Jaya's situation 'extremely grave', says London specialist

Jehanabad, Jan 28: Anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam, who was on the run after sedition charges were slapped against him for allegedly making inflammatory statements, was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad district on Tuesday, the state's police chief Gupteshwar Pandey said.

The JNU scholar was wanted by police of several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi.

"Sharjeel Imam has been arrested from his native Kako village in Jehanabad," Bihar's director-general of police Gupteshwar Pandey said.

Earlier in the day, Sharjeel Imam’s brother was picked up by police in a fresh attempt to trace the anti-CAA activist.

Police had raided his ancestral home on Sunday as it went hunting for him but Imam eluded the dragnet.

He is likely to be produced in a Bihar court where police will seek his remand for questioning. It is not yet clear whether he will be questioned in Bihar or taken to the national capital.

A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Imam had shifted to Delhi to pursue research at the Centre for Historical Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

He was slapped with a sedition case after a video of his purported speech went viral on social media in which he was heard speaking about "cutting off" Assam and the Northeast from the rest of India.

"If five lakh people are organised, we can cut off the Northeast and India permanently. If not, at least for a month or half a month. Throw as much 'mawad' (variously described as pus or rubbish) on rail tracks and roads that it takes the Air Force one month to clear it.

"Cutting off Assam (from India) is our responsibility, only then they (the government) will listen to us. We know the condition of Muslims in Assam....they are being put into detention camps," he was shown in the video as saying.

Meanwhile, reacting to Imam's arrest, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said people have the right to protest but nobody can talk about the country's disintegration.

Kumar told reporters that police must have acted in accordance with law in arresting Imam and now the courts will take appropriate action.

Kolkata, Jan 15: The arrows of Mahabharata's Arjuna had atomic power, claimed West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, drawing sharp criticism from academicians, even as he joined a long list of politicians who have in recent years given bizarre interpretations linking mythology with science.

Speaking at the 45th Eastern India Science Fair and 19th Science and Engineering Fair on Tuesday, Dhankhar also claimed that flying objects existed during the period of Ramayana.

"It is said that the plane was invented in 1910 or 1911, but if we delve into our old scriptures we will see in Ramayana, we had 'uran khatola' (aircraft)," he said.

"Sanjaya narrated the entire war of Mahabharata (to Dhitarasthra) not from TV. The arrows of Arjuna in Mahabharata had atomic power in it," Dhankhar said, asserting that the world can no longer afford to ignore India.

According to Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, Sanjay, even after staying away from the battlefield, had narrated what was happening there to Dhritarashtra, who was blind.

Dhankhar, who has been in news for clashes with the Mamata Banerjee government ever since he assumed office in July last year, joins politicians such as Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb and UP deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma to give odd interpretations of mythology.

While Deb had claimed that the internet existed during Mahabharata, Sharma suggested that godess Sita was a test tube baby.

Recently, Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi was trolled online for sharing a doctored video that claimed, "NASA recorded sound of sun -- Sun chants Om".

Indologist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri said governors appointed by the BJP government at the Centre are delving into everything and behave "as if they are know-alls".

"They fail to understand one thing that great writers have very strong power of imagination," Bhaduri said.

Scientist Sandip Chakraborty said such comments only hurt the scientific progress in India at the global forum.

"The ancient writers described all these things based on their imagination. It is true that India made a lot of progress during the ancient period, but such comments only damages the progress made by our scientific community," he said.

New Delhi, May 11: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh is stable and under observation at the AIIMS here after suffering reaction to a new medication and developing fever, hospital sources said on Monday.

The 87-year-old Congress leader was admitted to the hospital on Sunday evening after he complained of uneasiness. He has now been shifted out of the ICU.

The sources said that Singh had developed a reaction to a new medication and further investigation is being carried on him to rule out other causes of fever.

"Dr Manmohan Singh was admitted for observation and investigation after he developed a febrile reaction to a new medication," the sources said.

"He is being investigated to rule out other causes of fever and is being provided care as needed. He is stable and under care of a team of doctors at the Cardiothoracic Centre of AIIMS," they said.

"All his parameters are fine. He is under observation at the AIIMS," a source close to him has said.

Singh, a senior leader of the opposition Congress, is currently a Member of Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. He was the prime minister between 2004 and 2014.

In 2009, Singh underwent a successful coronary bypass surgery at the AIIMS. A number of leaders expressed have expressed concern over his health and wished him a speedy recovery.