Rajya Sabha nod for bill on three central Sanskrit varsities
New Delhi: Rajya Sabha on Monday passed a bill to upgrade three deemed Sanskrit universities into central universities after some minor amendments. The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 was passed by voice vote in the Upper House. It was passed by Lok Sabha in December last year and was introduced in Rajya Sabha on March 2 by Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Since Rajya Sabha has passed the bill with amendments, it would now go to Lok Sabha again. The Bill seeks to upgrade three deemed to be universities in Sanskrit — Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth Tirupati — into central universities. Replying to the debate, Pokhriyal said the Modi government is committed to strengthen all Indian languages. Speaking about the spread of Sanskrit, he said that around five crore students were studying the language in the country itself. Besides, there were many countries across the world where the language was being taught, he added. “All languages are important for us. We are committed for the growth of all languages that are spoken in the country,” the minister asserted. The passage of the bill in the Upper House will facilitate the growth of the language, he added. (PTI)
Centre gives nod for renaming village in Haryana
New Delhi: The Centre has given approval for renaming of a village in Kurukshetra district in Haryana following a request of the state government, officials said on Monday. The decision has been taken by the Union Home Ministry after getting formal nod from a few central organisations. The No Objection Certification has been issued for changing the name of village “Amin” to “Abhimanyupur” in Kurukshetra district in Haryana, a home ministry official said. The Union Home Ministry considers the proposals of name change according to the existing guidelines in consultations with agencies concerned. It gives its approval to the change of name of any place after taking no-objections from the Ministry of Railways, Department of Posts and Survey of India. These organisations have to confirm that there is no such city, town or village in their records with a name similar to the proposed one. For changing the name of a village or town or a city, an executive order is needed. The renaming of a state requires amendment of the Constitution with a simple majority in Parliament. (PTI)
Mother-son duo held for assaulting cops
New Delhi: A woman, her son and their suspected accomplice were arrested for allegedly assaulting two policemen and attempting to implicate them in a case with self-injuries in west Delhi’s Rajouri Garden, police said on Monday. The accused were identified as Mobina Khatun, her son Mohd. Sulemaan (21), and Makhan Singh (26), all residents of Raghubir Nagar, they said. Singh is previously involved in more than five cases of theft and robbery, police said. On Saturday, when the two policemen were patrolling Raghubir Nagar area, they saw Singh, standing along with a “suspicious person”. When one of the policemen tried to enquire, the man, later identified as Sulemaan, attacked him with a sharp-edged blade and inflicted injury on his hand himself. When the other policeman tried to get hold of Sulemaan, his accomplice Singh attacked him, a senior police official said. Khatun arrived there and attacked one of the policemen and tore his uniform before fleeing the spot, he said. With an intention to implicate the policemen in a case, Sulemaan attacked himself on his head with the blade, inflicting self-injury and causing bleeding from his head, the official added. (PTI)
Tiger kills crab-catcher
Canning (WB): A 52-year-old crab-catcher is suspected to have been killed by a tiger in Sundarbans National Park in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, police said on Monday. Basudeb Sarkar and two other crab-catchers from Kumirmari village in Sundarban Coastal Police station area had ventured into the national park to catch crabs on Sunday, an officer said. One of the crab-catchers, Swapan Mondal, said the tiger attacked Sarkar from behind and dragged him deep into the forest, he said. However, Sarkar’s body is yet to be found, the officer said. “Prima facie, it seems the trio did not possess permits to catch crabs in the forest and had illegally entered it. If that is the case, the kin of the deceased will not be eligible for compensation,” a forest official said. The export of crabs from Sundarbans to China has taken a hit due to novel coronavirus outbreak. However, with crab markets reopening in Singapore and Hong Kong, crab-catching activities have resumed in the region, sources said. (PTI)