B’deshi politician’s son kills self
Shimla: A 19-year-old student from Bangladesh, who was studying in a private university in the Himachal Pradesh capital, allegedly committed suicide, the police said on Wednesday. He was the son of Bangladeshi politician Sheikh Shahidul Islam, who suffered a defeat in the country’s parliamentary polls in December last year. The student, Aizazul Islam, was staying in a rented accommodation here, a police official said. The incident occurred on Tuesday. The police official said, “Prima facie, it seems to be a case of suicide. A case has been registered. The Bangladesh Embassy has been informed.” After a post-mortem, the body has been kept in the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital. Aizazul Islam was pursuing Bachelor of Business Administration course at AP Goyal University. (IANS)
Delhi zoo loses its last chinkara
New Delhi: The last chinkara of the National Zoological Park, commonly known as the Delhi zoo, has died, an official said on Wednesday. The male chinkara had grown very old and weak. It died on June 14, days after authorities conducted a census of animals in the zoo. “We do not have a system of marking herbivores. So ascertaining his exact age is a bit difficult,” the official said. “Chinkaras generally remain in a group. Till a year ago, we had four of them. They died one after another due to various reasons, including old age,” the official said. Delhi zoo director Renu Singh said she would write to other zoos to acquire chinkaras under an animal exchange programme. The last plum-headed parrot in the zoo has also died. It aged above 20 years, the official said, adding parakeets can live up to 30 years with proper care. “It was part of the last pair of parakeets we had. One of them was eaten by a snake,” he said. The zoo also lost its last cassowary — a native of Australia and New Guinea and the “world’s most dangerous” bird — recently. It was the only cassowary in the Delhi zoo for 20 years. (PTI)
Farmer creates 50 hectares of forest
Chitrakoot: When Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted his story on Wednesday, the spotlight suddenly fell on him. Bhaiyya Ram Yadav, a 55-year-old farmer in Bharatpur of Chitrakoot district in Bundelkhand region, has created a forest by planting saplings on 50 hectares of barren land in his village. “In 2001, my wife passed away during child birth and later my son died at the age of seven due to lack of medical treatment. I left my home due to depression and started roaming around in Chitrakoot,” he said. While roaming around, he read a slogan put up by the forest department which said, “One tree is equal to 100 sons”. The slogan changed his mind and he returned home. Bhaiyya Ram built a hut outside his village and started planting trees. Initially, people called him crazy but after sometime the villagers started supporting his cause. Bhaiyya Ram said that initially he planted 40 saplings and felt at peace. Later he kept adding to this number. The number reached up to 40,000 saplings. He said that God has taken one son from him, but now he is the father of thousands of plants. (IANS)
Muslim also recites Hanuman Chalisa
Meerut: Undeterred by the threats to Kolkata BJP MP Ishrat Jahan – a Lord Hanuman devotee and a petitioner in a triple talaq case, 42-year-old Shaheen Parvez, also a devotee of Lord Hanuman, recites the Hanuman Chalisa regularly. Shaheen says, “I am not scared of anyone. I will not let someone who claims to be a custodian of religion dictate my choices. My choices are mine alone.” She adds, “We live in a country where we should respect each other’s religion. What is wrong in learning about other religions too? After all, there is no greater religion than humanity.” According to Shaheen, she has been reciting the Hanuman Chalisa since she was in college. (IANS)
Kerala CM vows to clear 121,000 files in 3 months
Thiruvananthapuram: To clear over 1.21 lakh files pending in 37 government departments since April 2019, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Wednesday said it would be cleared in three months. “The exercise would begin on August 1 and end in October. The backlog of files would be cleared at the state secretariat, those lying with the various department heads and at the regional offices,” said Vijayan. Apart from the file clearances, all the complaints lodged by the people would be cleared by August 31, he added. ‘If there are still complaints, then the respective ministers would see that everything is cleared. At the end of the exercise, we are expecting a permanent system would be in place,’ Vijayan said. The drive comes at the time when the Congress-led opposition has alleged that the Vijayan government that promised a lot had failed miserably on all fronts. The government assumed office on May 2016. (IANS)