Man sets wife on fire for buying chocolate for son
Kolkata: A woman from Murshidabad suffered critical burn injuries on Thursday after she was set ablaze by her husband because she had brought a chocolate for their son.The little boy asked his mother to buy him a chocolate when the family visited the market. Sukumar Karmakar told his wife not to buy him chocolate but since the kid insisted the mother bought him one. This had infuriated Karmakar and a heated conversation ensued between the couple. The argument turned ugly when the man started attacking his wife. Also Read – City bids adieu to Goddess DurgaIt was alleged that husband later set the wife on fire. The woman was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital. Her condition is critical as she suffered serious burn injuries. Following the incident, the district police arrested the husband. They are interrogating him why he set his wife on fire. The police are also investigating if the accused was under some kind of stress. The family members of the couple are also being interrogated in this connection.
New Delhi: Indian equity markets could come under pressure over the fresh tension between the US and India over trade as India retaliated with tariffs on 29 American products. This decision followed the US ending India’s $5.6 billion trade concessions under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme. Last year, the US imposed duties on steel and aluminium from India following which a retaliation was deferred until now. Several analysts have said investors sentiments would be impacted. Also Read – Maruti cuts production for 8th straight month in Sep “Tariffs to the tune of $400-450 million from all bilateral trade of 142 billion dollar with the US — this shows that the impact is insignificant,” said Ajay Sahai is the Director General and CEO of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). The US-China trade war has long troubled the global financial markets. The damage was such that the global growth took a beating, as noted the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “Local investors will be worried as to how US could react to this. However, FIIs will wait for any such move by the US before feeling the Indian market,” Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities told IANS. Also Read – Ensure strict implementation on ban of import of e-cigarettes: revenue to Customs “$400 million is not a big number, but 29 items consist of almonds, walnuts and apples which affect their farmers. This could trigger a response and which will not bode well for the Indian markets,” Jasani added. The Indian market, which is currently dealing with slowdown concerns, will not react well if the US announces fresh tariffs, several analysts said. On Friday, Sensex slid and closed nearly 290 points lower after reports that the Indian government had decided to impose retaliatory tariffs. The fresh tension now adds to the slowdown concerns in the Indian markets. “There is always a fear that tariffs can be levied on more products from either side. So from a sentiment perspective, some tension could be seen in the markets if retaliation is seen by the US,” said Mayuresh Joshi of Angel Broking. “It can hurnt the investor sentiments, but beyond that it is difficult to acertain as to what could be the impact on the capital markets. Investors will get into trouble if the additional tarriffs are applied,” Joshi added. Earlier, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a conference that Washington could reverse the decision of withdrawing trade concessions to India under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) if the situation permits. Ross had said that “India is already the world’s third-largest economy, yet it is only the US’s 13th largest export market, due to overly restrictive market access barriers”. While “the US is India’s largest export market, accounting for about 20 per cent of the total”. “There is a real imbalance… And it’s an imbalance we must strive to counteract.”
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday met leaders of various political parties having representation in Parliament to explore possibilities of holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections together amid no show by various opposition parties. Modi had invited the heads of all political parties which have at least one member either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha for the meeting to discuss several issues, including the “one nation, one election” idea, celebration of 75 years of Independence in 2022 and the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year. Also Read – IAF receives its first Rafale fighter jet from France NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja, Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar, SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik and National People’s Party leader Conard Sangma were among those who attended the meeting at the Parliament House library building. PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah also attended the meet. Among the notable absentees were Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, BSP supremo Mayawati, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, DMK’s M K Stalin, TDP chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Admi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Also Read – Cosmology trio win Nobel Physics Prize Mayawati tweeted on Tuesday morning saying she would have attended the all-party meeting if it was on electronic voting machines (EVMs). Sources said that the Opposition parties are wary of the meeting convened by the prime minister as they feel this might be a “trap” set by the BJP and needs proper discussion before going ahead. Last August, the Law Commission had recommended holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies to save public money. The draft, submitted to the Law Ministry, however, cautioned that “holding simultaneous elections is not possible within the existing framework of the Constitution”. The Centre has been toying with the idea for quite some time now. “The Prime Minister called for widespread debate and consultations on simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, keeping in view various aspects such as the resulting financial savings and consequent better utilisation of resources,” an official release said last week after Modi addressed a NITI Aayog meeting here. The government think-tank, NITI Aayog, had last year suggested synchronised two-phase Lok Sabha and Assembly polls from 2024 to ensure minimum campaign-mode disruption to governance.
El Tucoco (Venezuela): The sweltering heat of the Venezuelan forest makes no difference to Jose Gregorio, who trembles with a cold chill. “I have pain everywhere, fever,” he stammers. Gregorio has the classic symptoms of malaria, a disease eradicated years ago among his Yukpa indigenous people, but it’s back with a vengeance all across crisis-struck Venezuela. “He had sore joints and then started vomiting, and it’s been four or five days since he’s eaten anything,” says his worried wife Marisol. Also Read – Imran Khan arrives in China, to meet Prez Xi Jinping Their four-month-old baby babbles beside his father on the bed. “The baby and I also had malaria,” says Marisol. “Before, that was not the case here, there was only chikungunya and dengue, malaria came back here last year.” She doesn’t bat an eyelid at the mention of either of the other mosquito-borne viruses, whose spread has been fuelled by the collapse of Venezuela’s health system. “Here” is El Tucuco, a small village at the foot of the mountains that form the border with Colombia, a three-hour drive from Maracaibo in Venezuela’s western Zulia state. Also Read – US blacklists 28 Chinese entities over abuses in Xinjiang With 3,700 people, El Tucuco is the Yukpas’ “capital” and malaria is rapidly making its presence felt here as in the rest of Venezuela — a country that could once boast of being the first to have eradicated the disease in 1961. There are no official statistics on malaria’s reach into El Tucuco, nor on the number of deaths it causes. But from his consulting room at the Catholic Mission, Dr Carlos Polanco is seeing a developing crisis. “Out of 10 people who are tested for malaria in the village laboratory, four to five come out with a positive test. This is an alarming figure.” Brother Nelson Sandoval, a Capuchin friar who presides over the mission, adds: “Before entering the order, I already knew this community and I had never seen a case of malaria. Today we are in the middle of a pandemic.” El Tucuco is affected by Plasmodium vivax, the most geographically widespread malarial species. The more lethal Plasmodium falciparum strain is prevalent in the Amazonian regions of southeastern Venezuela. According to Sandoval and Polanco, the reason for malaria’s sudden virulence in El Tucuco is simple: once-regular fumigation missions by the Venezuelan government stopped. “And as the population of mosquitos increased, cases exploded,” said Polanco. Added to this is the malnutrition that weakens resistance to the disease, a new phenomenon since the economic crisis took hold at the end of 2015. “Before, it was possible to vary one’s diet, but with inflation the Yukpa cannot afford it,” instead making do with what they can grow, like cassava and plantain, according to Polanco. Rosa, 67, knows all about malnutrition. Lying on the floor of her house, she is battling malaria for the third time. “The doctor weighed me yesterday — 37 kilograms. I was 83 kilos before.” A report published in British medical journal The Lancet in February warned of an epidemic of malaria and dengue fever as a result of the continuing crisis in Venezuela. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, the number of malaria cases in the nation jumped 70 per cent. “The situation is catastrophic,” said Dr Huniades Urbina, secretary of the national Academy of Medicine. In 2018, “there were 600,000 cases of malaria and we, the scientific organisations, estimate that in 2019 we could reach a million cases” — one in every 30 people. But these figures are only estimates, “because the government conceals the statistics.” The malaria explosion has gone hand in hand with the worsening economic crisis. According to Nicolas Maduro’s government, inflation reached a staggering 130,000 per cent in 2018 and GDP halved between 2013 and 2018. In the oil-rich state of Zulia, service stations have been dry for more than a month. Electricity blackouts are commonplace and residents flee abroad in their thousands. Despite a poster of late president Hugo Chavez at the entry to the clinic, there is little sign of government presence in El Tucuco. Dr Luisana Hernandez despairs of ever seeing any state help. “Every day, everything is deteriorating a bit more,” she says, exasperated. Refrigerators intended to keep vaccines cold do not work “because we have no gasoline to run the generator,” and both the clinic’s broken-down ambulances are gathering rust in the garden. “We’ve knocked on every door. But nobody answers us,” said Hernandez. Without fuel to bring drugs from the city, without resources to prevent illnesses, eradicating malaria in an almost impossible task. Brother Nelson does what he can, with help from the Catholic charity Caritas and the Pan American Health Organisation. His mission distributes the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and primaquine to sick Yukpa people. Maria Jose Romero, 22, was able to benefit from treatment. “Repeated seizures are due to the fact that many people cannot follow the treatment,” for lack of drugs, she said. Romero now lives across the border in Colombia, having fled Venezuela. She is visiting El Tucuco to see her family. Soon she will return to the other side of the mountain, on foot. “It’s three days’ walk,” she says.
Los Angeles: Actor Evan Rachel Wood has criticised ‘Stranger Things 3’ for its depiction of Jim Hopper, calling the character’s behaviour unflattering. Hopper, played by David Harbour, is keen to date Joyce (Winona Ryder) but she does not seem interested beyond being a friend, much to the annoyance of the cop, who is also uncomfortable with the budding romance between his adopted teen daughter Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard). “You should never date a guy like the cop from ‘Stranger Things’. Extreme jealousy and violent rages are not flattering or sexy like TV would have you believe. That is all,” Wood wrote on Twitter. When fans of the show argued that the story was set in the 1980s, she said it was not acceptable even if it depicted a certain period in history. The popular series started streaming on Netflix from July 4.
New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday objected to the nomination of AAP leaders Raghav Chadha and Atishi and two others to the DMRC board of directors and asked the Delhi government to withdraw its non-bureaucrat nominees citing official guidelines.According to the guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprises, officials handling the issue concerned should be appointed as government nominee directors. In a letter to Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Additional Secretary K Sanjay Murthy said state officials concerned bring domain knowledge, expertise and accountability to drive Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) into a world-class transport provider. Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has nominated four government representatives, including Chadha and Atishi, to be appointed to the DMRC board of directors. Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission vice chairman Jasmine Shah and AAP’s RS MP ND Gupta’s son Naveen Gupta are two other persons nominated by Gahlot.
New Delhi: India improved its rank by five places to stand at 52nd in an index of the world’s most innovative economies and maintained its position as the top exporter of IT services, according to a report released Wednesday. The country’s three cities, Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi, also featured in the world’s top 100 science and technology clusters, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019. The GII ranks 129 economies based on 80 indicators, ranging from intellectual property filing rates to mobile-application creation, education spending and scientific and technical publications. Also Read – Thermal coal import may surpass 200 MT this fiscalSwitzerland retained its number-one spot on the GII rankings. It was followed by Sweden, the US, the Netherlands, the UK, Finland, Denmark, Singapore, Germany and Israel in the top 10 places. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal released the Global Innovation Index (GII) rankings here. Goyal said that the government is committed to further improving the ranking as innovation is key for the country’s economic growth. “I assure you that going forward, the country will not rest until we achieve the target of coming in the top 25th and then in top 10th in the world.” Also Read – Food grain output seen at 140.57 mt in current fiscal on monsoon boostIndia maintained its top place in the Central and Southern Asia region. The country improved its position the most in certain pillars including labour productivity growth, knowledge and technology outputs, intellectual property related variables. It also witnessed improvement in institutions, human capital and research, and market sophistication indicators. Notable gains were also found in political and operational stability where a new indicator is used this year and in ease of starting a business. It, however, lagged logistics performance and females employed with advanced degrees. “The largest drops are found in logistics performance, females employed with advanced degrees, and printing and other media,” the report said. DPIIT Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that the government is working to improve its intellectual property rights (IPR) regime. “We are increasing manpower, simplifying procedures and using technology to significantly reduce the time for examination of applications,” Abhishek said. The GII rankings are published annually by Cornell University, INSEAD and the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and GII Knowledge Partners. Industry body CII has been the GII knowledge partner since 2009. Speaking at the function, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said that the GII shows that countries that prioritise innovation in their policies have seen significant increases in their rankings. “The rise in the GII by economic powerhouses like China and India have transformed the geography of innovation and this reflects deliberate policy action to promote innovation,” he said. Further the report stated that despite signs of slowing economic growth, innovation continues to blossom, particularly in Asia, but pressures are looming from trade disruptions and protectionism. “Most top science and technology clusters are in the US, China, and Germany, whlie Brazil, India, Iran, Russia, and Turkey also feature in the top 100 list,” it said. In Central and South Asia, Iran ranked 61st and Kazakhstan at 79th. Pakistan ranked at 105th. India remained at the top in the region and moved up to the 4th position in the GII rankings among lower-middle-income economies. India has also outperformed on innovation relative to its GDP per capita for nine years in a row. “The country confirms its rank among the top 50 economies in two pillars Market sophistication (33rd) and Knowledge and technology outputs (32nd) with the latter being the pillar in which India ranks the highest this year,” it said. In Global R&D companies, India reached the 15th spot as the second middle-income economy. “In this pillar, the indicator graduates in science and engineering (7th) remains a relative strength for the country. Thanks to the quality of its top 3 universities IITs (Delhi and Bombay) and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, India achieves a relatively strong ranking in the indicator quality of universities (21st),” the report added.
Cape Town: Ottis Gibson and his entire South African coaching team and management staff have lost their jobs, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Sunday. The decision, taken during a board meeting last week, follows a disastrous South African World Cup campaign in which the Proteas finished seventh of the 10 teams. The clean-out comes shortly before a tour of India next month during which South Africa will play their first three Test matches in the new world Test championship. In a statement, CSA said a football-style team manager would be appointed, who would take charge of all aspects of the national team, including the appointment of a coaching staff, the captain or captains and medical and administrative personnel. Also Read – Puducherry on top after 8-wkt win over ChandigarhThe team manager will report directly to a Director of Cricket, a new position. Former South African player Corrie van Zyl, currently in charge of cricket pathways at CSA, will be acting Director of Cricket until a full-time appointment is made. The statement said Van Zyl and CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe would appoint an interim management team for the tour of India as well as an interim selection panel and captain. Faf du Plessis, the current captain, was on Saturday night named South African Cricketer of the Year and it would be a surprise if he was replaced. Also Read – Vijender’s next fight on Nov 22, opponent to be announced laterSunday’s statement said none of the current team management, including coaches, would be retained. “This change will herald an exciting new era for the SA cricket and will bring us into line with best practice in professional sport,” said Moroe. Former West Indian player and coach Gibson was appointed South African team coach in 2017. His contract was due to expire next month. Gibson said during the recent Cricket World Cup that he was keen to continue in the job but his prospects plummeted when South Africa were among the first teams to be eliminated from contention for a World Cup semi-final place. Van Zyl, 57, played in one unofficial Test during South Africa’s years of isolation and in two one-day internationals in 1992 following the country’s return to official international cricket. He had a brief spell as South African coach between 2009 and 2011.
Bengaluru: A thick security blanket has been thrown across major towns and cities of Karnataka following intelligence inputs about a possible terror attack, police sources said on Saturday.With heavy deployment of police personnel at every nook and corner of prominent places in the state,extensive checking was carried out using metal detector and sniffer dogs. Police sources said the alert was sounded Friday night asking all police officers to be vigilant and directing police to be present everywhere following intelligence inputs about a possible terror attack. Also Read – Uddhav bats for ‘Sena CM’There was intelligence input that a group of terrorists was planning to create terror and panic in the country, the sources said. Security has been strengthened at all important installations and public places such as bus stands, railway stations, temples, markets, malls and government offices. Besides Bengaluru, vigil has also been tightened in Hubballi-Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Chitradurga, Mangaluru, Davangere, Udupi, Mysuru and Tumakuru. Police personnel were seen searching bags and frisking passengers at the railway stations and bus stands on Saturday. Multi-layer security arrangements were witnessed at important temples in the state.
Basil: After H S Prannoy stunned five-time world champion China’s Lin Dan to advance to the third round of the BWF World Championships here on Tuesday, B Sai Praneeth also defeated ace Korean shuttler Lee Dong Keun in the second round to advance to the next stage. Praneeth defeated Lee Dong Keun in straight games 21-16, 21-15 in a match which lasted for 56 minutes. The Indian showed his skill in the first game with his quality strokes and took a 21-16 lead in the opening game. The second game saw some errors from Praneeth but he made a strong comeback to win the second game 21-15. Also Read – Puducherry on top after 8-wkt win over ChandigarhEarlier, world No 30 H S Prannoy, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a stomach problem, on Tuesday registered one of his biggest upsets in recent times as he beat five-time champion Lin Dan of China to advance to the third round of the ongoing World Championships. Prannoy,who has a reputation of producing big upsets when on song, defeated 11th seeded Dan 21-11, 13-21, 21-7 in a match that lasted for 62 minutes. The World No. 30 didn’t break much sweat in the first game and won it rather easily. The Chinese legend came back strongly in the second game and showed his true class. He didn’t allow Prannoy to take any advantage and won the game 21-13. Also Read – Vijender’s next fight on Nov 22, opponent to be announced laterHowever, in the decider, Prannoy took the lead from the very beginning and made sure he didn’t let the opportunity slip of upsetting the five-time champion. At interval of the third game, Prannoy had a six-point lead which he extended to 21-7 to seal the match and progress through to the next round. Prannoy had earlier defeated Lin Dan at the 2018 Indonesia Open and the 2015 French Open and now leads the head-to-head race at 3-2. In the first round, Prannoy had come from behind to beat 93rd-ranked Eetu Heino of Finland 17-21, 21-10, 21-11 and set up the clash against Dan.
New Delhi: Kannan Gopinathan, a 2012-batch IAS officer hailing from Kerala submitted his resignation to the Dadra and Nagar Haveli administration on Wednesday. Kannan held the post of secretary of key departments like power and non-conventional energy sources in the administration. He came into the limelight for his anonymous participation in the flood relief efforts in Kerala last year. The office sent his resignation to the Union Home Secretary on August 21, news agency reported. Gopinathan who joined the service in 2012, said that he has taken the decision because he wants his freedom of expression back. Also Read – Uddhav bats for ‘Sena CM'”Over the past few days, I have been really perturbed by what is happening in the country, wherein a large section of our population have had their fundamental rights suspended. There has been a lack of response to it. We seem to be perfectly fine with it. I also see in some small ways how I am also a part of it. I think if I had a newspaper, the only thing I would be printing on the front page would be ’19’ on the front page, because today is the nineteenth day,” he says. He hinted at how there has been no response even from within the service to the detaining of former civil servant Shah Faesal, who was the first Kashmiri to secure first in the civil services examination. “We got into the service thinking that we can provide voice to people, but then we ended up with our own voice being taken away from us,” he said.
New Delhi: The Delhi Zoo has started the process of transferring surplus herbivores to nearby facilities through exchange programmes in an attempt to reduce the number of animal deaths, an official here said on Tuesday. “The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has permitted the zoo to shift surplus herbivores, including blackbuck, spotted deer, nilgai and sambhar, to the nearby zoos. This will help reduce the number of animal deaths to a great extent,” the official said. Also Read – After eight years, businessman arrested for kidnap & murderThis move comes after a recent report revealed that 245 animals had died in the zoo just between April 2018 to June 2019, which had prompted zoo authorities here to order an assessment of these deaths. “One of the major reasons for the higher number of animal deaths in the zoo is infighting and premature births. According to CZA guidelines, a large zoo should keep 20 animals of a particular species, whereas we have around 250 blackbucks, 150 spotted deer, 60 sambhar deer and 40 nilgai,” he said. Also Read – Two brothers held for snatchingsThe staff keep the animals segregated but that is not a permanent solution to prevent deaths due to infighting, he said. The CZA has allowed the Delhi zoo to “shift” 120 blackbucks, for now, the official said. Another reason for such high animal mortality is that the veterinary officer is “incompetent”, the official alleged, adding that though Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo had recommended suspension of the officer, no action has been taken yet. A high-level committee probing allegations of mismanagement at the zoo had earlier recommended disciplinary action against the veterinary officer.
Mumbai: Amid reports that ruling BJP and Shiv Sena are hardening their positions on sharing of seats to contest the assembly polls, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that the saffron alliance is “inevitable” and it will return to power once again.Speaking at a function here, Thackeray lavished praise on Modi for nullifying Article 370, and gave a call for construction of grand Ram temple in Ayodhya and introduction of Uniform Civil Code. Also Read – Uddhav bats for ‘Sena CM'”PM Modi has provided leadership and direction to the country which has immense capacity to progress and develop. I thanked Modi for abrogating Article 370 (which provided special status of Jammu and Kashmir) and the ‘Chandrayaan-2’ mission… Now the nation awaits the construction of a Ram mandir in Ayodhya and (introduction of) Uniform Civil Code,” said Thackeray.”Kashmir is an integral part of India and it will remain so. Modi has proved this in deed and not just in words,” he added. Also Read – Farooq demands unconditional release of all detainees in J&KThackeray said the country was also proud of ISRO scientists for manoeuvring the ambitious moon mission.”India has immense capacity, and in Modi, the country has got a leadership to give (right) direction,” he said.Thackeray also said the alliance with the BJP will sustain.”The alliance is ‘atal’ (inevitable). We want power..No doubt about it, but we need it for developing the state.The ‘yuti’ (NDA alliance) will return to power in the state once again after polls. I am glad that PM Modi is providing facilities for growing population in the state,” he said. In his speech, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the country had never seen a Prime Minister sitting amidst ISRO scientists and boosting their morale.Earlier in the day, Modi gave a long and tight hug to an emotional ISRO chief K Sivan, who was in tears, after ‘Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram’s unsuccessful bid to soft-land on the moon.In Mumbai, the PM, through a remote-control, laid foundation stone for three metro lines, which will together add more than 42 km to the metro network of the city.He also laid foundation stone for a state-of-the-art Metro Bhavan in Aarey Colony and inaugurated Bandongri Metro Station in Kandivali East, all through a remote control from Jio World Centre in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).He also inaugurated a state-of-the-art metro coach, the first metro coach under ‘Make in India’.Later in the day, the prime minister is scheduled to address a state-level Mahila Saksham Melava or Empowered Women’s Meet of Self Help Groups, being organised by Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission (UMED).Modi will also inaugurate AURIC Business and Administrative Building and Dedicate DMIC AURIC City to the Nation in Aurangabad.Leaders of the BJP and the Sena have held a primary round of talks in a bid to seal a seat-sharing deal.As per reports, the Sena wants the BJP to adhere to the 50:50 formula, which means both the parties contesting equal number of seats.However, poll managers of the BJP are arguing for more seats to accommodate leaders from Opposition parties and its “growing political might”.Of the total 288 seats, the BJP and the Sena have agreed to allocate 18 seats to smaller allies, but a formal deal is yet to be worked out.
PUNE/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/AMARAVATI: The Army has received inputs that there may be a terror attack in the southern part of India, a top Army commander said on Monday.Some abandoned boats have been recovered in the Sir Creek area, Lt Gen S K Saini, GOC-in-C of the Army’s Southern Command, told reporters at an event near Pune. The Army has taken measures in the Sir Creek region, keeping in mind the enhanced threat perception, he said. Kerala police chief Lokanath Behera, meanwhile, asked all district police heads to maintain high alert across the state. A defence spokesperson in Chennai said the “northernmost point of the Army’s southern command includes some parts of Gujarat also.” In Andhra Pradesh, security along the 974-km long coastline has been beefed up following threats of a possible terror attack in south India, a top police official said.
New Delhi: As part of an ongoing campaign to raise awareness about sound mental health, the Delhi Metro authorities on Tuesday installed a hoarding at the metro museum to encourage people to brave through psychologically difficult period instead of giving up on life. The hoarding was installed on the World Suicide Prevention Day which seeks to bring awareness on the issue in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides.”As part of our ongoing campaign ‘#NeverGiveUp’, which began in April, we have been raising awareness on mental health issues so that people do not take the extreme step and instead soldier on in their life even during tough times,” a senior DMRC official said. Also Read – After eight years, businessman arrested for kidnap & murderSeveral commuters have committed suicide in last few months by jumping in front of moving trains at metro stations. The most recent case being of a 26-year-old woman who had killed herself by jumping in front of a moving train at the Model Town metro station of the Yellow Line on Saturday. The deceased, identified as Sonakshi Garg, a resident of Paharganj, left a suicide note which said that no one should be held responsible for her action, police had said. Also Read – Two brothers held for snatchings”A panel has been installed at DMRC’s Metro Museum at Patel Chowk metro station to promote our #NeverGiveUp campaign to raise awareness about sound mental health and encourage people to be brave,” the official said. The hoarding will be on display at the museum for the rest of the month, he said. It depicts one hand reaching out to another with the caption –’Your story may seem like it has come to a pause, but it will continue.’ –displayed in a corner. One hand’s wrist also has a heart and a quotation mark drawn on it. The DMRC on Tuesday also tweeted another poster that depicts one hand reaching out to another with the message: ‘Let us be kind and be a helping hand for each other’. On Monday, it had put up a poster on Twitter, bearing an image of a woman and a message –’It is okay to have bad days, but more importantly, remember that it is okay to ask for help. #NeverGiveUp’.
TORONTO – No winning ticket was sold for the $55 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw.There were also four Maxmillions prizes of $1 million each up for grabs, but none of them were claimed.The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on May 11 will grow to approximately $60 million, with the number of Maxmillions prizes rising to 16.
RICHMOND, B.C. – Jocelyne Dramisino says she made her little cousin watch a hair-raising online video before taking her to a Vancouver-area wharf on Tuesday where days earlier a sea lion yanked a young girl off the dock and into the water.“I wanted … to make sure that she was a little bit smarter than other people have been in the past so that that would not happen to her,” Dramisino said during a visit to Steveston Harbour in Richmond.The video shows a young girl leaning over the edge of a dock, giggling at an adult male California sea lion swimming less than a metre away. The girl sits down on the guard rail before the animal grabs her dress and pulls her backwards into the water. A man jumps in and lifts her to safety.A spokeswoman for the Vancouver Aquarium said in an email that the girl’s family contacted the facility and is getting the appropriate medical treatment after she received a superficial injury.Dramisino said she would still bring visiting friends and family to the harbour, but it’s important to keep a distance from wild animals.“They are not our cats and dogs that we have at home,” said Dramisino, who lives in North Vancouver. “Although they do seem friendly and they look cute, they are wild animals, and they are more vicious than you probably would tend to think.”The sea lion appears to have been drawn to the dock on Saturday by adults who were reportedly throwing bread crumbs into the water.In an interview with the CBC, the father of the girl pulled into the water denied that anyone in the family was feeding the animal. Identified only by the family’s surname, he said his daughter was too close to the sea lion and that she learned her lesson the hard way.Since the incident, the Steveston Harbour Authority has plastered the dock with warning signs telling people not to feed the wildlife and to be careful around the water’s edge.A Fisheries and Oceans Canada note warns that people found disturbing a marine mammal can faces fines of up to $100,000.A local resident at the wharf on Tuesday chastised a family as they posed for a photo directly beside a warning sign, sitting with a small boy in a similar position as the girl who was pulled into the water.“Excuse me. Do you know the kind of danger you’re putting that child in?” Smokey Attwood asked.Attwood, an English expatriate who has been living in the area for the past decade, said watching the video “made me bloody furious.”“This is a thousand-pound wild animal. If it sees food it will go for it.”Donald Walker and his wife Shirley visit the docks about once a week and said the crowds were much larger than usual in the two days after the sea lion pulled the girl into the water, adding that many of the warning signs are new.It’s impossible to stop the public from feeding the animals, especially if the harbour authority doesn’t impose any fines, Walker said.“It’s a mistake to feed them. We’ve all been told, over and over again. We’ve seen it on TV and radio: Don’t feed them,” he said. “The sea lion isn’t the problem. It’s the people who have created the problem.”— Follow @gwomand on Twitter
HALIFAX – A Halifax university student is not a “criminal mastermind” and the Crown has twisted evidence in the case to fit its theory that William Sandeson murdered Taylor Samson during a drug deal, defence lawyer Eugene Tan told the jury Monday.In his closing arguments, Tan said the Crown has attempted to make Sandeson look like a “calculated murderer who mapped out every detail,” when evidence presented at the trial showed the opposite.“They (the prosecutors) believe William Sandeson to be a criminal mastermind,” Tan said before a packed courtroom at Nova Scotia Supreme Court, eventually asking the jury to acquit the 24-year-old man.“Mr. Sandeson is not a criminal mastermind. He didn’t think things through. He certainly didn’t expect any of the things that happened to happen.”Sandeson — who was slated to start medical school within a week of his arrest — is charged with first-degree murder in the death of the 22-year-old Dalhousie University student, whose body has never been found.Tan said the police and Crown have tried to make evidence fit their theory that Sandeson lured Samson to his south end Halifax apartment on Aug. 15, 2015 with a plan to shoot him and steal 20 pounds of marijuana.“They have achieved results in their own mind and they are trying to fit everything else within that frame,” he said.Tan conceded there was a “violent incident” at the apartment that night, but said Sandeson maintains there was someone else who was also at the apartment.He asked the jury to ask themselves a number of questions when considering the evidence, including why Sandeson would have kept his own video surveillance system running if he intended to kill Samson.Court has heard Samson was last seen alive on video that night, walking into Sandeson’s apartment shortly before 10:30 p.m.Tan asked the jury to consider why, if Sandeson had carried out a pre-meditated murder, he would leave his handgun in a safe in his bedroom, and why he gave police text messages between him and Samson that described a drug deal?Tan said evidence has shown Sandeson was aware his neighbours were home when Samson arrived at his apartment, and asked the jury why someone who planned to carry out a murder would do so knowing there were people in the apartment next door.He noted those neighbours testified Sandeson appeared panicked that night and was “incapable of forming words.” Tan asked if someone who was planning a murder would act in that way after the fact.Sandeson’s former girlfriend testified at the trial that she smelled bleach when she returned to Sandeson’s apartment later that same evening. But Tan noted that someone can be involved in cleaning up a crime scene without being guilty of murder.He also suggested that police did not follow up on all possible leads in the investigation, and only looked at evidence that supported their theory, while handling evidence poorly.The trial has heard the medical student was in debt and under pressure from his parents about his spending in the weeks before he allegedly murdered Samson.Tan said the Crown will suggest Sandeson was in part motivated by money, but he noted Sandeson had more than $120,000 available to him on a line of credit, as well as a credit card and a chequing account.“The question of financial motive just simply can’t exist,” said Tan. “You’ve got to reject that. There’s no evidence whatsoever supporting it.”Sandeson — who has closely cropped hair and was wearing a black sweater — sat quietly during Monday’s proceedings. He did not testify at the trial.The Crown will deliver its closing arguments Tuesday. Judge Josh Arnold is expected to instruct the jury on Thursday.The trial heard DNA matching Samson’s profile was recovered from a bullet, gun, tarp, duffel bag and other items seized from Sandeson’s Henry Street apartment in Halifax and his family’s farm in Truro.Follow (at)AlyThomson on Twitter.
TORONTO – A constitutional challenge to Canada’s segregation laws should go ahead in September as scheduled despite objections from the federal government, an Ontario court ruled Thursday.In rejecting Ottawa’s adjournment request, Superior Court Justice Frank Marrocco said the hearing would not get in the way of Parliament, which is dealing with pending legislation that aims to put limits on solitary confinement.Even if the relevant bill were enacted, Marrocco said, the constitutional challenge would proceed anyway, so there would be no advantage to delaying a hearing.At issue is the practice known as administrative segregation that civil liberties groups argue can amount to indefinite solitary confinement. Such isolation is frequently used to manage difficult inmates, especially those whose safety may be at risk in the general population.The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies maintain the current system subjects affected inmates to cruel and unusual punishment and violates their rights in several ways.In response to the challenge and a similar one underway in British Columbia, the Liberal government introduced Bill C-56 last month. Among other things, the bill would limit administrative segregation to 21 days — falling down to 15 days 18 months after enactment. The bill also seeks to set up a quick, independent review process.The government argued before Marrocco that the proposed legislation would address the constitutional concerns and that policy changes — due to take effect next month — would bar use of administrative segregation for inmates with serious mental disorders and those at risk of suicide or self-harm.But the two groups argued, and Marrocco agreed, that the bill would not fix the impugned provisions.“The CCLA contends that both the current and the proposed administrative segregation regimes permit indeterminate solitary confinement and are therefore constitutionally objectionable,” Marrocco said in his written endorsement.“I am satisfied that the application challenges the constitutionality of aspects of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act that are not affected by the proposed amendments and that it is not, therefore, disrespectful of Parliament’s legislative process to continue with this application.”While the government insisted the courts should defer to Parliament and allow the legislative process to proceed, Marrocco said it was clear the proposed changes wouldn’t affect part of the law that establishes criteria for isolating inmates.The judge also declined to award costs, saying the government’s request for an adjournment was not meritless, even though he dismissed it.The associations want a hard cap on any administrative segregation set at 15 days. They argue Bill C-56 would still allow a prison warden to keep someone in segregation beyond the presumptive limits. The proposed legislation also doesn’t address keeping adults aged 18 to 21 in segregation, they said.The case is already far advanced in terms of evidence gathering, and pre-hearing witness examinations are all but wrapped up.“Extensive evidentiary record has been filed and cross-examinations are virtually completed,” Marrocco noted.In a similar but separate case, British Columbia’s top court last week rejected Ottawa’s request for an expedited appeal of a decision refusing an adjournment of a similar segregation challenge by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and John Howard Society of Canada. Hearings in that case have since begun.
MONTREAL – Quebecers are increasingly asking about having the province’s doctor-assisted suicide law expanded, the woman behind the legislation said Thursday.Veronique Hivon of the Parti Quebecois said “a lot of people” approach her about modifying the law to allow family members with degenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer’s access to the procedure.Hivon was reacting to the Health Department’s latest numbers released Thursday that reveal Quebec doctors assisted 638 people in dying between June 10, 2016, and June 9, 2017.The number is a significant increase compared with the 167 people who received a doctor-assisted death in the first six months after the law went into effect in December 2015.“According to the evidence, the numbers confirm that the law is responding to a need of people at the end of their life, who are suffering and who want access to this option,” Hivon said in an interview.“There is a very clear desire within the population to debate expanding the legislation. We need this debate to happen.”Hivon said the ongoing high-profile court case of Michel Cadotte, a man charged with second-degree murder after his wife was found dead in a long-term facility, helped bring the issue to many people’s attention.Cadotte’s wife was reportedly suffering badly from Alzheimer’s and had seen her request for a doctor-assisted death denied.Hivon said only Alzheimer’s patients who are at the end of their life can receive a doctor-assisted death.By the time that happens, however, people suffering from Alzheimer’s are often not able to give informed consent, which is another necessary criterion to receive the procedure.Quebec Health Minister Gaetan Barrette said in a statement the government is putting together a committee of experts to look into the “complex question” of expanding the law to have it apply to people who are deemed “legally and clinically unfit” to give consent to the procedure.Hivon tabled right-to-die legislation in June 2013 when her party was in government but the bill died when the PQ was toppled by the Liberals in 2014.A similar bill was tabled by Barrette, with Hivon as co-sponsor. When it became law, it became the first of its kind in the country.In June 2016, Canada passed its own law limiting the right to assisted dying to those whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable.Ottawa released statistics in early October revealing that 1,179 Canadians were given a doctor-assisted death between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2017, a 47 per cent increase over the first six months the law was in effect.In Quebec, between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017, there were 31 cases where a patient received the procedure under circumstances that didn’t respect the law.One of those patients was judged to have not been sick with a serious and incurable illness.Yves Robert, secretary of Quebec’s college of physicians, the body that reviews all assisted-dying files judged to have been conducted in some way outside the law, said most of those cases were only “administrative errors.”“There was no case that justified a punitive intervention by the college,” he said.Dr. Paul Saba, whose organization had challenged Quebec’s legislation in court, noted that out of the 377 cases in the 2016-17 counting period that were denied, 79 people had changed their minds about wanting to die.“That means that given the right conditions, people might change,” said Saba, who advocates for better palliative care for dying patients as opposed to assisted death.“Maybe there is better pain control, maybe they had a better understanding of their illness, love and attention …Given enough time many people change their mind.“True aid is giving people the right palliative care.”
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