Caught on camera: Arrested IPS?officer roams free

April 30, 2013
Ahmedabad, Apr 30: An accused in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case and senior Gujarat IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian courted controversy yet again when on Tuesday a local news channel caught him on tape moving around without a police escort and spending a night at home, while he was supposed to be in judicial custody.

cameraPandian, a 1996 batch suspended IPS officer, was arrested in 2007 for his alleged involvement in the fake encounter case.

About six months ago he was shifted to Mumbai jail after the Supreme Court directed that the trial of the case be held outside Gujarat. On Sunday evening, Pandian had arrived in Ahmedabad for a hearing in another fake encounter case of Tulsiram Prajapati.

Crew of local news channel caught him taking a private car from the railway station and moving to the government circuit house where he was supposed to be officially put up for the night. However, from the circuit house, Pandian was caught on tape taking the same private car and moving towards his home in the Prahladnagar area.

The officer ostensibly spent the night at his home. On Monday morning when he left his home and took the same private car, he was intercepted by the television crew. The officer panicked and fled from the spot. He was seen later at the local court with the police escort. Though there have been allegations in the past that police officers arrested in fake encounter cases were being given “VIP” treatment, this is for the first time such an act has been caught on tape.

The incident comes close on the heels of the CBI accusing the Gujarat government of shielding yet another fake encounter case accused. The bureau is expected to move the CBI?special court on Tuesday seeking an arrest warrant for senior IPS officer and ADG, State CID, P P Pande for his alleged involvement in the Ishrat Jehan fake encounter case. Earlier, a CBI court in Ahmedabad had rejected its plea for the arrest warrant.

The CBI had told the court that despite two summons, the officer had failed to turn up and now was evading the CBI. The investigating agency could also complain against the state government for shielding Pande.

The senior officer has been on sick leave since the time reports about his impending arrest started doing the rounds. The state government had claimed that the officer was on sick leave and it had no idea about his whereabouts.

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News Network
January 20,2020

New Delhi, Jan 20: Surging inflation and slowing growth are raising serious concerns about the future growth prospects of the economy and as a remedial measure the government should resolve supply-side hurdles and ensure more stringent governance norms, a report said on Monday.

According to the Dun and Bradstreet Economy forecast, even though the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) turned positive in November 2019, it is likely to remain subdued.

"Slowdown in consumption and investment along with high inflationary pressures, geopolitical issues and uncertainty over the recovery of the economic growth are likely to keep IIP subdued," the report noted.

Dun and Bradstreet expect IIP to remain around 1.5-2.0 percent during December 2019.

As per government data, industrial output grew 1.8 percent in November, turning positive after three months of contraction, on account of growth in the manufacturing sector.

On the price front, uneven rainfall along with floods in many states and geopolitical issues have led to a surge in headline inflation even as demand remains muted.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in December rose to about five-and-half year high of 7.35 percent from 5.54 percent in November, mainly driven by high vegetable prices.

"The sharp rise in inflation has constrained monetary policy stimulus while revenue shortfall has placed limits on the government expenditure," Dun & Bradstreet India Chief Economist Arun Singh said.

According to Singh, growth-supporting measures and deceleration in growth are likely to cause slippage in fiscal deficit target by a wider margin.

"The government should focus on taking small steps to address the slowdown; in particular, resolve the supply-side hurdles and ensure more stringent governance norms," Singh said.

Unless these concerns are addressed through a comprehensive policy framework, it will not be easy for India to clock a sustainable growth rate to become a USD 5 trillion economy, he added.

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News Network
March 25,2020

New Delhi, Mar 25: The government is likely to agree an economic stimulus package of more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore ($19.6 billion) to fight a downturn in the country that is currently locked down to stem the spread of coronavirus, two sources familiar with the matter told news agency.
The government has not yet finalised the package and discussions are ongoing between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, the finance ministry, and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said both the sources, who asked not to be named as the matter was still under discussion.

One of the sources, a senior government official, said the stimulus plan could be as large as Rs 2.3 lakh crore, but final numbers were still in discussion.

The package could be announced by the end of the week, both sources added.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

Ahmedabad, Aug 6: In a major incident, a fire broke out in a Covid-designated hospital in Ahmedabad killing eight coronavirus patients. The mishap occurred in the wee hours of Thursday.

All the victims were in the ICU ward, where the fire is said to have started. Officials said that they all died on the spot while 41 other patients were shifted to other hospitals following a rescue operation. One paramedic staff of the hospital who tried to douse the fire sustained burn injuries.  

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who is also the health minister, said that primary information has revealed that fire was caused by the short circuit in the ICU ward where eight patients were under treatment. 

He said that 41 other patients were shifted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel hospital. The incident happened at Shrey Hospital in Navrangpura which is one of the Covid-19 designated hospitals. Over 300 patients have recovered at the hospital in the last two months.

Among the victims were five men and three women. They have been identified as Arif Mansuri, Narendra Shah, Manu Rami, Leelvati Shah, Navneet Shah, Jyoti Sindhi, Manu Rami and Ayesha Tirmizi  

Following the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Saddened by the tragic hospital fire in Ahmedabad. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to CM @vijayrupanibjp Ji and Mayor
@ibijalpatel Ji regarding the situation. Administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected."

Soon after the tweet, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered a probe into the matter to be conducted by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home, Sangeeta Singh and ACS (Urban Development) Mukesh Puri. 

They have been asked to submit a report in three days. Meanwhile, the hospital building has been sealed for further investigation. 

The chief minister has ordered a report within three days.

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