Gujarat clashes kill 9, Army deployed in more areas

August 27, 2015

Ahmedabad, Aug 27: Tension prevailed in Gujarat as the death toll in clashes which started on Tuesday during quota agitation by Patel community climbed to nine today and army was deployed in more cities to rein in the violence.

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Police control room officials said no major violence was reported in the state overnight barring a few incidents of stone pelting.

A constable of Chowk Bazaar police station, Dilip Rathore, who was injured in clashes with protesters in Dabholi area, succumbed at a private hospital, taking the toll in the violence to nine.

Curfew remained clamped in Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Mehasana, Palanpur, Unjha, Visnagar and Jamnagar towns. However it has been lifted in Patan.

Five columns of army (75 personnel each) were deployed in Ahmedadad last night, while two each have been deployed in Surat, Mehsana and Rajkot, army officials said today.

Army conducted flag marches in five areas of Ahmedabad yesterday. Train services have been affected as protesters have damaged tracks in at least eight places.

12 trains have been cancelled and 19 partially cancelled, a railway official said. The violence started on Tuesday after a massive rally of the Patel community. Hardik Patel, who is leading the stir, had called for a state-wide bandh on Wednesday.

Six people were killed in firing by police and paramilitary forces, while two others died following clashes, police said. Four deaths were reported in Ahmedabad, three in Gadh village of Banaskantha district and one in Mehasana town.

Earlier yesterday, in a televised address in Gujarati, the Prime Minister appealed for peace and emphasised that all the issues can be resolved through talks.

"I appeal to all brothers and sisters of Gujarat that they should not resort to violence. The only 'Mantra' must be 'Shanti' (peace)," said Modi.

Across Gujarat, a total of 133 companies of State Reserve Police as well as central paramilitary forces including CRPF and BSF had been deployed, according to Director General of Police P C Thakur.

Each company comprises 80 personnel. Forty-nine of these companies are deployed in Ahmedabad, six in Vadodara, 10 in Surat, three companies in Rajkot and remaining in other parts of the state to maintain the law and order, he said.

On Tuesday night, rampaging mobs had damaged bus stations, set on fire vehicles and also attacked the office of Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Mohan Kundaria, in Rajkot.

Meanwhile, several religious leaders, including Morari Bapu and Pramukh Swami Maharaj of the Swaminaryan sect, have issued appeals for peace.

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News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: Retirement fund body EPFO on Thursday lowered interest rate on provident fund deposits to 8.5 per cent for the current financial year, said Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar on Thursday.

The EPFO had provided 8.65 per cent rate of interest on EPF for 2018-19 to its around six crore subscribers. The decision was taken at a meeting of the the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) apex decision making body -- the Central Board of Trustee.

"The EPFO has decided to provide 8.5 per cent interest rate on EPF deposits for 2019-20 in the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) meeting today," Gangwar told reporters after the meeting here.

Now, the labour ministry requires the finance ministry's concurrence on the matter. Since the Government of India is the guarantor, the finance ministry has to vet the proposal for EPF interest rate to avoid any liability on account of shortfall in the EPFO income for a fiscal.

The finance ministry has been nudging the labour ministry for aligning the EPF interest rate with other small saving schemes run by the government like the public provident fund and post office saving schemes.

The EPFO had provided 8.65 per cent rate of interest to its subscribers for 2016-17 and 8.55 per cent in 2017-18. The rate of interest was slightly higher at 8.8 per cent in 2015-16.

It had given 8.75 per cent rate of interest in 2013-14 as well as 2014-15, higher than 8.5 per cent for 2012-13.

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News Network
January 1,2020

New Delhi, Jan 1: Newly-appointed Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said the armed forces stay away from politics and work as per the directives of the government of the day, remarks that come amid allegations that the forces were being politicised.

Gen Rawat also said that his focus as CDS will be to integrate the efforts of the three services and to work as a team.

"We keep ourselves away from politics. We act according to the directives of the government of the day," he said.

Gen Rawat said his focus will be to ensure best and optimal use of resources allocated to the three services.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Idukki, Aug 7: Several people lost their lives and dozens of tea estate workers are feared trapped under soil in Kerala’s Munnar after torrential rains triggered a massive landslide on today. 

As many as five bodies have been recovered and rescue workers are fighting inclement weather to remove the debris.

According to rescue workers, four lanes of quarters and a church are buried under mud and around 80 people are feared trapped.

Seven people have been rescued so far and shifted to the hospital.

Sources said a portion of Pettimudi came crashing down on the workers colony with a deafening roar in the wee hours of Friday.

As people were sleeping in the quarters, there was little time to escape.

Further, with the Periyavara bridge being washed away, it became all the more difficult for rescue workers to reach the spot.

The construction of a new temporary Periyavara bridge however, is underway.

The bridge was previously destructed during the deluge of August 2018. Later during the north west monsoons and the south west monsoon of 2019, it suffered damage again.

The present bridge, which got damaged on Thursday after Kannimala river levels rose, was constructed under the leadership of Coir fed.

Although a new concrete bridge has been constructed near the temporary bridge in Periyavara, vehicle  movement has not been possible because the authorities are yet to build its approach via road.

The new bridge is to be constructed at a cost of Rs 4.75 crore from Devikulam MLA S Rajendran's fund.

The entire area has been cut off from outside world and communication networks have also crashed.

Teams of Fire and Rescue personnel, NDRF, revenue officials, estate workers and police are struggling to conduct rescue operations.

Meanwhile, District collector H Dhineshan said a team of rescue personnel was sent to Pettymudy after he was briefed about the mishap and search operations to locate and rescue people are underway.

Facilities have been arranged at the hospitals nearby to provide necessary treatment facilities to the people being rescued.

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