4-day-old baby dies after cop steps on him during raid
Ranchi, March 22: A four-day-old baby died during a police raid which was conducted to arrest his grandfather in Jharkhand’s Giridih district on Wednesday, after a policeman allegedly stepped on him. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has directed the police headquarters to probe the matter and initiate action. The incident took place in Kosogondodighi village of the district. According to sources, a team led by Sangam Pathak, in-charge of Deori police station, reached the house of one Bhushan Pandey to arrest him in the wee hours. When the family members did not open the door, the team forcibly entered inside and a policeman climbed on the bed where the infant was sleeping and allegedly crushed him to death. The police did not arrest Pandey after the incident and left the spot, said sources. The incident created an uproar among the villagers who are demanding that a murder case be registered against all the policemen present in the team. (IANS)
President confers Padma awards
New Delhi, March 22: President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday conferred Padma awards to former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna, noted industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and famous playback singer Suman Kalyanpur at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Besides them, billionaire stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who had passed away last year, was given the honour posthumously along with several unsung heroes. The president had approved the conferment of 106 Padma awards, including three duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one), on the eve of this year’s Republic Day. Of these, over 50 people were awarded Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Krishna, who was external affairs minister in the Congress-led UPA government and had later joined the BJP, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan. Noted architect Balkrishna Doshi (posthumously) was also given the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian honour. (PTI)