Monday, an official said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government had proposed doorstep delivery of services earlier this year and had alleged that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal was stalling it. However, a five-judge Constitution Bench had on July 4 laid down broad parameters for governance of the national capital, paving the way for the government to proceed with the scheme. “Doorstep delivery of services. A revolution in governance. A big blow to corruption. Super convenience for people. Happening for the first time anywhere in the world. Starts from 10th Sept (sic),” Kejriwal had tweeted last month. The government has claimed that no citizen of Delhi would have to stand in queues for the services listed under the scheme. According to the plan, the Delhi government will provide 40 services such as caste certificate, driving licence, at the doorstep of people in the first phase. The services will be provided for an extra fee of Rs 50. (PTI)
TN cabinet decides to release all Rajiv case convicts
Chennai: The AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu Sunday decided to recommend to the state Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the release of all seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. A resolution to this effect was adopted at the state cabinet which met here under Chief Minister K Palaniswami’s leadership, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar told reporters. It decided to recommend to Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the release of Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran, Robert Payas and Nalini, serving life imprisonment. The moves comes days after the Supreme Court asked the Tamil Nadu Governor to consider the mercy petition of Perarivalan seeking remission or pardon under Article 161 of the Constitution and disposed of the Centre’s petition opposing Tamil Nadu government’s earlier proposal for the release of the convicts. Though the apex court had asked the Governor to consider the plea of Perarivalan, the government decided to recommend setting free all others also as they had also petitioned seeking premature release, he said. (PTI)