'Bharat Ratna' Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s mortal remains consigned to flames

Agencies
August 17, 2018

New Delhi, Aug 17: Thousands of people flocked the roads in the national capital on Friday to pay last respects to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was cremated with full state honour at Smriti Sthal here.

India's 10th Prime Minister breathed his last at 5:05 pm on Thursday after spending nine weeks at the All India Institute of Medical Science, where he was undergoing treatment for Urinary Tract Infection, low urine output and chest congestion. He was 93.

His daughter Namita Bhattacharya lit the funeral pyre, while the Tricolour, wrapped around the glass coffin of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was handed over to his granddaughter Niharika. He was accorded rifle salute.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, among various other national leaders attended the cremation ceremony to pay homage to the beloved leader.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba and Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa also paid their last tribute to Vajpayee.

The ceremony was also attended by a string of foreign dignitaries including King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Sri Lanka's acting Foreign Minister Lakshman Kiriella and former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

Earlier in the day, the cadaver was taken out from the newly built Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters - the walls of which saw Vajpayee for the first and the last time. People sprinkled rose petals on their beloved leader as his final journey began towards Smriti Sthal - a large piece of land with manicured grass behind the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi.

Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah followed their leader through the lanes of Darya Ganj leading up to Rajghat.

Vajpayee, who led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government from 1998 to 2004, was the first-ever member of the Bharatiya Janata Party to become India's Prime Minister. He was given Bharat Ratna - India's highest civilian honour - in 2015.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Feb 28: Life was limping back to normalcy in some parts of the riot-hit northeast Delhi, with police and paramilitary personnel maintaining strict vigil in view of Friday prayers at mosques.

Police officers said they were also making extra efforts to quell rumours, and holding regular flag marches and interactions in the neighbourhoods of affected areas as confidence-building measures.

In some areas of northeast Delhi, signs of normal life were witnessed with opening of shops. In violence-hit areas also, shops in streets and bylanes were open.

Nearly 7,000 paramilitary forces have been deployed in the affected areas of the northeast district since Monday. Besides, hundreds of Delhi police personnel are on the ground to maintain peace and prevent any untoward incident.

At least 38 were killed and over 200 injured in the communal clashes that broke out in northeast Delhi on Monday after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control The areas affected include Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura..

The Union Home Ministry had said on Thursday night that no major incident was reported from the northeast district in the past 36 hours, It had said that prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 would be relaxed for 10 hours in view of improvement in the situation.

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News Network
July 11,2020

Kanpur, Jul 11: "The Uttar Pradesh administration has done the right thing by taking action against my son," said an old and feeble Ram Kumar Dubey, father of gangster Vikas Dubey.

The father said his son killed eight police officials and it was an unforgivable sin.

"Had he listened to us, his life would not have ended this way. Vikas never helped us in any way. Due to him, even our ancestral property was razed to the ground. He also killed eight policemen, which is an unforgivable sin. The administration has done the right thing. Had they not done so, tomorrow others would have acted similarly," Ram Kumar said.

"It is the chief minister's duty to protect every individual. The police is an extension of that. He attacked them which cannot be forgiven. I will not even take part in his cremation," he added.

Ram Kumar Dubey said that his only appeal to the government is to allow him entry to his ancestral property now.

Vikas Dubey was cremated at Bhairav Ghat in Kanpur. His wife, younger son and brother-in-law were present and no other member of his family attended the last rites.

Vikas Dubey was arrested by the police in Ujjain on Thursday morning. He was on the run for the last six days and had come to the city to offer prayers at a temple, where he was identified by a security guard.

He was killed in an encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police earlier today after he "attempted to flee".

The gangster was the main accused in the encounter that took place in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur last week, in which a group of assailants opened fire on a police team, which had gone to arrest him.

Eight police personnel were killed in the encounter.

Vikas Dubey managed to escape after the incident. Uttar Pradesh police had launched a hunt and raised a bounty on him for Rs 5 lakh.

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News Network
July 25,2020

New Delhi, Jul 25: India reported a spike of 48,916 coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 13,36,861 including 4,56,071 active cases, 8,49,431 cured/discharged/migrated. With 757 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 31,358.

Maharashtra has reported 3,57,117 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country.

A total of 1,99,749 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded a total of 1,28,389 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 4,20,898 samples were tested for coronavirus on Friday and overall 1,58,49,068 samples have been tested so far.

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