4 quakes in 7 hours hit Gujarat, no casualties reported
AHMEDABAD: Four minor earthquakes within seven hours hit the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat on Sunday but there were no reports of casualties or damage. According to the Institute of Seismological Research in Gujarat, the tremors were felt in a span of seven and a half hours, with the first measuring 1.4 on the Richter scale with the epicentre eight km from Bachahu in Kutch region. The second major tremor measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale was felt at 12.23 p.m. with the epicentre 38 km from Saurashtra’s Una. The focus of the tremor was located at a depth of 19.7 km, it said.The third tremor measuring 2.2 on the Richter scale was felt three minutes later with the epicentre 29.6 mm from Bhachau in Kutch region.The fourth tremor measuring 2.2 on the Richter scale was felt at 1.37 p.m. with the epicentre some 31 km from Surendranagar in Saurashtra region. (IANS)
BJP leader found dead in MP
BARWANI(MADHYA PRADESH): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Balewadi Mandal (block) chief Manoj Thakre was found dead on Sunday. He may have been murdered, police said.Thakre had left his house at around 5 a.m. on Sunday to go for a morning walk. His body was recovered later from a nearby farm. It is believed that he was attacked with stones as his body was covered in blood, police said. According to tate Home inister Bala Bachchan, a close relative of the victim may be behind the attack. Barwani police chief Omkar Singh Kalesh told IANS that an investigation is underway. Earlier, police had named BJP leader Manish Bairagi to be behind the murder of Mandsaur Municipal Corporation Chairman and BJP leader Prahlad Bandhwar who died on January 17. (IANS)
Indian, Pak armies clash on LoC
JAMMU: Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Sunday. Defence Ministry sources said that the Pakistan Army targeted Indian positions in Kalal and Khori areas of Nowshera sector using small arms, automatics and mortars. “Our troops retaliated strongly and effectively,” an official said, adding that the Pakistani firing started at 1 p.m. “Till last reports came in there was no casualty or damage on our side,” an official said. More than two dozen violations of the 2003 bilateral ceasefire by Pakistani troops have taken place during this month in Poonch and Rajouri and on the international border in the Jammu division. (IANS)
Scolded girl ‘kills’ 2-yr-old baby
THANE: A girl studying in Class 10 was detained by Murbad police in the district Sunday for allegedly strangulating a neighbour’s two-year-old baby. The incident took place at Tulai village, said inspector Ajay Vasave of the local police. Manishka (2) went missing while playing near her house Saturday evening following which local people alongwith the police launched a search in the area, he said. Suspecting that the 16-year-old girl who lived nearby might be involved in the child’s disappearance, the police searched her house sometime after midnight and found the child’s body concealed in the house, he said. The two-year-old girl had been apparently strangulated though the autopsy report was not yet available, the inspector said. The accused was scolded by the victim’s mother a few days ago and the girl wanted to take revenge which allegedly led her to commit the crime, he said. A case of murder under IPC section 302 has been registered. (PTI)
BJP MLA quits party in Andhra
Rajamahendravaram\Amaravati (AP): The BJP suffered a setback in Andhra Pradesh Sunday as one of its four MLAs resigned from his Assembly membership and the party. Akula Satyanarayana, MLA from Rajamahendravaram (Urban) constituency said he sent-in his resignation letter to Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao. He also sent another letter to BJP state president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana stating that he was quitting the party as well. Later, Satyanarayana issued a statement to the media here announcing his resignation, but did not specify any reasons for his action. A doctor, who was elected to the Assembly for the first time in 2014, said he would join the Jana Sena Party of actor Pawan Kalyan on Monday. (PTI)
‘Friendly fight’ lands K’taka Cong MLA in hospital
BENGALURU: Karnataka Congress legislator Anand Singh was hospitalised on Sunday after an alleged brawl with other party MLA while staying at a resort in Bengaluru, a party leader said. “Anand Singh was taken to hospital after there was a friendly fight between few MLAs at the resort. Everything is all right and Anand is taking rest at the hospital,” state’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan told the media. Singh is a legislator from Vijayanagara Assembly segment in Ballari district. He was shifted to a private hospital in the city centre. The details of the attack on Singh were, however, not disclosed by the party leaders. Earlier in the day, party leaders, including D.K. Shivakumar, however, denied any such attack on Singh. (IANS)