Munde's death: Second mid-summer tragedy for BJP

June 3, 2014

Mumbai/New Delhi, June 3: Union Minister for Rural Development Gopinath Munde was killed early Tuesday in a road accident in the national capital when he was on way to the airport to catch a flight to Mumbai.Gopinath Munde 3

He was 64 and is survived by his wife Pradnya and three daughters, including Maharashtra legislator Pankaja Munde-Palve.

The news of his death was confirmed by senior cabinet minister Nitin Gadkari to media persons at the AIIMS Hospital where Munde was rushed for treatment.

According to initial reports, Munde suffered serious internal injuries in the head and chest, but later succumbed to a massive heart attack during treatment.

This is the second mega-tragedy for one of Maharashtra top political families comprising the Munde-Mahajan clans.

Barely eight years ago, in April 2006, Munde's brother-in-law and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan was shot and grievously injured by his brother Pravin, at his Worli home. Munde was married to Pramod's sister Pradnya.

Mahajan, 56, succumbed to the injuries May 3 that year, plunging the BJP in a state of shock at the passing of its charismatic and youthful leader, who also served as a union minister handling different portfolios in the A.B. Vajpayee cabinets.

Following Mahajan's death, Munde was catapulted as the most important BJP leader in the state until the advent of the Gadkari who became the BJP president in 2010 - leading to a tussle for supremacy in state politics.

At the same time, the BJP chose Munde to be the party's deputy leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made him a cabinet minister, handling crucial portfolios.

The late Mahajan's daughter, Poonam Mahajan-Rao was swept to victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North-Central constituency, defeating Congress's Priya Dutt, while her uncle Gopinath Munde was re-elected to parliament from Beed.

Similarly, Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde-Palve is active in state politics and is a state legislator from Parali, a constituency in her native Beed district in Marathwada region.

The other important leaders in the clan are Pandit Anna Munde (Gopinath's brother) and his son Dhananjay (Gopinath's nephew), both of whom quit the BJP to join the Nationalist Congress Party.

Munde's death is also the second big blow to the backward Marathwada region of the state in the past couple of years.

Barely two years ago Aug 14, 2012, the Congress' charismatic union minister and former state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, 67, died following a prolonged illness.

Later that year, Maharashtra was plunged into grief when Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray died Nov 17, 2012.

For the BJP, Munde's death will be deeply felt as he was one of the few grassroots leaders who toured the remotest parts of the state during his political career spanning over four decades.

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News Network
July 3,2020

New Delhi, Jul 3: India reported the highest ever single-day spike of 20,903 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours on Friday, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With these new cases, India's coronavirus tally has risen to 6,25,544 cases of which 2,27,439 patients are active cases while 3,79,892 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

379 more deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the number of deaths due to the infection to 18,213.

As per the Health Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst-affected state from the virus -- has a total of 1,86,626 cases including 8,178 fatalities while Tamil Nadu has 98,392 coronavirus cases in the state inclusive of 1,321 fatalities.

Delhi has reported 92,175 cases so far inclusive of 2,864 patients succumbing to the virus.

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Friday said that the total number of samples tested till July 2 is 92,97,749 of which 2,41,576 samples were tested on Thursday.

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News Network
April 9,2020

Patna, Apr 9: In a horrifying incident, a migrant woman was sexually abused in a Gaya hospital where she was kept in an isolation ward. Three days later, she died due to excessive bleeding.

The matter came to light on Tuesday when her mother-in-law informed the authorities concerned about the shocking incident.

The 25-year-old victim had returned to Bihar’s Gaya district from Ludhiana (in Punjab) along with her husband on March 25. Before returning to her in-laws’ place, she had undergone abortion at Ludhiana just when she was two months pregnant.

On reaching Gaya, she complained of excessive bleeding. Her husband admitted her to Anugrah Narain Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH) on March 27 where she was kept in the emergency ward.

Later, on April 1, on being suspected to be coronavirus patient, she was kept in an isolation ward. Her family members alleged that it was in this isolation ward where a doctor attending to her overnight outraged her modesty for two successive nights on April 2 and 3.

“The following day, she was discharged from the hospital after her coronavirus test report was found to be negative. However, after returning home, she remained aloof and struck by fear. On questioning, she revealed how a doctor had sexually abused her in the isolation ward. On April 6, she passed away due to excessive bleeding,” said her mother-in-law.

On receiving the information, the local police asked the mother-in-law to come to the hospital on Tuesday and identify the doctor (about whom the victim had given a description). However, the accused was not identified.

“Prima facie, the matter is serious. We are verifying the allegations. We will dig out the CCTV footage in the hospital and take strict action after identifying the culprit,” said Dr VK Prasad, the hospital superintendent.

Meanwhile, the Gaya police have arrested two people who posed as doctors and entered the isolation ward using doctors’ kits. One of the apprehended people works in a private.

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News Network
May 24,2020

New Delhi, May 24: Overwhelmed by the donations that poured in from the society for his help, Phool Mia, the fruit seller in north Delhi's Jagatpuri area whose mangoes were looted by the ordinary people, said that those who helped him have made his "Eid" and have shown that "humanity is still alive".

Video footage that went viral on social media, shows that scores of passers-by looted the unattended crates of mangoes of a fruit seller after a fight broke out in the neighbourhood. The incident took place on Wednesday.

"My stock of mangoes worth Rs 30,000 was kept there. Some persons were fighting with each other fearing which I left the place to avoid any sort of altercation. When I returned, I saw that they were looting the mangoes kept there. There were 50-100 people who were involved in this act," Phool Mia, narrated the ordeal.

"A video got viral about the incident after which people donated to me on a portal. They empathised with me when I was ruined. I thank the media and all those people who have donated from the bottom of my heart as they made my Eid. Now, I would be able to celebrate Eid with my children. This shows humanity is still alive," he added.

However, four people have been arrested on the basis of video footage, Delhi Police said.

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